soft plastics

[tassiboy]

does any one know where you can buy moulds and all the gear to make your own soft plastics???

[Rumpus]

make em yourself...

Softies dont have to look flash as the shop ones..

We used to use christmas tinsel for trout, and ive seen forks used as jigs for kingy's..

Most of the shit in shops is ALL Marketing, and anything that is put in the right place at the right time will work...

[GriMo]

Have to disagree with you there Rumpus. I have a very large collection of plastics and the simple fact is presentation and technique with them is very important. Sure a hungry/aggressive fish mate have a go at an off coloured , mishapen blob of plastic, but it wont be consistent. About the only fish i ahve seen that will take practicaly any plastic are flathead. But in saying that i have been on a trip and had limited success with a 65 mm squidgy wriggler in bloodworm. Exact same tail but in hot pink landed numerous flatties in the 40 - 50cm range, and one topping out at pretty decent 64cm.

As to where moulds etc can be found im not sure, ebay might be a winner but wouldnt bet on it. For the few dollars it costs to buy them, given they are usually re-usable is it worth the hassle when you may very well end up with a sticky mess of plastics that just dont perform.

Not to mention plastics can be very selective, on some days you will find the bright pink squidgey fish are the go.Other days the little black with red flake minnows are whats required. Might move 100 metres upstream and find neither are suitable and atomic chicken is whats working.

In all seriousness mate its your money, but with the effort involved in making your own, and getting the moulds to work on some of the designs consistently, is it really worth the effort. Have a look on Ebay as to what the berkley gulps/squidgeys are worth and consider if its worth it. You can only fish as good as your tackle, and if you save 5 dollars but end up buying lunch whats the point?

[Rumpus]

Considering Fish (like most animals) are colour blind, the colours only attract the fisherman.. To a certain extent the shades willl work, ie light or dark colours but the rest is just show!

Fish, Like Deer etc pick up more on movement and smell that colours... Thus the same reason I recon that Camo gear os overrated when Hunting, Unless your using a bow and need to stalk up close!

Better off sticking to bait anyways.. Will outfish plastics any day, except maybe flatties... Live bait or cubes in a burley trail are pretty much unbeatable.. Light gear and bait over the rest!

[philw]

I never had any luck with them

tried a couple of times no luck went bugger that

back to bait never bothered since

[tassiboy]

thanks for the oppinions guys. but i must say soft plastics will out fish bait any day of the weel if the correct plastic is used witht the correct technique, ive been fishing with guys that will only used bait and once they have been sitting their for a few hours and ive got 3 or 4 trout in the boat they soon become interested, dont get me wrong, it does come down to the right gear on the right day but im soft plastics anyday , unless i want to sit back and enjoy a beer....

[Rumpus]

Disagree completely.... I Fish both, and I enjoy my plastic fishing, But except for flatties, Bait wins everytime...

ive caught everything from slimys to tuna on plastics but an unweighted bait outdoes them....

I am Speaking Saltwater fish though, and for trout, Ive always uses hardbodies (tassies) or celta's.. for Cod and Yella's Hardbodys are also the go, spinnerbaits are in (mate got a 90lb cod on one not long back) and the Yella's love them, but codbusters, stumpys and jackalls all work the goods.. Aint really used the softies on fresh species!

For bream, live nippers or half pilchards,

for snapper, half or full pilchards and that goes for just about everything..

for Flatties, Pilchards, Live Mullet or Plastics!

Always use light gear (3kg mostly) I sometimes go up to 6kg when big snapper are around and heaviest i fish is 10 or 15kg if im live bait or cubing for big stuff with the tiagra's.. Ive caught Kings over 70cm (3kg) on my 3kg gear no problems!

Dont get me started on braid either, another marketing Hype! Have tried it all and always end up going back to mono.. Still have braid on one of my plastic rigs and my Cod gear but thats it..

PS... Just got home from pub so im a bit pissed!!

[Rumpus]

SEE, I can even PROOVE that Big Flatties prefer bait!!! I asked one Myself!!!

[GriMo]

Considering Fish (like most animals) are colour blind, the colours only attract the fisherman.. To a certain extent the shades willl work, ie light or dark colours but the rest is just show!


