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LURE OBSESSIVE

Okay! I am a little crazy about lure fishing Yellow Fin Whiting.

I need to have at least a couple, if not more, wading & casting sessions a week.

But the obsession does not stop when I am out of the water.

I have rarely, in recent years, fished a single lure straight out of the box.

Every lure needs to be tinkered with and modified.

  

I and a few others are starting to think, tinkering, modifications, and multiple lure options are starting to be a necessity to ensure ongoing success when lure fishing YFW.

There is some anecdotal evidence that fish learn and are conditioned by their experiences.

They will soon avoid those dangerous items (lures) that have caused distress and have taken away some of their school mates.  Especially in the heavily fished locations.

Lure fishing may well cull all the risk taking aggressive fish. Or those with a higher metabolic rate. Leaving behind in the gene pool only the fish with the “timid cautious genes.”

You will continually have to change things up, present new options, to keep fooling them.

Little wonder there is always a new wave of super successful lure, shape, UV finish, Colour finish, material, etc, etc.

  

Well respected fishing writer and fishing product designer Steve Starling “Starlo” wrote back in March 2015, in the “Fishing Monthly Magazine” an article titled “Sticking it to Whiting on Top”

He wrote:  “In the places where I fish, bigger whiting (which are quite old fish) have now seen a lot of poppers, and I find they can be rather suspicious of them. Stick baits are more subtle and sneaky and seem able to go on catching these more ‘educated’ whiting season after season.”

  http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/17914-Sticking-it-to-whiting-on-top

We have seen the waning of the “Popper” lure’s effectiveness and the rise of “Stickbait” lures over the last 7 years.

Now how educated are those bigger older fish to Stick baits, after 7 years of experience? Will they avoid Stickbaits soon?

Blades and Vibes have since arrived on the YFW scene and they have been amazingly successful on YFW.

The Stick baits have now got bigger and bigger. And the bigger lures I find are proving to be more successful.

I recently got some Daiwa Slippery Dogs in their new larger 97cm size. For me, this has been Daiwa’s best lure yet for YFW.

How will lure designs for YFW progress? What are the adaptions we need to make to our lures?

How do we keep our offering new and fresh? We will always be trying to out smart these ever smarter YFW.

832834943_SessionLures.jpeg.d89d22552d198b66d3d6268ac8553145.jpeg

   - A Variety used in these sessions.

 

Here is a run down of some lures types I use and some lure modifications I make  ..... 

 POPPERS

A floating lure. They have a big cupped mouth, which when retrieved makes a big splash. They are a “look at me! LOOK AT MOI !!!” noisy lure that I still find successful in choppier windy conditions. When your lure has to compete with the chop on the water to catch their attention. The fish are less visually discerning with their obscured view in these windy conditions.

These lures need to be worked, with a higher rod position and a constant retrieve to maintain a continuous bloop and splash.

I use Atomic Hardz, Shimano Bresnious Rise, Bassday Backfire, mainly.

748467790_3PopTrio.jpeg.b5a4ed7415a05fc1f679d04f51dc490a.jpeg

  

STICKBAITS

Also floating lures, known for their “Walk the Dog Action” or Zig Zag Glide actions across the surface of the water. Dependent on the vigour of your retrieve. These are my most effective lures.

There are usually in a pencil like shape. They may be a more bellied shape on some. On retrieval they move in a zig zagging fashion across the water surface.

These lures are very easy to work. Especially if you have the right ultra light, sensitive tipped, fast action rod. It’s automatic!

Some, as is the case with the Sugapen and Daiwa Slippery Dog, have a very small cup face that provides a slight forward splash.

I use Bassday Sugapen mostly, but also Zipbaits Fakie Dogs, Daiwa Slippery Dogs, occasionally Fish Candy Skinny Dog and Berkley Scum Dog. A kennel of lures !!!!

  388566256_6SPENCollage.jpeg.8f76c8258964f32ac0ec16d9ba94c446.jpeg

   - My Favourite Stickbait Sugapen95 Col# MB16

 

HYBRIDS

Again floating lures. Basically the longer Stickbait pencil body with a larger cupped popper mouth. They are very versatile in variety of conditions, but never seem dominant in any situation. Due to their larger cupped face they provide enough splash to be effective in choppy conditions as well as “Walk the Dog” in calmer conditions. On their day they can work when fish are turning up their nose at the Stickbaits. Again a very easy lure to work. I use Zipbaits Skinny Pop, MMD Splash Prawn, occasionally a Berkley Pop Dog

  1763008008_1SkinnyPopCollage.jpeg.1a17d0de4e42fbcdb6ab0dc67e67d262.jpeg

   - Zipbaits Skinny Pop at work

 

SIZE MATTERS

As a general rule I find the bigger lures catch bigger fish. Especially in windier conditions. In very calm conditions I use smaller lures, like a Jackson Ebi Panic, Sugapen 70, or Berkley Pop Dog. I avoid calm conditions if I can help it. I much prefer the windier days with long down wind casts working over more water.

