Bored with baitfishing allready? :p

Lots of non-bait stuff: SP's, lures of various types, jigs (knife/takaburra), flies, etc. With all the options I havent really fished with bait any of this year :p. Beach fishing, particularilly at night, bait is pretty much needed. 

In general you will want a graphite rod and decent braid matched to a good reel for those. 

For starting off with soft plastics, try gulp as they have scent making them a bit easier (just keep them in the packet or they'll dry off). A lot depends on what you want to chase, where you'll be fishing and mostly how much you want to pay. 

well im just looking for a fishing method that keeps my hands busy so im constantly doing something wether im catching or not. lets talk soft plastics is this similar to lures cast and retrieve? and whats the sucess rate like for shore based saltwater, ive given up on river fishing nothing lives in the collie anymore i dont think

Artificial is a buzz and I enjoy fooling fish with lures!

A good modern grahite rod and balanced reel with an appropriate braided line will offer plenty of feel & action when lure fishing!

Brands & recomendayion are plentiful, you really need to look at what "species your targetting" and then hone in on the prefered brands/types to suit those fish! 

Thanks ryan should of said what i was targeting before.

ive heard flathead are a good species to learn to practise with softplastics so ill probbably start with those.

yea mate soft plastics are probably the best lures on the market in my option i reckon nearly every fish will eat softys

on the collie it is a very difficult river for bream but persist i dont use bait any more in the rivers because i think its a bit boring try gulp worms and laser pro 45s in a gold colour for the collie the only hard body i can get fish on atm let them sink for ages and try to get lots and lots of casts in

cheers Ethan

atom paddle tails 2 1/2 inch charetruse works a treat if flatties are about catch them every time up in freo & sound

Snapbacks

where abouts are you located? if the weather gets a bit better by thursday/friday/saturday i can take you out for a flick for herring and tailor if they are there

Chris - he is right up on soft plastics.

sounds like a Blackwood Trip is pending...ha ha

Chris, happy to help, got loads of gear but as most have said already with lures and plastic you will need  to refine some of your rods (and reels). I showed you some gear at Mark's last time, but you don't need to spend big $$ 

happy to help and spend your money...ha ha

oh, its very very addictive...ha ha

drop me a PM if you need

almost forgot.....blame BJ for not going fishing on the weekend. lucky you left Friday night as that voodoo Johny Waker came out...ha ha

we can look at throwing some plastic/lures in the collie this weekend

or it might be Ian's turn for the blackwood..ha ha 

As mentioned earlier, they will catch anything...there are even high speed trolling ones now, meant for tuna/marlin!

I use natural colours (brown/green/silver baitfish) out on the five fathom bank and they are the ducks nuts for skippy...it is my firm belief that skippy anywhere will take a softie ahead of any other lure or bait you can present to them, apart from maybe deepwater jigging scenarios. Berkeley Powerbaits in the 3 and 4 inch sizes, and use a jighead to suit...between 1/8 and 1/4 ounce. A four-inch brown Powerbait is what got the 57cm pinkie in my avatar!

Using the aforementioned gulp sandworms, I regularly outfish the bait and berley brigade when the herring are on at the Dawesville Cut. Just vary your retrieve until you find one that works. Similarly, I've done well on chunky salmon trout down there recently, using 4 and 6 inch white/flouro jerk minnows...again, outfishing the standard mulie on a gang. I've found if blowies are a problem just rip your lure in quickly, because the fish you're trying to catch will be able to catch it quite easily, while avoiding blowie damage.

A sorry looking brown twin tail number as accounted for dolphinfish at the fads, and numerous shallow water dhufish and breaksea cod. And if you can get an unweighted six-inch minnow or shad style softie, in white, in front of big salmon, hang on!

Everything eats them, but the downside is they generally don't cast as well as other lures (weight forward/tend to "tumble" through the air) and blowies chew them up, and while they'll catch tailor and mackerel, you can imagine the carnage!

3' bass minnows in watermelon match with 1/6 to 1/14 ounce TT head.

5" snapback in red (shrimp) and pink (bubblegum) match with TT 1/14 to 1/2 ounce.

Gulp 5" flick baits nuclear chicken, TT head 1/14 to 3/8 ounce.

Squidgie 100mm flick baits in blue pilly TT 3/8 ounce.

covers skippy to dhuies.