With a few simple changes in technique, beginner soft-baiters can greatly increase their success

These days soft-baiting is a well established and popular style of fishing. However, there are many keen fishos who have tried it and given it away, or, after trying it, were less than impressed with the results. 

Soft-baiting should bring a new excitement to your fishing experience, thanks to the lighter gear, more active and fun fishing strategies, frequent predatory attacks – not to mention less mess at session's end. If this isn't your experience, then there is likely a number of easy-to-fix reasons why. 

After years of taking virgin soft-baiters out, both on my own boat and, more recently, as a fishing guide, I have begun to see a common theme when it comes to soft-baiting mistakes. Luckily, many are easily remedied, and the rest 'come right' with a bit of practice and time on the water.

A reasonably firm drag is needed to set the hook properly.

A bet each way

When talking about soft-baiting, I often hear the remark, "I've given that a go and it's never worked for me. I'll stick to the bait fishing, thanks." However, after prodding a little more, I generally find 'giving it a go' meant taking both natural bait and soft-baits out fishing, trying a few casts with the soft-baits, then going back to the tried and true. 

A fishing retailer once told me that his bait fishermen will come in after a hard day's fishing with bait and go on to blame the weather, the tides and the fishing gods. But if they go out soft-baiting and struggle, only the method of soft-baiting is to blame!

Keep the ling tight and a good bend in the rod during the fight.

A 'bet each way' is not the way to go if you really want to get good at soft-baiting. Like any skill, practice and persistence leads to better results. Put simply, the more time you can allocate specifically to soft-baiting, the better you will get at it. 

Another point to note is that bait fishing and soft-baiting are, for the most part, approached very differently. One draws fish into the immediate vicinity – often to a fixed position – using berley and bait, while the other relies on hunting down the fish and presenting soft-baits on the drift. So, given the very different strategies, if wanting to excel at one or the other, you should stick to one technique, and ensure the boat and equipment is set up for it on the day. In other words, if going soft-bait fishing, leave the Baitrunners and berley pot at home. Same as many worthwhile things in life, you'll find persistence pays off when soft-baiting!

Drag settings

When choosing the weight of jig head a rule of thumb is to use one just heavy enough to get to the bottom efficiently, but there are exceptions.

A common mistake made by learner soft-baiters is setting the reel's drag pressure so it's too heavy or too light. I recently went on a trip with a friend who'd caught the soft-baiting bug. He was getting plenty of hits, but was having trouble converting those hits to hooked and boated fish. Very soon I could see why: his drag was set too light; when he struck at a bite, there was not enough drag pressure to properly set the hook. So we tightened his drag, and after another couple of small adjustments were made in his technique, hey presto, he soon had his PB snapper, and has since gone on to beat it.

On the other hand, a drag set too heavy is also a problem, sometimes leading to the loss of a hooked fish through line/knot failure or the hook ripping free. Besides, soft-bait gear is not designed to 'skull-drag' big fish in, so we need an approach and drag setting that suits the tackle.

Fortunately, a lot of soft-baiting is done over the sand; in such instances, setting your drag pressure above what is needed to properly set the hook is unnecessary; even if the fish does go on a big run, there's nothing for it to bust you off on. 

For more see the January issue NZ Fishing News on sale now.

Often I see clients tightening up their drag as the fish runs, only to lose it at some stage afterwards. Sometimes it busts off because the fish powers away and the increased drag created is above the line's breaking strain. At other times it is because the hook has been placed in a soft part of the fish's mouth, and the hook has pulled or been shaken loose. If anything, you could look at loosening the drag once the hook is set. 

However, when wash fishing and fishing over foul, I have my drag set marginally tighter – but will back it off when I think I'm out of the danger zone. 

In all cases though, make a habit of checking your drag before making your first cast. I like to set my drag around the 2kg mark. I find this gives me good hook sets and I can loosen it off during the fight if necessary. 

A set of scales is best used when initially setting your drag – especially if just learning. Hook your jig head to the scales and have someone hold the rod at around a 45-degree angle. Next, pull the scales away from the rod at a constant speed. Simply note what the weight is mid-pull and adjust your drag accordingly. 

When happy you've achieved the desired drag setting, take the time to pull the line off your reel and feel what that amount of drag pressure feels like. After a while you'll get a feel for it and be able to adjust backwards or forward to this pressure quickly and easily.

Jig head size

A good rule of thumb when fishing over the sand is to use the lightest jig head you can that still gets you to the bottom without creating a severe line angle. 

Too little weight and your jig head will not reach the strike zone, or at least not hold long enough in the strike zone to be fully effective.

Too much weight and you lose the natural motion of your soft-bait, as well as greatly reducing the amount of time the soft-bait ends up 'swimming' in the strike zone during descent. 

The exception to this 'rule' is when using the 'dragging' technique. In this case the fish are feeding head down, so you'll need to use a heavier jig head than normal to keep your soft-bait bouncing along the bottom.

When deciding on the exact weight of jig head to use, it's necessary to factor in a few variables such as wind speed, current strength and water depth. If fishing in 40 metres with a stiff breeze, I use a much heavier jig head than when fishing in 20 metres with five-knot variables. Often a small decrease in jig-head weight will be the difference between not catching and catching in the right circumstances. So either get good at your knot tying or utilise Genie or Mustad Fastach Clips to make changing jig-head weights quicker and easier.

A forgiving rod – and keeping it bent

I have seen firsthand how beginner soft-baiters are often fooled into buying a rod that's extremely light and flexible, often in the 3-5kg range. Such rods have their uses once you're able to set a hook correctly and efficiently. However, when beginning, a stiffer rod will allow you to easily set the hook and keep constant pressure on the fish. I'm not talking a big ol' bait rod, but something in the 6-10kg range is perfect.

While we're on the topic of rods, it wouldn't be a beginners' guide if we didn't talk about keeping a bend in your rod. The old fishing sign-off 'tight lines' indicates the importance of keeping pressure on your fish. Our hard-fighting snapper has no wish to come aboard and will look to shake a hook by any means possible. The most important thing to do, and the most vital piece of advice to give someone once hooked up, is to 'keep that rod bent'. Funnily enough, many anglers will look at the reel or where the line disappears into the water, instead of at the rod tip, which should be kept bent at all times. If there's a good bend, then pressure's being exerted through the rod and line to the pointy end. This is what keeps our fish on the line, and why it must be maintained at all times. 

As for hooking fish, I strike at bites by firmly lifting my rod to around 60 degrees, and it's at this point a lot of people get it wrong. They either drop their rod from this position too quickly, or do not wind fast enough to keep a bend in the rod while lowering it. 

Start by winding your reel to place a firmer bend in your rod, then lower your rod to the 45 degrees before striking again to the 60-degree position. At this point the hook should be set and the rod and reel can start doing the work, absorbing the head shakes and runs of our, hopefully, very large snapper. 

When the fish is not taking line, we should be working to get line back by raising the rod to the 60-degree position, then winding back to a near-horizontal position. At that point, stop winding and lift the rod back to around the 60-degree position to start the process again.

Hopefully these few tips will make your next soft-baiting experience a successful and enjoyable one – and remember 'tight lines'!

 - Fishing News