Thanks so much for the comment mate! Man I’d love to come to NZ and chase some of your Snapper down there. It’s amazing we can be so far apart and still catching the same species! 😁🎣 Tight lines mate! 🙌
Thanks so much mate! Yeah I actually just watched your video using that technique, I’m glad you’re catching some fish on it 👍🎣 it’s definitely effective and very simple too! Thanks for the comment mate
Thanks for the comment mate I’m glad the video was somewhat helpful! The good thing is you can still use bait while you fish with this technique, some days you’ll get more fish on the plastic just by chance 👍 it definitely doubles your chances while using bait on the other side of the boat 😁 tight lines Justin
Thanks mate I really appreciate that! I’m glad you found it helpful 🙌 If we are anchored in shallow water we burley with pilchards cut into small cubes, and you can also add in any other old fish scraps you have to the burley trail. Most of the time though we are just drifting, especially when using this technique, so we don’t burley. Cheers mate and good luck! 🎣
Excited to try some of this out in victoria. Most of our fishing ground is 5 to 13m deep in port phillip bay so will be uaing a really small weight also on anchor. Have you tried a squid lure imatation like a kachi kachi, kohga, baku baku? Also mustad have the inkvader (i brought a few mini's on special). I tied my own assist hooks as the standard ones way too thin and small. I wanted a 2/0 size but found the mustad 3/0 live bait hooks to be really fitting. In general i think fish just love something thats long and wiggling in the water. Or that tries to dart around in a stop start motion.
Hi mate sorry for the late reply!! I only just saw this for some reason, but this would definitely work on your fish down there too 👌🎣 a light jighead is the way to go, but the other thing you can do if you’re anchored is to cast up-current, let it sink to the bottom, and hop it back to the boat with the current. (A couple of hops at a time so the lure comes up off the bottom a bit before sinking back down.) I’ve tried the squid/octopus imitation lures out on the reef here in 30-60 metres of water and they catch fish too! But I find that some days they will get smashed and other days they will get nothing which is a bit strange. The other thing you could use is the traditional ‘Lucanus’ jig, and just cast it and hop it slowly back to the boat as well, or fish it more straight underneath the boat. That’s a great idea to tie your own assist hooks too, the 3/0 will be much better! The small little hooks that come with some of those lures can easily pop straight out of the fish’s mouth or be broken. Mate you are 110% right that fish (especially snapper) absolutely LOVE something dangling/wiggling/wafting around!! I really hope you have some luck, I’m so interested to hear how you go! Make sure to let me know. Tight lines and thanks again for watching 🙌🎣😁
@@willkitching i had 3 flathead chasing a 4" grub on the 1 cast they all looked small too. Nothing worse than dealing with undersized flathead, so i wound it in faster 😅. I haven't been fishing as much and my rod setup isn't good for soft plastics its a light super flexy, so very hard to tell whats going on at the lure end. I have really been smashing the squid and whiting lately as they have been in big numbers. If your talking squid jigs get a black, white and natural colour from yamashita silver mullet has been dynamite, i want to grab the other natural yamashita jigs when on special. The white/ silver foil shimano is on my list to get because my current white prymal (cheapie) the cloth got chewed hard (only a few squid too) the blacks are holding up better and are a little more popular.
In WPB fishing in 10m of water we put the soft plastics on a running sinker rig, as need to use 6 to 8 Oz sinkers due to current. Current is good to help action of soft plastic
Wow that’s crazy! I see a lot of good Snapper come from WPB, that’s awesome that you get to experience it mate. It’s very different fishing to how we target them up here that’s for sure. Thanks for the comment! Happy Snapper fishing 😁👍🎣
Great video mate. Iv fished sp in the past for snapper with zero luck. It must have been my sp droprate being the issue. This video has reignited the flame!
Hey @@willkitching thanks for the video. I fish mainly Port Phillip Bay where the average depth would be 13m, with a lot of mud bottom. What would you suggest would be the ideal distance from the bottom?
