sp's what am i doing wrong?

[Troy_79]

hey guys, For some reason im having no luck using sp's. i've tried different brands colours etc but still no luck.

Can anyone give me any tips? i usually do a slow retrieve and give it a jig until it hits the bottom and jig again. Is this right? i've caught 2 fish in 12 months so those 2 fish must have just been flukes:) im currently using berkly power bait 3\" minnows which is the only brand that has worked for me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

cheers, troy

[Feral]

Thats ok if your after flatties.

Otherwise mix it up, get the SP to travel through at different depths at different speeds, giving it some extra action with the rod / reel. Unless fishing on the bottom, I find exactly the same speed as hard body casting is a good starting point, then mix it up to give different depths. Note Shads need a bit more speed than the ribbon tails to get the action going.

Are you casting at likely structure? You can risk getting real close with plastics, they are much less snagable than hard bodies, and cost only a few cents if you do get snagged and lose it.

[kezza99]

I always have trouble getting distance with sp's and hard bodies, what is everyones thoughts on weighting them. Sinker?... heavier jig head?....:whistle:

[Rocket75]

I won't claim to be an expert SP fisherman by a long shot but have managed quite a few flathead over the last 12 months or so.

What sort of fish are you targeting? I hope its flathead otherwise this advice will be useless!

I find that when chasing flatties, a fairly easy technique that has worked for me uses a simple ball sinker style jig head (size depends on current...need to make sure you are on the bottom), matched with a 3 inch (or more) shad style plastic. Cast out to the edge of a drop off, or along some likely looking sand flats, let the jig hit bottom, then a slight lift of the tip and either a half or full wind of the reel. What you want is a bit of a puff of sand or mud as it hits the bottom, then a moment for the plastic to drop down again. Repeat the process right to the shore. Quite often the strike will be on the drop. I have had quite small flathead attacking 5 or 6 inch shads, so don't be afraid to use a large one. I have caught other species using the same technique, but mainly flatties so far.

Good luck, you now know about as much as I do (not much!)

[Troy_79]

thanks feral, actually the only 2 fish i've caught on them is flathead, next time a will try differnt variations for some reason i;ve only ever stuck with the one style probably because its worked for me before. cheers!

[Troy_79]

thanks rocket, yeah the main species i target is flathead and bream just got to keep up the practice and i will eventually work it out:)

[Dazzamcgee]

yeah sometimes it can be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to using SP's for the first time but once you get it down pat it becomes quite ezy...

3 things to start with are as follows:

1 make sure there are fish in the area you intend on fishing.

2 have a verity of colours and sizes of SP's and jig heads.

3 put some life into the SP!!! try different types of retrieves,slow,fast,side to side,up down but try and incorporate a lot of pauses and if one ways not working try another until you get a hook up....

example:jig jig pause(a couple of seconds)repeat

bream: slow retrieve with longer pauses

Flathead: snappy upward strokes but staying in contact with the bottom between strokes...

I really cant get across how important number 3 on the list is...but when you get the first fish take a moment to think exactly what worked and don't forget it and repeat and the second fish should follow shortly...

Hope this helps you out a bit but never give up..

KEEP TRYING...

[Brian D]

Troy - I'm going out on the limb here cause I'n not the best either but other times I can't miss, so here's my view.

Technique - Last year I was stopping the jig hitting the bottom in free fall - what I mean is I would cast, wait for it to hit the bottom then jig then wind up slack line then let it hit the bottom again. I also would lift the tip of rod after jiging and wind line with tip up. I had it wrong way round. What I do now is cast, wait while it sinks, jig then let it sink again then wind up slack line until I feel it lift off the bottom slightly then jig again. Also dropping the tip of rod at water before winding and jiging. Subtle but makes a big difference.

Also it depends on the fish - 1 time at peel last year I was feeding plastics to pike - I would have caught about 30 until I ran out of tails. All I did was cast and wind - no jiggin. Not me it was the fish - they were hot and I was in the right spot at the right time.

Another time I had 2 live prawns out and I threw the plastic out the other way when 1 of the prawns got hit so I dropped the plastic rod, but while pulling in the live prawn rig the plastic got hit without me touching it. Again the fish hit the plastic on the drop.

Sometimes if you put the plastic in front of the fishes nose they don't realy resist. But if the river is full of prawns and the fish are full you can hit the things on the head and they still won't take it.

It's not you, it's the fish.

Too many variables for me to continue but I suppose it's enough to say you gotta match the hatch with the plastic and try a multipal of techniques on any given day until you find what the fish want.

I won't go to tails and jig size cause you'l get bored. But I use plastic as a sublement to HB's and Lives - very rarley do I just go plastics.

