Why bother rigging soft plastics straight??

[DerekD]

There are a few topics on Fishraider which often trigger rather opposing views. Rigging plastics straight is one of those. For those I mentor I will keep hammering home the little details relating to the gear, casting and working lures. Part of my philosophy is that it is almost as easy to learn good habits as it is to learn bad habits so put that little bit of extra effort in to get the optimal result.

A long while back I worked out a way of creating a subsurface walk the dog with certain plastics and squid jigs and my catch rates went up – especially for the pelagic fish such as salmon and kings. I thought about it and over time realised why it was so effective. I then taught others and the catch rate of everyone who really took the time to learn it and use it went up too. Most of the time I use it with 3 inch minnows but the technique scaled up to 4 inch minnows and 6 inch and 9 inch slapstix. I did have to up the rod size for the larger plastics but the principal was the same.

When I teach I go into the psychological/mental aspects of fishing and argue that on a basic level a fishes' reaction is very similar to a human. If I hobble past you you’ll probably come to the conclusion that I’m injured and probably an easier target – an injured fish would also be an easier target. If I put a freshly made burger in front of you and you are slightly peckish there is a good chance you’ll eat it even if it is not breakfast or lunchtime – the easy meal. If I walked past you and punched you on the shoulder hard enough for you to feel it you might let that first one go but I wouldn’t get away with many more before you hit back – think about the reactive bite of say a Murray cod as someone keeps dropping a lure on its head. The animal world is good at sensing weaknesses, finding the easy meal, can be territorial. Each one of those tendencies can be the Achilles heel if you know where or when to exploit it. My favourite one is using the chase against them. Think about the high five game – I move my hand each time you try to slap down. The more you can’t get it the harder and faster you try till I make a mistake and leave it sitting there for too long. SLAP!! In this case the pause is what made the difference and it also works on fish.

I want you to think about any documentary about schools of baitfish being harassed by predatory fish. Do you notice how they twist and turn and separate and join back together in formation to fool the predator. Now think about the defence mechanism of a single fish broken out from that school. Watch them dart from side to side to evade the predator. Over time the predatory fish will also recognise this movement and focus on it. This is what we are doing with the minnow type lure – we are raising a flag to get their attention. I am a huge fan of the minnow type lures as they are effective, they replicate the baitfish and are very versatile as they can be worked through the full water column. The TT bullet jighead is a big key to this retrieve and while I prefer Berkley 3” minnows I can get this action with most minnow type soft plastics. You will have to work out the retrieve for yourself but the slack between the flicks of the rod tip is the key – essentially we are creating an over correction each time we get the plastic darting.

Both the following videos have been slowed down to half speed. We would also be fishing the lure slightly more sub-surface so it doesn't pop out of the water but it makes it very difficult to video properly with the current water clarity. We also haven't put the pause in which makes it so effective as we wanted to show how well these lures can move when rigged poorly or properly.

This is a poorly rigged minnow with a slight bend in it. The plastic will have a bias to swim to one side and looks less natural in the water. This also swims unnaturally when we pause due to the way it twists.

https://youtu.be/AgD9OS4FiOQ

This is how well a properly rigged minnow type soft plastics can swim. To be clear - the ability to get the plastics moving like this is why I keep hammering home to anyone I mentor why you should rig a soft plastic straight. Doesn't cost me much more effort but the positive difference in the way it swims is easy to see.

https://youtu.be/WjGS6SjfDUs

Which one of those two plastics looks more realistic in the water. I believe fish have and rely on their instincts so if it doesn't look right it will probably reduce your chances of catching them. I've hooked enough pelagics over the years using these lures and the retrieve while others alongside me are not that I have confidence that it works. It is not to say that you can’t catch fish on a poorly rigged plastic – you can and will. For some plastics (like the grubs) it is less critical but you would be surprised at how well you can get a lot of the plastics moving if you take the time to rig them well. The choice is yours.

PS: A video of a fish bait ball in the wild being splintered apart so the fish become an easier target.

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by DerekD

[Gengar]

Mate thanks for sharing your experience! Your sub surface work the dog is part of my retrieve arsenal! Yet to catch a kingie (my fault as I haven't been able to get out much last few months). If weather holds up I might go for an early morning fish! See you soon!