The larger Daiwa Slippery Dogs in the 97cm size, is proving to be Daiwa’s most successful YFW lure for me.

Zipbaits Skinny Pop 90 way out fish the smaller Skinny Pop Jr 70mm. Their Fakie Dog 70mm is also way better than the 50mm

I use the various sizes of the Sugapen to suit a variety of wind conditions. My favourite is the 95mm size as it suits the most frequent wind conditions in which I fish. The Sugapen70mm for glassy and light winds (0-5 knots). 95mm in moderate winds (5-15 knots). 120mm in stronger winds with heavy chop (15+ knots)

  SugapenBarGraph.jpg.17f88c32c1e717e5417b2d01995a5dc6.jpg

   - A size range and suitable wind conditions. 

 

BLADES and SUBSURFACE LURES

These don’t float! There are a few subsurface lures for YFW. Like StrikePro Blades, Zipbaits Zoea, but IMO none are better than the Ecogear ZX Blades. They flutter, vibrate and hop along the sand beds much in the way a Clicker or prawn would flee. They are so easy to work. Use a constant rolling retrieve. Feel the vibes of the lure. No vibes means there is some weed attached on it.

A hop or two adds excitement. A pause can often find a Flathead latching on.

They are made from metal and lead. Can cast long distances and into the wind easily. This is the lure I give to the lure fishing newbies. Their only drawback is bouncing along the bottom they can easily pick up weed. if you get a clear run they are very effective.

In deeper channels and cooler water conditions, when fish are too lethargic to come to the surface, these will see them out fish all the surface lures. Ecogear ZX, in the biggest 43mm size is my go too. TT and StrikePro blades, I have not given as much time in the water, but I have taken a couple of YFW and Flathead on them.

  

ASSIST HOOKS

Never use Trebles. I immediately remove all the trebles from a lure. They catch too much weed. And too many fingers as well.

The standard size trebles fitted on the lures are always an overkill for the small mouthed YFW anyway. If you want to retain the trebles you should downsize them. My favourite treble for this class of lure is the Daichi Death Trap #10.

Sharpness is a key factor for consistent hook ups. The fine gauge of the smaller assists provide penetrating needle sharpness.

On all the slightly larger lures it is possible to mount assist hooks both in the middle and on the rear.

The Ecogear ZX assist hooks, sitting in the middle of a stickbait lure I feel provides a good resemblance to a bunch of dangling prawn legs. The rubber “legs” dangling around your hooks also act as a weed guard deflecting weed off your hook. The YFW hit these middle assists with surprising frequency. I think aiming to disable their prey prior to feeding. My preferred size is the “Small” size Ecogear ZX Assist. There is now an increasing number of options available. Some of the better ones I have tried are Oceans Legacy and Shinto.

On the rear mount of the lure I most often use the Atomic Trick Bitz in size 8 attached with a few extra split rings.

There are less lures “thrown” by the fish when using assists. The flexible joint/connection with multiple split rings, does not provide the fish any leverage, to throw the hook. On Blades try a double set of assists. A combination of Trick Bitz and ZX, on blades and vibes ensure you get an inescapable, multi hook - hook up.

  585256815_5AssistsZXall.jpeg.03e13ea6e1829525818b06c194b3b426.jpeg

   - Extra Assist hooks added to the Ecogear ZX43 blades

 

zAssists.jpeg.09dc867f5c0e946f3aada486f1df7a62.jpeg

   -  A Few Assist hook options and placement on lures.

SPLIT RINGS

It may seem an innocuous little item of no importance, yet it has had a major impact on my catch rate.

Initially I experienced a lot of chasers, swoops, swipes, strikes and slurps at the back of the lure from YFW.

I kept a record of how many follows and strikes I had, versus the hook ups. It was a disappointing rate of hook ups.

It always felt like the hooks were frustratingly just that little bit too far away, out of reach, from the fish’s mouth.

So I used the extra split rings to allow the assist hooks to hang back a bit further and weigh down slightly lower towards the rising fish.

There was also extra swing behind the zig zagging “walk the dog” lure in a whiplashing fashion.

It has made a huge difference in my hook up rate. I use the Owner fine wire size #2 split rings.

“ It don’t mean a TING if ain’t got that swing” … Doo aah, doo aah, doo aah !!!!

  1668011285_2SwingTing.jpeg.dee2769fb0fbd215a82142d5f363fec8.jpeg

   - The results of a few extra Split Rings.

 

WEIGHTS - Stick on

Add stick on weights to some of those smaller lures to add to their casting weight. It will give your small lures a longer cast.

On the open sand flats the longer retrieve from a longer cast will always catch you a lot more fish.

