some questions in regards to tying lures

[ziyaadb]

Does it help to have a snap swivel when using spinners and crank baits, do they enhance or destroy the lures action?

When using Plastic baits do the worms, frogs, brushogs have to have a weight?

when using plastic baits do the baits ALways have to be hooked as straight as possible?

What actions should be used when fishing Plastic baits?

Thats all for now:spite

 

[Guest]

Ziyaadb

I'm no expert, but here's what I do:

Snap swivel on lures.... I assume you mean snap lock with swivel?  No, do not use directly on your lures / crankbaits.   Rather have your swivel between your leader (if you're fishing with one) and your hook snoot.  Hook snoot should be joined directly to the lure using a rapala knot (for lures), with no swivel on the lure itself.  By adding a swivel directly on the lure you make it look less natural and may affect its action.  I'm not too sure about swivels on spinners - don't think it would cause too much of a problem, but I still do the same as above.

For soft plastics, the use of weights merely imparts speed / action to the plastic and makes it easier to cast.  You may use without a weight but lure action will be very slow and you will get a little less casting distance ofcourse.  But the main reason for the weight is the action / sinking of the plastic - they sink faster with a weight so you can retrieve / work them faster.

Always try to keep the plastic straight as possible on the hook as this will give the best swimming action, but they will still work if not straight too, although not as good as originally intended.

Actions..... long story..... experiment.... look at what your lure is doing when you retrieve in different ways, shake the rod tip etc.  For flukes I tend to use a reel-stop-reel method with my finger twitching the line all the time - this imitates an injured baitfish action which is deadly in the shallows.  For worms I use a "lift the rod tip slowly, let the lure sink again and take up the slack" action.  Brushhogs & junebugs similar but slightly faster.  Also on the cast I wait a few secs before starting my retreive, at least until the lure hits bottom as you can often gets strikes on the way down.  I always keep my rod tip low down facing towards where the line enters the water as this makes it easier to feel the take and you are ready to strike immediately.  See whats best for you.

Tight lines

Gilly 

 

 

[Guest]

Suppose actions / retrieve would also depend on the type of rig you're using, ie carolina, texas, dropshot (original), weightless, etc.

 

 

[ziyaadb]

[color="#006600"][/color]

Rather have your swivel between your leader (if you're fishing with one) and your hook snoot.  Hook snoot should be joined directly to the lure using a rapala knot (for lures), with no swivel on the lure itself.

Thanks for that Gilly Please explain the above to me in a bit more detail please, why would 1 need a leader?
whats a hook snoot?
whats a rapala knot?

Thanks

Ziyaad

 

[Guest]

You don't really need a leader, but I have fireline on some of my bass kit and often use the same reels for other types of (saltwater) fishing, so I use a leader from my fireline mainline, especially for saltwater drophot fishing to give some abrasion resistance in case I hook into a kingie or rockcod thats takes me onto the bricks.  But with purely bass fishing, I suppose you could fish with fireline straight without a leader. 

The hook snoot is usually a clear line that joins to your hook / lure etc.  If I was to do purely bass fishing then I would be using something like an exceller 2000 filled with 10lb fireline / mustad ultrabraid as my mainline (obviously with some cheaper backing to fill the spool), and then I would have a swivel at the end of my fireline tied to a 1&1/2foot flourocarbon hook snoot, say 15 to 20lb, tied to my lure.  That should explain what a hook snoot is.

For the rapala knot, check out Reefmans post in the knots thread.  Its a modified version of the improved clinch knot that allows for a non-slip loop at the lure.

Hope this helps.

Gilly

 

 

[ziyaadb]

thanks gilly

 

[Little Green Fish]

ziyaadb

Now let me throw a brushog into the pond here, or spanner in the works if you're a mechanic......

I also don't use the snap swivels when fishing with jerkbaits / cranks and neither do I when using soft plastics, however,  I do use the snap-clip's, it's a clip similar to a snap swivel without the swivel, why ?  Well it gives you exactly the same effect as what the Rapala knot would but with the added advantage of being able to change lures much faster.

Also, like Gilly said, go an check out what your lure does when you do something with your rig at the other end, this is very important, this will also give you the best understanding of the applications of many if not all of the rigs (weightless, carolina, texas etc.) and most of the lures, much better than any one could ever explain in words.

