When does a fish usually take a metal vibe

[nutsaboutfishing]

Just wondering when does a fish normal take a metal vibe (blade?) With SP it’s generally on the drop, but metal vibes drop much faster, so do fish usually take them then while they’re dropping or when their on the floor, particularly thinking of bream.

i would guess with bream they’d take them on the bottom coz I know they’re a bit picky and shy away from SP if they’re falling too fast, so why they take a would they take a rapidly falling piece of metal. 
Am I right??

i haven’t much success with vibes and want to them a good go. Any other tips also welcome!

 Cheers

 Richard

Edited July 14, 2021 by nutsaboutfishing

[DerekD]

I've done really well on the Ecogear ZX 30/35/40/43 series. The problem I've had with the traditional vibes is that the trebles are very snaggy and as I am fishing light gear it can sometimes get expensive. The ZX series does away with the trebles and uses two small but very strong assist hooks. I've landed quite a few different species on it including, flathead, bream, whiting, tarwhine, squid, peacock(red) gurnard, salmon, trevalley and even a kingfish. I like the 40 and now the 43 for the casting distance.

Most of the time I bounce these along the bottom although I have had fish take them on the drop through the water column as well as when bringing them to the surface. These things can vibrate so aggressively that they are probably the equivalent of shouting underwater. Some people talk about using a slow roll or wind but I don't like this as you can't tell how far or quickly you are moving off the bottom hence the bouncing. The way I fish them is to cast as far as I can and look for the sag as it hits the bottom (I don't fish them in areas I know to be really snaggy). Wind the slack up and smoothly pull it to get it vibrating 3 or 4 times, pause briefly, then get it to vibrate another 3 or 4 times and then let it find the bottom. I want to cover ground slowly and give fish the time to make the decision to hit it. As the hooks are trailing that is an easy point for the fish to hit.

[Green Hornet]

Like Derek, I'm a fan of the Ecogear blades. I fish them in St Georges Basin which is a sand/silt bottom so the trebles on the VX range is not a problem for me.

Most species of fish tend to pick them up on the pause when the lure is laying on the bottom. The exception is tailor and they'll hit them on the hop or fall.

Blades tend to hook a lot of fish outside the mouth, particularly around the chin, which indicates to me that the fish is inquisitively hovering over the blade resting on the bottom and is hooked when you go to hop the lure. Hence my preference to work it back with quick, short hops rather than a long sweeping lift.

Whether you use trebles or assists, if you keep the hooks razor sharp you'll greatly increase your chances of hooking these lookers around the hard cheek area.

 

[savit]

Blades used to be my #1 lures before I moved mostly to SP. 

Bites. Same as said above - most of bites were when lure was resting on the bottom, so used mostly small hops. Sometimes added a bit of Xfactor. Usual catch - flathead, sometimes bream, trevally, whiting.

Price. Fishing (particularly for common (near)estuary species) can be usually as cheap or expensive as you want. My best performers were $2-3 blades from E bay. I used quality hooks though. Every blade has 2-3 holes to correct the action.

Snags. Remove rings and trebles, add doubles with hooks pointing toward tail. Hookup rates similar to trebles.  Catches snags usually only during a strong side current.

Usage. I found hookup is more reliable with SP single hook than with blades, therefore now I use blades mostly only if Aussie SP piranhas (LJs) are around.

[nutsaboutfishing]

16 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

Like Derek, I'm a fan of the Ecogear blades. I fish them in St Georges Basin which is a sand/silt bottom so the trebles on the VX range is not a problem for me.

Most species of fish tend to pick them up on the pause when the lure is laying on the bottom. The exception is tailor and they'll hit them on the hop or fall.

Blades tend to hook a lot of fish outside the mouth, particularly around the chin, which indicates to me that the fish is inquisitively hovering over the blade resting on the bottom and is hooked when you go to hop the lure. Hence my preference to work it back with quick, short hops rather than a long sweeping lift.

Whether you use trebles or assists, if you keep the hooks razor sharp you'll greatly increase your chances of hooking these lookers around the hard cheek area.

 

 

31 minutes ago, savit said:

Blades used to be my #1 lures before I moved mostly to SP. 

Bites. Same as said above - most of bites were when lure was resting on the bottom, so used mostly small hops. Sometimes added a bit of Xfactor. Usual catch - flathead, sometimes bream, trevally, whiting.

Price. Fishing (particularly for common (near)estuary species) can be usually as cheap or expensive as you want. My best performers were $2-3 blades from E bay. I used quality hooks though. Every blade has 2-3 holes to correct the action.

Snags. Remove rings and trebles, add doubles with hooks pointing toward tail. Hookup rates similar to trebles.  Catches snags usually only during a strong side current.

Usage. I found hookup is more reliable with SP single hook than with blades, therefore now I use blades mostly only if Aussie SP piranhas (LJs) are around.

So small hops and dead sticking. Thanks  guys!