[Fisherlady]

Hi Derek

Thank you for taking the time to post. Share your philosophy that you might as well do things the best you can.

Absolute fishing beginner here, and I will be looking to have my first try at lure fishing soon. I will be sure to look see if you have any instructional threads for your techniques to study before I have a crack at setting up my rod. Currently don't have the foggiest idea. 😄

Cheers

FL

[DerekD]

5 minutes ago, Fisherlady said:

Hi Derek

Thank you for taking the time to post. Share your philosophy that you might as well do things the best you can.

Absolute fishing beginner here, and I will be looking to have my first try at lure fishing soon. I will be sure to look see if you have any instructional threads for your techniques to study before I have a crack at setting up my rod. Currently don't have the foggiest idea. 😄

Cheers

FL

Hi FL.

Feel free to reach out. If you and your hubby can make it down to Sydney for the day then we can give you an introduction to lure fishing. We cover the gear, the casting, various retrieves.

Usually these are a pretty long day but it will short cut the learning process by years in most cases.

Regards,

Derek

[Fisherlady]

1 hour ago, DerekD said:

Hi FL.

Feel free to reach out. If you and your hubby can make it down to Sydney for the day then we can give you an introduction to lure fishing. We cover the gear, the casting, various retrieves.

Usually these are a pretty long day but it will short cut the learning process by years in most cases.

Regards,

Derek

Thank you Derek. 🙂

Keith and I live in separate locations (all is well, but it's complicated due to our children's requirements). Keith is at Ryde. Since discovering in January that I love fishing, we have been fishing at Narrabeen, either wading in the Lake out front of the Caravan Park, near the mouth, off Narrabeen beach, or at the Marine Park. We've only been able to go about half a dozen or so times since then, but we make the most of it when we can.

We would be more than willing to venture to other places to meet up with others. 

Would I be off-track if I were to guess you run some kind of fishing skill type business venture?

The second week of the school holidays could be a winner if something can be worked out for then. We have to work in fishing around the kids, so we are not able to be as flexible as we would like. That said, a long day won't be a problem as some of our tribe will not be with us then. 

FL

 

 

[DerekD]

57 minutes ago, Fisherlady said:

Would I be off-track if I were to guess you run some kind of fishing skill type business venture?

Slightly off track. Call it paying the favour forward. I've been fishing since I was a kid and it has bought a lot of joy into my life over the years. It is the people I've met. The places I've gone to (I get to interact with nature and find places I wouldn't under normal circumstances). Putting fish on someones table (I don't eat fish). The lottery aspect of it - fishing for a flathead and then hooking a king. Over the decades people have taken the time to help me grow my various fishing skill sets. I've refined or worked a lot of it out myself but if they hadn't helped me with a new aspect of fishing I wouldn't have half the skills I do now. It would be poor thanks to those people if I don't pass the experience on to others.

I see someone like yourself with a great attitude but little experience and believe that with a bit of guidance we can increase your skills dramatically. The best part is that down the track you'll help others and make a positive difference to their lives.

Can discuss the school holidays (late April??) pver the next few weeks. Try not to invest in too much gear before you head out with me as what you think you might need will probably not be what I'd recommend.

PS. Try not to blame me too much for any gear you decide to add to the collection after heading out with me.

Edited March 27, 2022 by DerekD

[Fisherlady]

Would absolutely love to meet you Derek. 🙂 I'm grateful that you reached out. You are correct that if I were to develop some skills worth sharing, that I will be very happy to do so. Moreover, I would want to make sure I did so.

Had a little chuckle when reading that you don't eat fish. 😁 Seems a bit ironic, but I am learning that this is not uncommon amongst Anglers. Most of my life I have been the opposite. A person that does not catch fish, but who eats them. 

The School holidays are 11 - 25 April. We are planning on taking the kids camping during the first week, but have a relatively child-free week in the second week. We also have some time on alternate weekends as a rule.

