Estuary sp's advice

1702 Views 22 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Simon L, Feb 5, 2010

Marc Westwood

Discussion Starter · Jan 22, 2010

Hi all,

I live close to an estuary, this year I have set myself a challenge to catch either a bass or flounder on a soft plastic. I have caught both bass and flounder on bait at this mark.

I have never fished a soft plastic so would gratefully welcome your wisdom to recommend both a soft plastic and jig head. The estuary has a very strong tide flow.

Thank you for your help.

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kevin white

· #2 · Jan 22, 2010

hi mark,

there are many ways that you could fish plastics, jig head weight will depend on the methods you want/need to apply, but i would say go with the lightest you can get away with.

remember the further up and across current the less weight you need as the jig/plastic will be dead drifting, so all you need do is keep up with the slack line by either lifting your rod or slowly reeling in(theres an article keith white wrote on this in his blog) to compensate for it, then lower the rod as the jig starts to go down current of you, set the weight up so the jig just bumps bottom and lifts of again without you having to lift the jig up to move it all the time, this method will work with straight and paddle tailbaits, also try down current methods by casting quartering the current and allowing the jig to swing around in an arc on a tight line, you'll need slightly more weight to bump bottom this way, but it's a great method and catches fish, just play around with both on retrieves,colours,lenght etc,the fish will tell you how they want it.

kev

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Marc Westwood

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 22, 2010

kevin white said:
hi mark,

there are many ways that you could fish plastics, jig head weight will depend on the methods you want/need to apply, but i would say go with the lightest you can get away with.

remember the further up and across current the less weight you need as the jig/plastic will be dead drifting, so all you need do is keep up with the slack line by either lifting your rod or slowly reeling in(theres an article keith white wrote on this in his blog) to compensate for it, then lower the rod as the jig starts to go down current of you, set the weight up so the jig just bumps bottom and lifts of again without you having to lift the jig up to move it all the time, this method will work with straight and paddle tailbaits, also try down current methods by casting quartering the current and allowing the jig to swing around in an arc on a tight line, you'll need slightly more weight to bump bottom this way, but it's a great method and catches fish, just play around with both on retrieves,colours,lenght etc,the fish will tell you how they want it.

kev

Thank you for the help, I will try and pick up a range of jig head weights, depending on tide height and flow to pick the lightest weight to bump bottom.

Keith White

· #4 · Jan 22, 2010

looks made for the stuff kev describes.

That article is here ....

http://www.jerseybassguides.com/bassfis ... df-article

Hope it helps.

Simon L

· #5 · Jan 22, 2010

Not far from this spot is the mark where Marc & i landed about 20 Flounders up to around 2lb a few weeks ago, so they are there in numbers & quality. Plenty of Bass & Mullet too !!!

I'll be coming with you for a session there Marc !!!

Tim Griffin

· #6 · Jan 22, 2010

You never mentioned that Sesh (I guess it was bait not lures)! Anyhow, ask me next time you're going. I need my string pulled anyway anyhow!

Marc Westwood

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 22, 2010

Keith White said:
looks made for the stuff kev describes.

That article is here ....

http://www.jerseybassguides.com/bassfis ... df-article

Hope it helps.

Thank you good read, I think my fly nymph fishing will help here, covering the ground and feeling the bottom. Now to pick up some sp's and have a go!

kevin white

· #8 · Jan 22, 2010

mark,

make sure to try and look for seam line/creases,holes,deep channels,back eddies etc.

if the currents puhing hard of points and there's a deep hole either side, fish it, also look where the bank will have a steeper fall off into the water, the water may only be a foot or so deeper, but that is all they need sometimes.

kev

Keith White

· #9 · Jan 22, 2010

Marc Westwood said:
Keith White":2d8ywuej]looks made for the stuff kev describes. That article is here .... [url="http://www.jerseybassguides.com/bassfish/blog1.php/2009/12/08/soft-plastics-leisenring-lift-pdf-article said:

http://www.jerseybassguides.com/bassfis ... df-article[/url]

Hope it helps.

Click to expand...

