Animal Imitation Soft-Baits

Previously, Mark Kitteridge looked at the advantages offered by paddle-tail style soft-baits. Here, he concludes the series by looking at ‘the others’ – those soft-baits that don’t really fit into the main categories, sometimes appearing wild and wacky, but which, nonetheless, can still press the right
buttons…

Crustacean allure

Many of our popular table-fish really enjoy crabs, shrimps and prawns as part of their diet, with a few species, such as the tasty smoothhound (spotted dogfish), preferring them (and shellfish) over pretty much everything else. Having soft-baits that imitate crustaceans is a no-brainer, but I’m still somewhat undecided as to their actual effectiveness, especially regarding the imitation crabs available. Yes, the potential scenarios are intriguing as theoretically they should ‘press the buttons’ of crab-loving species such as gurnard, smoothhounds, flounder, trevally and, of course, snapper. Yet my own (admittedly early) experiences were not as encouraging as I’d hoped, with the various imitation crabs’ dangly legs tending to be bitten off in short order by nuisance fish such as leatherjackets, assorted wrasse and undersized snapper, converting these amputees into ‘biscuits’. Once that happened, the offerings lost much of their appeal.

However, retaining the overall crabby shape, complete with enticing legs and claws, is only part of the key to reaching potential imitation crab success; size and colour are important components too, as is having a convincing crab scent. In short, their effective use probably required more perseverance and intelligence gathering than I was willing to put in at the time.

Prawn imitations are a different story. Until quite recently, we didn’t appear to have many, if any, prawns in our waters, but boy has that situation changed in a rush!

It is commonly thought that our species – the greasy prawn – was introduced via a visiting overseas boat’s bilge, and since then their numbers have exploded, to the point kahawai and snapper can have guts bulging with them. This arguably makes the greasy prawn one of the few introduced species that’s doing more good than harm.

So, we have a delicious prawn to imitate, and it’s easier to understand why this type of crustacean performs better than crab imitations. For a start, their slimmer shape suits more active fishing techniques, and some possess slender legs and feelers that undulate and wriggle enticingly while moved through the water. They are therefore attractive targets while wafting downwards on relatively light 1/4oz to 1/2oz lead-heads, or when trundled and flicked back along the seafloor or over weedy cover.

Prawn imitations can press the right buttons at times, thanks to feelers and legs that wriggle when moving through the water.

I’ve seen some nice snapper taken on the Savage ‘Panic Shrimp’ in depths to 40 metres, and a good fishing buddy of mine, Josh Darby, often does very well with a Z-Man ShrimpZ in the ‘New Penny’ colour when the fishing is particularly tough in 10-20 metre depths. According to Josh, for best results it is critical to yell, “ShrimpZ attack!” prior to casting one out – and maybe he’s onto something, as it certainly worked for him when I was there!

Scent in soft-baits will always be a subject for debate. While it’s true that some fish will smash soft-baits so aggressively there isn’t time for the smell to play any part in attracting the strike, especially when the bait is slowly drifting down on a light jig-head, the length of time the fish hangs on afterwards can be greatly extended if the offering tastes as good as it looks. A longer hold time provides more opportunity for the angler to react appropriately.

This section would not be complete if I failed to mention the Gulp! ‘King Shrimp’ and ‘Jigging Shrimp’ ranges, even though I have had little to do with the former product. The huge ‘King Shrimp’ is certainly impressive to look at, and I know big snapper and ‘puka love to eat small crayfish if they get the opportunity, so this product could pay dividends for those brave enough to try them.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I used the small Gulp! Jigging Shrimp in ‘Swamp Gas’ and ‘Moebi’ colours while fishing the Mackenzie Country Canals three years ago, and had an absolute ball, catching a dozen, fat, gleaming salmon to 7kg on them over a three-hour period.

Squid and octopus

Anything spineless, soft and possessing long, undulating tentacles makes a tempting target, so it’s a small wonder imitation cephalopods are commonly included in soft-bait ranges, too.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed a massive difference in effectiveness when using different parts of real squid baits in the past: offerings containing the tentacle clump always attract more attention than plain squid chunks, strips and whole bodies – unless ‘tentacles’ are cut into them to provide more movement and interest. Consequently, it’s critical for all squid imitations to possess long, slender, undulating tentacles for best results (Gulp! ‘Squid Vicious’ is a great example). However, these tendrils are easily bitten or ripped off the less robust soft-bait products, potentially making their use an expensive exercise when wrasse and leatherjackets are around.

Squid are enjoyed by a variety of predators, including snapper.

That’s where a relatively new player, Nikko, comes in: this company offers a very tough octopus product – the Nikko Worm – that’s ultimately biodegradable, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for them.

Something for the future? The Nikko 'Worm' used by the writer as an experimental soft-bait.

Other shapes

There are many weird and wonderful shapes in the soft-bait world, and some are a pleasant surprise. For example, on paper the Z-Man LizardZ shouldn’t have worked that well in the ocean as it imitated a lizard (or maybe a newt or salamander?), but it did have a long undulating tail and wiggly legs, which really brought them to life when moved. Combining this with the LizardZ’s slim profile, which enabled good action to be imparted, it’s no wonder a bunch of opportunistic snapper were caught on them.

Lizards might be land-based, but that doesn't stop their imitations being effective on sea creatures.

Unfortunately, the fishing public remained unconvinced, and most ended up relegated to fishing stores’ bargain bins.

More recently, I’ve seen imitation flounder arrive on the scene, and why not, as juvenile flounder are often found in various predators’ bellies? Only time will tell whether this new Glowbite shape will be a winner.

One thing’s for sure though: anglers will always be looking for new, innovative ways to press fishy buttons with soft-baits, and I can’t wait to see these ideas brought to fruition in the future.