Soft Plastics Newbie

purple5ive
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by purple5ive » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:46 pm

Quite a lot of good info from Chris Taylor.
But nothing will help you if you continue using monofilament line as your mainline. You are just wasting your time. buy some good quality braid and the difference you will feel is on a whole different level.

saph
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by saph » Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:08 pm

Alot of good adivce and im going to get shot for the following. if you dont know how to tie braid to mono (FG knot) use mono or find a line thats low stretch like copolymer line thats in the middle of the 2 and ive flicked a few soft plastics about and had some luck with it, also make sure you surface swim your plastics to see they swim right and sink right.

Heres my docket from the local bcf and look at the jig head sizes and i think others will agree with the sizes also remeber where i fish in queensland the tide rips through and each size has been selected to go with the right lure (i could have gotten heads that suited 2 but as im learning i want to know what i get is right the first time) theres a 1/16, 1/6 and 1/8. The person that sold me these fishes alot with lures and aggreed with my friend that i asked that these would work.

Image

colnick
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by colnick » Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:39 pm

purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:46 pm
Quite a lot of good info from Chris Taylor.
But nothing will help you if you continue using monofilament line as your mainline. You are just wasting your time. buy some good quality braid and the difference you will feel is on a whole different level.
Can you elaborate a bit on the "differences" with braid purple? I went back to mono some years ago and I am certainly not wasting my time. I have caught hundreds of quality fish on mono and I rarely have a fishless outing, BUT, I am fishing mainly shallow water for dusky flathead, bream and whiting using both bait and plastics. Line stretch, spool capacity and casting distance are not issues for me. There are situations where braid will be a distinct advantage, there are others where it will make little difference.
Col.

saph
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by saph » Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:07 pm

colnick wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:39 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:46 pm
Quite a lot of good info from Chris Taylor.
But nothing will help you if you continue using monofilament line as your mainline. You are just wasting your time. buy some good quality braid and the difference you will feel is on a whole different level.
Can you elaborate a bit on the "differences" with braid purple? I went back to mono some years ago and I am certainly not wasting my time. I have caught hundreds of quality fish on mono and I rarely have a fishless outing, BUT, I am fishing mainly shallow water for dusky flathead, bream and whiting using both bait and plastics. Line stretch, spool capacity and casting distance are not issues for me. There are situations where braid will be a distinct advantage, there are others where it will make little difference.
Col.

Braid is basicly fibres woven into a string and has abrasion risistance and doesnt streatch where mono does.

purple5ive
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by purple5ive » Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:14 pm

colnick wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:39 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:46 pm
Quite a lot of good info from Chris Taylor.
But nothing will help you if you continue using monofilament line as your mainline. You are just wasting your time. buy some good quality braid and the difference you will feel is on a whole different level.
Can you elaborate a bit on the "differences" with braid purple? I went back to mono some years ago and I am certainly not wasting my time. I have caught hundreds of quality fish on mono and I rarely have a fishless outing, BUT, I am fishing mainly shallow water for dusky flathead, bream and whiting using both bait and plastics. Line stretch, spool capacity and casting distance are not issues for me. There are situations where braid will be a distinct advantage, there are others where it will make little difference.
Col.
I'm assuming.. I went back to mono some years ago means you have used braid before?

Before I can give you an answer, give me an idea on how you fish currently for the whiting, flathead and bream using mono and lures..

colnick
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by colnick » Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:04 pm

purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:14 pm
colnick wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:39 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:46 pm
Quite a lot of good info from Chris Taylor.
But nothing will help you if you continue using monofilament line as your mainline. You are just wasting your time. buy some good quality braid and the difference you will feel is on a whole different level.
Can you elaborate a bit on the "differences" with braid purple? I went back to mono some years ago and I am certainly not wasting my time. I have caught hundreds of quality fish on mono and I rarely have a fishless outing, BUT, I am fishing mainly shallow water for dusky flathead, bream and whiting using both bait and plastics. Line stretch, spool capacity and casting distance are not issues for me. There are situations where braid will be a distinct advantage, there are others where it will make little difference.
Col.
I'm assuming.. I went back to mono some years ago means you have used braid before?

