Before I go on and talk about fishing tackle systems for fishing soft plastics and the outfits required for various types of soft plastic fishing, I’m going to introduce a concept that drives many of the presentation techniques needed in soft plastic fishing. I’m going to call it controlled slack line.
CONTROLLED SLACK
Soft plastics, unlike other types of lures which relay on a specific type of retrieve to get their action, have built in actions all of their own. They can be fished on the retrieve, where an angler manipulates the lure, but many soft plastic presentation techniques involve freefall, either under the weight of a jig head, or completely weightless.
Jig heads allow a soft plastic to “swim” vertically down to the bottom. Weightless techniques allow the soft and supple soft plastics to wiggle enticingly when allowed to gently waft down to the bottom. These actions are often very subtle and can be absolutely deadly, but the delicate actions are killed stone dead by any tension in the line. The plastic must be allowed to fall on a slack line.
Many hits will occur during this slack line presentation or on the drop and it’s therefore vital to be ready for this. The technique is completely alien to everything most anglers have ever been taught about fishing. Keep the line tight at all times is kind of a fundamental principle and for soft plastic fishing it’s often dead wrong.
This is why I call this aspect of soft plastic fishing “controlled” slack. It is absolutely vital that there is no tension on the lure when in freefall, but at the same time, it’s very important to maintain feel and be able to detect pick-ups. Soft plastics often generate a very soft take from a fish. It’s a feeding response, not a reaction strike. This is where the line choice and ultimately the tackle system used becomes vital. You can use just about any fishing tackle system and you will catch fish on soft plastics. However, you will be at a disadvantage unless you design your fishing system around this controlled slack line presentation technique.
Mono line kills feel. It’s heavy, stretchy and blows around in the wind. For this sort of fishing, it’s hopeless. Enter superbraid lines or GSP with their very thin for the breaking strain diameter and non stretch quality. They have “feel”. In addition, their fine diameter allows long accurate casts with very little weight, when coupled to a spinning reel. This is not baitcaster territory at this finess end of the soft plastics fishing spectrum.
GSP comes as either braided or fused. The braided stuff is non stretch and looks like sewing thread. It’s very limp and supple. It tends to hang down from the rod tip on a slack line. No good for indirect contact with your lure. Fused lines by contrast are non stretch and a little bit wiry. They tend to spring off the spool and don’t hang limply, but are a little bit stiff and just perfect for fishing controlled slack – no tension on the line, but an indirect contact with the lure. The springy wiry feel of fused line will transmit vibrations and “feel” up the line. Everyone knows I like Fireline. Many of you have noted that it’s quite stiff when new but it becomes more flexy and supple with wear. I have heard many say that it gets better with age. I’m going to break with convention again and tell you it doesn’t! That wiry springiness is what makes it so good for controlled slack line presentations. It’s what gives it feel. When it gets a bit worn it gets a bit dull. Still way better than mono, but not as good as when its springy.
So there you have it. A presentation concept that drives a line choice and from there drives the fishing tackle set-up you’ll need to optimize soft plastics fishing, especially at the finesse end of the scale. This will help to explain my choice of tackle systems for fishing soft plastics that I want to describe next.
SOURCE:http://www.fishing.net.my/default.asp?id=12&ACT=5&content=21&mnu=12
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