Just remember that the actions of lures is something you'll have to experiment with when faced with different conditions i.e. thick water grass + soft plastic senko worm = a bit heavier weighted texas rig even a carolina, to get the lure down through the grass, here a weightless option will be futile.

Get to a pool and check out what the sinking speed of various rigs and various lengts in these rigs are, the actions of lures are and what the actions of your doings at the other end impart on the various rigs and lures.

:f1shy

 

[Johanvc]

Hmmmm well now I am going to throw a whole toolbox in the works. What if you are using a spinning out fit? Remember that on bait casters you don’t get line twist so NO swivel is needed. But when using a spinning rig you need a swivel to avoid line twist. It is not a must but it can start becoming a pain.
Also I agree with LGF on the snap clips. When fishing you want to use your time fishing and not retying your cranks. So they work wonders. You can change colors or type in under 5 sec. I would not recommend a swivel on a spinner bait.
I also agree with LGF. Use a swimming pool to understand what your lure does in the water. That way you understand when fishing what is going on and you can adapt your bait according to the conditions you fish. But also you need to understand your conditions. You might be fishing in depths of 7m but the fish are suspending on 5meters but they don’t want to go for cranks or spinner baits. They want something slow. You can’t use a texas rig as the bait just goes flying past the strike zone. In that case I will use a weightless rig to try and keep the bait in the strike zone for that much longer. So you need to concentrate when fishing. The fish will show you what they want. Do they want the bait on the bottom or are they taking it on the drop. Do they bite when you are reeling in or are they taking on a twitch twitch wait to drop. When I say understand your conditions I mean observing what is going on in the water and the environment. A lot of guys don’t think of it but even while fishing on a nice hot sunny day and all of a sudden the sun moves in behind a cloud you need to change color. That’s where most guys’ problems lie as they are getting fish and the sun moves in behind a cloud they say the fish have gone of the bite. But just by changing colors you can still get fish.

Also keep your eye on the water. You can be fishing deep with a senko and see bait fish jumping around. The chances are good that you will get a fish. But in that situation I would change to a jerkbait or a weightless fluke. That’s the whole thing with this sport we are doing. We get influenced by so many things and you need to think ahead.
Also try and put your bait on as straight as possible. As that will have a major impact on the fish you get. The only time that does not matter is when fishing a wacky rig.
Well the action will vary from bait to bait. But the common actions used are a twitch twitch wait and then twitch twitch wait. The other one is by using your rod to drag your bait on the bottom and using the reel just to pick up the slack line.

 

[ziyaadb]

some really great info gents, another question no:

How do i find out what the fish are doing, where they are suspened, what depth they at how do i find these things out?

 

[Little Green Fish]

ziyaadb

Bud that's the difficult part of the sport, finding out where they are, what they are doing, why they doing it, what they want and how they want it.....

Now, if you're lucky enough to have some sort of floatation device rigged with a fishfinder you're half way there, bank angling, been there it's tough but not all that tough when you visit venues that caters exclusively for bank angling.

K, so there's three ways, Fishfinder (only those rigged on a floating thing, ones you cast out absolute :cens), visual and fishing with various rigs, lures and weights.

First you should decide on a lure, based on the most abbundant foodsource (i.e. baitfish, crabs, toads etc etc.) then immitate the foodsource, size colour shape and it's behaviour as best you can with the lures you have available, fishfinder then you'll know what depth they are if no fishfinder and you can't see them, i.e  dirty waters go weightless first and then start adding weight's in all the different sizes and applications if needs be. concentrate on the line and the sinking speed of the lure this should (once experienced in the kids inflatable pool) then tell you with relative accuracy where they are (soft plastics) with cranks/jerkbaits it's a little easier as most are designed to swim at a preset depth which if you use one and get a strike you'll know more or less at which detph it was.

Weather patterns also plays havoc on these LGF's behaviour, sunny cold days, perhaps you'll find them in shallows but I've found them in shallows on hot sunny days too, so

Look for structure and fish tightly to that first, with a couple of lures in the most appropriate colours, if nothing then move on to other structure and finally to open spaces between structure.

It's a little difficult to explain what to do exactly, but once you've caught a couple and some small patterns starts to develop you'll see what I'm trying to convey here.

