Soft Plastics Newbie

Leronzia
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Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by Leronzia » Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:39 pm

Hi Guys,

As title denotes im a soft plastic noobie and have been several times with no luck. Im using a shimano sahra x 2-4 kilomwith platypus 4 kg line, bloke at local tackle ahop said mono is fine for soft plastic fishing, once i get more serious ill invest in mono.
I fish around st kilda mostly landbased so kerferd etc,

Questions:
Your favourite plastics, i have a plethora of grub tails, curly, paddles. But never catch.
I cant get my cast out further enough swotched to 1/8 (is this heavy enough) and still cant get that far, compared to others i see, and my line doesnt tighten that much.
And on retrieval my plastics always move off the jighead sligtky below the keeper section.

So life long bait fisherman, looking for help from the experts.

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bowl
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by bowl » Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:36 am

Light braid with mono- fluro leader.
7ftplus rod I tend to use.
To many boats kayak, helicopter , catch a fish,catch a fish

purple5ive
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by purple5ive » Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:08 am

First a bit of homework for you.

Stop going to the tackle shop who told you mono is fine for soft plastics fishing, and find another one that can give you better advice..

Secondly
Start looking up soft plastics videos on YouTube.
Specially Lincoln from landfish tv
He fishes where you fish and you will gain a lot more from his videos than the shop you went to.

Thirdly.
Do a search here.
Lure fishing techniques have been covered so many times it's not funny anymore when people post new threads asking about the same thing over and over again..

Good luck with lure fishing, it's a lot more active and fun way to fish for your targeted species.

Leronzia
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by Leronzia » Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:01 pm

purple5ive wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:08 am
First a bit of homework for you.

Stop going to the tackle shop who told you mono is fine for soft plastics fishing, and find another one that can give you better advice..

Secondly
Start looking up soft plastics videos on YouTube.
Specially Lincoln from landfish tv
He fishes where you fish and you will gain a lot more from his videos than the shop you went to.

Thirdly.
Do a search here.
Lure fishing techniques have been covered so many times it's not funny anymore when people post new threads asking about the same thing over and over again..

Good luck with lure fishing, it's a lot more active and fun way to fish for your targeted species.
I love lincoln and thanks. Well i said i'm new and dont really want to spend big bucks on braid line as im on a budget and he said as many others on the forum said; it's not ideal but not gonna stop you from catching. Moving on i use the platypus very thin line (supposed mix between braid and mono, i beg to differ). Just wanna know if theres anyway i increase cast distance, is 1/8 oz jighead too light

wem21
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by wem21 » Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:48 pm

Leronzia wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:01 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:08 am
First a bit of homework for you.

Stop going to the tackle shop who told you mono is fine for soft plastics fishing, and find another one that can give you better advice..

Secondly
Start looking up soft plastics videos on YouTube.
Specially Lincoln from landfish tv
He fishes where you fish and you will gain a lot more from his videos than the shop you went to.

Thirdly.
Do a search here.
Lure fishing techniques have been covered so many times it's not funny anymore when people post new threads asking about the same thing over and over again..

Good luck with lure fishing, it's a lot more active and fun way to fish for your targeted species.
I love lincoln and thanks. Well i said i'm new and dont really want to spend big bucks on braid line as im on a budget and he said as many others on the forum said; it's not ideal but not gonna stop you from catching. Moving on i use the platypus very thin line (supposed mix between braid and mono, i beg to differ). Just wanna know if theres anyway i increase cast distance, is 1/8 oz jighead too light
A good rod and good braid makes a world of difference.

When I started with plastics I used mono, and a stiff Kmart 6'6 rod, and I cast a 1/4oz jighead like 25 metres, 30 tops. Now I use 8lb braid, (jbraid to be specific, I love that stuff) and a Shimano catana 2-4kg and I can bomb that 1/4oz jighead to like 45-50 metres, and cast a 1/8th Oz round the 20-25m mark.