Given that in January we had a horde of children who all wanted to fish at the same time, we already own a bunch of regular fishing rods around the 6-7 ft mark, and two beach rods already. Some are starter packs to get the kids out there with a line in the water, but from what I understand, overall our gear is of reasonable quality. Not top of the line, not bottom either. The only gear we are likely to add in the next little while is a pack of 1/0 hooks and a few lures for our weekend away.

I will totally blame you if you entice me into coveting more fishing gear.  I have my eyes on a bigger prize though.. I want a tinny to whiz around the lake in so I can be on the water, not in it. Winter is coming and my circulation is not getting any better with age. 😁

Both of our beach rods are 12ft long and from the Ugly Stik Gold range. There is a difference at the tip, one is heavier duty than the other. I know one is medium, but can't remember if the other one is "light" or "heavy". I'm leaning toward Heavy, but I really can't say for sure. Keith's reel is one he has had for a long time and still in good condition. He is very particular about caring for the gear which I think is great. I have the empty box for my reel at hand. It is a Penn Spinfisher VI SSVI7500LC. 

I will look forward to fronting up for roll call with my gear in tow and ready for inspection prior to class. 😂

Mr Fisherlady has fishing experience under his belt, and may be less malleable, but we can work on that. Even an old dog can learn a new trick or two. 😉 

[DerekD]

Hmmmm..... Good news is that you will have an excuse to buy some more fishing gear. Depending on what the 7 foot rods are most of what you have won't be suitable for lure fishing. Bad news is your bank balance will take a hit but it is only the kids inheritance that you are spending and in a way they will be getting more out of it now.

Trying to cast and work a lure with a 12 foot rod is not something I'd like to be doing. The gear you will be learning with are graphite rods and braided lines. I have all the gear. I own several outfits including gear I use to teach people and while relatively inexpensive compared to what is out there it is all gear I'd happily recommend to others.

[DerekD]

Hi FL,

This is the opening report from one of the people I mentored last year during lockdown and we still fish together.

 

[Rebel]

Super Info.again Derek.

Thank You.

[Fisherlady]

11 hours ago, DerekD said:

Trying to cast and work a lure with a 12 foot rod is not something I'd like to be doing. The gear you will be learning with are graphite rods and braided lines. 

The hmmmm at the start of your post sounds ominously like my wallet may end up leaking more money on fishing gear.

The 12 foot rods were purchased to use at the beach, and we mostly use beach worms or bait fish with these.

I think a couple of the smaller rods may be graphite rods, and I know one of them has braided line on it. Maybe it's not all bad... 🤞

[Little_Flatty]

@Fisherlady maybe a picture of the outfits (particularly of the reel and the writing just ahead of the foregrip on the rod) will help us to know what you are working with. The text should say something about the line rating (in kg or lb) and/or cast weight.

[Fisherlady]

@Little_Flatty

Just got some details from Mr Fisherman...

We have the following: (plus some others for the kids)

Shimano Quick fire 702 Snapper Spin 4-8kg with Shimano Sienna 4000 reel. (Mine)

Shimano Eclipse Lumo 662 spin line weight 2-4kg (Purchased for Master 13 to use, but I use it too)

Ugly Stik gold 6ft SP60A2 4-8kg Made in USA with a Penn Captiva CV 6000 reel (Mr Fisherman's)

Ugly Stik GX2 rod with Shakespeare reel GX230 (Mr Fisherman's)

 

[DerekD]

@Fisherlady

I can see a few more outfits in your future.... Specifically 2-4kg range.

When we catch up bring the outfits mentioned above with you and we can show you what we can do with them and where you might be a bit limited. I'm familiar with the Quickfire and have been impressed by the bang for buck.

As said before do not buy anything more (unless you really need it for a specific reason) at this stage till you understand the why for each of the outfits.

[Fisherlady]

12 hours ago, DerekD said:

@Fisherlady

As said before do not buy anything more (unless you really need it for a specific reason) at this stage till you understand the why for each of the outfits.

@big Neil Rodger dodger. Don't see us buying anything else in the near future. 

[Xuanhong2]

Hey, so for plastics how would you recommend to rig it? As you said "if it doesn't look right, it will probably reduce the chances of them biting". Would "poorly" rigging the minnow look more natural?

