Wild and woolly weather, mostly, but there are still lots of those ‘weird’ pauses when you suddenly realize all is so very still, ‘not a breath of wind?’ Why aren’t I fishing?! Tide changes and offshore wind direction (from land out towards sea) especially when tide is out-going early morning say, can provide little windows of excellent calm, good fishing conditions particularly close inshore with a hill behind you providing a bit of a wind barrier, great for windy winter land-based, kayak even ski fishing. Smooth waters albeit temporary provide some extra fun fishing the shallows, in prime softbait territory. And you know (if you have) how good the hook-up thrills, super aggressive fight and that special feeling of triumph is when you land an aggressive hard charging all the way to your leader snapper, kahawai or kingfish! Happy days and yeehaaaaa! So what are the main things that make the difference between success and failure with softbaits in this scene? Read on…
Spiralling out of control. Near useless. Proper final presentation is key for softbaits, hey – it’s the only thing the fish sees right?! Twisted and crooked rigging of softbaits sucks! They spiral when retrieved and have a very ‘un-fishy’ movement to them, fish do not like spiralling softbaits half as much. It can be near pointless to present poorly rigged lures i
n winter to lethargic half to not-even-interested snapper in particular, they can’t be bothered to even investigate. Align the softbait centred and straight when penetrating the hook point into it, allowing a smooth straight section from the head of the softie and jighead, to where the hook point exists the softbait, with no twist and no bunching. Bunching up sets up a twist, a spiral…fish-free fishing dead ahead. This oddity is even more critical when fishing shallows with the softbait action even more visible to fish. When they’re gagging for a bite sure anything goes, but that can be few and far between especially in winter with shoreline fishing. A good thing about many softies is the forgiving nature of the lure itself, allowing re-rigging without excessive loss of grip on the jighead so your softbait lasts longer and can be re-aligned if crooked whether from your rigging or from fish nailing it. It really does make the world of difference to the quantity and quality of strikes.
Here’s a quick video I put together this week at a favourite spot – some top things to help your softbait setup, particularly for land-based or close inshore stuff…
Land-based softbaiting, easy setup and tips. Espresso – YouTube
Some surprisingly good looking sea-bird activity along the extended North Shore (Auckland) Bays lately – pointers to fish no doubt, worth a cast of a softbait or two, flick ‘em if ya got ‘em!
The Grady White Tairua Boat Show | The Coromandel is on now, so if you’re at Tairua, come and say g’day at the Catch Fishing stand!
