Soft PLastic Basics — Steve Starling

Solid hook-ups in the dead centre of the upper jaw or the roof of the mouth are a pretty good indication that you’ve nailed the rigging process.

SOFT PLASTIC BASICS

Rig ‘em right and reap the rewards. Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling explains how.

With our weather rapidly improving and the days noticeably lengthening, fishing options are rapidly expanding on every front. The next couple of months are a fantastic time to be alive — and to be out and about on Tasmanian waters! During this period, a lot of hopeful anglers will be trying out new things for the first time: including (for many) soft plastic lures. But whether you’re an old hand with plastics or a new chum, there’s much to be said for focusing on the absolute fundamentals.

By now we all know that soft plastics are absolutely deadly lures, capable of catching just about anything that swims in any aquatic environment: salt or fresh, deep or shallow, north or south. Yet, in my experience, lots of anglers still seem to struggle with the absolute basics of effectively rigging and using these highly effective lures. Believe me, getting this part of the equation even 10 per cent wrong can reduce your catch rate by as much as 90 per cent! Which is where this article comes in. In it, I plan to go back to the core, underlying fundamentals of successful soft plastic fishing by focussing on what is arguably the single most important aspect of all: rigging your softies properly on a standard jig head so they swim well and hook fish.

With the exception of some pre-rigged soft plastics and those with built-in, integrated weights and hooks, these lures are mostly based around a modular system consisting of different components (the soft lures or “tails” themselves, and the jig heads, weights, hooks or other delivery vehicles required to turn them into fish-catching tools).

1. Always begin by measuring the chosen tail alongside the jig head, taking careful note of the position of the bend of the hook against the back of the plastic. This spot will be the exit point for the hook.

2. Push the point of the hook into the dead centre of the soft plastic’s nose and begin carefully feeding the tail onto the hook, keeping the hook in the middle of the plastic. 3. Continue feeding the plastic onto the hook and around the bend, keeping the shank of the hook as near to the middle or centre of the plastic as possible. Take your time! It may help to turn the plastic on its side.

Perfectly rigged. 4. Bring the hook point out dead centre along the plastic’s back at the precise location identified in Step 1 and give the tail a pull, a twist and a wriggle to make sure it lies dead straight.

These separate components need to be selected, matched and put together correctly for best results. Don’t be alarmed by this process. Soft plastic fishing actually has a lot in common with bait fishing, so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that rigging softies is a bit like baiting up! When you buy a packet of prawns, whitebait, bluebait or pilchards, they don’t come with the hooks and sinkers already fitted… soft plastics are really no different.

There are literally dozens of ways that soft plastics can be rigged, but we’re going to concentrate on the method that works best on most of our fish under the vast majority of conditions: It’s a rigging strategy the Yanks call “Texposed” (a combination of the words “Texas” and “exposed”). What it means is to present a soft plastic on a lead-headed jig by pushing the hook point of that jig head into the nose of the soft plastic and feeding the rubber tail around the hook bend before bringing the point out on the mid-line of the plastic’s back. The result is the standard soft plastic set up we are most familiar with, and which is commonly seen in publications such as this one.

As simple as this rig sounds and looks, it’s critically important to get it exactly right. One of the commonest causes of poor fishing results with soft plastics is incorrectly rigged tails. Bent, twisted and off-centre plastics simply don’t swim properly. At their worst, they may spin in the water, looking completely unnatural and causing line twist. However, even tails that are rigged only a fraction out of whack, and which lay over slightly on their sides when pulled through the water, or don’t quite wriggle right, can often put sharp-eyed species such as bream, snapper or trout off biting.

Following a couple of simple steps every single time you rig a soft plastic tail on a jig head will help to avoid these hassles, and although performing these steps properly will probably add an average of 20 or 30 seconds to the rigging of each soft plastic, that extra time pays huge dividends in terms of fish hooked and caught.

The four steps to effective rigging of a soft plastic tail on a standard jig head are shown here and described in the captions accompanying the step-by-step photos. Study those images carefully, read the captions with each one, and then go and rig up a few softies. Regardless of the size, shape and style of the tails you rig, they should end up lying straight and true, just like the ones shown… If they do, you’re well on your way to becoming a far more successful soft plastics’ fisher! Steve Starling Snapper seem to be spreading their range and increasing in numbers around Tasmania. This will give more local anglers a chance to target them on soft plastics, which can be highly effective at times.

Bream can be extra wary at times and are especially sensitive to incorrectly rigged plastics.