Thank you good read, I think my fly nymph fishing will help here, covering the ground and feeling the bottom. Now to pick up some sp's and have a go![/quote:2d8ywuej]

Looking at the photo's and considering time of year...

Choose SP baits with little action. rely on the tapping of the jig head to do the work.

Bachi (tube skirt) heads work great with slug style baits. Rig those flat side down in current to stop
em rolling over. Split tailed baits are also a possibility in very gentle current on light heads.

Marc Westwood

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 22, 2010

Simon Lewis said:
Not far from this spot is the mark where Marc & i landed about 20 Flounders up to around 2lb a few weeks ago, so they are there in numbers & quality. Plenty of Bass & Mullet too !!!

I'll be coming with you for a session there Marc !!!

I think we could get a few for an informal bumble, me, you, Griff, Steve maybe a few more to try out these soft plastic's. One big plus is the pub around the corner!

About time we had some more Welsh catch reports, read the advice and it's given me some confidence to rig up and fish like river nymph fishing, bumping the lure off the bottom with the tide.

marc

Marc Westwood

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 22, 2010

Keith White said:
Marc Westwood":w7himvh0][quote="Keith White":w7himvh0]looks made for the stuff kev describes. That article is here .... [url="http://www.jerseybassguides.com/bassfish/blog1.php/2009/12/08/soft-plastics-leisenring-lift-pdf-article said:

http://www.jerseybassguides.com/bassfis ... df-article[/url]

Hope it helps.

Click to expand...

Thank you good read, I think my fly nymph fishing will help here, covering the ground and feeling the bottom. Now to pick up some sp's and have a go![/quote:w7himvh0]

Looking at the photo's and considering time of year...

Choose SP baits with little action. rely on the tapping of the jig head to do the work.

Bachi (tube skirt) heads work great with slug style baits. Rig those flat side down in current to stop
em rolling over. Split tailed baits are also a possibility in very gentle current on light heads.[/quote:w7himvh0]

The far right of the photo is a deeper gully that splits to shallow marsh. The ground changes from sand to mud. I have caught some good flounder here it also holds a few feet of water at low water. I think this may hold fish on the flood.

The estuary holds lots of mullet and small bass. People stop fishing over the summer as the flounder head into deeper water. Hopefully that will give me some peaceful sp lure time.

Steve Lewis

· #12 · Jan 22, 2010

Marc Westwood said:
[quote="Simon Lewis":3ap1qvos]Not far from this spot is the mark where Marc & i landed about 20 Flounders up to around 2lb a few weeks ago, so they are there in numbers & quality. Plenty of Bass & Mullet too !!!

I'll be coming with you for a session there Marc !!!

I think we could get a few for an informal bumble, me, you, Griff, Steve maybe a few more to try out these soft plastic's. One big plus is the pub around the corner!

About time we had some more Welsh catch reports, read the advice and it's given me some confidence to rig up and fish like river nymph fishing, bumping the lure off the bottom with the tide.

marc[/quote:3ap1qvos]

Adam and I are going to fish there from about 9:30 on Sunday, on the place where we caught the flounders last time we were out. Simon, this is serious PIKEY fishing, only 5 mins from the car, you wouldn't possibly interested would you :?:

Marc Westwood

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 22, 2010

Steve Lewis said:
[quote="Marc Westwood":301sbrtw][quote="Simon Lewis":301sbrtw]Not far from this spot is the mark where Marc & i landed about 20 Flounders up to around 2lb a few weeks ago, so they are there in numbers & quality. Plenty of Bass & Mullet too !!!

I'll be coming with you for a session there Marc !!!

I think we could get a few for an informal bumble, me, you, Griff, Steve maybe a few more to try out these soft plastic's. One big plus is the pub around the corner!

About time we had some more Welsh catch reports, read the advice and it's given me some confidence to rig up and fish like river nymph fishing, bumping the lure off the bottom with the tide.

marc[/quote:301sbrtw]

Adam and I are going to fish there from about 9:30 on Sunday, on the place where we caught the flounders last time we were out. Simon, this is serious PIKEY fishing, only 5 mins from the car, you wouldn't possibly interested would you :?:[/quote:301sbrtw]

I would have joined you but I am boat fishing on Sunday.