@@jeprox9853 Hey mate, that's awesome you guys get a lot of good fish in Port Phillip Bay!! I'd say anywhere from on the bottom, to about 3-5 meters up off the bottom would be good, just try different depths until you start catching them! 😁 If your plastic is on the bottom, even just do a couple of winds up off the bottom and let it sit in the rod holder, or jig it. I hope this helps mate if you have any other questions feel free to ask, thanks for watching and commenting! 🔥🎣
Definitely mate! It's always great to be fishing with bait but then hear the drag on the plastic rod start to scream! 😁👍 Thanks for the comment mate, tight lines 🎣
Great tips Will. I haven't used the rod holder since a big fish snapped the rod and took the rod and reel overboard (Samurai Reaction and Daiwa Certate - so you can imagine). Here in Port Stephens, you just can't fish with the drag set too light or you'll get reefed quickly. So, a heavier drag and a rod in the holder = tears...Same technique though, just hold the rod! Having said that, I will occasionally use a baitrunner style in the holder
G’day Mathew, thanks for the comment mate I appreciate it! Wow that is super painful, what a bugger! 😩 I’ve been a lot more selective of which rods I put in the holder now and how heavy the drag is set after hearing more and more stories like that! Especially with the new rods that have a thin butt, like jigging rods. I know what you mean too about getting reefed straight away if you have the drag too light. As you said though holding it in your hand is still a great option! To be honest, over the last few trips we got a lot more fish on the plastic (only have one out) than two people fishing with bait, so if you actively use it as your main fishing technique you will definitely catch fish anyway!! I’m glad you found it helpful mate, hopefully it brings many fish over the side of the boat for you 😉👍🎣 tight lines legend
Thanks Rob I'm glad you got something out of it! I cast up-drift and leave it open until it sinks down to the desired depth, then close the bail arm and let it jiggle around in the rod holder. You can just drop the plastic beside the boat to start and let it sink and count how many meters it sinks every second, that way after you cast you can just count down as far as you want. Also when the bail is open, watch the line, a lot of times fish grab it and it just starts peeling off!! Hope you get onto some mate!
Hey bro just want to know about your pink color plastic, what time you usually put it on? Early morning or when the sun is up and bright? thanks nice content.
Hey mate thanks for the comment!! To be completely honest, we use it all day a lot of the time. We have caught plenty of fish on it around first light and sunset, but also caught several fish on it at 11am some days if that’s when they decide to switch on and start biting. It has caught other reef species later into the day too, but I definitely think it’s great for the early morning and late afternoon times. What you could do to mix things up, if the pink isn’t working as well after the sun gets higher in the sky, try a more clear/natural colour. We’ve had good results doing that too. I hope this helps mate, tight lines! 🎣🙌
Thanks for the good tip. I better try it next time. Do you find the soft plastic work better over stray-lining a freshly caught bait? (Whole or fillet) I have been fishing successfully with bait similar way you described but never been successful with SP.. Also it gets expensive fishing especially when leatherjackets chew them off!
Hey mate very good question! Some days they both work equally as well, somedays its one or the other, that's why it's good to try both haha! You're right, the technique is very similar to stray-lining, however when the plastic drifts down behind the boat, you can just leave it in the rod holder to jiggle away. If you've been fishing successfully with bait definitely keep that going! If anything, just tie a plastic on another rod and send it out as an addition to bait fishing, let it sink down almost to the bottom and that's your work done, the rod holder does the rest! Yeah I feel your pain, the leather jacket and other crap can be annoying sometimes, maybe try a bigger plastic? The snapper won't be shy, or if you're losing too many plastics to them just wait until you're at another spot to try it again. Hope this helps a bit mate, let me know how you go with it! I'd say to do whatever works best for you though 👌🎣👍 cheers
Thanks so much mate!! I appreciate it 🙌 the LEAST I ever use in 60m is a 1/2oz jighead. That's on a day where there is hardly any wind or current at all. Then just go up from there e.g. 5/8oz, 3/4, on a day where you're drifting a bit faster you may even have to go a 1oz jighead with a bigger plastic just to get down there. I hope this helps mate and tight lines!!
Nice one, Will. I hope old mate paid for the new set up after he knocked your other one into the tide!! I do a similar thing, usually with a grub tail Z Man. The Z Mans are buoyant, so the tail ends up waggling amazingly as the boat moves along. One question, at what point do you typically flip the bail arm over? The ones where the reel just starts screaming, you must have put it into gear at some point rather than left the arm open?
