Territory Lad

Happens regularly unfortunately. Always pays to double check.

Had the chance to run a couple of these in my last two session and below are some early thoughts. I'll also continue to post back in here as the summer goes on. To start with, im coming from a view where the Sugarpen is the gold standard in my eyes. The Pen casts like a bullet, skips across the water beautifully, is quite a flexible lure in terms or its applications and has a success rate that is widely accepted as high. So every commen / view I have on sBT's stick bait will be relative to the Pen. That being said. 1st impressions: On the RHS are the 4 "Bangas" as I have affectionately named them. On the LHS are the same 4, mixed in with 4 Pens to give you an idea. - the blank is almost exactly the same. Same length, same profile/shape. The only differences I can ascertain are (1) a small "scale" finish as opposed to the Pen's lateral dots, and (2) the casting weight is marginally further back in the Pen. - the blank has a rattle, where as the 70mm Pen doesn't. This appears to be due to the blank having the casting weight in the "chamber" as oppsoed to right at the tail end of the lure like the Pen does. - the assist hooks they come with look good. Size wise they are maybe a #6 equivalent, possibly even a #4. The braid / assist robe used actually glows bright orange under black light/UV On the water: - the blank sits differently in the water at a stand still. Where as the Pen sits almost 45 degrees (head up, tail down), the blank sits realtively flat with no discernable difference in buoyancy between any end of the lure. One of the blanks sat upside down at rest - maybe it was just a dud - but the others seem to be fine. - casts well, much like the Pen does. To be honest cant tell the differece in that regard. - seems to swim fine. Ever so slightly different action to the Pen, but this could also be due to the lack of belly trebel on the blank. Might pull the trebel off one of Pens then compare like for like. Importantly - Results: The plan I have used is - find the fish with my normal toys, then throw the "Bangas" in and see if they bite. Trip 1 was pretty tough, nothing in my kit bag really got the job done. However the blank did seduce a couple of roughly 24 models. Trip 2 was also tough, the wind was up and I wasn't confident the blank would create the water disturbance I needed. Normally in these conditions I would be throwing the larger 95 Pen. However I persisted and nailed an early to mid 30s! RHS is Trip 1 (~24cm), LHS is Trip 2 (30+cm) Note - I have cut the dangly bits off. I found they looked like weed and once I removed them I got more engagement for the fish. @southie THE BANGA overall a good blank and very comparable to the Pen. More feedback / photos to come over the remainder of summer. Cheers TL

Nice! Some interesting patterns in there, seems like you have tried a few different things in terms of the patterns that run down the top/back of the lure. Can see more than YFW falling to these, surely a few Bream will get tricked

I fished it once when on holiday there as a teenager. Fished off the jetty, caught a handful of small spanish flags. Had a hungry cuda latch onto one mid fight. Interesting, but very one sided fight on 2kg mono Depending on time of year I would imagine you would get a range of different fish (GTs, travaley, cuda, mackeral, flathead, estuary cod, Jewies, bream, flags etc). Whether they are there in numbers or they just the odd one floats through it a whole other story though.

Christmas is coming!

Agreed, even if it was just to freshen up your well used and abused HBs.

Not bad Doobs. Looks like they will definately do a job.

Testing YFW lures? Its like Christmas! Hahaha

@AquaticResearch1 old mate from the Sandflat Fishing Australia youtube channel has the same view as yourself mate. Its quite interesting to see everyone's point of view. I think like all things its a personal preference really. @Softy seems to be a common theme. Your either in one camp or the other. Thanks mate. Appreciate everyone's input on this by the way

@Yorky I actually bought a pack of those a while back, in the 25lb size purely switching between Squid Jigs and baited rigs when out in the boat with my mates. Havent been out since, so havent had the chance to test them. Im heading over to Yorkes middle of next week, I might take them with me to see if I like them for flicking HBs or not. @piratepom I think at a minimum ill be removing the split rings from all my HBs moving forward. Might have a play over the remainder of Spring and then Summer to see what I prefer in terms of straight loop knot or snaps. You'll laugh PP, 5 minutes after I lost the new S/Rap I got a guide wrap and watched a brand new DC sail off into the distance. I took that as a signal it was time to go home Good times

Thanks HBt and Yorky, greatly appreciated. Do you notice much of a decline in fish strikes with the clips in place? Especially wary fish like Breambos?

Thanks mate. Im leaning towards simply removing them at this stage, unless there is an overwhelming consensus to do something else.

Anyone else had issues with their loop knots passing through the split ring on the tow point of the lure? I have had this happen once or twice in the past, but always managed to notice it before it cost me my HB. Not today though. Brand new 70mm S/Rap.......R.I.P. This sort of thing common or more of an anomaly? If its common, I might either start removing the split rings all together, or maybe try some snaps. Cheers TL

Agreed, they look fantastic.

For rods & reels I stick to proven brands and am very much a quality over quantity person. For the most part I work to a price range of $150 - $200 p/item. If there is something im seriously keen on that is outside that range, ill wait till its on sale (Boxing day, Easter, Fin Year etc.). Reels I tend to gravitate towards Shimano, in particular the Stradic. Rod wise Im a mixed bag, Shimano, Samaki, Atomic etc. but my preference is currently Samaki. Terminal tackle I stick to proven brands, Owner, Gamakatsu, BKK, Decoy etc. TL