Corpusfishing.com

[Bandera Brent]

I am trying to get more into fishing artificials when we are bay fishing. My question is, how is the best way to fish a shrimp gulp? 1/8 jig head? Under popping cork? if not under cork, what is the best retrieval speed? Do you bump them along the bottom like you would a worm in freshwater? I assume the same techniques would work for any soft plastics? From there it would be just trying to match colors to conditions?? I have experimented with the above techniques, but had very little luck in catching fish, so I guessed there might be an art to it! Any help would be appreciated. We will be headed to Aransas Bay/Rockport areas possibly tomorrow.

Thanks!

[ironmanstan]

Its not always the lure used ,,, its how you use your lure, its all about presentation, knowing the bottom that lies under the surface , how fast or how slow to retrieve your artifical . You have to get your game down to a science where your lure tossing is a normal body function. This comes with time and consistancy on the water. As far as colors go, everybody that knows me, knows i stick to just a couple of colors and I produce pretty we'll find a color that works well for you. I use 8lb test, 14 lb shock leader...no swivels or snaps 1/8 oz jig head, my favorite color...pumpkinseed /chart in a Norton bull minnow. My next color is plum/chart in a sand eel.
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

and its llike I put in another post to a similar question, if you're not catching fish on Gulp then its likely NOT your set up or even your presentation. if you want to catch fish you need to fish in the area where fish are feeding! its the most important part of catching! and totally overlooked by many people.
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[Bandera Brent]

Thanks guys, we'll keep working on it, just curious about the basics. The finesse will come with time!

[the troutman]

You can fish them under a popper just like a live shrimp, cast and retrieve, you name it. Porkfetus and IMS summed it up, you gotta spend your time getting to the where to fish versus the other issues. I fished with a guy for years that had no skill in tossing hardware but had a knack for finding fishy waters. He slayed the fish all the time and it was purely knowing where to be versus technique. When all things are equal technique, colors, etc, count but you gotta be in the fish or the prettiest lure in the world isn't going to net you anything.
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Later,

The Troutman

Love em and leave em, otherwise known as Catch and Release!

[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

well said troutman.

Tyler, make this a sticky!
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[Bayslammer]

I agree 100%. It's hard to experiment if everything you toss out is never seen by a fish. That being said, I must say that presentation and knowing what to present is very important. I have been in situations where I have have caught ten trout in thirty minutes and three anglers standing all around me catch nothing. On the other hand, I have seen an angler fishing on my hip quickly catch twenty trout on a topwater, while I stood in amazement.....skunked. Both of us had the same lure tied on, a topwater?? Many times I will fish with anglers who present a lure completely different from myself, but the results are even. I believe that a person must have confidence in the way that they fish and use what works best for them.

Over time I have developed a knack for catching fish on artificials that works for me. I explain presentations that are working for me to my customers before the fishing begins, rarely do they duplicate my presentation. As for the tackle, I use 20-30lb. braid with a flourocarbon leader attached with a swivel. Most of the time I use the 1/16 ounce screwlock jig head. Lightest rod/reel combo you can afford, paying close attention to the rod action and tip speed.

A few things I will point out as you specified plastics or the gulp. In my opinion both are one in the same and you can use a rattle cork with either. Rythm is very important.....try to get into a constant rythm with your rod tip and lure, and keep the same thing going when you find it working. Erattic lure movement works very good for catching fish in especially warm water, but I use it all year long. hold your rod tip near the water at about 3 o'clock and give the rod very short, whippy movements using your wrist. This causes a plastic or sub sinker to dart back and forth erraticaly.....works awesome and keeps the plastic in the center of the water columb, above the grass. Hold the rod tip high and give a plastic three or four good bumps moving the rod tip upward and reel the slack...repeat, this is a good slow presentation for cold water fish or bottom feeding fish. That slow bump, bump, bump or the raise and reel, are the standard retrieves I see most often from anglers using eel type plastics or corkies. With a paddle tail plastic or spoon, retrieve the lure with the reel handle constantly and bump it every now and then. I use pumpkinseed, plum or glow with chartruese tail saltwater assasians 99% of the time when fishing plastics. I will use a white 3"gulp shrimp, especially for redfish or when we are fishing a school of trout. I could go on..........Hope this helps, good luck.
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Grind

[ironmanstan]

well said bayslammer I'm glad you like typing better than me . I always try to get everything in one sentence..lol.
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

[kadiyaker]

I second the "pumpkinseed /chart" in a shorter paddle tail - my go to color/artifical
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Posted by

KadiyaKer



'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

[gonefishing]

[Bandera Brent]

Using all the advice I received on the board, we ended up with 3 trout and 1 red to keep. I fished a pumpkinseed/chart arti with 1/8oz jighead and a "salt shaker" packet about 1 foot above the bait. I used a fairly quick retrieve with a couple twitchs every couple winds. Actually, 2 of the strikes were about 5 seconds after the bait hit the water. I landed 3 undersized reds, but had a blast fishing with the arti's. Thanks so much for the advice, it helped give me a firm base to start experimenting from.

[stevarama]

Just a quick question when it comes to working soft plastics. How slow is too slow? Is there such a thing as "too slow" when it comes to winter time plastics. I've heard the terms, "slower than molasses", "painfully slow", and even "slower than evolution" . Certain counts I should be using to retrieve? How hard a twitch once it hits bottom? Oops. I guess that's more than just a quick question huh? Anyways, new techniques are always helpful.

[Tyler]

Too slow maybe if you are getting stuck in the grass. If so use a lighter jighead.

[Bayslammer]

The Paul Brown Original is flying off the shelves, now that it is being mass produced and sold at large retailers. I figure the Corky has brought in more big trout for myself over the years than any other lure. It's important to note that the retrieve that produces the best results for myself is not the same as the plastic method mentioned earlier. I find the most effective is a contstant turn of the reel while bringing it in slow with a steady up and down rod tip motion. This particular retrieve makes the "suspending bait" stay in mid range depth and dart side to side, thus imitating a baitfish. The soft body, and realistic look is killer for Winter trout feeding primarily on mullet. It helps to use a low profile baitcast reel in order to use the proper wrist motion while palming the reel. You can get fast and erratic for a subsurface/topwater retrieve as well. This works great in warmer water temps where fish are more feeding more aggresively. The floating corky is a just that...it floats as the original sinks. The floater is better for very shallow gin clear water fishing. The above mentioned retrieve runs the floater just below the surface, and I usually slow it down a bit. Hope this helps all of you that have jumped on the bandwagon.
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Grind

[Scoootr]

gold weedless spoon
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pura vida