Floating Plastic
- Thread starter naxian62
- Start date
Derek Gibson
Well-known member
Are you refering to surface lures in particular .
@ DG
Yeah kind of, but my idea is to try and rig up rubber shads in a weedless fashion. My local cut is pretty weeded up atm and I dont see it dissapating until the new year!
Also I was chatting with a guy on the bank who was using these weedless lures he picked in Holland. He was lobing them right on to dense weed and then just drawing/jerking it back in to more open water. Looked just the ticket, although he did say his hook up ratio wasn't brilliant.
Yeah kind of, but my idea is to try and rig up rubber shads in a weedless fashion. My local cut is pretty weeded up atm and I dont see it dissapating until the new year!
Also I was chatting with a guy on the bank who was using these weedless lures he picked in Holland. He was lobing them right on to dense weed and then just drawing/jerking it back in to more open water. Looked just the ticket, although he did say his hook up ratio wasn't brilliant.
laguna
Well-known member
Wasn't there a video with John Wilson using them across lilly pads? maybe its a brand he owns
P
pointngo
Guest
there aren't any solid body soft plastics that float that I know of, at least not with a wire trace attached.
you can either rig a sinking softbait weedless and drag it through or over the weeds/pads etc but it won't stay on the surface.
another option is to use a hollow body topwater frog, which are weedless. Now that is fun fishing! You get plenty of hits but the hookup rate can be low, especially if you use too soft a rod.
take a look here... Frogs & Surface Lures
all these lures will work rigged weedless and the matzuo frogs are fine, although if you get into it the spro and koppers live target frogs are better at walking the dog and hooking up. (ignore the floating claim of the sizmic floating toad as it sinks with a wire trace)
if you want something more fish like, or something a bit weird, look here in the various sections... Soft Plastic Lures
you can weedless rig the jerkbaits, creatures, eels.. the list is endless. The trick is getting the right size hook for various baits.
you need strong gear for this fishing though. 20lb braid isn't going to cut it and you want 40lb minimum in thick weed on a strong rod with an upper casting rating of 50g minimum.
hooking fish on weedless lures can be tricky but you have to not strike at the splash, but wait a split second until you feel the fish... it's very hard to get used to when you've spent your life striking immediately but you will hook more fish that way. A lot of hook-up problems come from the wrong rod though.. if it's too soft you simply won't set the hooks.
you can either rig a sinking softbait weedless and drag it through or over the weeds/pads etc but it won't stay on the surface.
another option is to use a hollow body topwater frog, which are weedless. Now that is fun fishing! You get plenty of hits but the hookup rate can be low, especially if you use too soft a rod.
take a look here... Frogs & Surface Lures
all these lures will work rigged weedless and the matzuo frogs are fine, although if you get into it the spro and koppers live target frogs are better at walking the dog and hooking up. (ignore the floating claim of the sizmic floating toad as it sinks with a wire trace)
if you want something more fish like, or something a bit weird, look here in the various sections... Soft Plastic Lures
you can weedless rig the jerkbaits, creatures, eels.. the list is endless. The trick is getting the right size hook for various baits.
you need strong gear for this fishing though. 20lb braid isn't going to cut it and you want 40lb minimum in thick weed on a strong rod with an upper casting rating of 50g minimum.
hooking fish on weedless lures can be tricky but you have to not strike at the splash, but wait a split second until you feel the fish... it's very hard to get used to when you've spent your life striking immediately but you will hook more fish that way. A lot of hook-up problems come from the wrong rod though.. if it's too soft you simply won't set the hooks.
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Some years ago I bought some cork-based lures at a tackle shop in Derbyshire (can't remember where - possibly Ashbourne) including a mouse-lure - they also had cork frog lures. They were made from Wine bottle corks - I've found the following link on how to make them for yourself: How To Make A Fishing Lure Out of a Wine Cork | Field & Stream
Certainly the idea of making them from the new-style plastic 'corks' may be a winner - hope you have fun!
