Soft Plastics - Help Wanted

[t3zza]

Hi all,

This would be my 3rd outing trying to land a fish on soft plastics and also the 3rd outing without so much as a bite so I've come to you for help.

I've been having a number of difficulties and also had questions regarding braid and jig head sizes.

Just for a bit of background the 1st outing was to the Cpt Cook Bridge in the middle of winter, not much was caught on anything that day; only saw 2 trevalley caught for the whole day by a man down from us as well as my friend on a whole pilchard.

2nd outing was at Fitzpatrick Park, Picnic Point as well as Lambeth Park about a month ago and that was on a rainy day following that week of rain we had.

Went back to Fitzpatrick Park again today and encountered the same problems I had on the 2nd occasion. Now for those of you who may be familiar to this area or I suppose the Georges River in general do you think a 3 gram jig head is too light? I couldn't really tell if the jig head was reaching the bottom because it was being carried in the current as well as a problem I was having with the braid.

I found I was cast into the river and the current would carry it until any slack line was gone and my line was pretty much being pulled to the right. I figured that this wasn't heavy enough and I didn't have any heavier jig heads on me so I thought I'd make do and put a sinker (slightly smaller than a 5c coin) just above the jig head and even then it didnt feel as though it hit the bottom. I'll probably be heading out to buy some heavier heads but I'm also finding that the heavier you go the hook size increases and they seem a bit big for plastics like the 2" Shrimp/Minnow Grub. Is there a better solution for this or should I just resort to the 3" varieties.

Also, I think I may be having problems with braid as I can only seem to cast the 3gr jig head about 5-10M which isn't all that far considering I'm landbased. Would I be right in saying that's a fairly short cast or is that to be expected because of the light weight. I found that using the sinker would improve my distance by another 5M or so but I thought the added weight might snap my rod upon casting so I opted to sort of swing a cast from my side as opposed to over my shoulder. The lure weight for the rod says 4-10G and perhaps it can handle it but I'm still about wary considering how fragile graphite rods supposedly are.

For those of you that are still reading I also seemed to be having a problem with the braid on my reel (6LB Stren Microfuse and a 1500 Rovex Duren). I didn't think there were any problems after spooling it; I did so with the spool in a bucket of water and a cloth in my hand for tension when winding it on but I found that when I was casting the 3gr jig head there was a lot of slack line upon casting. That and the line was sort of coiling off the spool rather slowly and erratically and that the coils continued through to the guides. They weren't so bad to the point where I was concerned it may knot but it definitely seemed like a problem as when I went to wind in the slack it was going onto the spool a bit loose. It didn't affect the subsequent casts and the line would eventually straighten when the current picked it up but as soon as I lifted it the coils/kinks returned and I'd be winding more loose line onto the spool. Is this something to be expected with braid or have I spooled incorrectly or possibly received a dud batch? I tried taking a photo to show how bad it was but didn't really come out well.

As far as the location goes there isn't much in the way of structure to cast to besides moored boats and I'd rather avoid them for the time being in case I damage someone's property. The plastics I tried using were the Gulp 2" Shrimp Banana Prawn & Cocktail Prawn, 6" Sandworm cut in half, 4" Minnow Nuclear Chicken and the 3" Minnow Grub Pumpkinseed. Retrieves tried were Lift and drop, double twitch and wait, Slow roll but it seemed a bit pointless considering I didn't think I was reaching the bottom anyway.

Once again thanks for the help, hopefully I'll get it right sooner or later!

Edited September 28, 2011 by t3zza

[cjchen]

hi, hope I can share some of my experience.

you should be matching the weight of jigheads to the specs for the rod,so you can flick it. not really cast it like when you are fishing with bait.

5-10m sounds about right for 3g, i fish of a kayak.

light soft plastics landbased im not sure but depending on how deep your area is.

3g is for 5-6m depth or less.

if you are going for flatheads you can increase the weight but as you go heavier the bream will be less likely to bite.

Edited September 28, 2011 by cjchen

[martoiscool]

Hey mate sounding like ur havin some probs!!!

First point: mate take your outfit down to a nearby beach or sand flat where you can practice casting over and over. Dont worry about trying to catch anything just practice. You should be able to cast way further than what you have stated. It could be to do with ur braid but I have never personally used the stuff you are.

Second point: catching fish on plastics can take time!! I just moved away from the Sydney area and a few land based areas I could suggest are; any of the jetties in the port hacking. The big sand flat at mainbar that Is exposed at low tide. You can walk the edge of this an cast into the chanel for flatties. In my opinion these are the easiest fish to catch when learning to use plastics.

You can use jig heads a little bigger for your rod recommendation, I do and it doesn't seem to hurt it. All my rids are graphite and I punish them fairly hard and haven't snapped one yet.

The plastics you have mentioned are fine. Try some paddle tail style plastics as these require the least input from you to attract fish. Just a simple lift and wind. Usually when using a bigger jig head I up the plastic size.

Mate this post could go on for years!! I hope I have been some help. If you would like to know more PM me. Good luck!!!!

[clemsy]

Actually I've noticed a lot of anglers trying to get bream on SPs, but funnily enough after my first trevally on SPs, I find myself trying to catch it. It seems so elusive, do you guys have any tips on trevally? Or is it just right place, right time?

[cjchen]

hey

i've caught so much trevally my family is sick of eating it.

just wait for a run out in the morning at botany bay, make a good big block of frozen burley, cut 2 holes in a+_+_) shopping fabric bag.

cast sp into the burley trail... hehe