I would highly suggest you save up a bit, then drop the dosh on a good setup cos the pain from a crap one isn't worth it, not only will you not catch anything, you'll have a bad time not catching anything! With good gear, I have a good time catching nothing :P

Also fav plastics would be zman 2.5" slim swim in the summer, 2.5" grub in the winter, both in motor oil colour
Last edited by wem21 on Mon Nov 18, 2019 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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mazman
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by mazman » Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:55 pm

Braid really isn't that expensive to get into something that's of a reasonable quality these days (jbraid x4 is somewhere between 20 and 25 for a 150yd spool) it's bit late for you as you've already purchased but hopefully helps others looking to get into it. The advantages of braid when you are just getting into lure fishing are more than worth that extra five or so dollars.
Youtube channel:Hawkesy Fishing

Leronzia
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by Leronzia » Sat Nov 23, 2019 1:54 pm

mazman wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:55 pm
Braid really isn't that expensive to get into something that's of a reasonable quality these days (jbraid x4 is somewhere between 20 and 25 for a 150yd spool) it's bit late for you as you've already purchased but hopefully helps others looking to get into it. The advantages of braid when you are just getting into lure fishing are more than worth that extra five or so dollars.
Got Myself Some J-braid and a shimano sedona 4000

im wondering, i got two rods but prefer using one, can i soft plastics fish on my 7'9 shimano jewel or nah, lure weight recommended is 10g-35g

Leronzia
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by Leronzia » Sat Nov 23, 2019 2:05 pm

Leronzia wrote:
Sat Nov 23, 2019 1:54 pm
mazman wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:55 pm
Braid really isn't that expensive to get into something that's of a reasonable quality these days (jbraid x4 is somewhere between 20 and 25 for a 150yd spool) it's bit late for you as you've already purchased but hopefully helps others looking to get into it. The advantages of braid when you are just getting into lure fishing are more than worth that extra five or so dollars.
Got Myself Some J-braid and a shimano sedona 4000

im wondering, i got two rods but prefer using one, can i soft plastics fish on my 7'9 shimano jewel or nah, lure weight recommended is 10g-35g
and what jighead size would you run with this setup pfp

wem21
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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by wem21 » Sat Nov 23, 2019 2:45 pm

Leronzia wrote:
Sat Nov 23, 2019 2:05 pm
Leronzia wrote:
Sat Nov 23, 2019 1:54 pm
mazman wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:55 pm
Braid really isn't that expensive to get into something that's of a reasonable quality these days (jbraid x4 is somewhere between 20 and 25 for a 150yd spool) it's bit late for you as you've already purchased but hopefully helps others looking to get into it. The advantages of braid when you are just getting into lure fishing are more than worth that extra five or so dollars.
Got Myself Some J-braid and a shimano sedona 4000

im wondering, i got two rods but prefer using one, can i soft plastics fish on my 7'9 shimano jewel or nah, lure weight recommended is 10g-35g
and what jighead size would you run with this setup pfp
I would suggest going for a way lighter rod for soft plastics, the rod you have now is great for chucking out metals to the horizon, but pretty crap for plastics, reason being it won't cast light jigheads/plastics well, and that means the only jigheads you can cast are going to bomb to the bottom, zooming past the fish before they can react. 10 grams is 1/3 ounce, which is suitable for water 20m+ deep, not the usual 4-5m if you're land based around ppb - 1/8 to 1/6 would be perfect, but you can probably only cast it like 10m with the heavy rod. If you have to lure fish with this rod, I would skip the plastics and look into the heavier metal blades/vibes

Good choice for a reel, a 2500 or smaller would've been even better because of the weight difference but the 4000 Sedona is still fantastic

What's the other rods specifications?

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Re: Soft Plastics Newbie

Post by ronan » Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:37 pm

Go into compleat angler melbourne, the bloke actually knows how to fish and will get you setup with some decent gear and advice, otherwise there's heaps of vids/tutorials on youtube, and past forums on here. Your 7'9 jewel wouldn't be bad for plastics if you paired it with a 2500, sometimes I use an 8ft dialuna with a 2500, bit bulky but it gets the job done fine.

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