Tight Lines!
Certainly the idea of making them from the new-style plastic 'corks' may be a winner - hope you have fun!
Tight Lines!
P
pointngo
Guest
catching pike off the top is about as good as it gets imho and it's the icing on the cake if it's on a homemade lure. 
get into surface fishing for them and you'll see some truly amazing sights! ... but not for those with a weak heart.
get into surface fishing for them and you'll see some truly amazing sights!
... but not for those with a weak heart.
P
pointngo
Guest
I'd highly recommend getting a topwater frog mate... it's loads of fun just getting the hits, even if you miss a few. Your heart literally misses a beat when they get walloped!
Derek Gibson
Well-known member
And you will miss a few, unless you have done a deal with the devil, or have golden orbs. A change of underwear is mandatory for top water lure fishing it dosent get any better, enjoy.
If any of you guys are still following this thread I thought you should know that the Z-man MinnowZ, float.
As an experiment yesterday I rigged one on 1/0 offset hook and one of my smallest snap links and 20lb wire so that the weight of wouldn't sink it. I was dragging it through all sorts of cr@p without it snagging up! They have this clever little split dorsal where you can hide the hookpoint.
Atm I've only got the 3" ers, but this could be something if you could them in 6 or 7" ers.
Tight lines y'all.
As an experiment yesterday I rigged one on 1/0 offset hook and one of my smallest snap links and 20lb wire so that the weight of wouldn't sink it. I was dragging it through all sorts of cr@p without it snagging up! They have this clever little split dorsal where you can hide the hookpoint.
Atm I've only got the 3" ers, but this could be something if you could them in 6 or 7" ers.
Tight lines y'all.
laguna
Well-known member
I know for a fact that both soft and hard floating lures (even with wire trace attached) can be made - easily, maybe not cheaply but certainly possible I'm surprised they don't exist??
Maybe there isn't the demand for them?
Derek Gibson
Well-known member
Chris,
They do/or did exist, though I'm unsure if there was a ''floater'' that falls into the catagory under discussion.
They were, if my memory is to be trusted marketed as ''Zoota''lures by Alex Prouse. That was sometime in the late nineties. Not sure if they are still in production. With so many plastic lures now available, both hard and soft versions, I would venture to suggest that a small cottage industry would find it hard to compete if as you say the demand wasn't there. And therein lies the problem.
P
pointngo
Guest
There is the odd soft lure about that is a floater, the old castaics used to be available in floating, and there are some others like Castaic Catch 22's etc that float... but I'm not aware of any solid plastic that you can rig weedless that float. I may well be wrong but I went a bit banana's a few years back with weedless plastics and looked at most of them.
Zoota closed down earlier this year but from memory he didn't sell floaters in recent years. There is a small cottage industry that sells softbait making stuff... it's not that cheap though unless you're making small lures. A problem I see is that no-one is being inventive; just selling versions of other peoples lures.. perhaps they think it's all been done but this thread proves otherwise.
laguna
Well-known member
I think most non-dedicated predator anglers decisions are pretty much impulsive when it comes to lures and just pick up certain patterns that appeal to them, usually some cheap mass-produced import joby from china?
As an occasional user I couldn't possibly comment on any of those brands but as an experienced model/pattern maker you can probably imagine that mould making has always played a role... actually if you think about it all mass produced stuff from plastic pencil sharpeners to GRP bath tubs and millionaires yachts originates from a master mould but the tooling and setup (and layup) costs are pretty expensive and prohibitive to most cottage industrials.
As an occasional user I couldn't possibly comment on any of those brands but as an experienced model/pattern maker you can probably imagine that mould making has always played a role... actually if you think about it all mass produced stuff from plastic pencil sharpeners to GRP bath tubs and millionaires yachts originates from a master mould but the tooling and setup (and layup) costs are pretty expensive and prohibitive to most cottage industrials.