Strange how the soft plastic “muppets” attract and catch fish
Strange how the soft plastic “muppets” attract and catch fish. Go to tropical waters and see them trolled at 7 or 8 knots for big game species, fish them with or without bait for cod and pollack over wrecks and reefs. It really is uncanny why fish are suicidally attracted to these lures with a soft plastic skirt. Some say it resembles a squid, others including me, believe it is the noise and movement in the water, but whatever the reason, they work and thatÃs all we really need to know!!Winter will soon be upon us and the short days mean that we have to make the best of every opportunity to catch fish over the deep water.A pirk and a couple of muppets worked through a shoal of cod will usually produce the goods. Do not make the mistake of fishing this rig on light tackle, a 30lb class outfit is good, and even then a couple of twenty pounders will give you some serious grief.Make a muppet trace up from forty or fifty pound breaking strain monofilament spacing the muppets about 30 inches(75mm) apart with a barrel swivel at the top and a clip swivel at the bottom, to take the sinker or pirk.From the top swivel to the first muppet is about a couple of feet(60mm), tie a Blood loop with a stand off about an inch or so long. At 30 inches tie another loop, then about 30 inches to the link swivel. Any more than a couple of muppets is being greedy and asking for trouble !!Rig the muppets on a largish hook, 5/0 minimum, to line a little less in breaking strain than the centre string, say 30/35 lbs, making the dropper 5 or 6 inches long whipped to the blood loop with an Albright or Snell type knot.
Keep the muppets on the move so that the skirt is dancing and fluttering in the tide. The bites are rarely subtle the fish usually hammer into the muppets, so take your time and tie the knots well.