G'day mate, thanks for watching and commenting! Yes we bought a newer version of the same reel, hopefully this one stays in the boat! 😂👍 Yeah the Zmans are great, and it is awesome that they are buoyant as well as you said. In terms of clicking the bail arm over - we look at the depth we are fishing in for starters. For example if it is 30 metres, and we do a 20 metre cast we will let out just a little bit more line and then click it over. The plastic will end up out the back of the boat, and on an angle which means even if you have 30 metres of line out it won't be on the bottom. So in this situation let it drift along for a bit and if it comes too far off the bottom, just free spool it again for a little bit and click it back into gear. They will hit it on the drop sometimes, but others the reel will be in gear and they'll just slam it. I hope this helps mate!!! Thanks again for the comment 🎣👍
It work mate never caught snapper on plastic before I catch it after watching your video . Only thing different was we drop the soft plastic after we we anchor
Hey mate, that is absolutely awesome!! I’m so glad my video was helpful and you are catching them on plastics now! It’s so fun isn’t it 👌🎣 Thanks for the comment legend, I really do appreciate it and I hope you’ve been out there getting into a few more snapper 😁👌🎣
Good one mate good advice, a bloke I knew 10or15 years ago swore by the technique in Moreton bay shallows for big snapper and he swore by 5 inch jerk baits in nuclear chicken
Yeah that's interesting! We used to use the 5" gulps as well, but they just don't last very long, the Zman are tough as 💪 in the shallows it would be so fun ! Thanks for watching and commenting as always Cam 👍
Thanks so much Johnny I really appreciate it mate! Funnily enough I’m about to go and binge watch your latest videos tonight, I’m so keen to see what you’ve been catching! 👌🎣
Hey mate, thanks so much for the comment I really appreciate it! 🙌🙏 I’m glad it was helpful!! Good luck out there, I hope you get onto some! 😁🎣 tight lines bro
@@willkitching trying for tomorrow as well. In the process of getting rid of tinny and setting up jet ski for fishing. It will get me out fishing a lot more than I can in the tinny. I'm a slow burn though mate Lol.
Hey mate thanks for watching! Yes you can get the soft plastics and jigheads from most shops (BCF, TackleWorld, Anaconda, local tackle shops). This is what we use: Soft plastics- Zman 'Minnowz' 3" Jigheads- TTlures 'Headlockz' 3/0H in 3/8oz or 1/2oz Hope this helps Jim 👍🎣
Hi Will , what size hook do you use for the 5 inch scented paddlers? I bought one of those Abu Garcia reels and a rod and line set up and did some deadsticking last Monday at Tweed and the results were excellent. Thanks heaps for the great tip
G'day Grant, I'm glad you took some tips from the video, reading this has made my day!! 😁 Did you get onto some snapper? For the 5 inch Scented Paddlerz I use a 5/0 hook. Thanks for the comment mate I am so glad the tip worked for you! 🙌🎣 Tight lines
Hi Will , yes I got a few snapper and a Maori cod , I think I needed a lighter jighead I hooked a few red rock cod , your method definitely works and I’ll be doing it every time I go fishing. Thanks mate👍
Hey mate! The hook won’t penetrate with the bail arm open. So what we do is we leave the bail open when we need the plastic to sink down further (if we think it isn’t close enough to the bottom). If we see the line start peeling off really quickly we flick the bail over and strike. If the plastic gets down close to the bottom and doesn’t get eaten however, we then close the bail arm and leave it in the rod holder and the drag will set the hook when a fish hits. I hope this helps mate, get out there and have a crack 😁👍🎣
Thanks so much mate 🙌👌 I use a full blood knot, it's really easy and never fails. And leader length I use at least a rod length, sometimes a rod length and a half 👍 hope this helps mate, tight lines and thanks for the support 🎣😁
Hi Will. Saw you video, paused straight away and went and made myself a nice big scotch and then sat down to enjoy both. As always mate, a great video. I love the way you share you expertise. You, and all the other guys who do it too. I have a Shimano 6500 baitrunner on a custom made rod and an Egrell Bear with a Daiwa Saltiga 3500 game on it. one of these should be perfect for dead sticking, shouldn't it ? Thanks for the tips mate. Cheers to you and Dad. Graham
Hahaha that's the way mate! 😂🍻 Thanks for watching as always Graham, I'm always happy to share my knowledge and help someone else get onto a fish 🎣 Yeah mate those two setups sound absolutely perfect for it! 👌 Thanks for the support as always mate I really appreciate it !! Hope you're doing well mate
Hey mate, for lure to leader knot we just use a full blood knot. just what you'd usually use to tie a hook or swivel on mate, you don't need a loop knot. For 20 meters, I'd start with a 1/4 ounce jighead or 3/8 ounce, and if that's too heavy, go down to 1/8 ounce mate. In anything under 20m you don't need a heavy jighead at all, you want it to be jussssssst sinking, very slowly. In 3m of water or anything around that depth, I'd use even as low as 1/16 ounce or smaller! And I'd hold the rod in my hand and just work the plastic, otherwise you'll get snagged in the very shallow water. Just get a hook size to suit your soft plastic, 3/0 is good for 3 inch plastics usually. Hope this helps mate, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! Thanks mate and good luck!
