Soft Plastic....Rigging ,Aplication & Presentation....

Have fun with the tarpon...cheeerrrss...

Texpose


Skin


Skin with point expose


All 3 method is to get the bests out of your weedless rigging using offset hook or jighead.

Texas Rig
The head should be a cone sinker.But i found its ok to use drill bullet as substitute.You can use bead with stopper knot to stop them from sliding freely or u can use a tooth pick to jam the sinker hole.The other variant of this is by sliding in the glass bead before u sliding in the tungsten sinker and the sinker let free to slide on the line.This method will make it more attractive since the clacking sound produce by the sinker and the glass bead bumping on each other each time u shake it or twitch it.


Jighead

jo, just packing , had to have a look thanks so much for the tips catch you in 2 weeks cheers mate

any of the big pollack ive ever caught are to soft lures

whether its lead heads or with the ball weight up the line

whether its worm like or more fish like

always outfish the metal lures

do you ever have the tails bitten off :shock:

what could it be!

Got a few softies bitten of which i suspect by wrasse after landing a few of them ,and found out what their teeth have done to the softies...


A few catch on softies from Dun Lougheire pier....
All released except for one wch swallow all the softies and jighead.
The lure was so small and taked time to reach bottom,i suspect that the fish had taken the lure on it way down wch giving it more time to swallow them whole.Other than that all my fish on softies hooked at the corner of the jaw.

I never really thought about using this type of lure before until Joe gave me a couple to try out, one of which is in the last photo posted above, the slug-go, and I must say it is excellent and everytime I have used it I have caught plenty of fish, but the trick is to make the lure fish attractively and thanks to joe I now know how to do this.

that lure in the last photo - the slug go - never even knew the name - have been using it - or a copy of it for years now!

mate had a pile of them from the states years ago

great lure

A few footage of how the rig and the plastic works in the water.

http://www.purefishing.jp/product/berkley/gulp/08/neko.html
http://www.purefishing.jp/product/berkley/gulp/08/jig_head_wacky.html
http://www.purefishing.jp/product/berkley/gulp/08/down_shot.html
http://www.purefishing.jp/product/berkley/gulp/02/down_shot.html

Click on the plastic bait to view....
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/videos.html

very informative thread rapalajoe. i need to get some of this plastic stuff :D :D

Thanks FM......its maybe sometime disappointing to try a new stuff....but who knows that u maybe got it right and end up with some fun way of catching fish....

For those who find its hard to get an off set hook or jighead....u can buy or build your own "hitch hiker" that can be use with an ordinary jighead to rig it weedless....


Any spring or stainless steel wire will do....even a paper clip.....but u maybe will end up with rust problem.....



Just ignore the existing spring on the jig head.....the pic is just for demo only and i dont have any regular jighead...

Great thread Joe, always good to learn about and try out different techniques.

Thanks Dave.

Just a reminder....weedless and normal non-weedless presentation both have a pro and cons.....both are not superior again each other....why i highlight most of the weed less presentation here is just because most of us shore angler here are dealing with the kelp and weed infested area wch are consider the best place or structure that the fish love to hang on....the normal non-weedless rig will ensure the best hook up compare to the weedless.....but in the rough kelp terrain,you will easily fed up of keep on getting hook up and stuck to the weed and kelp due to the expose point of the hook.....in open water and sandy area there is no point of using weedless rig and sacrifce the positive hook up.Use them wisely according to the kind of place that u fish.

This method also can be use from the boat and of course with heavier jighead....on the strong current at anchorage ,with a decent size of jighead,i love to cast them up tide and let them drift at the bottom with a bum on the bottom once in a while and still keeping in touch with them.....experiment with weight,too heavy and the action will become stiff.....too light ,and it will drift,take time to touch bottom and and you will lose contact with the bait.The use of fine diameter braid will ensure more fun using them.Why using jig head and this kind of method while u still can use a paternoster rig with a heavy lead???For me the sensitivity and the sensation of feeling the fish at the end of the line with direct contact.With the paternoster method u still can feel the sensation but not as sensitive as the direct contact of this method....the heavy lead will hampered the feeling and there will be no advantage to the fish as other than fighting the fishos.....it also have to drag a heavy lead around.But in some situation wheres its nearly imposible for the jighead to get to the bottom,the paternoster will rules.Use them according to the fishing scenario.