[DerekD]

6 hours ago, Xuanhong2 said:

Hey, so for plastics how would you recommend to rig it? As you said "if it doesn't look right, it will probably reduce the chances of them biting". Would "poorly" rigging the minnow look more natural?

Very good question. I use a hard body lure called an OSP bent minnow and the movement is very much a dying baitfish as per the video below. Very effective on top water when pauses are thrown in.

With a plastic you generally need a jig head which will force the plastic to sink (wormhooks are an exception to this) so it is a little harder to hold in the water column.

My big thrill is chasing the pelagics on bream gear in the summer when the baitfish schools are around so I recommend rigging the minnow type (match the hatch) lures as straight as possible. The spinning of the plastic in the "poorly rigged video" to me doesn't look right. With the well rigged plastic we can get that darting from side to side which I believe catches the attention of the predators and fires them up to chase. Furthermore, the more they can't catch it the more they want it. Throwing in the pause gives them the chance to hit it which they will often do. For the people I taught that retrieve to the majority of the hits were on that deliberate pause. Our hook up rates on pelagics went up dramatically when we rigged the plastics as straight as we could and then switched to that darting retrieve.

Be interesting to try side by side with someone fishing a straight rigged minnow against a poorly rig minnow.

Edited May 31, 2022 by DerekD

[DrRaymondSnapper]

Gave your youtube videos their first " thumbs up ". Congratulations , you are now an influencer [ lol ]. Next comes monetizing DerekD

[Ganguddy Goodoo]

On 3/26/2022 at 9:25 PM, DerekD said:

There are a few topics on Fishraider which often trigger rather opposing views. Rigging plastics straight is one of those. For those I mentor I will keep hammering home the little details relating to the gear, casting and working lures. Part of my philosophy is that it is almost as easy to learn good habits as it is to learn bad habits so put that little bit of extra effort in to get the optimal result.

 

Super useful Derek and for me a good catalyst to get me to think more about what I'm doing more. Do you reckon getting the rigging straight is equally important for different types of SPs? eg does it matter as much for say a curl tail grub as it would for a minnow or paddle tail style?

[Hoods]

Another comprehensive Lesson Mr. DerekD. Thank you very much.

So much valuable information so freely give. I would like to nominate you for a "Rare" category on Fishraider because that it what you are sharing with us.

Hoodz.

[DerekD]

7 hours ago, Ganguddy Goodoo said:

Super useful Derek and for me a good catalyst to get me to think more about what I'm doing more. Do you reckon getting the rigging straight is equally important for different types of SPs? eg does it matter as much for say a curl tail grub as it would for a minnow or paddle tail style?

Hi GG.

With this retrieve I can get the Nemesis plastics (wriggle tail) darting from left to right when rigged straight. The built in drag of the paddle tail on the other hand makes it really hard to get this darting action.

I think it is less critical to rig some of the others types of plastics straight but if it only takes me 10 seconds longer to rig them straight I'll put the effort in to do so. Once you've rigged them also take a little bit of time to see how they swim. If you can get access to a swimming pool or somewhere there is super clear water it is a great way to see the differences in behaviour of the final rigged lure. When mentoring people I will take the time to show how different lures behave as part of the learning process. I want people to imagine what the lures look like when seen by a fish.

Came across a couple of underwater videos showing fish reacting to different lures which has been interesting viewing.

 

[Ganguddy Goodoo]

12 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi GG.

With this retrieve I can get the Nemesis plastics (wriggle tail) darting from left to right when rigged straight. The built in drag of the paddle tail on the other hand makes it really hard to get this darting action.

 

Thanks for that Derek. I've always viewed it the other way around. I assumed that with a wriggle tail or curl tail I'd be relying on the flutter action of the lure to attract fish and unless they were really bunched up and unnatural looking, rigging not quite straight wouldn't have too much impact. I'd put more effort into rigging paddle tails straight because I'd be trying to get them to dart forward and up and down with twitches, pauses and changes in speed, and a wonky lure may impede this. Might be time for me to try a Nemesis or equivalent.

The way I see it even if you think rigging straight is a 1 percenter it is easy to take care of with a bit of patience and concentration when rigging up.

Thanks again for your advice.