# Trolling soft plastics



## Nikko (Jul 5, 2014)

Hi, yesterday i went paddling for flathead/ bream. I had a soft plastic out on 1 rod and on the other a hard body. I was in about 1.5mtr of water. I was paddling rather slow well what i thought was slow anyways. Does trolling soft plastics with a hard body work? Or does the sp have to swim slower. Maybe drift with soft plastics would be the best option then paddle back to start drift with hard body? What are your thoughts? Any advice appreciated.


----------



## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

I'm not a fan of trolling plastics, that's not to say it's not the right thing to do, or it doesn't work, I just prefer to either fish the plastics by cast and retrieve methods or drift with them as a dead-sticked bait allowing the boat/yak movement to impart action on the lure and have it drag along the bottom nose down like a foraging fish jumping and darting along as a the rod is moved above the surface by the boat/yak rocking.

When trolling lots of factors come into play such as trolling speed, jighead weight, water resistance of the actual plastic i.e. paddle tail vs stick bait vs curl tail etc. How well the plastic has been rigged i.e. dead straight on the hook so as not to spin and also how far back the plastic is from the tow point and the height of the tow point above the water surface will all affect the depth the plastic swims at making it difficult to accurately target a particular depth range and species with an SP as a trolling lure. 9 times out of 10 the plastic will be dragging mid water at a depth that can not be accurately determined in a zone where the fish potentially aren't.

There are particular applications though where towing a plastic has been consistently productive such as when targeting long tail tuna along the coast, so it may be just a matter of picking your target species for this technique. Happy to be proven wrong for other fish and areas though.

Kev


----------



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Mostly I agree with Kev, but....my first long tail tuna was on a slow trolled 1/2 oz jighead fitted with a 4" white ZMan paddletail. in 2.8 metres of water, 50 metres from shore. Dead sticked SP's at times are deadly for longtails.

I've also had some success with slow trolling SP's between 1/4 and 1/2 oz SP's for tailor on the surf zone. It's a tricky decision - do I change to a HB, or keep the SP's going? You have to be willing to change tactics if something doesn't work......it may only be a change of speed or weight of the jighead, or it may be a complete change to various depth HB's. (or even bait); (intellectual property rights to Killer).

I can illustrate this best from a session with the _old_ fart Beekeeper. I was catching tailor on both one trolled SP, and one HB. He came into the fray with a small slug. End result - me nine tailor (some double hook-ups); Jimbo nil. It pays to experiment. Ron has re-proven that many times. You must be willing to switch tactics.


----------



## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

kayakone said:


> I've also had some success with slow trolling SP's between 1/4 and 1/2 oz SP's for tailor on the surf zone.


I'm not sure why you would continue to endorse fishing from a kayak within the surf zone as a viable activity. It is something that is clearly dangerous and just plain stupid, no fish is worth putting yourself fairly and squarely into a dangerous position. Personally, I just can't see the sense in it and cannot discourage persons strongly enough against considering this approach. I only hope that inexperienced members reading these pages can see the dangers associated with what you are suggesting and give this technique a wide berth.


----------



## Nikko (Jul 5, 2014)

Im just going to be paddling in the bays and estuaries around the Redcliffe area. I cant see me going into the surf, i know too many good spots around here to catch good fish, lived here most my life.


----------



## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

I found out by having two boats run over my line in the same trip I should use a heavier jig than 1/8 oz for trolling 3-5" plastics. This was for snook, so it was about 3-5 kph and keeping the lure in the first few metres of the surface. 1/4 oz weight seems to keep the lure at the right depth with about 15m of line out instead of 30.

What works for snook probably works for tailor and salmon.


----------



## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

I often troll the rebound surf zone for a couple of years now.....I cant see how kayakone is advertising a dangerous practice. ....he and quite a few others on Akff do it regularly and also suggest you do the right paddle skills sessions to enable you, themselves and mates to do it with knowledge and skills to maintain a certain level of preparedness.

Its the old classic....some people jump out of a perfectly looking and sevicable plane....others jump off bridges base jumping...others enjoy rock gardening....and more just sit on the couch and occasionally fish from a kayak in a nice quiet piece of water....

Lets please keep this on topic and not detract from the original question and refrain from personal hates and likes not on topic...

Back on topic....yes I do so does minny...and yes...lots of bait fish including sambos and mulloway are caught each year with trolling soft plastics including rebound waves while rock gardening.....hope this helps mate and get out there and try it...awesme stuff


----------



## Nikko (Jul 5, 2014)

My original question was it ok to paddle with 2 rods . 1 with s.p the other h.b. would the paddle speed be the same for both types of lures. This is paddling for flatties in shallow water


----------



## laneends (Jan 25, 2013)

Nikko said:


> My original question was it ok to paddle with 2 rods . 1 with s.p the other h.b. would the paddle speed be the same for both types of lures. This is paddling for flatties in shallow water


Depends on the HB style, some large bibbed lures can give good action at only slight drift speeds.

