Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Deep-Reef-Heavy-Tackle-Offshore » Plastics Down Deep
Plastics Down Deep
By Luke Smith
Over the last couple of years I have found myself fishing on some deep reefs in south west Victoria. Whilst we aren't blessed with shallow reef systems that hold snapper and other reefies, like New South Wales and southern Queensland, we are lucky enough to have some great limestone reefs out wide offshore in deeper water. Due to their location and depth, they don't get overfished and usually you come back in with a great mixed bag of species.
One thing that we have noticed is that by using lures, the catch rate of undesirable species has dropped. Also a ZMan is tougher and harder to get off a hook than a bit of bait. Whilst there is no right or wrong way to do this, there is definitely some tips and tricks that I can share to help out.
The majority of my fishing with plastics at depths of 40 metres or more is done whilst drifting and instead of waiting to sink down jigheads, I use the drop shot technique. This allows me to quickly change the weight to better suit the depth and it also helps the action of the plastic as there is no lead attached to the hook.
A drop shot rig is simply a paternoster rig with a soft plastic rigged on an unweighted hook. There are different adaptions of this technique, however this method is easy to rig and super effective. In Victoria we are restricted to a maximum of two hooks per line, so this is how many I use. Dropper lengths can vary, however I usually keep them shorter to avoid them wrapping around the mainline and each other.
My rig consists of a barrel or crane swivel at the end of the mainline, tied to some Platypus leader. The leader weight will vary depending on species. If I am chasing snapper or Tassie trumps, then I will generally be using 60-80lb leader as I will be fishing 100-150m on my local reefs. If I am out deeper, on the edge of the continental shelf chasing blue-eye trevalla, then I will bump the leader up to allow for the numerous toothy critters that frequent the 300-500 metre depths.
I tie two dropper loops via a Palomar knot and then a loop at the bottom for my sinker. I usually try to make my loops around 250mm long as this allows the plastic to have plenty of action, without the dropper being too long and wrapping up around the mainline. I connect my hooks simply by looping them on. Some prefer to cut the loop open and tie to the hook with a single strand.
One of my big tips when fishing deep is to use circle hooks. It becomes painful when you have put the time in to find the fish, get the bites and then to lose the fish during the fight. I will use 7/0 or 8/0 circle hooks as they work well for the size of the fish that I am targeting.
When fishing deep my favourite plastic is the ZMan 9" GrubZ. This plastic has a great profile and heaps of action which makes it perfect for drop shotting. I love the Glow and Motor Oil colours. There's not much light down deep, so any assistance helps. When rigging, I will thread extra plastic onto the hook compared to what you normally would and this allows me to pull the nose of the plastic up and over the eye of the hook, acting as a keeper for the plastic.
Once rigged, select a sinker to suit the drift and depth. A trick I use here is to try and select one size lighter than what I would select for use on the bait rods. They will be wound up more often, so this assists to avoid tangles. I let the plastic rod sit out a bit further behind the others, while the lighter sinker helps to avoid snags. I usually use 12, 16 or 24oz sinkers for out deep. Scents can be used to help attract bites. Everything helps, however when the fish are on usually they eat a plastic no worries at all.
Time to drop the rig down and get fishing. The key benefits of this rig is that the plastics will be working at all times with the boat always moving and the ZMan plastics are super-tough so you never have to bait check. When the bait rods are quiet, I will add some extra action into the plastics by lifting the rig off the off bottom and then letting the sinker hit it again. This causes a disturbance and creates a bit of activity, along with getting the plastics bouncing around. On occasion it is the difference between bite and no bite, however they are usually pretty consistent with the rod sitting in the holder and the moving boat imparting the action.
Whilst this isn't the pure form of soft plastics fishing, it is certainly a handy alternative to fishing bait. Next time you're out there, give it a go!
Cheers,
Luke