# Outdoors > Fishing >  Attn Pig Islanders.

## veitnamcam

Soft baiting whats the go?

It is widely believed on the mainland that south island fish wont eat plastic and that the NI has that many snapper and kingfish that 5 cast and retrieves your bound to foul hook one.

However with that said I am keen to have a real go at soft baiting and may even spend up to 2-300 bucks on a rod and reel.

School me now.

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## puku

I have often pondered this too cam.

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## Pengy

Wait for summer

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## veitnamcam

> I have often pondered this too cam.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


Iv used em a few times and only ever caught cod, but to be fair I have mostly tried them out of frustration when nothing is biteingand on my normal boat rod/reels.

apparently having the right gear makes all the difference but Im  not sure what that "right gear" is just yet.
Googling soft bait combos comes up with all sorts of stuff.

What does one look for in a soft bait reel over a normal reel and the same for rods.
I have read cork handles are the go for feel but what about the rod itself? some of the combos for sale as softbaiters have the exact same rod for sale as a boat rod?

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## veitnamcam

> Wait for summer


Ya what?

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## PillowDribbler

Watch Ados addicted to jean shorts,sat arvo. :Psmiley:

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## veitnamcam

> Watch Ados addicted to jean shorts,sat arvo.


Oh yes I will be.

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## Gibo

Hey bro I have a starlo stix with shimano egg beater 4000fb or something and its mean. I used to do heaps of softbaiting with good success on Snaps, Kingis, Terakihi, Trevally, Dory etc. I havnt used a soft bait in ages, I do use those cheap jigs that look like bottom ships now though. They go alright with Snapper. I just love fishing with light gear, so much more fun. I had a donkey of a skippy take a softy and took like 15 minutes to get it to the boat - hellish fun!!! I also fish a light ledger rig with it and strayline it. 

So at the end of the day youre not forking out for a dedicated system you can use it how you want and have a fucktonne of fun while doing it  :Thumbsup: 

 :Thumbsup: 

Shimano Starlo Stix Softbait Rod - 5-8kg 7'6" 2pc | SOFTBAIT ROD |

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## Gapped axe

> Hey bro I have a starlo stix with shimano egg beater 4000fb or something and its mean. I used to do heaps of softbaiting with good success on Snaps, Kingis, Terakihi, Trevally, Dory etc. I havnt used a soft bait in ages, I do use those cheap jigs that look like bottom ships now though. They go alright with Snapper. I just love fishing with light gear, so much more fun. I had a donkey of a skippy take a softy and took like 15 minutes to get it to the boat - hellish fun!!! I also fish a light ledger rig with it and strayline it. 
> 
> So at the end of the day youre not forking out for a dedicated system you can use it how you want and have a fucktonne of fun while doing it 
> 
> 
> 
> Shimano Starlo Stix Softbait Rod - 5-8kg 7'6" 2pc | SOFTBAIT ROD |


What the Captain said

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## veitnamcam

Oh and can anyone tell me what makes a Stella a thousand dollar reel?

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## Gibo

> Oh and can anyone tell me what makes a Stella a thousand dollar reel?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G388F using Tapatalk


Will last 100 years

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## Pengy

> Will last 100 years


You now this how?  :Psmiley:

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## Gibo

> You now this how?


Because at that price it will stay on the shelf and never be used!  :Psmiley:

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## Pengy

Good reply Gibo

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## Spudattack

Saltiga over the Stella!

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## veitnamcam

> Haha double tag, (did I just get tag teamed....????) what did I miss? Currently this is me...
> Attachment 59681


Softbaiting for beginners on "fishy business"

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## puku

> Yea mate, you want it it's yours? Comes with the floor plate too. Mines just had a new transom and the bottom reglassed and gelcoated, she's not the flashiest rig but she's pretty solid, bit of history in her too as she was our family boat when I was a young fella.


Heck yeah! That would be awesome. I will pm you

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## Gibo

VC this is that braid to mono knot bro. The blue is the braid, the brown the mono. I double the braid. This is more than enough for light gear such as softbaiting and is far quicker than an FG. I also use this on my kingi rig if im desperate to get in the water and don't have time to tie a PR, just don't wind it through the guides to much  :Grin:  

Albright Knot | How to tie the Albright Knot | Fishing Knots

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## veitnamcam

> VC this is that braid to mono knot bro. The blue is the braid, the brown the mono. I double the braid. This is more than enough for light gear such as softbaiting and is far quicker than an FG. I also use this on my kingi rig if im desperate to get in the water and don't have time to tie a PR, just don't wind it through the guides to much  
> 
> Albright Knot | How to tie the Albright Knot | Fishing Knots


I will remember that for if I need it in a hurry.
Havent yet tho even with lots of cuda,keep line tight and cut back any rubbed up bits.

I do my FGs at home on the couch and run 1.5-2 times rod length of leader so finger is on mono not braid for casting so the knot is wound threw the guides every cast/drop.

On my heaveyer set up 80pbraid/100p leader it has done about 20 fishing trips and is now only just a rod length long and I was looking last trip and thinking its starting to fluff up I should replace it.....will do that now.

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## veitnamcam

Old worn knot.


And new with a few meters of braid discarded.



Its quite a thick (cheap) braid on this rig.....the knot lays on much neater when there is more difference in sizes of line.

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## Gibo

Yeah thicker braid needs more mono diametre to grip better but if its working its working

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## Shearer

I have found the uni to uni (braid doubled) is great in lighter line weights and use a wind on if going big.
I love the uni knot. You can do just about anything with it.

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## Gibo

But its shit for knot strength  :Psmiley:

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## veitnamcam

> I have found the uni to uni (braid doubled) is great in lighter line weights and use a wind on if going big.
> I love the uni knot. You can do just about anything with it.


