Soft
bait fishing has become very popular.
If done
right it can be an immensely productive way of
fishing.
Especially
in combination with drift fishing from a kayak.
Soft
bait fishing requires special tackle.
It is
always a good idea to buy the best you can afford, to increase your
success.
The
tackle used for soft bait fishing is extremely light and easy to handle.
A very
light weight graphite rod around two meters in length with line
capabilities of around 4-6 kg is standard.
It
usually comes with comfortable cork grips which a arranged to allow
good lifting pressure.
As for a
reel, it should be as light as possible and take up to 200 meters of
line. It needs to have a very smooth drag.
The line
is normally braided or fused and holds up to 3-8 kg. Nylon or
flurocarbon lines can be used as trace. They should have breaking
strains of 7 - 15 kg.
Its
always better to go for a lighter strain, if the terrain permits it.
Flurocarbon is probably the best choice, as it is harder to see and
also more abrasion resistant.
The soft
baits them self's, normally in the form of colorful plastic tails can
be attached to either lead head hooks (jig heads) or worm hooks.
If using
lead heads you should strive for using the lightest weight required to
cast and to reach the required depth. Especially in shallow water it is
important to use light weights to prevent the bait from sinking too
quickly.
Worm
hooks are great for fishing in very shallow water where we want
retrieve our soft baits slowly over the shallows.
They can
also be tied to a trace in a conventional way with a Palomar knot and
used for deep water fishing.
Soft
baits come in all variety's of shapes, sizes and colors.
Bigger
ones will most likely attract bigger fish. But sometimes the small one
will get more strikes because
they
provide better action since they can easily be manipulated with the
rod. Most soft baits come scented with a nice fishy smell and they
usually work better then the
unscented
ones.
As
mentioned above soft baits work best if used from a drifting boat, such
as a kayak.
But they
can also be successfully used while anchoring.
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