Soft lures

[Rammer223]

Is there any soft lures 14-18 cm that better lend themselves to been fished aggressively looking to rip with rod and pause , ideally it sink horizontally if not any tips on tuning assume would have to put some sort weight in belly, rip pause style in upper layers near weed and drop off , tried 18 cm Kofi perch with 4g savage gear screw in style weight in belly but still goes on its side or back when I rip
Thanks in advance lee

[stubbojo]

better off with a jerk bait pal

[Lukemilnes]

Is there any soft lures 14-18 cm that better lend themselves to been fished aggressively looking to rip with rod and pause , ideally it sink horizontally if not any tips on tuning assume would have to put some sort weight in belly, rip pause style in upper layers near weed and drop off , tried 18 cm Kofi perch with 4g savage gear screw in style weight in belly but still goes on its side or back when I rip
Thanks in advance lee

Depends how fast your ripping it, oo err

The shape of the kofi perch looks like it will spin at higher speeds tbh. I wouldnt be concerned with it going on it's side tho, if you've watched any of fly vs jerk a lot of shads will kick over and potentially thats not a bad thing as an injured fish may do such. Certainly doesnt hamper any of the catches.

You could also try a pikecraft head on it which lifts the centre of gravity then fish a solid ring leader at braid end and a fixed clip or a kwik change at the other. I'll try do a video of one of ours next time I'm out.

In terms of sinking horizontally, a plastisol shad will never do that. There are ways but at the cost of durability and stability. Adding belly weights works but it will sink faster

Surely a shallow slow sinking crank is the way forward? Or a curlytail?

[Rammer223]

Thanks for taking time to reply not familiar with rigs / leader set up you mentioned will do little digging, take point that hard lure maybe way to go but been relatively new to lure fishing not had much success with hard baits , just seem to be able to keep the soft lures in the zone a little longer probably not fishing the hard baits very well still learning some of the zilla style baits seem like they might do the job been shallow running
Thanks lee

[fenland piker]

Smaller sizes of line thru Roach and Trout in shallow running version can be fished how you describe. They sink fairly horizontally and have a better action when pulled fairly fast then paused. 15 or 20cm trout and 18cm roach
Its worth changing the trace they come with though as had a lot fail on the original rigging.

[Steve Dennington]

In terms of sinking horizontally, a plastisol shad will never do that. There are ways but at the cost of durability and stability. Adding belly weights works but it will sink faster

The old 10" Castaic (slow sink) sank horizontally. Then, for some inexplicable reason, they changed the harness and they now sink nose first...

Over weed, a dive/rise bait like an unweighted Burt is a good option, as is a floating glidebait.

[Mike J]

In terms of sinking horizontally, a plastisol shad will never do that. There are ways but at the cost of durability and stability. Adding belly weights works but it will sink faster

The old 10" Castaic (slow sink) sank horizontally. Then, for some inexplicable reason, they changed the harness and they now sink nose first...

Over weed, a dive/rise bait like an unweighted Burt is a good option, as a floating glidebait.

The old Casti's were made in the US the new ones are made in ting tong land.

.

[Steve Dennington]

In terms of sinking horizontally, a plastisol shad will never do that. There are ways but at the cost of durability and stability. Adding belly weights works but it will sink faster

The old 10" Castaic (slow sink) sank horizontally. Then, for some inexplicable reason, they changed the harness and they now sink nose first...

Over weed, a dive/rise bait like an unweighted Burt is a good option, as a floating glidebait.

The old Casti's were made in the US the new ones are made in ting tong land.

.

The old ones were made in Mexico I think, Mike. The new ones are nowhere near as good

[Mike J]

In terms of sinking horizontally, a plastisol shad will never do that. There are ways but at the cost of durability and stability. Adding belly weights works but it will sink faster

The old 10" Castaic (slow sink) sank horizontally. Then, for some inexplicable reason, they changed the harness and they now sink nose first...

Over weed, a dive/rise bait like an unweighted Burt is a good option, as a floating glidebait.

The old Casti's were made in the US the new ones are made in ting tong land.

.

The old ones were made in Mexico I think, Mike. The new ones are nowhere near as good

Mex US they aren't they all the same place these days?
Just going on what Derek G told me.

.

[Mark Phillips]

better off with a jerk bait pal

Agreed, definitely a scenario for a jerk bait and a swimbait is the last lure I'd use in that situation. Other options, one presentation that's very effective over weedbeds, spinnerbaits - you want a single colorado bladed version - I use a 1oz DP bump & grind... just burn it over the top of the weed and let it drop into open pockets, then rip back out. They're good in all but the snot weed, so you're still fishing an effective bait through weed. A good size jig head with a silicon skirt and a curly tail works well for that too - I personally use a jig head with a nylon weed guard for that... I catch a lot of pike on drains fishing those two presentations. Works well for exploring pads as well. From the boat, I'd use a straight, floating 8" Bucher Depth Raider - ripping it down and through the weeds, then letting it back-up to the surface - often when it gets hit. Crank baits aren't just for trolling Hope that help mate.