Braid does my bloody head in....I love fishing with it but I fucken hate trieing to tie knots in it and the lighter it is the worse it is...and doubling it up increases frustration by a factor of 4 squaredx3.142 divided by D.

At least with the FG all you have to do is hold the braid firm and twist the mono around it :Thumbsup:

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## Spudattack

> Old worn knot.
> 
> 
> And new with a few meters of braid discarded.
> 
> 
> 
> Its quite a thick (cheap) braid on this rig.....the knot lays on much neater when there is more difference in sizes of line.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G800Y using Tapatalk


I'm going to give that a go, I like the idea of it not catching in the eyes, if I lose a big fish because of it I know who to blame!

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## veitnamcam

> I'm going to give that a go, I like the idea of it not catching in the eyes, if I lose a big fish because of it I know who to blame!


It is the strongest braid to mono knot bar none according to the internet so if tied properly you should be good  :Thumbsup: 

Just make sure you tension it hard before trimming and the last couple of half hitches.

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## Spudattack

Looks good, hopefully give it a try if the wind ever gives me a gap!

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## puku

> Braid does my bloody head in....I love fishing with it but I fucken hate trieing to tie knots in it and the lighter it is the worse it is...and doubling it up increases frustration by a factor of 4 squaredx3.142 divided by D.


I'm no math guru but I'm pretty sure that equals hard as buggery

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## veitnamcam

> Looks good, hopefully give it a try it the wind ever gives me a gap!
> 
> Sent from my SM-G360G using Tapatalk


I should be out there now!....forcast is good mornings and passable evenings all week...unfortunatly I have shitloads of work on at the mo and startinng early so thats fishing before work out and if I go after work in my own boat I wont get to bed till midnight at least...........maybe later in  the week  :Redbullsmiley:  :Redbullsmiley:  :Redbullsmiley:

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## Spudattack

> I'm no math guru but I'm pretty sure that equals hard as buggery
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


Braid is fun when it looks like this.....

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## Spudattack

> I should be out there now!....forcast is good mornings and passable evenings all week...unfortunatly I have shitloads of work on at the mo and startinng early so thats fishing before work out and if I go after work in my own boat I wont get to bed till midnight at least...........maybe later in  the week


Yeah, unfortunately I have these two short people that live in my house that I need to watch/feed/pull out of the pond until their mother gets home, which is about 7 most nights, by then it's too late to get out.

And then it blows its tits off every weekend, well has done so far this summer....

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## veitnamcam

> Yeah, unfortunately I have these two short people that live in my house that I need to watch/feed/pull out of the pond until their mother gets home, which is about 7 most nights, by then it's too late to get out.
> 
> And then it blows its tits off every weekend, well has done so far this summer....


You are preaching to the converted mate,its same same in my house.....thats why I get frustrated and do stupid shit like get up at 2 or 3 to go fishing and be in and at work by 7  :Redbullsmiley:  only plus is I can usually get the wife to pick up chilly bin from work and put fish in fridge and if not I will land it on a mate  :Thumbsup:  :Thumbsup:

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## Shearer

> But its shit for knot strength


I've never had any issues.
I did a lot of (semi-scientific) testing many years ago and found it pretty good. Always above 85%. That was before I knew anything about the PR of FG knot. I think I like it because it is so versatile and easy to tie.
I use it in conjunction with a Bimini twist in the braid if I have time to tie one.

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## stingray

@sambnz and his lady showed me how to slay gurnard on softies, we sat outside the islands at okiwi at 70 ft, Sambnz first drop hooked up within a min, then for the next half hour they boated a good handful, some excellent fish amoungst them. I managed a single then the snakes turned up and we could not get a rig to the bottom. We kept a snake for hook line bait and enjoyed the power of a few more on light gear, but the weather and loss of gear moved us on. NC and a blue spekled jerk shad doing the damage.

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## veitnamcam

Flicked all manner of soft baits,lures,jigs and slow jigs around for 4 hours solid this morning for zilch while my Dad caught snapper and sharks and my boy caught gurnard, yellow eyed mullet,barracuda.
I had one take in 4 hours I think was a gurnard but didn't hook up.
 

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## stingray

Same result, dirty water?? Had good success with cleaner water as posted previously , you had more paitence than me, I snuck a ledger rig on about an hour in and boated some cod. To be honest we struggled all weeeked productive spots were dead , vis was arse! But thanks to VC for some solid advise we snagged a good snapper and gurnard. So may not be the softies fault just hard fishing?

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## veitnamcam

> Same result, dirty water?? Had good success with cleaner water as posted previously , you had more paitence than me, I snuck a ledger rig on about an hour in and boated some cod. To be honest we struggled all weeeked productive spots were dead , vis was arse! But thanks to VC for some solid advise we snagged a good snapper and gurnard. So may not be the softies fault just hard fishing?


It was definitely much slower fishing this morning than Sat morning but these things are supposed to outfish bait and I haven't seen them do that even once yet.

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## stingray

Agreed , I've gone full circle, bugger the brought bait, bugger the softies , bugger the lures , bugger the flasher rigs....fresh barracotta  and ledger rigs and strips of cotta and running sinker.

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## veitnamcam

> Agreed , I've gone full circle, bugger the brought bait, bugger the softies , bugger the lures , bugger the flasher rigs....fresh barracotta  and ledger rigs and strips of cotta and running sinker.


 :Grin: 

Certainly different baits and different presentation seem to work well at different times.....strayline was deadly pre spawn.....but it hasn't caught a fish of any sort in ages.
Now the flasher ledger rigs are working which has always been my go to.

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