They can be used to favourably adjust the balance of the lure and how it sits in the water.

  

zWeights.jpg.70f0d6cb2a4a214a4704de578fac1809.jpg

   - Lures modified with weights. 

PAINTS - COLOUR

I am a very poor artist. But the YFW are not discerning art critics. Don’t be afraid of adding some of your own colour to a lure. I use paint markers. Readily available in various colours and thicknesses.

You can remove it with a bit of methylated spirits and change colours at will.

It has worked for me. Bringing success with an otherwise dud lure colour.

There are lure blanks available to do your own customised paint work.

The most successful lure colours for me have a fair amount of translucency and some orange to red toning.

UV enhanced colours and materials have proved to be more successful in low light conditions.

113088366_TextaZ.jpeg.8d14e5e744f912754912a475f5f74cea.jpeg

    - My primitive adaption ... IT WORKED!

  

ADDED ATTRACTANTS

UV sprays have proved to be effective on overcast days. It has brought a quiet session to life for me.

No worries if you don’t have UV lures on you. A Spray on UV coating can convert your standard lure to a UV lure.

Scents? … I think they work? At least they have not put any fish off! I have used them without any definitive results.

It probably is more effective with a slower moving and pausing lure when Bream and Flathead fishing.

Those fish get more of a chance to have a sniff of the lure. I have noticed better results when using slow retrieved blades with added S Factor scent.

Scents have less impact with the faster, continuous moving surface lures for YFW. Yet I continue to use it now and again. No harm.

  zExtras.jpeg.0da0483cd6a30999e9a30d5784286d98.jpeg

 

      - Added Extras

 

LEADERS and SNAPS

Floating or sinking leader line? I think this is only a factor with the smaller floating lures.

Using bigger lures most of the time, it does not affect me as much. I use both, with no noticeable difference.

Always remove the standard connecting split ring on the nose of a lure. A Direct stiffer connection to your lure is best for the most responsive lure action that you want for YFW.

I hate wasting time in the water, repetitively tying on lures so I use a lure clip for lure changes. Over time I have used a variety of lure clips. To date, the Decoy Spiral Snap is the lightest, fastest and easiest to use. Most secure, and most responsive for lure action.

zClipCompareE.jpg.5841403d5e20a5e2719a7cac2a381abf.jpg

    - A Few of many snaps tried. Decoy Spiral Snap works best for me.

  

LURE STORAGE

The reversible lure storage boxes which provide an individual storage recess for each lure is a must.

With all those dangling assist hooks any combined storage of lures end up into a fused tangled mass.

LureBox.jpg.e070ddc0c0fa6e557c9f1283c7635eeb.jpg

   -  Double sided lure boxes for a session  ... Too many choices !

  

TOOLS

All this fiddly lure tinkering is going to drive you mad or blind, if you don’t have the right tools.

The best split ring pliers are the ones with the skinniest, pointiest nose on them. You will need to poke them into some very small split rings.

Along side that a standard type narrow long nose pliers for holding those tiny rings. Think … jewellery workshop tools.

The Mustad long nose, split ring pliers have served me well. And should it really get fiddly out come the Pincet/Tweezers for micro split rings. These days there are a few options for micro split ring tools by Daiwa, Halco and Samaki as well.

zTools.jpg.c26fa330129ca02ca49ce375111982fc.jpg

    -  The obsession out of the water !

 

Hope this is helpful in fast tracking you towards the pleasures of lure fishing YFW

 

Tight Lines!

Cheers, Des

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I recently had my first crack at surface redfin and noticed they would quickly wise up to a slow retrieve but would fire back up on one 3 times as fast.

At the same time they would happily hit my soft plastic on a slow retrieve just beneath the surface but didnt want to know about a slowly retrieved popper

Id love to hear your thoughts on retrieval speeds for Whiting on surface.

Here’s the lure I was using
 

 

E11F2307-7B47-4C3B-9057-F63C523E699C.jpeg

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48 minutes ago, yellow door 1 said:

I recently had my first crack at surface redfin and noticed they would quickly wise up to a slow retrieve but would fire back up on one 3 times as fast.

At the same time they would happily hit my soft plastic on a slow retrieve just beneath the surface but didnt want to know about a slowly retrieved popper

Id love to hear your thoughts on retrieval speeds for Whiting on surface.

Here’s the lure I was using
 

 

E11F2307-7B47-4C3B-9057-F63C523E699C.jpeg

 

I Have not tried for Redfin in a long long time. Not at all sure about their behaviour.

With YFW on a clear calm day a smaller lure, Clearer colours, and a slower retrieve works a little better.

On a windy day a bigger, noisier/splashy lure, with a faster retrieve works better.

Never pause your retrieve with YFW. A millisecond pause followed by a burst of speed can work.