Before I can give you an answer, give me an idea on how you fish currently for the whiting, flathead and bream using mono and lures..
Thanks for responding purple. Yes, I used braid for several years. I still have a spinning reel spooled with braid which I intended for bream lure fishing, but in practice, I don't use it much because I do just as well with my baitcaster/mono outfit.
I am fishing mainly Port Stephens/Myall River estuary both land based and from my little tinny. With both bait and plastics I am moving constantly, and I don't need to cast more than 25 metres, in shallow water, so casting distance and line stretch are not issues for me. I also flick baits and lures into beach gutters, but once again, casting distance is not an issue.
I found braid a bit of a pain. More knots - main to backing and main to leader - and secure joining knots much more critical. I also found trying to tie knots in light gauge braid a bit like trying to tie a knot in a spider web.
I'm not suggesting that there are undeniable advantages with braid in many situations but I reckon that many people just assume that you have to have braid for everything. My results do not support that claim.
Cheers, Col.

purple5ive
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by purple5ive » Mon Jan 13, 2020 6:04 pm

Are you casting in the direction of your drift, and if so how are you feeling bites on coiled up monofilament?

25m is plenty if you know the fish are there.

colnick
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by colnick » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:02 pm

purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 6:04 pm
Are you casting in the direction of your drift, and if so how are you feeling bites on coiled up monofilament?

25m is plenty if you know the fish are there.
Not quite sure I have interpreted your question correctly purple. When using plastics from a drifting boat I am usually casting with or across the wind and working the lure on retrieve, regardless of drift direction. If drifting using bait I simply cast anywhere in a 180 degree arc away from the direction of drift. When shore based I simply walk and cast as I go. I cover ground more quickly with plastics than bait because I leave the bait in place much longer. Whatever, I always have a feel for the bait or lure. I simply don't have coiled up monofilament. The rod is always in my hand.
I agree with the 25 metres. Many of my casts are aimed at specific points and can be much shorter.
Cheers, Col.

purple5ive
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by purple5ive » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:24 pm

colnick wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:02 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 6:04 pm
Are you casting in the direction of your drift, and if so how are you feeling bites on coiled up monofilament?

25m is plenty if you know the fish are there.
Not quite sure I have interpreted your question correctly purple. When using plastics from a drifting boat I am usually casting with or across the wind and working the lure on retrieve, regardless of drift direction. If drifting using bait I simply cast anywhere in a 180 degree arc away from the direction of drift. When shore based I simply walk and cast as I go. I cover ground more quickly with plastics than bait because I leave the bait in place much longer. Whatever, I always have a feel for the bait or lure. I simply don't have coiled up monofilament. The rod is always in my hand.
I agree with the 25 metres. Many of my casts are aimed at specific points and can be much shorter.
Cheers, Col.
yes in the direction of the wind, the boat will drift generally in the direction of the wind in most cases.
if this is working for you then so be it, but the benefits of braid far outweigh the use of mono in lure fishing, you (and dennis barden) are the 1% that i know of that fish lures on mono line.
for me mono is too stretchy to detect bites, which is important in lure fishing. flathead are an exception as they just swallow lures.
deeper water again is another scenario where you need the lure to sink to the bottom.
mono stretches wayy too much and is thicker than braid creating more drag and gets carried away in the current taking a lot longer to get to the bottom.
braid has zero stretch, so bites on the drop are noticed if your watching the line, and also sinks faster in the current being quite thin
i cant even imagine how the small ticks in the line are noticeable on mono line, specially when breaming with plastics..
bait fishing is a different scenario..
as i said earlier if its working for you then so be it.

but in the case of the OP he might be fishing deeper water, which means totally different techniques..

saph
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by saph » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:42 pm

purple5ive wrote:
Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:24 pm
yes in the direction of the wind, the boat will drift generally in the direction of the wind in most cases.
if this is working for you then so be it, but the benefits of braid far outweigh the use of mono in lure fishing, you (and dennis barden) are the 1% that i know of that fish lures on mono line.
Make that 3 you know that lure fish on mono (all my reels but 1 have mono)

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