SP techniques boat based

[Kleyny]

as Poodroo has started a thread on land based and getting a great response.
the thread has put a few techniques in memory bank( for when i give it a shot)
i thought I'd start a boat based one to share everyone different techniques for different fish and areas.
I'll start it off not that I'm doing well with them. i normally target flatty

1. drift if possible and cast up current (looking for weed beds or structure) so the boat comes towards the SP (so Ive haven't disturbed/ scared anything) twitching 2-3 times wind slowly then stop then repeat. using 3.5- 5g jig heads. changing colours and types if doing no good(so I'm changing SPs regularly)

neil

[LizardLord]

do you find 3.5 - 5g to be really heavy?

as far as changing colours is concerned, i've never been too concerned about colour. flathead are a pretty dopey fish when you think about it, as long as it looks like food they will take it. for flathead the most important thing is getting the plastic into the strike zone; within a meter of the fish. if you think they are around but not biting, i would slow the retrieve. even if it means ur plastic is sitting dormant momentarily it might just give the flatty a bit of time to decide that it does actually want to eat it.

[DonPaullo]

Has anyone tried the "Squidgy Bluewater Livies" trolling for mackerel etc?

They look cool but I wondered whether they can dive/swim appropriately at 6kn and whether the hook arrangement is sufficient

[Kleyny]

do you find 3.5 - 5g to be really heavy?

lizard 3.5 is the same as 1/8oz. i normally use them and i only use 5g if the tide is really running.

neil

[LizardLord]

ok. i'm more inclined to use a 2g as my heaviest, however i do tend to fish slightly smaller plastics

[Wahoo]

has anyone tried SPs out on the reef?
i mean bottom fishing, suppose it would be bit like jigging


Daz

[Poodroo]

has anyone tried SPs out on the reef?
i mean bottom fishing, suppose it would be bit like jigging


Daz

I have fished many different reefs using SP's and the technique varies considerably depending on what depth. In the shallows (about 2-3 Metres) we slow drift using tiny jigheads about 1/8 or even 1/6. One thing that is the same regardless of how deep is we cast ahead of the boat which is the direction we are drifting to allow the SP to drop to the bottom. This is important because with the light jigheads you cannot cast too far so if you cast beside or behind the boat the SP rarely reaches the bottom as it will drag behind the boat off the bottom.

Recently I fished with my uncle in depths of up to 80 metres which is entirely different. The jighead weight suddenly needs to be up to a 1 oz and the plastics anywhere from 5 inch upwards. The technique now becomes different because you have such a long way down to get the plastic. Now if the bottom is 80 metres down this means you need to cast at least 80 metres ahead of the boat in the direction of travel. NOT POSSIBLE! The trick is to cast as far as you can ahead of the boat but leave the bail arm open to allow as much line to peel off as fast as you can get it off. Interestingly the bigger the spool on the reel the more line you can get off more quickly. If there are fish down there at that depth they rarely let it hit the bottom whilst the bail arm is still open. So yes Daz, SP's on reefs work well. Some photo's attached of myself, my brother (Scalem), Uncle Frank (Frank OO) and even my son with some SP caught fish off reefs varying in depths from 2 metres up to 80 metres.

Poodroo