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  • 10 months later...

Thanks so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge Des. Your posts are my go to for learning and planning when targeting YFW, with limited success (not due to your info I should add but my application of it😕).

I was wondering if Cranka Crabs would work for YFW, if you or anyone else has tried them? Maybe they'd be too big for their mouths and they wouldn't go after them. Other posts you've made show small crabs in gut contents. Appreciate any input.

I don't get to the Northern flats very often so don't get much opportunity to experiment but I'm curious if Crankas could work.

Cheers, keep up your brilliant posts.

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I found a post where you did mention Cranka Crabs....strange I must have missed that post, or not retained the bit about Crankas 🤔. It seems they can work as you say but best used where live Haswell crabs can be found, match the hatch. I probably wouldn't use them on the flats then but maybe around the Mangroves, good to know.

Cheers

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Wow DES . I have landed whiting on lures not many but sometimes they go off like marlin jumping around . Mullet believe it or not fight really well on lures mind you biggest I’ve got is around 20 cms in west lakes and Patawalonga. Now that picture of lures top right slightly darker base colour with same lines mullet love as do STs . Now I started after bait on salt water flies then hardbodies then plastics back to hardbodies . Now I’m not the greatest fly fisher gave that up what I noticed with bream in west lakes and I was wading on windy mornings choppy water they loved surface flies I’d tied with a building material that made them float painted green with nail polish . Not sure if they’d work elsewhere though .  Which brings me to you saying about fish learning. There are lures I’ve had and some I still have . Now what I’ll say might be strange and it doesn’t or hasn’t always been correct . What I’m trying to say some lures will land me bream STs ect in the Patawalonga but not get a touch in west lakes . However before I’m told I’m wrong I’ve lost some lures like double clutches that did n fact work in both water ways . I bought as a clearance sale item a double clutch grey on top light grey white underneath bream mullet at the Patawalonga and mullet in west lakes . Now the bottom colour one day when using a plastic accidentally hooked a tiny bait dish belly colour matched that double clutch . And we all know I do like black lures these do work in both including on a dodge tide in the lake when school mulloway ripped the trebles off ! But I’ve also have so many lures that STs attack in the Patawalonga but bigger salmon won’t look at in west lakes . Now plastics please everyone who uses them don’t just use motor oil please try other colours because sometimes motor oil won’t catch a fish .

Thank you DES for sharing and letting me ramble . I think tackle shop people hate me I study any lures before I purchase them colour being the biggest seller !

And my thoughts on plastics got me banned on a Facebook page years ago lol 

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4 hours ago, Aff said:

I found a post where you did mention Cranka Crabs....strange I must have missed that post, or not retained the bit about Crankas 🤔. It seems they can work as you say but best used where live Haswell crabs can be found, match the hatch. I probably wouldn't use them on the flats then but maybe around the Mangroves, good to know.

Cheers

I will put another old post of mine up regards their attraction for the crabs. I have only ever taken one YFW on the Cranka. But I have not given the Crankas much time in the right spots at the right time.

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3 hours ago, Mickyj said:

Wow DES . I have landed whiting on lures not many but sometimes they go off like marlin jumping around . Mullet believe it or not fight really well on lures mind you biggest I’ve got is around 20 cms in west lakes and Patawalonga. Now that picture of lures top right slightly darker base colour with same lines mullet love as do STs . Now I started after bait on salt water flies then hardbodies then plastics back to hardbodies . Now I’m not the greatest fly fisher gave that up what I noticed with bream in west lakes and I was wading on windy mornings choppy water they loved surface flies I’d tied with a building material that made them float painted green with nail polish . Not sure if they’d work elsewhere though .  Which brings me to you saying about fish learning. There are lures I’ve had and some I still have . Now what I’ll say might be strange and it doesn’t or hasn’t always been correct . What I’m trying to say some lures will land me bream STs ect in the Patawalonga but not get a touch in west lakes . However before I’m told I’m wrong I’ve lost some lures like double clutches that did n fact work in both water ways . I bought as a clearance sale item a double clutch grey on top light grey white underneath bream mullet at the Patawalonga and mullet in west lakes . Now the bottom colour one day when using a plastic accidentally hooked a tiny bait dish belly colour matched that double clutch . And we all know I do like black lures these do work in both including on a dodge tide in the lake when school mulloway ripped the trebles off ! But I’ve also have so many lures that STs attack in the Patawalonga but bigger salmon won’t look at in west lakes . Now plastics please everyone who uses them don’t just use motor oil please try other colours because sometimes motor oil won’t catch a fish .

Thank you DES for sharing and letting me ramble . I think tackle shop people hate me I study any lures before I purchase them colour being the biggest seller !

And my thoughts on plastics got me banned on a Facebook page years ago lol 

 

Love ya passion mate :1310_thumbsup_tone1:

 

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