I have a paddler with a rudder and what I do some times on a slow troll is a strong stroke on one side and full rudder at the same time. Then alternately on the other. This yaws the yak from side to side, giving pull pause actions. Works with squid jigs too. To an onlooker i look like a complete clueless paddler !


----------



## Nikko (Jul 5, 2014)

Might try that concept laneends, sounds interesting


----------



## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

salticrak said:


> I would like to see someone doing this kinda shit up D.I. you would not last long at all.


yes...agrred but this style of fishing is location specific...not "surf zone" specific....deep water rebound waves etc....


----------



## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

Point taken ole salticrak
There are agennda here I crealy do not understand....however, has this bloke got his answer :lol:


----------



## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

Hahahahh
Yeah I hate that..."use search function" :shock:


----------



## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

Kkkkkkkk!
:lol:


----------



## Nikko (Jul 5, 2014)

Srry, didnt mean to cause a problem, just thought with the experience on this forum i would get an answer if it would work trolling a soft plastic AND a hard body lure at the same time ( paddle speed wise) in a shallow calmish water system.


----------



## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

laneends said:


> I have a paddler with a rudder and what I do some times on a slow troll is a strong stroke on one side and full rudder at the same time. Then alternately on the other. This yaws the yak from side to side, giving pull pause actions. Works with squid jigs too. To an onlooker i look like a complete clueless paddler !


I can vouch for the effectiveness of this technique with squid and snapper for sure. The biggest flathead I ever caught was caught trolling (not casting) a hardbody doing this swervy troll thing too. I've never caught a pelagic this way however - they seem to like the straight line fast troll for both plastics and hard bodies.


----------



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Stealthfisha said:


> Point taken ole salticrak
> There are agenda here I clearly do not understand....however, has this bloke got his answer :lol:


Yes SF. It arose two weeks ago or so in the 'Basic Paddling Skills' thread when Salti judged it was madness, and sidelined an informative thread and basically called me mad for practicing such activities. If you read the thread again, I explain it was *without rods *(Alveys bolted to the kayak), but do not deny it slightly increases the danger, but not to the extent Salti promulgated. I also explained it requires extensive skills, and if you have those, there are fish in that zone.



BIGKEV said:


> kayakone said:
> 
> 
> > I've also had some success with slow trolling SP's between 1/4 and 1/2 oz SP's for tailor in the surf zone.
> ...


Kev
This was always from a sea kayak, which I could roll anytime, anywhere, so again, not as dangerous as you may think. I always carried a hook safety knife for any possible entanglement. In a sea kayak, I could hold relative position in 2- 3 ft of white water, and catch fish after fish. I agree it is not for the novice, and _do_ discourage people from trying it without the Alvey set-up I had, without a high skillset, and without a bombproof roll and a hook knife. Please understand the facts and circumstances. It is _not_ an endorsement for inexperienced kayakers to try this technique. 
However, at Jumpinpin, only two years ago (stingray year), I caught 8 chopper tailor trolling in whitewater inside the Pin bar, on the BFS, using the same technique. From memory, no others were caught, and many got a taste of fresh tailor for brekky. There was no criticism or cynicism then.



kayakone said:


> Mostly I agree with Kev, but....my first long tail tuna was on a slow trolled 1/2 oz jighead fitted with a 4" white ZMan paddletail. in 2.8 metres of water, 50 metres from shore. Dead sticked SP's at times are deadly for longtails.
> 
> I've also had some success with slow trolling SP's between 1/4 and 1/2 oz SP's for tailor on the surf zone. It's a tricky decision - do I change to a HB, or keep the SP's going? You have to be willing to change tactics if something doesn't work......it may only be a change of speed or weight of the jighead, or it may be a complete change to various depth HB's. (or even bait); (intellectual property rights to Killer).
> 
> Back on the subject, I can illustrate this best from a session with the _old_ fart Beekeeper (not in surf). I was catching tailor on both one trolled SP, and one HB. He came into the fray with a small slug. End result - me nine tailor (some double hook-ups); Jimbo nil. It pays to experiment. Ron has re-proven that many times. You must be willing to switch tactics.


----------



## clarkey (Jan 13, 2009)

Nikko said:


> Srry, didnt mean to cause a problem, just thought with the experience on this forum i would get an answer if it would work trolling a soft plastic AND a hard body lure at the same time ( paddle speed wise) in a shallow calmish water system.


No problem Nikko it's fine to troll them together mate,if you can keep your rods angled apart more so they don't get tangled.


----------



## Nikko (Jul 5, 2014)

Cheers clarkey, i have holders each side which keeps them apart nicely. Was just wondering if one could troll both together with the same paddling speed. Ya answered it, so thank you


----------



## Nikko (Jul 5, 2014)

Thanks heaps for that yaqdog, 1 of the bream took the lure on the weekend when i stopped to clear weed off the other lure on my other rod.


----------

