How To Identify A Pufferfish Bite (Vs. A Trout, Snapper, Or Pinfish Bite)
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Inshore Fishing, Weekly Newsletter: 6-21-20
Are your lures getting torn up by pufferfish?
Or are hungry trout just short-striking your lure?
Depending on the answer, the solution is way different.
So how do you tell if it’s a pufferfish, trout or pinfish?
By the damage they do to your lure.
I’ll show you exactly what that looks like in this video, as well as:
- What to do if pufferfish are destroying your lure
- What a pinfish or snapper bite looks like
- The big mistake I used to make that cost me a lot of money
- And much more
If you’re sick of getting your lures torn up, you’re going to love this video.
How To Identify A Pufferfish Bite [VIDEO]
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I’ve gone through entire bags of soft plastics because I thought that everytime my lure came back sawed in half, I just barely missed a trout.
But the truth is, if your lure looks like the picture at the top of this post, and has a clean, concave rip through it, then it’s likely a pufferfish.
If just the tail is getting ripped off, then it’s probably a pinfish or a small snapper.
So what can you do to stop this?
If pufferfish are tearing up your lure, you need to do one of two things:
- Switch to a hard bait
- Move locations
If there’s one pufferfish around, there’s usually more, so if you start getting your soft plastics torn up by them, then it’ll probably keep happening.
If you know that your target species in the area, then I suggest switching to a hard bait, such as a gold spoon or a twitch bait.
On the other hand, if you’re unsure if your target fish are in the area, then it might just be best to move so you can keep using your trusted soft plastic.
But that’s only if pufferfish are the culprits.
If pinfish are ripping the tails off of your lure, the lure destruction won’t be as severe or frequent, so you can still keep fishing the area.
Plus, if there are pinfish around, then there are likely predator fish around, too.
Conclusion
If your lure is getting bit in half and has a concave-shaped rip to it, then it’s likely pufferfish getting to your lure.
If you know your target species is feeding in the area, then switch to a hard bait, but if you’re unsure, then you might want to move locations.
Have any questions about identifying pufferfish bites?
Let us know in the comments below!
And if you know someone who is sick of losing lures to these pesky fish, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
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Rapala suspended shad was just demolished by some massive fish in a rocky Ontario River by waterfalls….was reeling in a tiny tiny perch when another fish grabbed them, fought with it for under a minute and it spit out my broken lure…. No pufferfish in Ontario that I know of lol any ideas…. Wish I could post a picture of my lure…
I lost a whole pack of your Slam Shadys with just the paddle taken. Pinfish ??? I thought maybe it was a bad batch ??? My other favorite is a 3″ white gulp shrimp on a 1/8 oz. Slayer jig head. About every time I fish this rig my shrimp will have chunks taken out from above the hook and below near the tail. At first I thought it was flounder, then I thought puffers ???? Thank you.
Consider using a buck tail , what us old guys used before soft plastics
I have used bucktails for many years. They are extremely good for fishing deeper water. The reason I don’t use them often now is because I mainly am fishing in under 3 ft of water, and the bucktails that run shallow don’t cast nearly as far as a soft plastic lure that can cover the shallow depth ranges.
Pufferfish have to be my least favorite fish too. Soft plastics destroyers, bait stealers…I just hope they get nasty stomach aches from eating my plastics. If you don’t have them in your area, consider yourself lucky.
Do you think lizardfish, puffer fish, pinfish, reds, trout, all congregate together?
In most cases, yes. But there are sometimes situations where puffers dominate everything that moves… and those are terrible on soft plastics.
We here in northeast fl are very lucky in that puffer fish are not in our inland coastal waters at least not that I have ever seen and while I have seen and caught a few pinfish they don’t really seem to be a big problem either thanks Luke for all you do
Having a small amount of puffers and pinfish is a huge advantage for anglers who use soft plastics. If we had that here, then I’d probably never use hard baits:)