New yabby imitating soft plastics are proving in some scenarios to be the most successful native softie by a country mile.

I've been using some American models known as Storm Rattle Hot Craw tubes. These are basically a soft plastic imitation of a freshwater crayfish. They also look and behave exactly like our yabby, which is great news for Aussie anglers.

The real advantage of these lures is how they sit in the water. They are put on a standard football jig head so that they ride hook up to avoid snags, but the hollow chamber in the yabby's head and arms makes things even better- the lure stands upright, even if resting on a rock that is on an angle. This got me pretty excited and the first test on the local golden perch and redfin population confirmed my suspicions-they work brilliantly.

Basically you hop the lure across the bottom just like a fleeing yabby. After each hop you let the lure settle back on the bottom where it sits upright. Have you ever seen how a yabby stands up with both claws defending when you try to pick one that has been cornered? This is exactly how the lure sits on the bottom.

It gets better though. Often golden perch will swim right up close to a lure to inspect it but won't commit. When the perch do this to the soft yabby the lures arms wobble from the water pressure and this is all too much for any golden perch.

After catching the first few goldens I cut the hook off one of the lures and watched one perch eat the lure off the bottom on three successive casts. Similarly schools of redfin inhaled the lure repeatedly.

While many of the goldens ate the yabby imposter off the bottom, some also grabbed it when falling or when first lifted. You have to stay alert with this form of fishing to make sure you feel what is going on. If you get a touch, recast - the fish nearly always come back for another bite.

Now you can be sure these lures will not magically pull out native fish from any old cast - you will need to find the fish first. What I can say though is that for catching native species off the bottom eg in rocky, muddy or timbered areas, they are the most practical softie to date.