Mike Kennard

· #14 · Jan 23, 2010

Looks like a great place. K and K have pretty much given you all the info you need. I have caught flounders in my local estuary on soft plastics though they do seem to be few and far between at the moment. I have used 2in curl tails on 2 - 4gm heads depending on tide and depth, I have done best on natural looking colours but I know yellow seems to work elsewhere. Flounders are ambush feeders so look for places where they can lie just out of the current and wait for shrimp, worms and small fish to drift past. Inside of bends on the downstream side can be very productive.
No need to fish too heavy either, they do fight hard but don't make long runs, they just tend to use their shape in the current. Great fun. I hope you get amongst them. I think flounder on soft plastics has massive potential. Let us know how you get on.

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The Squid

· #15 · Jan 24, 2010

We don't hve Estuarys in Jersey but sometimes in Gullies I will cast a small SP (4'' max) up tide with just weedless hook in it (sometimes weedless hooks come already weighted) even a weighted hook will not weigh more than about 3g. casting distance helps if there is a bit of wind behind you.

Marc Westwood

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jan 25, 2010

Thank you all for the information, I will post a catch report once I have an opportunity to put the method into practice.

Simon L

· #17 · Feb 3, 2010

All being well, we'll be tackling this estuary on Saturday morning before the rugby. I've got some nice little s/p's that i think will be a good option for this location (some nice little worms). What i'm struggling to figure out is how to rig them ?? I cant seem to find a nice small hooked Jig Head in the 7 to 10g weight range ?? I would not know where to start with drop-shotting. Any suggestions ??

Mike Kennard

· #18 · Feb 4, 2010

The heavier leadheads tend to have bigger hooks. Not sure how big the flounders are down your way but you may be ok with a 1/0 or bigger. Try Mick for bacchi heads or AGM discount for other patterns. Fishing with bait a half pound flounder would likely get that in it mouth easily enough not so sure about a soft plastic as it is less likely to be static for long.. Worth trying until you can get something with the right size hook.

Drop shotting is very simple once you get your head around it. It is designed for fishing from above your bait and the shallower the angle of your line the less effective it becomes. So if you are casting any distance from the shore it won't work as intended. I am sure Keith or somebody has written about it in more detail on here somewhere. I use it when fishing from local harbours but not so much from the shore as it is so shallow.

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Simon L

· #19 · Feb 4, 2010

Thanks for the reply Mike. There can be a very good stamp to the Flounder here. I'd expect an average size over a lb, with plenty of fish around the 2lb mark. I've just recieved some Jig Heads this morning from Mick, with 1/0's on a 10g head. You are right, i've certainly caught Flounder on bait with hooks this size. On better sessions though (again on bait), i'd say that the optimum hook size is more like a 4 or a 6, hence i'd like to scale the hook-size down as much as is practical. I had a good nose through agm, as i got some interesting little worm imitation s/p's from there earlier this week (the deadly bait in this location is Mud-Rag), but i didnt spot the Jig Heads i was looking for. I'll have another good look. I'm guessing that we'll need 10g, but after this weekend, we may have a different view - bit of trial & error methinks !!!

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Mike Kennard

· #20 · Feb 4, 2010

Simon,not sure how heavy you are fishing or how strong the current is. In my local estuary, most of the time I am only using 3 or 4gm leadheads (on 4 or 6lb Fireline). I concentrate on working the edges of currents rather than in the thick of it and I don't tend to cast as far as if I was fishing the beach for example. What I do avoid is a leadhead that is almost nailed to the bottom, I want the current to do as much work as possible. As well as altering the weight of the head you can control how a bait works by how much line you have in the water. If a head is slightly too heavy lower your rod tip and you will catch more drag from the flow, if it is too light keep as much line as is practical out of the water. It takes a little practice but it is easy to do after a little while. The best way seems to be little 'skips' then rest.
I really hope you get some they a good fun on light gear.

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