Hard Bodies vs softplastics

[Daniel_Folley]

hi all
i know everybody would still use hardbodies in differrent situations but does anybody out htere still use them to better affect then softplastics?

[Bream Master]

Hi Daniel,

I must admit to being a hardbody user at the moment. I was a softplastic addict up until a couple of months ago. I switched back (as in I now use hard bodies more than soft plastics) after the three main titles went to hardbodies this year.

The QLD and NSW qualifying rounds were taken out on hardbodies (Attacks & Oargee's) and then Matt Fraser cleaned up the field using Oargee's in the final.

When I fished Mandurah, I mainly fished soft plastics and didn't see much action. When I switched to hard bodies late on day two I had a huge hit and bust off, and and saw more fish in the last half hour than I had all weekend.

I prefished with Ecogear in Albany on the Friday and landed a nice fish. I started with the same tactic on Saturday and had no luck for about an hour (other than a huge soapie on a mini tank bug). When I switched to an Oargee in JGold I had instant success. Taro and I were both using hard bodies and landed 10 fish between us. Taro started with a Yo Zuri Snap Shad in gold and then switched to a Sneaky Scorpion in gold.

Same deal on Sunday, used Hard Bodies all day and landed three nice fish.

That being said, Pete S walked off with the win using Muscadine Sliders...

Have I confused you sufficiently.

Warren.

[Daniel_Folley]

you sure have

There is no better lure.

Both WA Rounds have been won on plastics and at Albany Pete just didn't win, he blitzed. The margin between 1st & 2nd was the same margin that covered 2nd to 17th.

Pete fished in alot more marine enviroment, in deeper holes, more so then anyone else thus the plastics worked better.

I fish both and it really depends on the area I'm fishing as to what I use. Try fishing a hard body lure on deep bridge pylons.

The great thing about BREAM is that there is 100 different ways to get your bag of 5. Geoff fished up in freshwater using hard bodies. Also you will find that he fished hard bodies all weekend at Mandurah for 1 bream and about 11th place.

Thats the thing about bream, each river and location will require something a little different. It pays to be good with soft plastics, hard bodies and fly. I've seen days at Moore River where bream are taking ants off the surface and that is all they will take. Perfect fly country.

To be a good bream angler you need a whole range of skills and most importantly you need to be able to read conditions and adapt quickley.

[Dave W]

To be a good bream angler you need a whole range of skills and most importantly you need to be able to read conditions and adapt quickley.

100% correct Ira - the last Bream comp we had on the Hawkesbury (courtesy of Sportsfish.com.au) really gave me a well needed wake up call.

I fished plastics almost exclusively, along with a lot of others, and we got creamed by the hard body brigade. Only one guy got 6 out of 6 for the day, on hardbodies (you mongrel MickC ) and second place saw only 2 fish caught.

My piddling little 245mm fish got me 7th place, but out of around 35 anglers only 10 caught measurable fish - a situation that could have been very different if we'd thought about seriously changing tactics rather than stubbornly persevering with what we were doing.

I chalked it up to a learning experience and invested in some more tackle to expand my options - suffice to say I won't be caught out like that again

Cheers,

The way I look at it is that the guy who tunes into what the bream are on the quickest is the guy who will win.

I used to race speedway and the guy who would win on the night is the guy setup his car to suit the track conditions on the nigtht the quickest.

Speedway tracks are different everytime you go out so you need to dial in quickly. Bream are exactly the same.

Have a plan but be prepared to adapt, and also hope for some luck!

[Richo]

Well i`ll have to admit hitting the soft`s real hard and only had a couple of Hards compared to a thousand softs in the tackle box, but saying that Ive now increased my collection to about 14 or so with plenty more to come. As Ira stated you have to be ready for all situations, which includes picking the right colour when changing to hards as well, which makes it all the more interesting and fun.

I definitly think Albany had a great impact on me, as Id previously written hard bodies off, but soon I will have the entire OarG collection, which includes that blowie looking one, (which Geoff has scared me into leaving in the box), but honestly we pulled probably 20 odd Bream between us on the weekend and only 3 went to softs, which since Albany dosn`t really suprise me at all. All it comes down to is have shitloads of both. Can`t go wrong then.

Cheers

Richo

[Matt]

Like Dave, the Sportsfish Bream Comp (which I was one of the organisors) was a real wake up call.

The majority of the anglers fishing it had got caught up in the " Soft Plastics Only" craze and failed to adapt back to Hard Bodies. I was not competing but hitched rides on a number of different boats and I too failed to adapt.

The eventual winner (MickC) absolutely murdered everybody else, he re-visited the Hardbodies and discovered that that was the what the Bream were going on.

Since then (and a recent trip where Hard Bodies caught some ripper fish) I have rekindled my interest in Hard Bodies and once again I always have some minnows in my Jacket when stalking Bream (and Flatties).

Cheers
Matt

[luringbream]

Up until the other day i was using softs, but then switched to hards, got 2 fish 2 casts and missed another 2.

DAN

[Cheyne Jones]

I think its all about feeling confortable with the lure on the end of your line.

If the fish are there you can catch them it is all about being confortable.

I personally more comfortable with plastics because the areas i fish are best suited to plastics and there fore i am extremely comfortable with them so i pay more attention to presentation, retreive etc.

However if i use hard bodies i am not as comfortable and pay a little less attention and catch less fish.

[madfish]

I'd have to agree with Cheyne, and think if you feel confident with what's tied on the end then it leads to catching more fish. I've been doing real well on the hardbodies but have difficulty catching Blackies on softies. It's come down to me not tying on softies because I have much more faith in myself catching Bream on hardbodies. Me boat caught another 25 today 18 to 7 in my favour, all on hards.

[geoff_abrams]

i think they are both good it depends on who is using them some people have perfected plastic fishing knowing what colours and size to use at the right time with the right action same with hard bodies.if you arnt getting roughly the same amount on either sort of lure you should work on your retrieve and the style of lure you chose. work out what is best.