[fenland piker]

Another good lure would be a shallow running hybrid like a Rapala X-rap Otus or Peto. They fish very well at less than a metre and sink slowly and horizontally when paused. Or a Miuras Mouse.
These both suit a slower presentation but can be twitched and paused over shallow weed beds.

[Rammer223]

Cheers guys good info will have a look into
Regards lee

[Lukemilnes]

Another good lure would be a shallow running hybrid like a Rapala X-rap Otus or Peto. They fish very well at less than a metre and sink slowly and horizontally when paused. Or a Miuras Mouse.
These both suit a slower presentation but can be twitched and paused over shallow weed beds.

Or one of these ive just made its just a proto of the bigger version so yet yo be tidied up but it swims very well

[stubbojo]

better off with a jerk bait pal

Agreed, definitely a scenario for a jerk bait and a swimbait is the last lure I'd use in that situation. Other options, one presentation that's very effective over weedbeds, spinnerbaits - you want a single colorado bladed version - I use a 1oz DP bump & grind... just burn it over the top of the weed and let it drop into open pockets, then rip back out. They're good in all but the snot weed, so you're still fishing an effective bait through weed. A good size jig head with a silicon skirt and a curly tail works well for that too - I personally use a jig head with a nylon weed guard for that... I catch a lot of pike on drains fishing those two presentations. Works well for exploring pads as well. From the boat, I'd use a straight, floating 8" Bucher Depth Raider - ripping it down and through the weeds, then letting it back-up to the surface - often when it gets hit. Crank baits aren't just for trolling Hope that help mate.

the bucher depth raider even works in the depths of winter , last winter on an big estate lake a pike took it on the surface ripping it back and as it floated back to the surface a pike took it on the rip , it was a freezing cold day and the only fish of the day too

[stubbojo]

Another good lure would be a shallow running hybrid like a Rapala X-rap Otus or Peto. They fish very well at less than a metre and sink slowly and horizontally when paused. Or a Miuras Mouse.
These both suit a slower presentation but can be twitched and paused over shallow weed beds.

Or one of these ive just made its just a proto of the bigger version so yet yo be tidied up but it swims very well

they look very good too

[Mark Phillips]

better off with a jerk bait pal

Agreed, definitely a scenario for a jerk bait and a swimbait is the last lure I'd use in that situation. Other options, one presentation that's very effective over weedbeds, spinnerbaits - you want a single colorado bladed version - I use a 1oz DP bump & grind... just burn it over the top of the weed and let it drop into open pockets, then rip back out. They're good in all but the snot weed, so you're still fishing an effective bait through weed. A good size jig head with a silicon skirt and a curly tail works well for that too - I personally use a jig head with a nylon weed guard for that... I catch a lot of pike on drains fishing those two presentations. Works well for exploring pads as well. From the boat, I'd use a straight, floating 8" Bucher Depth Raider - ripping it down and through the weeds, then letting it back-up to the surface - often when it gets hit. Crank baits aren't just for trolling Hope that help mate.

the bucher depth raider even works in the depths of winter , last winter on an big estate lake a pike took it on the surface ripping it back and as it floated back to the surface a pike took it on the rip , it was a freezing cold day and the only fish of the day too

Agreed. All the depth raiders are awesome crank baits. I've done well trolling them in cold water - also, a very good choice if you're occasionally hitting the deck, as they're more snag resistant than most crank baits. The blue/white pattern is a killer in ultra cold conditions, especially for pike in clear water. Had a 15lb brownie on one many years ago, accidental capture of course, but I take what I can get in this game

[stubbojo]

better off with a jerk bait pal

Agreed, definitely a scenario for a jerk bait and a swimbait is the last lure I'd use in that situation. Other options, one presentation that's very effective over weedbeds, spinnerbaits - you want a single colorado bladed version - I use a 1oz DP bump & grind... just burn it over the top of the weed and let it drop into open pockets, then rip back out. They're good in all but the snot weed, so you're still fishing an effective bait through weed. A good size jig head with a silicon skirt and a curly tail works well for that too - I personally use a jig head with a nylon weed guard for that... I catch a lot of pike on drains fishing those two presentations. Works well for exploring pads as well. From the boat, I'd use a straight, floating 8" Bucher Depth Raider - ripping it down and through the weeds, then letting it back-up to the surface - often when it gets hit. Crank baits aren't just for trolling Hope that help mate.

the bucher depth raider even works in the depths of winter , last winter on an big estate lake a pike took it on the surface ripping it back and as it floated back to the surface a pike took it on the rip , it was a freezing cold day and the only fish of the day too

Agreed. All the depth raiders are awesome crank baits. I've done well trolling them in cold water - also, a very good choice if you're occasionally hitting the deck, as they're more snag resistant than most crank baits. The blue/white pattern is a killer in ultra cold conditions, especially for pike in clear water. Had a 15lb brownie on one many years ago, accidental capture of course, but I take what I can get in this game

just when you think you have cracked this piking lark , you get taken by surprise i was just keeping warm casting about ,a pike on the surface in 30ft gin clear water jan -5 temps and ice in the margins
3 rods out on dead-baits hard on the bottom and not a sniff......i know nothing