Success with a Simple Soft Plastic

Everybody probably has at least of couple of them in their tackle box. The lures that catch the eye of the fisherman, but not necessarily the fish. I'm talking about all these new shiny lures with little rattles, crazy names, and all the gizmos and gadgets that go along with them. While all these incredible details and bright packages might seem to make such an amazing lure, we have found in the marsh for various reasons, it's hard to beat a simple soft plastic on a jig head.

A lower slot red with the trusty old Gulp shrimp under it.

First of all, almost any fish will bite a soft plastic lure (or "tout", for all you Cajuns) if they're hungry. Anything from crappie to tarpon will hit a soft plastic, and they work great for the fish we target, such as redfish, speckled trout, flounder, and largemouth bass. We've had several days where we have tried topwaters, suspending twitchbaits, or even a good old gold spoon, with no takers. Then we throw on one of our favorite plastics and next thing you know there's a fish on!

H&H 3" Cocahoe Minnow in Morning Glory and a slot redfish.

Simple soft plastic lures can be worked in practically any way, and will always have a lot of life-like action. You can let them sink to the bottom and drag them along searching for a flounder, or just hold the rod tip high and bring it in with a steady retrieve through  the middle of the water column targeting specks. Many anglers retrieve them super fast through grass or around structure looking for a reaction strike, or let them sink and slowly raise the rod, bouncing the lure up and down slowly for those deeper, less active fish. They're a great lure to blindcast through the middle of a channel, but they're extremely useful on a light or weightless hook for sightcasting in skinny water.

A sampling of some of our favorite soft plastics.

Although these lures are very simple; just a soft plastic baitfish imitation on a hook or jighead, there's

a huge variety of styles and colors for nearly any circumstance. For freshwater, a couple of the most popular styles are senkos (or stickbaits), crawfish imitations, and minnows. The most popular colors are variants of watermelon, chartruese, black, and green pumpkin. For saltwater fishing, some popular styles in our region are shad, shrimp, mullet, and even crab imitations. While colors, lengths and tail shapes may vary and fish may prefer one color or style over another on any given day, we've found with a little experimentation and effort, they just plain work.

Leave the minnows or shrimp at the bait shop one day and try some simple soft plastic lures.  You just might find they work and add an extra bit of excitement to your next trip.

I Forgot the Paddle!

One of the first things I learned when I started kayak fishing was that I was going to make a lot of mistakes.  I can laugh at myself and I'm quick to admit where I go wrong in this Kayak fishing addiction.  Forgetting equipment is a very bad habit I've developed.

I've forgotten tackle trays, paddles, and the kayak seat.  On one of my first trips, I got all rigged up - net, poles, stakeout stick...but I'd forgotten my Plano boxes. I had a gold spoon on one rod and a soft plastic on the other that I'd tied on the night before.  Turns out getting skunked is just as easy with two lures as with multiple tackle trays.

Second, I forgot the seat to my Ocean Kayak Trident13 on a trip.  It was me and the kid and we got all the way to our destination without realizing I would be seatless.  The fishing spirits were smiling on me though, because we were launching from a relatives canal house and my Hobie Odyssey Tandem was in the garage and it's seat actually worked on the Trident13!  I had to do alot of adjusting of the straps but in the end it worked out just fine.

Third, I got several blocks away from home with Harry in the car and trailer in tow when I realized we didn't pack the paddles. I was lucky my mental rundown only a few blocks from home caught this one - there'd have been no recovery of driving a kid over an hour only to discover Dad didn't bring the paddles! And finally, we forgot one paddle on a trip with two kayaks.  Again, I was saved though.  We were meeting up with some new friends and they had an extra paddle we borrowed.

So four times I've forgotten something and all four times I got lucky.  The next time, it may not end so well. The simple lesson is to always do a thorough double check that you have all gear that is needed, even if you're itching to get on the road, because its not worth the several hour drive to find you cant fish...without a fishing rod.

Stuff I've forgotten

DIY GoPro Kayak Pole

   This is a simple, affordable pole mount for a GoPro. This is made specifically for GoPro cameras; for any other camera for a similar mount I would recommend visiting Sonny Mills' article about his camera setup.
 
Materials Needed:

• Dolica WT-1003 Lightweight 67 Inch Monopod ($15)
• GoPro Tripod Adaptor ($3)
• Duct Tape (approx. $5 per roll)
• Pipe Insulator (approx. $2 for six feet)

   The total cost comes in around $25 with plenty of extra duct tape and pipe insulator left over for future projects. As of right now, on the water I bring two action cameras, my Sony Action Cam HDR-AS15 on a headband mount, and my GoPro Hero 3+ on my pole mount. The GoPro is by far my favorite of the two, but it costs $299 versus the Sony which costs $142 on Amazon. I might do a full comparison of these two cameras for the purpose of filming kayak fishing videos later on, but now back to the GoPro pole mount.

 

1. The first step after all of the materials listed above have been purchased is to screw the adapter onto the end of the monopod and attach the camera.
   
2. The second step, is to prepare the bottom end of the monopod to fit snugly in whatever holder you choose to use for the pole, for example a flush-mount rod holder, or a section of PVC piping attached to a milk crate with zipties. To get the snug fit, I cut a section of pipe insulator about four inches long and slit it open so it could wrap around the bottom of the extended thinnest section of the monopod. I secured this on with a couple tight zipties and wrapped the rest of the way with duct tape until I got my desired width to fit my milkcrate rod holder. It's not pretty but it serves its purpose.

     3. The third and final step is to adjust the angle of the camera using the screw on the adapter, and experiment with placing it in different positions around the kayak to find your favorite view. My personal two favorites are from the PVC section on my milk crate, and the flush mount rod holder which is pictured below.

   This is a great project for those rainy days when we just wish we could be out fishing, and although it may cost a little more than other DIY alternatives, it's very simple, compact, portable, easily adjustable, and durable.