[Oztrav]

kezza99 wrote:

I always have trouble getting distance with sp's and hard bodies, what is everyones thoughts on weighting them. Sinker?... heavier jig head?....:whistle:

dude if it is the same rod and reel that you had at the classic you will need to down size your reel a good long reel is handy ill be taking my 7'6 foot jarvis walker rod to baroon next wednesday the lighter setup is good to because well its lighter you dont get as sore

and another note as dazz and countless others have told me get some braid for fishing line

[roobs]

i think a light, whippy rod with a lot of flex is important because it's imparted on the sp. the flex gives it more of a pull because the rod bends more and the action mimics a startled bait fish better... though it's not a science there is science to it... lots of variables i guess.

[chippee4132]

braid on sp will double ue catch

[reef_raider]

hey mate iv had success on a fair few plastics but im far from an expert on them but have found that the 65mm squidgy riggler in bloodworm colour works excelent as well as the 2\" berkley powergrub in a few different colours. my favourites would have to be anything like those but with a rev head i have found iv tripled my hit rate but definatly am not hooking up as often, so it really just comes down to personal preference on plastic and jighead which ever works best for you use it.

thanks, reef_raider

[Angus]

The Powerbaits are my plastic of choice as well mate.

I wont waffle as i think the essentials have pretty much been covered.

Try different retrieves.

Target Structure, drop offs, ledges etc.

Once you have used braid you'll never look back!

Whippy rods and lite line allow to feel hits a bit better.

Mate the best advice is to stick with it as well. Once you have a few more fish under your belt, the confidence levels rise and it becomes a lot easier.

Angus

[Troy_79]

Thanks heaps everyone for your help, after taking in everyones advice i should be a pro next time im out:P

Finishing work early tomorrow so im going to head up to the pine and give them a go. CANT WAIT!!, i'll let u guys know how it goes.

cheers, troy

[jeff f]

they are great to give a box full to the kids to play with when they get bored so you can get on with real fishing:evil:

[chippee4132]

THAT IS FUNNY JEFF, IF I HAD SAID IT THOUGH ID HAVE ALL THE MODERATORS ON MY CASE

[Brian D]

Yeah good one Jeff - Do you leave the jig heads and hooks in?

[jeff f]

Brian D wrote:

Yeah good one Jeff - Do you leave the jig heads and hooks in?

depends who's kids they are brian:evil:

[Oztrav]

i hope you at least crush the barb

:whistle:

[STU]

try using something like 6lb firline with about a rods length of 6 - 10lb leader and the lighter the jig head the better depends on the current and wind though,I normally stick with 1/16 ounce for bream, snapper, flatty, cod you name it just let it sink down then give it small sharp twitches make sure you do a slow retrieve.The plastics your using are fine try smelt,pearl blue,pearl watermelon or berkeley gulp in pumpkin seed colour minnow grub there my favourites,Blood worm squidgy wriggler 65mm is good to.I also like to use a more stiffer rod about 7 foot long you can give the plastic a better action so it's not whipping around to much practise makes perfect try practising in someones pool to see what the plastic is doing with different techniques.Last thing i use a 1500 - 2500 size reels for my bream outfits and would be surprised the size of fish you can catch on this kind of gear.

[STU]

try using something like 6lb firline with about a rods length of 6 - 10lb leader and the lighter the jig head the better depends on the current and wind though,I normally stick with 1/16 ounce for bream, snapper, flatty, cod you name it just let it sink down then give it small sharp twitches make sure you do a slow retrieve.The plastics your using are fine try smelt,pearl blue,pearl watermelon or berkeley gulp in pumpkin seed colour minnow grub there my favourites,Blood worm squidgy wriggler 65mm is good to.I also like to use a more stiffer rod about 7 foot long you can give the plastic a better action so it's not whipping around to much practise makes perfect try practising in someones pool to see what the plastic is doing with different techniques.Last thing i use a 1500 - 2500 size reels for my bream outfits and would be surprised the size of fish you can catch on this kind of gear.

[Troy_79]

thanks stu, i went back yesterday arvo but still no luck. there is alot of baitfish in the pine river at the moment and there were some decent size fish yesterday chasing them only about 5m from shore but they just weren't intrested in the sp's

[STU]

Are you land based or from a boat I'm normally fishing from a boat but it will still be the same techniques for land base fishing try casting around structure if you can find some like ( mangroves,trees,pylons,rock walls) this should help with tangling with some bread and butter species.

[Troy_79]

im mostly landbased but i hire a boat now and then. looking at buying a yak soon so i'll be able to get out there and explore abit more

[STU]

Good stuff you wont look back then,Thats how i started out in a canoe and caught plenty of fish then finally got totally hooked and went into debt for a boat nothing better to be out fishing on the weekend after working all week.

[obone]

Has anyone had much luck with sp's in Moreton Bay?

[STU]

yeah mate around the islands in the bay I've caught a mixed bag but no real monsters yet squire, flatty,bream,cod,sweetlip you name it you can get all these on plastics around the bay