G'day Grant. Funnily enough, we bought some 20lb braid from Aldi (yes, the grocery store) when they had it on special one time. The lighter stuff is pretty crap but their 20lb is okay. That is what I use on my overhead when floating down baits, but for reels we use to cast we usually use Berkley 'fireline', and it's great. For the soft plastics with snapper we use 12lb line and it works a treat even on the bigger fish 😁👌 Hope this helps mate 🎣
Hey mate, yes I’m sure you could! I’ve seen people do it while anchored in Western Australia. You’d just have to be careful that your plastic doesn’t sink too quickly and just gets snagged on the reef. You could use a really light jighead to let it float down really slowly (which they love), and then as it gets on or near the bottom you could jig it back to the boat. The other thing you could do - say it’s 20 metres deep. You could do a 20 metre cast and then just put your reel into gear straight away and leave it in the rod holder while it slowly sinks down. Even if you drop it straight down, wind it off the bottom a metre or two, and then just leave it in the rod holder to jiggle around it would probably work too. Try a few of these techniques and see what works mate, good luck!! 😁👌🎣
Awsome I was thinking of doing a Carolina type rig where the hook dosnt protrude aut of the softball it runs along the back of the softball it won't hopefully hook on reef
Hi Wiii can you please tell me the Name of the Item that you use to Brain spike the snapper you have to help the fish. Thank you kindly for your help please. Kind regards john
Hi John, it’s called the IkiPik, I’ll leave a link to their website at the end of this comment for you 😁👍 thanks for the comment and watching the videos mate. Tight lines! theikipik.com
Hey Will, great video. Do you know of anyone running Snapper charters off the GC that do a good job? Do a lot of inshore fishing but nothing outside, want to go with someone who knows what they are doing first!
Hey Greg, thanks so much for watching! I am not too sure, I know there are a lot of big charters that take out large groups of people off the Gold Coast, I think SeaProbe tend to do alright from what I see on the fishing report on the news. Also have a look on Facebook at Back to Basics fishing charters (I think Deano Palermo is the name of the guy that runs it). They do inshore charters and offshore, and usually get a great catch of Snapper and reefies off Brisbane and the Gold Coast I'm pretty sure, I'd definitely give them a look. The other thing that you could do is call the tackle shops for example Doug Burt's TackleWorld, and ask them for a recommendation. Hope this helps mate and tight lines!! 👍👌
We fish anywhere from 10-65 meters mate with this technique, around hard reef and bommies or more rubble bottom with a bit of reef. Just gotta look for fish on your sounder or bait school no matter where you are! 😁👍 Cheers
Wait to you try an Abu veritas 4 to 8 kilo 7' rod, berley gulp 5 inch jerkshads, drift, and cast forward, and always holding your rod/ moving the softbait, it will blow your mind
Yes mate that would definitely work too! We used the 5” Gulp jerkshads for a while but switched over to Zman as they just save so much money, they don’t dry out or get wrecked after every fish. It’s definitely a fun way to target snapper that’s for sure 😁 tight lines
G'day mate. For dirty muddy water I'd go for a dark colour. The murkier the water, the darker the colour you should use. Bright colours will be hard to see but darker colours make a silhouette in murky water and fish can see it easier. Even colours like black if it is really dirty. The other colour that is good is a bright gold and black colour. The other thing you can do is use a vibe, like a blade or a soft vibe as fish will be able to feel the vibrations in the water and hopefully find it in murky water. Hope this helps mate, tight lines.
Hahahaha I was waiting for this comment 🤣 whether it’s Zed man or Zee man, they are bloody good plastics, that’s all I know 😂👍 cheers mate, tight lines haha
@@willkitching came across your video researching my up coming 2 week fishing trip to Australia. Hook sizes here are pronounced 2-aught not 2-oh haha! But yeah zman baits are money Ned rigs are fire on smallmouth!