Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

ronan
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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by ronan » Sat May 09, 2020 6:46 pm

3 inch zman slim swim in bad shad on a 1/8 jighead would be my go to, followed by the 2.5 inch grub in motor oil.

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by purple5ive » Sat May 09, 2020 7:02 pm

I suggest you start with a 3 inch gulp minnow. Most colours will work. But the nuclear chicken, smelt, watermelon pearl and camo colours work quite well.
You can get them on specials at 3 packs for 22 usually at bcf or anaconda.

Pair that with a 1/4 oz jighead in a size 1 hook ( nitro bream pro ones are perfect)

Use a decent graphite rod in the 1-3 or 2-4kg range a nice 6-10lb braid and 6 or 8lb leader. On a 2k or 2.5k reel

Then find you usual haunt where the micro pinkies are and start practicing. Tgey are the easiest fish to practice on or find the salmon. Both will generally hammer these plastics so the confidence will build up pretty fast. Use heavier jighead if going to deeper water like over 10m . But generally the smaller pinkies are found in shallow water so you should be right with those sizes.

Plenty of advice here on how to work the plastics etc so use the search function for all that.

Once you get the hang of catching them, then go out and spend more money if you think you like sp fishing...

Good luck...

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by SteveoTheTiger » Sat May 09, 2020 7:04 pm

If i could only pick 1..

4" Berkley Gulp Nemesis in Nuclear Chicken every time.
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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by Sinsemilla » Sat May 09, 2020 7:52 pm

Going by everyone's input looks like any plastic will work in a whole variety of brands, colors and profiles.

Just need to start using them and persist. Just like when someone starts out fishing and using bait, It all comes down to persistence and learning the technique

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by croe04 » Sat May 09, 2020 7:52 pm

Four faves:
Zman Jerk Shadz 4in
Zman slimswimz 2.5inch
Zman grubz 2.5inch
Gulp turtleback worm

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by Aaron75 » Sat May 09, 2020 8:07 pm

Sinsemilla wrote:
Sat May 09, 2020 7:52 pm
Going by everyone's input looks like any plastic will work in a whole variety of brands, colors and profiles.

Just need to start using them and persist. Just like when someone starts out fishing and using bait, It all comes down to persistence and learning the technique
Different plastics are more effective than others in different situations. Since OP hasn't said if he is fishing landbased or boat based, day or night, or what species he is targeting, he is unlikely to get specific and meaningful answers.

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by Sebb » Sat May 09, 2020 8:36 pm

purple5ive wrote:
Sat May 09, 2020 7:02 pm
2-4kg range a nice 6-10lb braid and 6 or 8lb leader. On a 2k or 2.5k reel
You just described my PPB setup.
Black Label 6102 and Caldia LT 2500 with Jbraidx8 Grand 10lb.
:rf:

Sounds like the zman and gulp are the two leading brands at the moment.
Zman is tougher than gulp though. Gulp can easily be torn apart after 4-5 pinkies. Zman stays in shape longer.
Gulp already has the scent thing, but can get dried and unusable.
Zman is tougher but gotta apply the scent thing every now and then.
------------------------------
A fish is a fish :ft:
No fish is worth a life, stay safe

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by Sinsemilla » Sat May 09, 2020 11:03 pm

Aaron75 wrote:
Sat May 09, 2020 8:07 pm
Sinsemilla wrote:
Sat May 09, 2020 7:52 pm
Going by everyone's input looks like any plastic will work in a whole variety of brands, colors and profiles.

Just need to start using them and persist. Just like when someone starts out fishing and using bait, It all comes down to persistence and learning the technique
Different plastics are more effective than others in different situations. Since OP hasn't said if he is fishing landbased or boat based, day or night, or what species he is targeting, he is unlikely to get specific and meaningful answers.
He said plastics in the bay and to save your life. I'd take that as catching flatties or pinkies because they are the most common catches and fish you'd go for if it depended on your life. I've caught pinkies and flatties on nearly every plastic known to man.

Once for a laugh i got a mates ciggie butt and put it on my jig head to prove a point.. I caught flattie after flattie hahah

Cheers, Anth

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by hornet » Sat May 09, 2020 11:04 pm

Aaron75 wrote:
Sat May 09, 2020 8:07 pm
Sinsemilla wrote:
Sat May 09, 2020 7:52 pm
Going by everyone's input looks like any plastic will work in a whole variety of brands, colors and profiles.

Just need to start using them and persist. Just like when someone starts out fishing and using bait, It all comes down to persistence and learning the technique
Different plastics are more effective than others in different situations. Since OP hasn't said if he is fishing landbased or boat based, day or night, or what species he is targeting, he is unlikely to get specific and meaningful answers.
All good info here thx guys, I'm taking notes on the most mentioned lure and species taken on it, there seems to be a pattern developing...

To answer your question Sinsemilla = "Since OP hasn't said if he is fishing land based or boat based," I did not think it would make any difference so I didn't specify which, but if it makes a difference it will mostly be by boat and some land based into the mix...
He who has the most fishing rods WINS ! :ts:

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Re: Which soft plastics in Port Phillip Bay to save your life !

Post by ecoronad » Sat May 09, 2020 11:58 pm

Zman and berkley are the two most mentioned plastics due to the fact that the two major chain retailers - Anaconda and BCF stock them in massive quantities and regularly discount them. Remember it wasn't that long ago when Squidgies were the go to soft plastic due to effective marketing tools.

Berkley produces Gulp, Gulp Alive and Power bait.

Gulp and Gulp alive are pretty much once opened, use the whole packet unless you purchase the Gulp Alive tub to rehydrate them. Otherwise, the plastics will eventually dry out once the packet has been opened, rendering them useless. Great beginner plastics due to the fact they are almost bait like. Leave them passively sitting on the bottom of the seabed and they still catch fish.

Zman plastics would be one of the toughest plastics on the market and certainly catch their share of fish. Great durability.

But one of my favourite plastics targetting pinkies around the inshore reefs of PPB like Ricketts, Mordialloc and Mt Martha is the Juro Firebait Longtail Minnow in RR. Fish it with a light jig head so that you can feel the jig head hit the bottom, but not feel as though you are dragging a big heavy lump of lead along the sea floor. Fish it with small hops of 20 to 30 cm lifts with long pauses in between. The Longtail minnows are also great on bream and esturary perch when fished on the bottom with the same technique.

Which ever soft plastic you get, make sure you check out their action in a bathtub so that you can understand the best retrieve style and jig head combination. Go into a tackle shop and speak to someone who has experience in the area you plan on fishing. Nothing beats experience. If you're lucky, you might be able to find someone like that in one of the two major chain retailers, but I wouldn't count on it.

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