Rapalajoe

Fascinating read. Great explaination of techniques and great pics. I am really wanting to get into soft lures. I have only got into fishing again this year after 5 or 6 years away. It is great being able to read about all the different techniques that people use.

I had seen the hooks you are using but didnt really know what there purpose was.

Is there any of them that you would recommend for Pollock and Wrasse as I would like to target these?

What sort of Braid are you using and bs?

What sort of rods are they in your pictures (Baitcasters)?

Thanks for the insight

Jonny

Deadly thread Jo, it's great to see in more detail the stuff that you've already commuicated to me per PM.

I have a lot of the gear but still haven't managed to get out and use it, circumstances and all that.
One thing, when down fishing pike recently I was tempted to try the softies and drag them along the bottom, but both my brothers reckoned that a pike would take 25lb snood in no time. Can you demostrate any wire trace rigs that use the same techhniques? Is it easy to rig a dropshot for example on wire?

Thanks guys....

Nf,
The hook is called Offset wormhook.Theres a lots of manufacture that producing this kind of hook nowadays....Owner,Gamakatsu,Mustad...Grauvell have their Teklon Sickle 5200BC and Titan 520BL.Most of them i get from online.I believe theres a few local tackle shop that carry them.They all works fine with pollack and wrasse.I love to use fine wire hook as the penetration is good.You wont have any bend or opened issue with hook as long as the hook penetrate and hold the fish in the throat/bend of the hook.

The reel is Daiwa Alpha 103....the rods is a 3 pcs 7 footer Tample Fork Outfitter ,8-17lb and 3/8 oz - 1 1/4 oz casting range.The rods have been replace now with a Rainshadow SB843-3,8 footer,10-17lb,5/16oz-3/4oz casting range as i dont cast lure more than 20g(3/4oz).

As for the line spider wire stealth 15lb and sometimes Fins PRT 20lb in the rough ground.Its more on personal preference.You cant go wrong either with sufix performance braid and Power Pro.

Eoin,
I never have an experience with pike fishing.But i had used wire trace before for other toothy critters.You can try using wire trace with the end crimped to a snap as a trace for jig head.As for connection from traces to leader/mainline,some people just use swivel and i 've seen people using albright knot and slim beauty knot just because they dont like to use swivel.And again its the matter of preference.

As for drop shot rig,with a fine limp special wire i think its possible.The reason i say limp is,some wire maybe will effect the action of presentation if it stiff.I bump into a wire that can be knot a few years back,its so fine in diameter,large breaking strain yet so limp.Unfortunately i forgot the brand.When its come to wire,breaking strain will come second as the purpose is to overcome the sharp and abrasive teeth of the fish,but make sure its balance with the kind and size of fish that u re after.

One of the rig combine with hard bodied top water lure(pencil bait).Its maybe a bit hard to do walk the dog with another bait in between u and the pencil bait.The wake and the splash imitate that a predator is chasing a prey.Never tried it before tho....but i saw them catching bass with this rig in portugal.The bait can be tied a feet or two in front of the hard bodied lure using a dropper knot.As this kind of fishing is on the top of the water,so theres no need to use weedless rig to rig the plastic,the expose hook will work fine.

Joe,

My compliments man, you obviously have a great wealth of knowledge and in the short time you have been a member on SAI, the way you transmit it to everyone in words and pictures is first class, this thread is a fine example.

Tom.

Thanks Tom,

I got a lots of info and learn a lot on local technique and method since i join this forum.Got chance and opportunity to meet and get to know a few good friends too.So i think i should contribute something for the angling community in this site.I know you as well as a seasoned angler have a lots of tricks up your sleeve Tom. By the way its whats the forum for....to share knowledge,experience and exchanging info.Cheeerrrsss....