Geoff Thomas: The Kiwi softie style

Soft bait. Photo / Supplied

When the first soft baits arrived a few years ago a lot of Kiwis looked at them and said, "These things will never catch fish."

While Aussies have been fishing lures for generations we have seen them as something you drag for marlin or kahawai or kingfish, or cast at a tropical reef for giant trevally.

But that has all changed.

Those skilled at casting a fly rod for trout or dropping a jig took to soft-bait fishing quickly and soon figured out how to use lures effectively. And it didn't take long for Kiwis to develop a style to suit local conditions.

It started with throwing lures into the white water around reefs and islands. This is water which had been large ignored by traditional fishing and opened up a whole new world.

What surprised newcomers was the variety of fish which take soft baits, or soft plastics as they are also called. Then it was not long before innovative snapper fishermen such as the late Tiny Coe figured out their own systems for dropping lures into deep water.

Now there is a whole range of options for those wanting to cover everything from the surface layer down to 50 metres or more. It will keep expanding, too.

The key to soft-bait fishing is twofold - firstly to place the lure in front of the fish, and then to "work" the lure and impart some action. Softies are designed to simulate a whole range of creatures from anchovies to underwater lizards, and their wiggly bits need to do just that - wiggle.

So the angler needs to approach his business like a hunter; figuring out how heavy a weight or jighead to use, where to cast and how long to let it sink. The parameters are continually changing - the speed of the boat drifting, the depth of water and of course the weight of the lure.

The basic technique is to motor up-current or upwind of the proposed fishing area, which may be determined by surface activity and birds, a sign on the screen of the fish finder or simply an interesting-looking seabed which may show a little foul or uneven surface or a contour line or drop-off.

A sea anchor or drogue is handy for slowing the boat's drift and keeping the bow pointed into the wind so anglers can cast out of the cockpit.

Then the lure is cast ahead of the boat in the direction it is drifting, and allowed to sink with the reel in free-spool. When it hits the seabed the reel is flicked into gear and the slack line taken up before working the lure with short jiggles of the rod tip.

Here, the technique varies from a soft jiggle to hard sweeps of the rod. It is a question of personal taste, and the key is to vary the action.

The other important aspect is to take in loose line as the boat drifts over the lure, so the angler is always in touch with it. This is where a lot of newcomers have difficulty. Just as in fly fishing, line control is critical.

Then, as the boat moves away, line can be let out in short increments to keep working the lure until it becomes too far away to be effective, when it is retrieved and the whole process repeated.

There are many instances where a fisherman wants a rest, as this is active fishing compared with the passive approach of sitting with a bait on the bottom waiting for a bite. So the rod can be popped into a rod holder and the lures slow-trolled behind the boat - and this will catch fish.

The softie is always fished with the drag on tight, because this is the other main difference from the traditional approach. The angler has to hook the fish. It won't hook itself as it will on a chunk of pilchard on a recurve hook on a flasher rig.

This is why keeping in touch with the lure is so important. Bites may be a slight hesitation in the feel of the line, or a soft nibble, or a full-blooded whack. In any event, it is important to wind furiously until the line is tight, then lift the rod to strike.

It is a common sight to see people lift the rod sharply to strike, leaving some slack line in the water, then holding the rod up high and trying to feel if there is a fish there. It won't be for it has dropped off.

The key is to wind until the line is tight then strike, but keep winding and strike again, and keep winding, and hit it again to make sure. If you keep winding throughout you will maintain a tight line and you should be in business. Then it becomes a regular fight, although the light tackle used for soft-baiting does teach people to become better anglers. It teaches them how to use the rod and reel in harmony to work a fish in.

If using an overhead bait-caster the reel can be fished in free-spool until a fish is struck, as the thumb can be used to let line slip out or clamp down and keep it right.

Fixed-spool spin reels have to be fished in gear as the bail arm system is too unwieldy to fish the lure out of gear. A good habit to get into is to keep a finger on the spool where the line is slipping off while the lure is sinking, as fish often pick it up on the drop and you will have no way of knowing unless keeping in touch through a finger.

More fishing action can be found on Outdoors with Geoff, 5pm TV3, and on the new internet television channel, FishnHunt.Tv.