Softbaits tips, tricks and techniques

I absolutely love catching snapper on soft-baits – for me it’s still the most fun way to catch snapper.

Casting out softies in anticipation of them getting smashed by large snapper before they hit the bottom really gets the excitement factor going inside me.

My life priorities have changed, but I sneakily make sure I have time for this type of fishing during winter, as it’s an activity that remains very high on my list.

Soft-baiting has been around for many years now – largely thanks to Malcolm Dawson from Pure fishing, who did a wonderful job of promoting this exciting form of fishing to New Zealand – and I believe it’s here to stay. Yes, other effective forms of lure fishing have emerged since then, but soft-baiting is still the number one for fun.

This ‘fun’ aspect is provided by a combination of factors. Firstly, I get to cast. I love casting – it’s a bit like hitting a golf ball well: when you get it right, your soft-bait sails out in a perfect trajectory, not flailing or propellering, but slowly wobbling from side to side as its sails through the air, before touching down with a small splash. This is followed by your line slowly falling down to the ocean’s surface, and you can imagine your lure swimming towards the sea floor.

Secondly, I enjoy the fact there’s a huge range of soft-bait tackle available for us to purchase and collect. I need to have the latest soft-bait gear that comes onto the market – just in case they’re better than the ones I already have. And the changes do not have to be dramatic. For example, some jig-heads come in different shapes, hook sizes and colours, and even with UV-reflective coatings. Or consider scent additives, which are available in a few brands now in different flavours. These add up to thousands of various combinations to try and provide heaps of memorable moments along the way.

A decent soft-plastic outfit adds greatly to the pleasure, too, as it’s a breeze to handle, enabling anglers to cast all day without getting fatigued. Consequently, I’m always on the lookout for the best quality rods to use, because these can be as light as a feather and cast further. The same goes for reels: gone are the days of getting a cheap soft-bait reel to try out; now I want a high quality reel to match my high quality rod. Thinking about this type of tackle still gets me going!

The gear has changed quite a bit since I first started soft-baiting; I’d like to share a few of my findings on the journey so far.

Soft-baits

There is a trend away from the 5” jerk shad tails towards brands and designs with wiggly tails. In particular paddle tails are very popular, with curly tails running a close second. Also, darker, more natural colours are growing in popularity, whereas bright colours were all the rage till recently. The most popular colour in my opinion would be New Penny – it’s the go-to colour for many soft-baiting fans these days. However, yellow and brown (‘Bruised Banana’/’Satay Chicken’) has been dynamite over the past few months and is fast becoming very popular as well. Other colours, such as various hues of brown, dark blues, light greens, and even black and gold, now seem to be more effective at catching fish than the old-style brightly coloured Nuclear/Electric Chicken or pinks.

The usual size of soft-baits has shrunk, too. I find 4” soft-baits are the most popular now, whereas before it was all about 5” soft-baits. It may not seem like much of a difference, but in winter – when the fish can be fussy – having the smaller sized soft-baits often makes a huge difference to your catch rate. Now there are a few brands on the market that all work well, we are spoilt for choice.

Jig-heads

Due to the smaller sizes of soft-baits being used, we need jig-heads to suit them. There is no point in having a nice wiggly soft-bait if a rigid metal hook shank runs down most of its length. It makes much more sense to have the point of the hook exiting the soft-bait around a third to half way down from the head. It can be hard to find jig-heads that fit this criteria, especially if you need a 1oz jig-head for the smaller 4” soft-bait, but they are available now. So test them out before buying: rig them on the size of soft-bait and make sure the hook’s point comes out in the right area. I find a 3/0 sized hook with a short shank maximises the wiggly action of my lure, yet it also has a decent sized hook gape. These may all seem small things and overly complicated, but successful lure fishing is all about maximising the various aspects involved so your soft-bait is presented in the best way possible.

Some jig-heads now have a UV-reflective sealer coat. UV reflection is often a hot topic amongst lure fishermen – especially as it’s a quality that’s virtually impossible for us to detect with the naked eye (the zinc you put on your nose to stop sunburn is a common UV reflective material). However, fresh water fly fishermen have known about the fish-catching qualities of UV-reflective material for years, and can support me when I say how effective it is on occasion. Emanating from the sun, these powerful rays are invisible to humans, but apparently predators often use it to help them identify and hunt prey. If this is true, it makes sense to use a UV-reflective jig-head.

As there are heaps of different jig-heads on the market now, I look for one with a good-quality hook that’s not too thick, has a super-sharp point, suits the size of soft-baits being used, and incorporates a good keeper system so the soft-bait remains firmly in place.

Techniques

Tactics and techniques have changed quite a bit for me and depend on the area I’m fishing. I mostly use soft-baits in waters less than 20m deep – once beyond these depths, I prefer inchiku-type lures instead.

In all instances, try to figure out where the snapper will be hanging out; generally this involves small schools of them holding in areas of current next to rocks and reefs, not on top of them, and waiting for food to flow past, much like trout in a stream. You can find these schools of snapper with your fish-finder, usually on the bank where the reef meets the sand, or on sand up-current from reefy areas. Mark the fish on your GPS and try to drift to one side of the school or the other, so you’re able to cast your soft-baits forward when drifting down towards them. I have found these snapper are usually quite tightly bunched, which means short drifts targeting the area where the snapper are sitting works better than long blind drifts. I’ve also discovered that after two or three drifts targeting the same school the fish tend to become wary, much the same as kingfish often do when chased with lures on a structure. I avoid this problem by identifying two or three patches of fish and then alternate my drifts between them; this worked really well on my last soft-bait mission. However, remember the fish in winter are generally larger than usual and have taken up residence for the winter, so if you want to enjoy the spot you’ve found, only keep two or three fish and let the bigger ones go, or you’ll have to wait quite a while for more fish to move in. (Think of it as micro managing your own fishery – it works well if you put them back.)

The further you can cast away from the boat the better, so practice your casting. When I see fishers who can’t cast very well, I know they’re not going to catch many fish. Casting is an art; it’s not about how strong you are, it’s all about technique and timing. Try and cast with one hand, and use your wrist to backswing the lure, let the rod load up, then flick it in the direction you want, letting the rod do the work. It’s a beautiful thing when you get it right.

So I repeat: cast out as far as you can. Now let your lure sink to the bottom, before working it back by lifting your rod slowly to bring the lure off the bottom. Remember, with wiggly tails you’re pulling the soft-baits through the water, not twitching like with jerk shads. Next, lower your rod to let the lure drop, take two or three winds on the handle, and repeat the process four or five times. I try to cover the area further away from the boat as well as possible; I am not interested in wasting time working my lure close to the boat, as fish are more likely to be spooked by the boat here.

When you get a bite, quickly wind and lift the rod to set the hook, and then it’s a matter of fighting the fish to the boat. When the fish is taking line against your drag, let your reel do its thing; don’t haul against it. Then, when it stops, lift and wind, lift and wind. Once alongside the boat, it pays to use a rubber net to land the fish, especially the bigger ones or those you want to release. You can damage the fluorocarbon leader by lifting fish out of the water on it, and the net’s rubber mesh doesn’t catch on fish spines and hook points. Good quality pure fluorocarbon will actually distort and go wavy if you overload it; if this happens, replace it straight away.

When fishing in depths less than 20 metres, snapper caught on soft-baits tend to still be in good shape, making them good candidates for release, so keep this in mind and keep any time they spent out of the water to an absolute minimum.

If you have not tried soft-baiting, make sure you do, but keep in mind that using the right gear makes all the difference – both to the amount of enjoyment provided and to your rate of success.