hustler57 Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 Can some on please help me when it comes to soft plastics ? ive always fished with the basic prawns and pillies and worms but Im really keen to try soft plastics... now I wouldn't know 1 soft plastic from the next so can you please give an old dog like myself some basic run downs on how to rig them up and which ones to use and how ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 To know where to start, it would help if you told us what your intended target species Is? Fishing with soft plastics is a very active way of angling. Some species require a lot of thought and practise, and others are just cast and retrieve! cheers scratchie!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler57 Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Mainly got my eyes on whitting , bream and snapper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 (edited) Hi Hustler57, SP are a joy to use with the right gear. Most people I see that are struggling when starting out are using their old fibreglass rods with mono (feels very spongy & reduced casting distance). Where I like to start people is with a 7 to 7.5 foot 2-4kg graphite rod with short butt and a 1500 to 2500 reel and a 4lb or skinny 6lb braid and an 8lb leader. The stiffness of the graphite rod and the lack of stretch in the braid makes the difference in that you can respond to what is happening at the working end of the line. I can make some suggestions on rods and reels if you do not have quite the right gear yet. I'll just need a budget to work with. You can use ultralight (1/16, 1/20 and lighter) jig heads but it is not the place where I recommend starting. It will help your catch rate but is also far more likely to result in birds nests when starting out. If I had to drop my plastics down to almost nothing I'd be starting with grubs in either 2" or 2.5" and 3" minnows. The jig head weights I use will vary between 1/8oz to 1/4oz depending on what I am chasing. Once you have the gear it opens up your fishing to slices, blades, jigs. Out of curiosity, which part of Sydney are you in? Some of this stuff is easier to show than explain in text. I'm based on the lower north shore. Regards, Derek Edited June 1, 2020 by DerekD 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 There is no one answer, its research research & more research, then trial & error. https://www.shimanofish.com.au/content/fish/oceania/au/en/homepage/articles/how-to-rig-your-soft-plastics-right.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthman Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 2 hours ago, DerekD said: Hi Hustler57, SP are a joy to use with the right gear. Most people I see that are struggling when starting out are using their old fibreglass rods with mono. Where I like to start people is with a 2-4kg graphite rod and a 1500 to 2500 reel and a 4lb or skinny 6lb braid and an 8lb leader. The stiffness of the graphite rod and the lack of stretch in the braid makes the difference in that you can respond to what is happening at the working end of the line. I can make some suggestions on rods and reels if you do not have quite the right gear yet. I'll just need a budget to work with. You can use ultralight (1/16, 1/20 and lighter) jig heads but it is not the place where I recommend starting. It will help your catch rate but is also far more likely to result in birds nests when starting out. If I had to drop my plastics down to almost nothing I'd be starting with grubs in either 2" or 2.5" and 3" minnows. The jig head weights I use will vary between 1/8oz to 1/4oz depending on what I am chasing. Once you have the gear it opens up your fishing to slices, blades, jigs. Out of curiosity, which part of Sydney are you in? Some of this stuff is easier to show than explain in text. I'm based on the lower north shore. Regards, Derek @DerekD is a wealth of knowledge and will get you started in your first fish caught on a SP (probably a flathead!), if you are in the vicinity. At the end of the day pretty much all beginners are likely to catch their first fish on a SP (likely a minnow or curly grub on a 1/8oz to 1/4oz jighead) and it will likely be flathead or bream and it'll likely be with a 7' 2-4kg graphite rod that most fishos are likely to have in their arsenal (or should if they don't already!). There should almost be a forced path for learning SPs modelled on the above to streamline the gear and target selection. I say the above because its probably the most reliably productive way to catch a fish on a plastic and we all know that tipping point once you catch your first fish on a SP, that you become a believer and it pretty much takes a life of its own from there (an expensive one at that). Then you can also expand your horizons - e.g. whiting on surface lures, kingies on slapstix, tailor on metals, finesse presentation of SPs, luderick on weed flies, snapper on 5" minnows etc.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pafisho08 Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 HI Hustler Check out the web site of Tackle tactics .com as a ton of info on there to help you . Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler57 Posted May 29, 2020 Author Share Posted May 29, 2020 Thankyou for the help I am in south west Sydney. Will be spennind the weekend watching all the clips and reading about soft plastics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 On 5/29/2020 at 9:00 PM, hustler57 said: Will be spennind the weekend watching all the clips and reading about soft plastics Hi Hustler, How did the research go over the weekend? Any follow up questions? Regards, Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler57 Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 Hey Derek I honestly sat down to start watching clips about them and reading about them and got side tracked with my kids and my business. I will get around to finding out more about it all as soon as I can get a break from my kids and clients 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) 16 hours ago, hustler57 said: I will get around to finding out more about it all as soon as I can get a break from my kids and clients So I'm guessing in about 25 years: once the kids have moved out and in and out of home a few times as they discover the real world is a little harder than expected (oh and buying a place in Sydney requires a Powerball win so it takes 10 to 15 years to save up a mortgage while still living at home). You have sold the business and retired and done the obligatory caravan trip around Australia. Edited June 4, 2020 by DerekD 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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