What other fish can you catch with soft plastics?

[mtchye]

Hi guys,

With flathead after flathead going after these soft plastics I was wondering what other species you can target with them...

e.g. we were thinking of going down to the ASI groyne or maybe garden island and having a go there - what sort of lures and lure presentation techniques would go well over there?

Thanks and heres hoping we catch something besides big flathead in the next few goes.. :)

Ooh, also was wondering what you guys thought of using scents on SP's and how well these prawnstar lures really go.. (would be a painful loss if it got snagged!) :p

[mtchye]

Forgot to ask also - would lures work at night when they fish cannot see them?

Thanks in advance for any help :)

[struggler]

I am impressed you are catching flathead after flathead!!!

After months of trying I can boast only a few toads on soft plastics!!! Forget bream!!!!!

I am starting to think I have been conned by all the hype.

Struggler

[mtchye]

Hmmm yeah I find that some soft plastics work better than others - eg I have yet to catch one on these cheap kmart mr twisty fluoro coloured ones when a friend of mine caught one on a similar atomic single tail grub... Come to think of it most of our flatheads have been caught on atomic 2" fat grubs in various colours.. pumpkinseed and motor oil gold when the water is clear, and the brighter colours when its a little more murky... Also got one on a river2sea gold shed, and one on a little feather tail jig...

They do seem to be everywhere at the moment so fish the low to rising tide and I'm sure you'll catch one at least - they are a good size too with most pushing past 40cm.

I have yet to catch a bream - hehe.. any tips on where they are biting atm? :)

And yeah - if anyone knows of other fish susceptible to SP's as well as if SP's will work at night - please chime in! ;)

[yogi]

hi guys,
I've got some success on SP at night especially at places like canning bridge and the narrows on breams, grunters and some really nice flatheads. Me and a mate both caught a flathead >50cm from the canning bridge one night a couple of weeks ago. I was using a stickbait and he was using a purple powerbait.

Breams are still around the same areas downstream but the blowies would mean HBs are more practical and economical at the moment.

Flatheads can be found almost everywhere at this time. I've caught them up on SP near guildford as well as at the sand flats at Jojos and claremont( at night ).

Lures definitely work for flatheads as I've caught more of them on lures these few months then I have on bait for the past 1½years. You just have to keep trying. ;) Most of the time they will hit the lure on the drop where you will feel a hit and then nothing cos they tend to sit at the bottom after that. Slowly twitching the plastic along the bottom also works. If you watched Rex Hunt this Sun, they also used a upward sweeping movement that's supposed to attract the flatheads from a distance away. Too many ways to try, I'm still trying also.

Best of luck guys!

Yogi

[mtchye]

Thanks for the tips yogi. Yeah the Canning Bridge and its surrounds is where we've been catching heaps of flatties lately.

A quick question - when you were fishing at night with SP's, were they scented SP's? I have also read about people putting luminescent tape on to their HB's at night to help with that...

Oh yeah, with the Canning bridge if you fish under the pylons your soft plastic will be gone in the first few casts i find due to the blowies. However if you walk away from the bridge on the rocky wall there seem to be much fewer blowies and still plenty of flats to do your flathead fishing on... No bream from there yet tho...

A very slow jerky retrieve to bounce the SP on the bottom seems to work for me with the flatties.

With the Canning bridge, from the top of the bridge walkway i can look down and see heaps of big fish stalking the baitfish schools. Has anyone ever fished from the top of the bridge before? Casting from under it seems very scary for me not having many lures and all and snagging it seems very likely! :)

[yogi]

Hi mtchye,
I've used both scented and non scented plastics and both have produced so far. Atomics, powerbait, sliders and squidgies have all gotten fish for me.

The hardbodies that got fish at night were also not modified in any way but I think luminous paint/tape may have some effect. ;) But having to charge them up before each cast is a hassle. I've caught herring on the luminous plastics though.

I've tried fishing for the breams from on top of the bridge a few times but you have to pick the time and tide so that your plastic does flow too fast with the tide. Can be frustrating when you see big fish but can't hook them up. ;) I noticed that the fishes spook very easily when the water is as clear as now at the shallower areas. Just a light lift of the small plastic is enough to spook them sometimes. I'll still trying to tempt those fishes though.

Also, pick a time when there's less traffic( early morning or late night ). Some of the drivers driving pass that bridge are not very friendly and too much exhaust fumes will make the fishing uncomfortable as well. Cheers!

Yogi