A soft plastic does almost nothing on its own. The rod tip supplies the action, and the retrieve you choose is the difference between a lure that looks like an injured baitfish and a lure that looks like a piece of rubber being dragged home.
Six retrieves cover nearly every inshore situation in Australia. Learn them properly and change between them until the fish tells you which one it wants.
The double hop
Two sharp lifts of the rod tip, then let the plastic sink on a semi-tight line. This is the standard flathead retrieve over sand and the standard snapper retrieve on a drift.
Ninety per cent of takes happen on the sink. If you are not watching your line, you are not detecting the bite.
The slow roll
A steady wind just fast enough to keep the tail thumping, a foot or two off the bottom. Deadly on bass, barra, jewfish and any fish sitting in current.
Use a paddle tail and the lightest head that still keeps contact — most anglers roll too fast and too heavy.
The dead stick
Cast, let the plastic sink to the bottom, and do nothing for ten to twenty seconds. Then twitch once. Bream and big flathead in cold water will pick it up while it sits motionless.
This is the retrieve to switch to when fish are following but not committing.
The shake and pause
Small rapid shakes of the rod tip on a slack-ish line, moving the plastic almost nowhere. It looks like a prawn flicking in place and it is the go-to bream retrieve around pontoons and oyster racks.
The burn and kill
Three or four fast winds, then a complete stop. Used for tailor, salmon, kingfish and any pelagic that switches on with speed. The stop triggers the strike.
The bottom drag
Slide the plastic along the bottom, stirring sand, with occasional pauses. Whiting, flathead and grass emperor respond to the puff of sand as much as the lure.
Key takeaways
- ▸Change retrieve before you change lure colour.
- ▸Watch your line on the sink — most takes are never felt.
- ▸Match jig head weight to depth and current, not to casting distance.
- ▸If a fish follows without eating, slow down or stop dead.
This guide is general information only. Fishing regulations differ by state and change regularly — confirm current rules with your fisheries authority before you fish.