SP's in the surf???

[StinkyPete]

Probably a dumb question and its probably been asked before but, hear goes, can anyone tell me if soft plastics in the surf are a good option and if so what to target and with what?

They seem to work most other places pretty well but I dont recall hearing of them used off the beach in the surf???

[Pistol_P]

Softies in the surf is a very unexplored area I reckon.
I have only ever caught flatties on them in the surf but I have mates who have caught Jew on them in the surf down south.There are plenty of places to use them around the rocky headlands that meet sand that I reckon would produce jew & Tailor but its about persistence..8-)

[peterm]

I can't see any reason they wouldn't work. Other lures do ! I suppose it depends on what you are targeting.

Cheers,


Pete

[bballfisho]

was trying the plastics on the beach the other week at the sunny coast on the edge of a deepish gutter. it was pretty windy and the run wa strong so i had trouble feeling anything but 3 times in about 20minutes i had the tails bitten off the plastics for no hook up. i could believe it... i was thinking that there might be some little choppers around but it was about 330 in the afternoon.
anyone got any other ideas of what they could be???????
but other than that i havent had any success off the beach with plasctics. seems like it could work though for flattie and bream

[johnlikes2fish]

I have fished sp's on and off in the surf over a couple of years with varying degrees of success, I have caught dart, lots of tailor and flathead funnily enough no bream. The sp's get flogged by tailor and generally last 1-2 casts I fish them as I would a chromey, I have trouble keeping in touch with the lure unless I up the jighead size which reduced my catch, also with tailor bite offs are common, using wire i increased the size of the loop to get a better swimming action but again the catch rate drops. For me I dont think they are as good in the surf as elsewhere but I am no sp guru but I generally use metal in the surf unless I am casting to rocks then I will try an sp or two.

[Nowhere Bob]

worked for me.
Was @ DI, had a window for a fish towards top of tide - so no worms, couldn't be arsed finding pippies, so put on a softy and had a flick.
One of the fatest Flatiies I've caught, perfect size @ about 55cm, so contrary to the usual I popped him in the box.
Very pale out of the surf & two silver biddies in his craw.
The softy must have gone over him 3 or 4 times before he nailed it.
Persistance pays.

[rabbi]

I have caught some good jew casting and retrieving SP's in the surf, especially if there are a few mullet around. They have a very short lifespan if there are tailor about. Went off a local headland recently and pulled in some nice tailor up to 3kg on SP's after dark but it was one lure tail replaced every fish. I had a shark attack as well as they love big SP's but they don't give anything back. cheers, steve.

[BLOOEY]

Ive managed to catch quite a few dart on them in the surf.no jighead just thread it onto the hook with a ball sinker above the swivel and reel it in slowly.Just bought a packet of sandworm gulps which i will give a go on the weekend.

[chiefsimo]

good thread! I have tried a few over the past year with mixed succes.

i tried the twitching nippers for not even in a touch, but recently have had success with the gulp raglan worm... used it the other day when i ran out of bait and got 1 huge hit (took the lot) and then a good sized dart. Fish went off the chew after this - but lots of bites and nibbles.

Technique has been to thread the SP on the hook like it is a normal bait !

I wonder how long til the pipi imitation? :P

[roydsy]

what about SP's for sand whiting?....anyone tried sandworm gulps.... I have a beach 300m away and have yet to wet a line. Yes, very sad I know.

[Poodroo]

I tried SP's at Fraser Island last year and yes they do work well however when the tailor are around they chop them up pretty badly to the point where it is cheaper to use pillies in preference. I used Snapbacks for their known durability but the tailor still managed to chew them up pretty fast. Nothing is a match for those teeth. But for all other species I'd say go for it. ;)

Regards,

Poodroo

[shin25]

what about SP's for sand whiting?....anyone tried sandworm gulps.... I have a beach 300m away and have yet to wet a line. Yes, very sad I know.

