I found a spot where blacktails were taking camo worm and caught three on camo - then changed to McCarthy ( or what I assume is McCarthy). No more bites! then changed back to camo - instant bites and caught two ....changed back to McCarthy - no bites......so far, I have no faith in the Mc Carthy worm (if it is)
alternative to camo worm
- Thread starter ziggy
- Start date
Ziggy,
there is so much that goes into fishing with soft plastics its difficult to go into it in all the detail
This weekend in St Francis I caught a FAIR AMOUNT of blacktail, some on McCarthy, some on Berkley Camo worm and some on the real thing ... Mussel Worm (which is what they are all based on)
First of all, I marinate all my soft plastics in the Berkley Secret Sauce, helps with the scent to attract attention to your bait.
then,
I use as light a jighead as I possibly can (I was using 1/8ounce with about a 1/0 hook), sea was quite alive and the wind was HOWLING.
I throw it out as far as I possibly can, let it sink for about 5 seconds (in fairly turbelent water) and then VERY SLOWLY reel it back in. No twitching of the rod or anything just a slow and steady retrieve.
WHEN THEY SEE IT there is no smelling or tasting, THEY TAKE IT as hard as they can and the fight is on. The sauce helps to attract attention to your bait, but most of it is to do with sight, they see it they take it.
I have seen many people throw the camo worm in and leave it, it simply falls straight down to the bottom, where no fish will get to it.
It is very important to CHUM the gulley you fishing, it gets the fish into eating and competition mode, and when they are like this they don't waste time to look and lick the bait first, THEY TAKE IT before ANOTHER FISH DOES.
See this pic, I think this one was taken on McCarthy, but have to say think, cause I was using McCarthy, Berkley and the real thing, and swopped between them the whole time.
Black mussels were broken and used as chum.
Havoc holding "my blacktail" while I'm catching some more, the one in the pic was bleeding alot and became a slide bait for sharkies
there is so much that goes into fishing with soft plastics its difficult to go into it in all the detail
This weekend in St Francis I caught a FAIR AMOUNT of blacktail, some on McCarthy, some on Berkley Camo worm and some on the real thing ... Mussel Worm (which is what they are all based on)
First of all, I marinate all my soft plastics in the Berkley Secret Sauce, helps with the scent to attract attention to your bait.
then,
I use as light a jighead as I possibly can (I was using 1/8ounce with about a 1/0 hook), sea was quite alive and the wind was HOWLING.
I throw it out as far as I possibly can, let it sink for about 5 seconds (in fairly turbelent water) and then VERY SLOWLY reel it back in. No twitching of the rod or anything just a slow and steady retrieve.
WHEN THEY SEE IT there is no smelling or tasting, THEY TAKE IT as hard as they can and the fight is on. The sauce helps to attract attention to your bait, but most of it is to do with sight, they see it they take it.
I have seen many people throw the camo worm in and leave it, it simply falls straight down to the bottom, where no fish will get to it.
It is very important to CHUM the gulley you fishing, it gets the fish into eating and competition mode, and when they are like this they don't waste time to look and lick the bait first, THEY TAKE IT before ANOTHER FISH DOES.
See this pic, I think this one was taken on McCarthy, but have to say think, cause I was using McCarthy, Berkley and the real thing, and swopped between them the whole time.
Black mussels were broken and used as chum.
Havoc holding "my blacktail" while I'm catching some more, the one in the pic was bleeding alot and became a slide bait for sharkies
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Off topic here, sort of... but I just want to add my vote to STRIKE KING SLATWATER ZULUS....
I've fished these and sung their praises for the last 9 years, and they are INSANE!!!
As FA mentioned, they are incredibly tough, and last forever....
The great thing about them too is that they float... so one can fish them on a weedless saltwater worm hook, and fish them like a topwater twitch bait....
I discovered them when living in the Caribbean, and we klapped the tarpon on them, along with plenty Kingies, Snapper, Barracuda, and pretty much anything else....
They seem to have changed the formula slightly.... they aren't as soft and stretchy as they used to be, but still one of my favourite baits.... In the Caribbean it was the plain white/peark which did all the damage for us in the clear Caribbean waters, but I think that most of the colour patterns will work well.....
As to using Chokka as a "lure".... wellI'm no purist, so it really doesn't bother me.... Are you having fun doing it? To me thats all that counts....
If we wanna get technical, all the Gulp range essentially then becomes "bait" rather than a lure, due to its "edible" quality, and the fact that its biodegrable....
But I love Gulp products, hate the price, but love the products.... Love Strike Kings, Love FISH FISH FISH and Gummy Baits.... love them all, have a blast fishing with them... to me, thats what counts...
I've fished these and sung their praises for the last 9 years, and they are INSANE!!!
As FA mentioned, they are incredibly tough, and last forever....
The great thing about them too is that they float... so one can fish them on a weedless saltwater worm hook, and fish them like a topwater twitch bait....
I discovered them when living in the Caribbean, and we klapped the tarpon on them, along with plenty Kingies, Snapper, Barracuda, and pretty much anything else....
They seem to have changed the formula slightly.... they aren't as soft and stretchy as they used to be, but still one of my favourite baits.... In the Caribbean it was the plain white/peark which did all the damage for us in the clear Caribbean waters, but I think that most of the colour patterns will work well.....
As to using Chokka as a "lure".... wellI'm no purist, so it really doesn't bother me.... Are you having fun doing it? To me thats all that counts....
If we wanna get technical, all the Gulp range essentially then becomes "bait" rather than a lure, due to its "edible" quality, and the fact that its biodegrable....
