Lure usage results @ Fraser

Author: josh

Category: Kayak fishing tackle

Created on Saturday, 26 November 2011 10:19

Written by Josh

We were well armed with an arsenal of lures throughout our recent trip to Fraser isl and for the 3rd year in a row, the model that caught the most fish was the obligatory Rapala Magnum Countdown. Though in many ways that is hardly surprising, because due to it's consistent performing, we tend to tie it on often... especially when trolling, which is typically a fair bit of the time on these trips. So really we expected the Countdowns to catch the most fish. They weren't responsible for all of the fish, however, and the following paragraphs describe the other lures we used to varying degrees of success.

Another Rapala lure that rewarded us with dinner one night was the Maxrap lure, which made it's first hook up within minutes of tying it on. The Maxrap lures are a slim-profile shallow diver which I employed mostly while cruising out of the creek and into deeper water. I was nicely surprised at it's ability to maintain vigorous action at higher speeds, finding that it performed best when attached via a loop knot. Even more surprising for me was how well it cast, even on a fairly beefy rod (Nitro Viper) with relatively stiff line (XZoga Monster Lon). It wasn't until towards the end of the trip that I discovered this, however, cursing myself that I hadn't reached for it more often when casting into the boil ups we'd encountered earlier. Because the Maxrap does cast so well, I realized that it really was a pretty handy sort of a lure for fishing from the likes of an AI, being equally adept at catching fish while being trolled as it would be casting at structure or fish activity. Without doubt, Yakass readers will see this lure come up more and more in the future.

Speaking of lures that can perform in trolling or cast & retrieve scenarios, I also gave the Rapala Rippin Rap a bit of a run (a first for me) and was also highly impressed. During a quick excursion upstream Wathumba creek I used a smaller 5cm model to extract a couple of flatties, though truth be known, I was chasing jacks. We were only at it for about an hour and none of us got any bites from the target species, though I remained confident the entire time. Not just because the action these little lures impart, but also because of their appearance in the water and also because of how accurately I was able to cast them. It had been a while since I'd done any finesse fishing like this, but I was casting that little sucker exactly where I wanted it every single time. With each cast I was fully expecting to be smashed at any turn. Later on I experimented by trolling a larger 7cm Rippin Rap around the mackerel schools, and it lasted less than 10 minutes before being snatched by a line-chomper. I was tempted to tie on another one, but instead decided to save them for the fish back home, the snapper of which will not be able to resist. I'm calling it now - the Rapala Rippin Rap will catch more snapper for me than any other lure next season. Mark my words.

Then there is the Storm Ultra Shad, which I had in limited supply (1 jighead, 3 tails). I could tell just by looking at it that this particular lure would be as attractive to fish like shit to a fly and I was absolutely right. As far as shad style lures goes, I don't think I've seen a finer specimen. Not just because of it's streamlined appearance, scaled texture or life-like jighead, but also because of the durability of the rubber itself. These were to be my go-to cast-at-tuna lure, as I've had a lot of success using shad style plastics on longtail in the past, and these Ultra Shads are ideal for casting from heavier rods like the Viper. We've also had a fair degree of success trolling shads as well (due to the tail action no doubt), which is precisely how Holger caught this fish in 2009.

Its also precisely how I hooked onto what I suspect was a longtail this year, trolling it close by a boil-up in which I'd observed a few longtail participating in. The small snap swivel I'd foolishly used to attach it failed under the strain of the fight and I lost my first Ultra shad and the sole jighead I had for them. Fortunately I had a few other jigheads that worked well on the other tails, though these were also claimed by fish who bore teeth more worthy than the leader I was using. I should add here that I did not get many chances to use them during the trip because they were chomped so damned quickly. I expected these to be the hottest lure in my tackle box for the kinds of situations we'd encounter at Fraser isl, and I reckon that turned out to be true. Next year I'll be taking back ups, and plenty of them.

The other Storm lure that served me well was the Thunderblade, the smallest version of which I used to cast at spotty mackerel in an attempt to match the hatch of anchovy baitfish. This proved to be our greatest challenge this year, as for the most part we'd packed larger lures, and the vast majority of baitfish were miniscule. I had the most success in this department and it's all thanks to the Thunderblade. The list of species these have caught for me this year so far is pretty impressive, and no doubt there's more to come.

Last but certainly not least - due to the fact that the fish of the trip is owed to one of these - the Silstar Slapstik Stickbait soft plastic also deserves a mention. As soon as I showed these to Carl he took an instant liking to them, particularly the larger speckled clear coloured model. Pre-empting a toothy strike, he attached a stinger hook via stealthy wire extension and vowed to use it to fish the depths in an effort to hook up on bottom-dwelling opportunists.

It was a sound strategy to, but in actual fact did the damage while being trolled at a very lazy speed. Smashed by a spanish mackerel falling victim to the custom stinger hook, Carl was extremely proud of his accomplishment. Stickbaits like these are better known for catching the likes of snapper and kingfish, and I'd packed them into my kit with intentions to lure tuna, but this experience showed us how versatile the humble stickbait can be.