Just remember one thing What works for Me, might not work for You and vice versa, seen that way too many times in my fishing days of over 20 years, so get out there look at others and try something similar as long as you get to that which works well for you and which is confortable and enjoyable.

It's way difficult to try and explain each and every facet of these greenies behaviour, so if you have some specific question/s, shoot and we'll (I at least) do our best to answer.

:f1shy

 

[ziyaadb]

Thanks mate really appreciate that.

I have now come to the realisation that LGF fishing is NOT for the Poor(not that i consider myself poor but im sure u get the picture)But i will always try and never give up from the shore and One day i will buy me a boat and then be a REAL LGF fisherman LOOL

 

[Ryan]

Sum ways Me thinks it is better to remain poor......

An average weekend out with the boat costs me in the region of R 800 depending on destination of course and unfortunately in Gauteng you need to travel to fish te better dams.

Fuel for the car R350

Boat fuel R180 (and I only have a 40 hp motor - I feel for the lads with 200hps)

Entrance R150 (dependant again on location) Per day

Chow and drinks (and I don't mean alcodolll either) R150

Roooomys on the way home and a coolie and a takeout R100 (cause lets face it you don't feel like cookin when you get home)

No essential items Sunblock - Puncture etc Add R100

So if you have a boat and fish every weekend - you got to be a rockafella.

R3500 a month - but dam I do it and it is worth every cent - I forego the other luxuaries Like DSTV etc. Hell who wants to watch the boys catching fish on TV when you could be out on the water Maybe I is just - ::craz::lostit::rasta or just plain :shabef*&

 

Anyways Enjoy the bank fishing whilist you can - I feel for the ocean goin boys as it must cost them a packet.......

 

[ziyaadb]

Eish but thats the life. I now have reason to seriously move outa my comfort zone and get my lazy behind to start studing so that i can move on up so that i can buy me a boat

 

[Johanvc]

Ryan: Then you should not fish divisionals. A trip to Injaka cost my self and Danie Around R4000 for one trip and then we still sleeping in the Bus

 

[Johanvc]

Ziyaadb: The best advice I can give you is to study the baits that you use. Practice in a swimming pool and reed up on the net. That way you will know what your baits do and can implement that in some situations on the water if need be.
And always be open to try new things. On a recent trip to a bass farm outside witbank called the bass pond the weather was really bad and I was getting my fish on chatterbait fished like a jig. But I started noticing small bass jumping and eating baitfish. So I know that would draw the attention of some of the bigger fish so I changed rods to my top water rod and started running a Zara spook over that section. On my second cast I was on to a nice fish of 1.9kg. I have never used a top water lure during the day. But that showed me again that keeping an open mind, might help you keep one step ahead of these LGF

Nice reply LGF

 

[Skaap Tjop]

JohanVC,

What did you think of The Bass Pond? Fished there end of last year, got some decent fish...

 

[Ryan]

HEy VC.

Know where you comming from - been fishing the Natal Circut this year weekend costs me in the region of 2K after splitting with the boat partner.

But it is worth every Penny.......I think....

 

[Little Green Fish]

@Johanvc, Thanks Bud, just tryig to help someone who seems to be in the position I think many of us were (I for one for a very long time), it's only recently that things started picking up, and I still have such a long road ahead which makes for very good exciting times to come.

@Ziaaydb, Bud just one thing, I forgot to tell, even though you've found Sealine (meaning a lot of willing guys giving great advice) be patient with yourself and your technique, it takes time to get it going really well (well most of the time).

And then, Mother Nature goes and whispers in the these LGF's ears and you feel like you know absolutely zilts.......... but that's where the fun is, getting to learn all the time and every time you think about fishing!

:f1shy

 

[Little Green Fish]

[color=#006600]Ryan[/color] wrote:

HEy VC.

Know where you comming from - been fishing the Natal Circut this year weekend costs me in the region of 2K after splitting with the boat partner.

But it is worth every Penny.......I think....

My trips are normally in that region and I don't even own a boat (daducky's battery powered and fits on the cruiser's back), perhaps i should start cutting down lure shopping......:spite

:f1shy

 

[Ryan]

Trouble is that you become a sealine addict like all the members that have replied to this post..........

We all eat, breath, drink and sleep fishing - but ahhhhhh what the hell.:ssswim:

Nice comments LGF.......