Plastics Vs Bait

[mrmoshe]

Kingy (Terry) and myself have been discussing the merits of plastics versus bait and decided to have a little fish-off in Narra Lake today.

We got there about 4pm and the wind came up and blew like nothing on earth for about ten minutes..then subsided thankfully.

Kingy was using plastics and I was using my usual whitebait on gangs.

The score was a little one sided. All I'll' say is bait won hands down.

Kingy put it down to home turf advantage, which might have had something to do with it.

Finished up with one nice bream and one good tailor, after countless small returned bream.

I think I'll be sticking to my tried and true bait fishing for the time being as I never seem to have any luck

with SP's at all in the lake. Maybe it's just me.

Thanks Kingy for a good session and hope we can get amongst the kingys tomorrow in Pittwater. Woohooo!

Cheers,

Pete.

[Davemmm]

I've only just started playing around with these plastic doodahs. Last week I did Pete's trick and went out with a mate who fished plastics to my fresh nippers.

Halfway through the arvo we swapped and fresh bait kept on keeping on.

Fresh or live for me

Dave

[Flattieman]

Very interesting, Pete. I did notice that zero flatties were recorded fro each, though. Because that's what I fish for, I'd say that plastics win in most situations... for the flatties that I catch. Controversial topic .

Flattieman.

[Davemmm]

SP's just seem a little like work.

[zen801]

Hey Pete,

I prefer bait and am yet to score a fish on SP. Best of luck in Pittwater. Man its gonna be hot!!!!!

[mrmoshe]

Very interesting, Pete. I did notice that zero flatties were recorded fro each, though. Because that's what I fish for, I'd say that plastics win in most situations... for the flatties that I catch. Controversial topic .

Flattieman.

I did manage one very small flattie on bait but forgot to mention it. Kingy also got a small flattie on his SP.

Otherwise it was all bream and the one tailor.

Pete.

Edited November 21, 2006 by MallacootaPete

[namesay]

I like to let some poor squid or yakka do all the work. Bone lazy I am !!! CHeers KElvin

[Flattieman]

I did manage one very small flattie on bait but forgot to mention it. Kingy also got a small flattie on his SP.

Otherwise it was all bream and the one tailor.

Pete.

Very interesting. I've just found that plastics have revolutionised the way I fish for flatties... for the better. I've fished SPs alongside poddy mullet with the plastics winning 3:1. For this reason, the SPs have been my first choice. Live and fresh bait will always have a place in my mind, but I'm enjoying recent success on SPs. I've never given whitebait much of a go... Maybe I should... Another advantage of softies is that you rarely hook the "rubbish fish".

Flattieman.

[Guest Big-Banana]

Sometimes one will out fish the other, but I like the idea of using plastics as you get to cover more ground.

[Kingy]

Yes, bait did trump plastics this arvo!! Pete was pulling them in one after the other!!

I think bait does get alot more fish but I thinks that plastics work extremely well for flatties for the fact that you cover more ground. But having said that if you use a white bait like a plastic it would work just as well (maybe better) except you'll have to bait up more often.

Those little ganged hooks that Pete uses with the white bait is deadly on the bream!!

Hoping for a shot at some kingies tommorrow!!!!

Kingy (licking his wounds)

[Hooky.]

SP's win hands down for me over bait. They catch fish of better quality and size and also don't attract the pickers.

Pete, did Kingy "chop and change" his plastics? Use different colours, profiles and types and techniques etc?

Did he use an SP that was an imitation for a whitebait? Did he use Gulp?

Anyway and I'm sure either way it was good to be out casting a line.

BTW, I still use bait on the odd occasion.

cheers

Hooky

[mottyman]

Hi Guys,

Plastics have revolutionised fishing for me. I'm firmly on the side of plastics. I never, ever if fishing by myself take any bait at all. The only time I take bait is if I know the person/people I'm fishing with will want it - even then I rarely use it, perhaps a whole squid now and then if conditions and location is right. But... now I've discovered gulp squid so that puts and end to the need to buy frozen squid I guess

I just love fishing with lures and I find a fish is 100 times more satisfying to catch knowing you've presented an artificial in the right way, at the right time, in the right location and caught your prey. Sure, it takes many trips to sort a location out and find the answers to the questions that lead to catching fish in that location, but that's what makes it so satisfying

Angling is an art - and an art worth your learning...

And besides, being a tackle rat - there's nothing better than walking the isles looking at all those plastics!!

Then theres the fact that by buying bait you're supporting the commercial fisherman, which many people would love to see banned from places like the hawksebury.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you use hawkesbury prawns to catch your fish, you can't whinge about commercial fisherman taking them from the river.... can you ???

Then of course, when I get home I don't stink of bait, the boat doesn't stink and things are a lot easier to clean up. I do however come home covered in little bits of glitter and stuff - I'm sure the Mrs must look at me and say what the hell has he been doing to get covered in all that girly glitter....

Anyway, there you go. It's not often I have my two cents but I'm feeling in the mood today, so there you have it.

Cheers

David.