But I love Gulp products, hate the price, but love the products.... Love Strike Kings, Love FISH FISH FISH and Gummy Baits.... love them all, have a blast fishing with them... to me, thats what counts...
neilg - your technique is exactly as I do it - VERY slow retrieve, just enough to keep the contact with the jighead - in addtion, at the end of the slow retireve I let the worm wash right up the beach and let it get dragged back with the receeding wave - I always almost get a fish just as the worm tumbles into the slight drop off right at the edge - usually small blacktails or wave garrick.
I have not tried marinating in Berkley Secret Sauce - is that what the camos come in? - or do you get it separately
As for chumming - I dont do it - not enough time in one spot, I fish while I walk my dogs, never stopping for long - except at my favourite gullies. Generally I am on the beach for an hour at most......thats why I target blacktails, they are always around and fun to catch on a light stick (6'6" Shimano Clarus, Stradic 2500FI and 4lb fireline)
I have not tried marinating in Berkley Secret Sauce - is that what the camos come in? - or do you get it separately
As for chumming - I dont do it - not enough time in one spot, I fish while I walk my dogs, never stopping for long - except at my favourite gullies. Generally I am on the beach for an hour at most......thats why I target blacktails, they are always around and fun to catch on a light stick (6'6" Shimano Clarus, Stradic 2500FI and 4lb fireline)
As to the secret sauce, I bought 4 bottles of Berkley Crawfish sauce, I marinate all my soft plastics in it.
The sauce in the camo worm tub is also good (don't know what flavour that is)
Point is simple, add some kind of flavour if you can, even if just dipping it in some Kingfisher Anchovy sauce before casting. Do everything to turn the odds in your favour.
A person fishing an unscented lure will normally have less success than a person using exactly the same lure but with scent.
And a person chumming and using the same colour and scented lure will have even more success, as the chum attracts fish to THAT ONE SPOT.
The sauce in the camo worm tub is also good (don't know what flavour that is)
Point is simple, add some kind of flavour if you can, even if just dipping it in some Kingfisher Anchovy sauce before casting. Do everything to turn the odds in your favour.
A person fishing an unscented lure will normally have less success than a person using exactly the same lure but with scent.
And a person chumming and using the same colour and scented lure will have even more success, as the chum attracts fish to THAT ONE SPOT.
Nepptune - I agee with you on two things!
- As to using Chokka as a "lure".... wellI'm no purist, so it really doesn't bother me.... Are you having fun doing it? To me thats all that counts....If we wanna get technical, all the Gulp range essentially then becomes "bait" rather than a lure, due to its "edible" quality, and the fact that its biodegrable....THIS IS BASICALLY WHAT I AM SAYING ABOUT THE DEFINITON OF A LURE
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couta-koppie
Senior Member
[color=#006600]neilg[/color] wrote:
Thank you so much for saying that. Wish more people could realise it.
[color="#006600"]ignoblis[/color] wrote:
Do they have anything that resembles a camo worm?I have looked on Strike King's online catalogue and see nothing that resembles a camo worm
Just a comment on the speed that you fish the drop shot lures.
I here you guys talk about slow retreives and steady retreives, and I used to do that a long time ago, now I fish fast. I see a lot of guys going it slow with camo and getting scrappy fish or nothing, I will fish the same water a produce a good fish.
I retreive my lures at a very high speed and jerk the rod (burn it) and have started catching much more fish and much better fish since I started doing it, I have caught all kinds of fish like this, plenty kingies, garrick, wave garrick, shad, large parrot fish and the list goes on. I almost never fish slow as the results are poor in comparison to fishing fast. Twice I have had all my braid stripped completely off in a few seconds and left we with a hot empty spool. Try it, it really works and you can never retreive to fast for a kingie.
You need to have confidence in what you are fishing or you will not catch fish.
Here is a small kingie caught on a strike king zulu pearl white at high speed, and this is a small one of many caught like this.
I here you guys talk about slow retreives and steady retreives, and I used to do that a long time ago, now I fish fast. I see a lot of guys going it slow with camo and getting scrappy fish or nothing, I will fish the same water a produce a good fish.
I retreive my lures at a very high speed and jerk the rod (burn it) and have started catching much more fish and much better fish since I started doing it, I have caught all kinds of fish like this, plenty kingies, garrick, wave garrick, shad, large parrot fish and the list goes on. I almost never fish slow as the results are poor in comparison to fishing fast. Twice I have had all my braid stripped completely off in a few seconds and left we with a hot empty spool. Try it, it really works and you can never retreive to fast for a kingie.
You need to have confidence in what you are fishing or you will not catch fish.
Here is a small kingie caught on a strike king zulu pearl white at high speed, and this is a small one of many caught like this.
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[color=#006600]ziggy[/color] wrote:
Try the strike king 4" finesse worms, but the zulus sure do produce the fish.
couta-koppie
Senior Member
I only fish very fast for kings when the water is clear and warm. Have found that when it is dirty or cold, that a very slow retrieve works much better for kings than the fast retrieve.
I only fish fast with the "fishy" ones, but nowadays thats all I fish.
All the Strike King Zulus are the same, just that some are marketed for Bass and some for Redfish in the US, they also have a Z-Too which looks the same but is salt impregnated so it sinks slowly and is great fished weightless as a topwater bait, fished with a medium twitch retreive and pauses or burn it, or you can fish offset from the sinker on a down shot rig which is the best way to fish worm type baits also.
All the Strike King Zulus are the same, just that some are marketed for Bass and some for Redfish in the US, they also have a Z-Too which looks the same but is salt impregnated so it sinks slowly and is great fished weightless as a topwater bait, fished with a medium twitch retreive and pauses or burn it, or you can fish offset from the sinker on a down shot rig which is the best way to fish worm type baits also.