I used the worms last year on fraser isl and nailed some prettly big dart to 50cm cpl of flatties didnt get any whiting but i was fishing in gutters more suited to tailor
have got one whiting on them in the broadwater around 40cm swallowed the 6" worm but that was about a yr ago havnt tried since
crappy pic but put it on anyway

[84mick]

I have caught a few bream and a +30cm whiting on the 3"powerbaits in Pumpkinseed, I was fishing at Alex beach just near the cliffs on the sunshine coast. Its a good little spot till the surfers rock up! (rude buggers)

Mick.

[Tangles]

At Straddie on Flinders a couple of weeks ago, got a bit bored with pippies/worms so tried plastics, got dart/flathead and whiting on SP's, also had a lot of tails bitten off, must admit they didnt have the catch rate as live bait but it was fun and that was the point.

Also with the rigs, i first started out with usual surf rig, later tried more specific SP rig but with jighead, cant really say which worked best as when they where biting it didnt seem to matter too much

cheers
mike

[craig51063]

ive used gulp worms on whiting and find then very effective .i use 3 colours 1 blood red 2 sand worm [beach worm colour ] and 3 a motor oil type of colour .if 1 colour isnt working i change the worm for another colour . the rig i use is the standard beach rig . but i always have a bit of red tubing just above the hook .small sinker so the rig is MOVING all the time .i have also picked up the odd bream with this method .

[roydsy]

cheers for the tips on colour and such. I think they are definately worth a flick one afternoon and see how they go. Casuarina Beach has some great gutters and is visited daily by local fishos for worm collection each morning. i see the bait guy when i walk the dogs on the beach each morning.

Alrighty then, a sixpack and some placcies and i will be set to give them a go this weekend.

[charlie bouy]

Have been experimenting in this department for a little while.. but the biggest problem i have been faced with are the useually blown up surf conditions, contrary to calm inshore waters.
I often find i can only use lager 150 mm sp's because of the larger jig heads which i HAVE to use to get the sp out, which leads me to the next problem of then not having enough control over the lure or bad responce.
I find then easy off rock when sight fishing and having a height advantage but when at sea level thowing into a 5400000 knot sweep with 5 million knot winds i struggle to see the point..
Maybe a 13' snyderglass is the wrong rod and i should downsize..
There is alot more that could be said but i will see what othere people say to this first

[roydsy]

thats a good question, what size rod should we be using for flick SP's in the surf... do I use my surf rod 13 ft + or my spinning rod 7-8ft.... or something better suited?

[T1]

thats a good question, what size rod should we be using for flick SP's in the surf... do I use my surf rod 13 ft + or my spinning rod 7-8ft.... or something better suited?

Guys

The consensus seems to be that you fish the SP same way as you would normal bait ie you are just substituting the bait for SP. Hence, fish how you would normally fish in the surf with the appropriate rods/rigs... Having fished surf for many years, I would personally find it difficult to use my 7' graphite SP rod to cast out to the breakers! Gee, have trouble getting there with my 13 1/2' surf rod some days...

Hope this helps and i really need to get to a beach this year and nail some BIG dart! They are just sooooooo much fun (more fun than Snapper in the shallows in my opinion)!!!

Take Care T

[charlie bouy]

ROYDSY, if you fish casurina then you know how it is. I live at cabarita and the surf conditiones can be hectic... would a 10' be ok? what wrap should it be whippy or stiff?
Logically i would assune a 10 or 11' whippy whiting rod with a 4500 size spinning reeal and mono would do i dont know.

[BLOOEY]

I use a whippy surf rod and a smaller sized spinning reel loaded with 10-15lb braid and fish them as i would a normal bait charlie bouy and the same general area you are talking.

[roydsy]

ROYDSY, if you fish casurina then you know how it is. I live at cabarita and the surf conditiones can be hectic... would a 10' be ok? what wrap should it be whippy or stiff?
Logically i would assune a 10 or 11' whippy whiting rod with a 4500 size spinning reeal and mono would do i dont know.

I am a surf fishing noob, but from what I see the regular guys they have around a 10 to 11' with medium sized spinning reels chuckign out worms coolected from cassie beach.... hence why i want to give the gulp worm a go.