Better off sticking to bait anyways.. Will outfish plastics any day, except maybe flatties... Live bait or cubes in a burley trail are pretty much unbeatable.. Light gear and bait over the rest!

Not sure what studies your quoting that from but fraid that’s not accurate. Many fish that have been tested for colour perception have both requisite parts of the eye, and nervous system to support colour vision. Common goldfish for example have better colour vision then us, that is to say it can view into the ultraviolet spectrum as well as the red blue and green we see.


As for bait out fishing plastics, that’s debateable. I would be curious as to how many tournament fishers still use bait...

[Rumpus]

I would be curious as to how many tournament fishers still use bait...

Because its banned, along with artificial scents and the like..

Its a Never ending Debate, Ive been through it on all the fishing forums as well and many many many times over a few drinks..

Spose its up to the individual.. but for me, bait in a good burley trail wins everytime. Ill normally have a flick while im floating, but once the bites start I generally dont have time..

All this talk makes me wanna go fishing!

[Brad Y]

Havent fished bait for years, catch more fish now that I ever have. You dont need bait to do well, you need to think smart and actively pursue the fish. Not sit in one spot to wait for them to come to you.

Hand poured plastics are hard to do, I was thinking about it for some time but it wasnt worth the effort. Just google soft plastic luremaking and you should find something.

Plastics are great fish catchers. However lets start something fun. Gulp isnt plastic, its bait and its cheating. People chop it up and put it on bait rigs and catch fish with it. No way can it be argued that its lure fishing. Give me some squidgys, snapback grubs, berkley powerbait and damiki plastics anyday. Lets see how that one sits.

[Rumpus]

Plastics are great fish catchers. However lets start something fun. Gulp isnt plastic, its bait and its cheating. People chop it up and put it on bait rigs and catch fish with it. No way can it be argued that its lure fishing. Give me some squidgys, snapback grubs, berkley powerbait and damiki plastics anyday. Lets see how that one sits.

Mmm, Ive never had alot of luck with the Gulps anyhow... have always found the squidgy's and flick baits to work best for me. Have had a few packs from tackle craft to try out and they worked great, also have been given alot of the Viva plastics which have worked great.. Dont think the brand really matters though..

Have also had a fair bit of fun with Hardbodies the last fwe trips. Suspending Rapala's and Ecogear SX's.. Actually hooked a small hammerhead at batemans on one, He eventually chewed through the leader but shortly after fell victim to the floating pilly.. great fun on 3kg!

[Curtley78]

If your using plastics they need be scented right up and different plastics for different light variations (I find that on a bright day the Kingfish go berserk on the plastics that have a shimmer or sparkle in them) and the most effective I've used overall are the small bug in a very light pink.

My honest opinion is that live bait is unbeatable. Why?

First of all it's alive. Secondly, it has a natural smell and movement-right down to its mouth and eyes and live bait transmits live vibrations-especially when they've been approached by predatory fish such as Jew. I've retrieved live Yakkas on several occasions and seen their eyes bulging in fright.

Finally, live bait has a very distinct taste and flavour and how many times have you ever had a big hit only two retrieve a damaged plastic with a large chunk taken from it only to then render it as landfill. Plastics don't bleed.

Plastics have there purpose such as trolling and jigging squid and over the years I've spent a small fortune on lures, jigs only to conclude that they have only made my tackle box appear more presentable and intimidating to other anglers.

The best bait I've ever seen to catch live bait is chicken rolled in Parmesan cheese (the cheese gives off scent).

If you want to catch big fish-irrespective of species then spend the time preparing your tackle and invest in quality line trace and hooks and learning how to affix line, swivel, trace, and leader. Finally the bigger the live bait you use the bigger the fish you will catch.

The only species that lures and plastics attract are fishermen.

[chris.tyne]

Live bait or plastics..................both have there merits,I use lures and plastics mostly and seeing as I C&R most of my fish it is heaps better in that regard.
Flathead on plastics are the bomb,I can cover heaps of water with them,and Jewies on the big squidgies are fun.......................dropbear colour gets them most of the time.
Sean you should be catching fish on your plastics as most people that use them catch fish....................dunno what your doing wrong.


Regards Chris.