Hints & Tips

Tip  #1    Soft-Plastic Marination: We are sure there are alot of pasionate anglers out there like ourselves, which, throughout experiences in their fishing adventures have gathered an enormous amount of collective knowledge as individuals, who feel as we do, that sharing can only enhance the experience. This, in our opinion, is how the sport grows. With this said, we would like to start off with our first tip regarding Soft-Plastics(this does not apply to Gulp, as this is a food source). Our fishing is 98% SP. Inshore, Offshore and Impoundments. So this is a little tip regarding scents: Most people, I find apply the scent to the individual SP. This I find has a tremendous amount of waste from overspray etc. and also having to re-apply. One thing we have found which eleviates this problem is to actually spray or squirt the scent directly into the packets of the SP's, leaving it to sit in there and marinate. We find it allows the scent to penetrate, giving a better chance for a more positive result when used. This is an example. We do a lot of Snapper fishing and use a SP that is highly salted but minimal scent. A scent we use is the stimulate in the clear bottle. By just squeezing this onto your SP, it just runs back off, but, by applying it to the packet and sealing it, and leaving it for a few days, it seems to absorb into the plastic, which I have found has increased our catch rate.  Tip  #2    Reducing knots in Braided Line when casting: Here is a solution to a little problem that I am sure quite a few people have experienced. When making repeated casts while lure fishing and constantly working the lure back using jerks, twitches and hops, while winding the slack line onto the reel, the braid forms loose loops on the spool. This also accurs when you make a cast and initially close the bail arm over, which can then result in a cast picking up one of these loose loops and creating an absolute pain of a knot. A simple solution to eleviate this problem is this: Every time I make a cast and initially close the bail arm over, before I start the retrieve, I simply pull the line straight in front of the reel to pull any loose loop tight, and then periodically I will make a long cast to nowhere and wind all the line back on the reel while pinching it between my thumb and forefinger with slight pressure as I wind. It is a lot easier and quicker to do this than to have to cut the line to remove the knot or to have to sit down for 10 minutes picking the knot out. I also use the same method when using a Bait caster.  Tip  #3   How to gain confidence in Soft-Plastic techniques: We hear a lot of people ask about how to fish soft-plastics and the techniques involved. The worst part about the actions of soft-plastics is for the most part, they have none. Therefore you need to impart the action by use of the movement through the rod. The easiest way to learn this is as simple as making a short cast into shallow water or into clear deep water and allowing it to sink, but only enough so it is still clearly visible, then whilst you have it in sight, start working the lure back to the rod tip, by the way of sideward jerks, upward lifts and simply shaking the rod tip. There are many other different movements you can use, but most imortantly, pay particular attention to the action you are imparting to your chosen plastic. Like all lure fishing, a lot of the catch rate is based on confidence. So now when you make a cast into your chosen fishing area, whether it be in 5ft of water or 100ft of water, your lure will be doing exactly what you saw it doing in 2 feet of water. This is simply the confidence in knowing. I fish soft-plastics 98% of the time, the other 2% is hard bodied lures for Barramundi. Even now, every time I go fishing I still do exactly the same thing with all plastics, new or old. By doing this, it tells me my plastic is on straight and won't spin in the water, and it shows me exactly how much movement I need to put into the rod to impart the action in the plastic, and in turn gives me the confidence in knowing if I have fish on the sounder, that I will take home a feed.  Tip  #4    Rigging Soft-Plastic Stickbaits and Jerkbaits: When it comes to Soft-Plastics, you will find there are two types, sinking and floating. As this tip is about stickbait and jerkbait style lures, they are mainly floating (before you put a hook in of course). One thing over the many years of fishing these types of SP's, I have carefully observed that the tail section behind the hook, due to the shape and floating nature of the SP, when working the lure through the water, tends to lift. Therefore when rigging this lure on a jighead, it is important to have it slightly curved downwards, because when you work it through the water the tail will then lift to be straight and give you the best action. A soft-plastic can sometimes be perceived to be straight when rigged on the jighead, but due to water movement and the floating nature of the plastic, will actually raise the tail above level. This looks unnatural in the water. I am so confident in these facts, that if things are not working the way I think they should, the first thing I check is that the tail is rigged slightly downward, this is why it is important to "know what your lure is doing" (see tip #3). The photos below show the difference between the rigged lures. Photo A is correctly rigged where photo B is incorrectly rigged. Even though Photo B looks straight it will not give you the best results.   Photo A (correctly rigged)            Photo B (incorrectly rigged)  Tip#5 How to make drift fishing more productive Whether it be offshore fishing for Snapper, estuary fishing for Bream or even dam fishing for schooling Bass, there are a couple of important steps to follow when drift fishing. First of all, before looking for the fish, stop the boat and work out the direction of your drift. Once you have done this, search around until you find schools of fish showing on your sounder. You need to mark this spot, and move a little further up current or into the wind and position the boat where the direction of drift will take you back across your mark. Now the important Part! Once you have finished your first drift, which shouldn't be too much further past where the fish were showing on the sounder, it is time to move back to where you originally started from. To do this, don't just drive back over your drift mark. You need to go wide of the mark so as not to spook the fish that you are presenting your baits to. By using this method you will get more shots at the fish before the boat passing over spooks them. Once you notice that you are no longer getting any bites, it is time to find more fish and repeat the process.