Softies....Rigging & Application....

I know this kind of lure not very popular among angler here compare to plug and spinner...but i am sure theres a few out there that really use them to target our local species such as wrasse ,bass and pollack.....lets share on how we rig and present the lure.Btw they are versatile and economic to be use on rough and snaggy terrain where fish hold.What is your favourite rigging tecnique for this lure in the most snaggy terrain such as kelp bed where big pollack love to hold tight???

Theres a lot of style u can use this plastic lure.For me i like to rig them weedless....either "exposed" or "skin".For weedless presentation theres a special off-set hook and jighead.....

"Texposer"


Skin


The softies....


The hook and jighead


Hitch hiker




Weigless Rig
Some plastic are salt impregnated so they tend to float.Rig weightless and u can walk them on the top of the water.U can put weight insert to make them slowly sink and suspend.Theres a specially made nail sinker which can be insert to the plastic lure,for me i just use a piece of lead and shape them in 1cm long and 2mm thick and use them as an insert.


Drop Shot
Just cast them out....and u can shake them back slowly in between the crank.The key is to keep in contact with bottom.It can be shake statically in one spot suspected fish holding area.The hook is tied using palomar without triming the tag end.Theres 2 type of rigging....weedless or using circle hook or any wide gape short shank crab hook.The length from the bait to the sinker is depend on what height u want the bait to be shake.Shake mean only a small amount of rod tip is move and keep contact with the bottom.Suitable when fishing on deep marks and high on the rock.The sinker usually attached by threaded in the line through sinker and secure by a knot.In case u got a snag....u wont loose the whole rig.

Drop Shotting rig with circle hook.


Drop Shotting rig with offset worm hook.

Wacky Rig
Can be fish using jig head or just by a hook weightless.Some times the weight is inserted on both end of or only one end of the lure.A hook or jig head is thread at the centre of the bait/lure.The rig can be shake in the water colum and be drop back to bottom and can be shake up again.The position and how many weight is inserted in the lure will determine how it fall to the bottom after each shake.

Wacky Rig with jig head


Wacky rig with insert weight.


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




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.

As far as i am concern....plastic lure have been around for a long time....but dont make it well due to the skeptical view from most angler worldwide.They re more popular in Large Mouth Bass fishing scene.Most of them are developed in the LMB tournament circuit wch are popular in States,Japan and even now in spain and france if i am not mistaken.Its then adopt by saltwater angler and slowly make their way on SW scene worldwide for the past few years.Make a boom in australia for the past few years taking on most salwater fish like bream,barramundi,flathead,mulloway and even an offshore snapper.

Most of them are depend to the angler to impart the action.Not like most other lure wch u just have to crank it and have their own inbuild action.U have to fish them slowly and should have an imagination on how its work in the water....twitch...jerk....let it fall....
They wont make sure that u will catch fish.Its just they re one of the versatile and fun type of bait to be use.If you like to do experiment and have some fun,i highly recommend them.Like other kind of lure the key to success is persistent and fish hard then u will learn the secrets of it.

 

Yeah...theres too many name and variation from different region....neko....wacky....dropshot...down shot.....some is only the same stuff with different name.....i think theres gonna be no end because of the name....its just make them more confusing....

Btw....heres a few interesting video on how they move in the water.....cheeerrrsss...


Click the video icon....
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descp...BURR-BHFB.html
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descp...STRX-BTBF.html
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descp...BO-RW45ST.html
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descp...NNY-SBSE.html#

http://www.purefishing.jp/product/be...no_sinker.html
http://www.purefishing.jp/product/be...ead_wacky.html
http://www.purefishing.jp/product/be...p/08/neko.html
http://www.purefishing.jp/product/be...down_shot.html