Trolling soft plastics weedless rigging

[Guest Guest123456789]

Does anyone troll weedless soft plastics for flatties? How do you do it and how well does it work? What weight jig head? What type of jig head? Do you buy the specialised weedless jigjeads or do you have a nifty trick that saves money and is simpler?

cheers,

luke

[savit]

I do not do trolling as I am land based, however casting&slow dragging the SP lure - works for me as well. I get most bites from flatheads when lure maintains the contact with bottom i.e the weight has to be near the lure. I got most weedless (unweighted) jigs from BCF/Rays - $1.5 or $2 for the Mustad 5-7 jig pack on their regular clearances. In real snaggy areas or if I do not have appropriate jig size  - I just use non-offset long shank hooks  and SP locks/springs(a few $ for 50/100 from ebay) on a SP lure. Long shank hook is rigged in a SP at an angle with a  slightly burried hook point.  For the weight -  a ball or a bullet sinker on leader near the rigged SP lure, or a split shot directly on a hook if the lure is small. Weight size can be easy and quickly adjusted to suit the changing conditions without full SP re-rigging. Same DIY idea works with non-weedless SP rigs  when long shank hook point is not burried in the SP body. While the rig cost is rather cheap, the fish does not mind at all.

savit. 

[Guest Guest123456789]

6 hours ago, savit said:

I do not do trolling as I am land based, however casting&slow dragging the SP lure - works for me as well. I get most bites from flatheads when lure maintains the contact with bottom i.e the weight has to be near the lure. I got most weedless (unweighted) jigs from BCF/Rays - $1.5 or $2 for the Mustad 5-7 jig pack on their regular clearances. In real snaggy areas or if I do not have appropriate jig size  - I just use non-offset long shank hooks  and SP locks/springs(a few $ for 50/100 from ebay) on a SP lure. Long shank hook is rigged in a SP at an angle with a  slightly burried hook point.  For the weight -  a ball or a bullet sinker on leader near the rigged SP lure, or a split shot directly on a hook if the lure is small. Weight size can be easy and quickly adjusted to suit the changing conditions without full SP re-rigging. Same DIY idea works with non-weedless SP rigs  when long shank hook point is not burried in the SP body. While the rig cost is rather cheap, the fish does not mind at all.

savit. 

Thanks Savit, that helps out.

 

what's  a non offset long shank hook? Do you have a photo at all of your rig? 

 

Have you ever tried a Carolina rig?

[savit]

Non offset = inline hook (sorry for my English). The picture with extreme inline/offset hooks example  is attached. Long shank hook design is commonly used for whiting fishing or for gangs.

As offset hooks are bent to the side - it is just more dificult to rig them through the middle of SP comparing to inline hooks. Unless hook is made of carbon or similar alloy  - it is easy to make an inline hook from offset hook with a pair of pliers.  

I will send rig photos later once I get to those lures.

I tried Carolina rig, however I do not use it for flathead as:

- I get more flathead bites when the weight is near the lure, so I presume flathead is more attracted by bouncing/dragging lure noise on the bottom rather than 'natural' swimming of the unweighted SP in a Carolina rig.  

-I loose some casting distance due to casting 2 separate weights (SP and sinker of Carolina rig) on the same line.  Though casting is not required for trolling, I presume trolling near/at the bottom of 2 separate weights might increase 2x chances to get snagged.