[Davemmm]

just love fishing with lures and I find a fish is 100 times more satisfying to catch knowing you've presented an artificial in the right way, at the right time, in the right location and caught your prey

I get enormous satisfaction from spending time catching, keeping and preparing bait. Whether it be poddies, nippers, squid etc it doesnt matter.

Spending the morning with the kids turning rocks over digging out green nippers from the mud is more enjoyable (to some) than shopping.

I guess this is going to end up like a Rolling Stones v Beatles thing...... each to their own.

[mrmoshe]

SP's win hands down for me over bait. They catch fish of better quality and size and also don't attract the pickers.

Pete, did Kingy "chop and change" his plastics? Use different colours, profiles and types and techniques etc?

Did he use an SP that was an imitation for a whitebait? Did he use Gulp?

Anyway and I'm sure either way it was good to be out casting a line.

BTW, I still use bait on the odd occasion.

cheers

Hooky

Yeah Hooky, he changed sp's a few times and covered a fair bit of territory and I stayed

where I was with whitebait.

It probably wasn't a very scientific test of bait vs SP's but interesting anyway.

I think everyone has their preference and i'm sure SP's are the gun, especially for flatties and I don't

want this to be an "us versus them" debate, as they both have the runs on the board.

It was just a challenge between the two of us us to see who could catch the most fish in a friendly session.

Anyway, enough of this topic, unless anyone else wants to wade in.

Cheers,

Pete.

[namesay]

I think I have the best of both worlds. I use artificials to catch bait which catches the fish!! Yozuris for squid, bait jigs for yakkas/slimies then these go on for kings.... do a bit of each. By the way it really pisses you off with kings when they are chopping up on the surface and refusing every lure chucked at them..where are the live squid when you need them. CHeers Kelvin

[Guest danielinbyron]

i like 6inch plastics for the jew because they keep the bream off ..

tailor stuff em up pretty quick but..

they eliminate bycatch of dogshark and wobbly carpets.

i almost never buy bait... except locally caught worms ..

commercial bait catching can be incredibly destructive stuff.

on the odd occasion i drop into the fish shop and buy a couple of fresh squid ..

ever noticed its the same price as the frozen unfit for consumption crap.

[sk.]

I fished with a few mates at Patonga, me on sp's he using live prawns and poddies. The sp's won that time

However other times in exact spot shit old servo prawns have outfished sp's. Yes the same sp's by same user that outfished the livies

[orangeguy]

When you guys fish with bait like whitebait, do you just cast out and leaving it sitting there or do you twitch it every now and then like a SP?

[mrmoshe]

When you guys fish with bait like whitebait, do you just cast out and leaving it sitting there or do you twitch it every now and then like a SP?

Personally, I twitch it a lot and keep the bait on the move.

Flatties just love to nail a moving bait as well as big bream.

I usually let it settle for about 30 seconds before any twitch/slow retrieve, just to

let the fish mill around the bait. It seems to work nearly every time for me.

Cheers,

Pete.

Edited November 21, 2006 by MallacootaPete

[kbark]

Hi Pete,

I'm guessing that it wasn't an entirely fair test. If you were fishing your usual spot, then bait would probably be the way to go (ie. no structure & schools of bream cruising around). But if you moved to the flats nearby where the flatties lie in numbers then I'd say sps would pull more and more quickly. I landed 6 in 30 minutes the other week on sps. Maybe we go toe to toe one day this summer? And we each get to choose a location

Kit

[mrmoshe]

Hi Pete,

I'm guessing that it wasn't an entirely fair test. If you were fishing your usual spot, then bait would probably be the way to go (ie. no structure & schools of bream cruising around). But if you moved to the flats nearby where the flatties lie in numbers then I'd say sps would pull more and more quickly. I landed 6 in 30 minutes the other week on sps. Maybe we go toe to toe one day this summer? And we each get to choose a location

Kit

Hi Kit. You are right in that it wasn't very a very fair test as I knew there were fish where I chose

and the flats almost always produce flatties.

SP's sure work well on the flats as I've seen others haul 'em in constantly.

I'm up for another test this summer at each's chosen location.

Hey, do I hear a FR social in the making LOL

Pete.

[kbark]

"I'm up for another test this summer at each's chosen location.

Hey, do I hear a FR social in the making LOL

Pete."

Ok...I'm willing to be beaten we'll have to make it happen.

Kit

Edited November 22, 2006 by kbark

[abitfishy]

I think it all depends on species, type of SP, type of bait, location, technique etc.

For instance, if I chucked out a bit of bait and sat it on the bottom, in an area known to catch flatties, yet I also flicked some pumpkinseed minnows around, I pretty much know the plastics are going to win.

[Steve Mc]

I have caught many more flatties on SP's but bream .....that is a different story. No luck on bream (well I will say luck, it is probably more likely technique but I would hate to admit that!).

[Guest DV8]

I reckon the truth is that no noe method is better than tha other. It really just depends on the day. Some days one will out fish the other. My most memorable moment in being outfished was by a lady at narrabeen bridge afew years ago. I had 3 set handlines out with live poddies whilst i worked a soft plastic over a know sand bar. To my amazment I watched the lady bring in a flattie that would have gone nearly 20 kg. She was using bread for bait. THATS FISHING!!

Davo