Are you up for a fishing challenge? One of the ways I like to challenge myself while fishing, is to try and catch fish using lures which I have never used before. Not only do I deliberately use lures which I have never used before, but I try these lures in the most basic way i.e. straight out of the box with no adjustments or additions. No added scent, original hooks and trebles and/or rigged in the most basic way.
Essentially, I like to test lures to prove that no matter what your skill level with regards to fishing. If you are interested in taking up lure fishing, you can buy a lure, head out onto the water and catch a fish.
The Lures
In the above video, the first lure I chose was from Reflexion Swimbaits, called the junkie craw. Green pumpkin with magic pearl belly colour which is 3 inches in length. It is a lightly scented soft plastic imitation of a small crustacean. Threaded onto a simple 1/4 oz weighted jig head with a size 1/0 hook.
Nothing too strange here, I fish soft plastics most of the time, but nothing in this particular shape before, so I was keen to see how our local species would react to it.
You can purchase these from Reflexion Swimbaits Australia – Here.
Another Option
Next up was a 3-inch Scuttle Bug soft plastic from Ray’s Ozzy Lures, I saw a demonstration of these lures at the annual Lure, Fly and Outdoor Expo and they caught my eye immediately. I had certainly never used anything in this style before. I purchased two colours, one in solid white and another in red. To me they look like a small squid or octopus moving through the water.
I rigged it weedless on an Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp size 1/0 worm hook with a small 1/4oz weight threaded into the loop knot in front of the lure.
Final Lure
The final lure is by far the one which draws the most comments of “what the….” when people see it, it is the 1/4oz Gizmo Crustacean from Austackle. It is sort of a cross between a spinnerbait and a crustacean shaped jig head.
Target Species
I decided to target flathead for this particular challenge. The reasons being, that for most people, especially beginners who may not have ever fished with lures before. Flathead are a very common species and the locations for targeting them can be accessed by both shore based and boat anglers. They are a terrific all-rounder species for people to learn to use lures on. And the old saying goes ‘flathead will eat anything’.
So, I figured I would have the greatest chance of success in landing a fish on each lure by targeting them. To achieve this, I stuck to my regular flathead fishing pattern and deliberately targeted creek mouths with a slightly dirty water colour along the western side of Fraser Island, as close to low tide as I could.
The Results
The first lure that I cast was the junkie craw from Reflexion Swimbaits Australia. The 1/4oz jig head tied to 10lb Platypus stealth fluorocarbon leader with a double uni-knot connecting to 5lb gun metal grey Platypus platinum braid, mounted on a 1000 sized Shimano Stradic Ci4 reel. Flew effortlessly through the air to achieve maximum casting range and as luck would have it after the second hop in my retrieve a nice 55cm+ flathead struck the lure. After a short fight was successfully landed.
Where there is one flathead there is generally more, so I continued to cast the junkie craw into the same zone and before long I had boated 5 flathead. All ranging between 40 – 60cm and all released after a few quick photos.
Have Confidence
Wanting to take advantage of a hot bite I switched to the lure which I had the least confidence in. The Gizmo Crustacean from Austackle. To say I was sceptical about this lure catching anything was an understatement, but oh, how wrong I was!
Weighing 1/4oz and again tied to 10lb Platypus stealth fluorocarbon leader but this time connected via a double uni-knot to 6lb Platypus P8 braid mounted on a Daiwa 2500 Certate the casting distance was a touch shorter. Probably 90% which I believe can be attributed to the profile of the lure. Which when compared to a simple soft plastic mounted on a jig head, the gizmo has a larger profile with a few extra bits and pieces hanging off of it, which increases the air resistance slightly.
This resulted in me having to adjust my position with my Minnkota 55lb electric motor slightly. It did not seem to make any difference to the flathead, they literally smashed the gizmo. With the majority of hook ups being achieved by the twin assist hooks fixed on the base of the lure with the fish striking as the lure reached the top of its hop during the retrieve.
Challenge Almost Complete
Finally, after landing another half dozen decent sized flathead I decided to cast the scuttle bug from Rays Ozzy Lures into the mix. Again I noticed that my casting distance was reduced. This time to about 80%. Which I believe was due to the profile of this lure. Which is relatively flat and roundish and much wider than the soft plastics I am used to using, again increasing the air resistance.
With the 10lb Platypus stealth fluorocarbon leader tied via a double uni-knot to 5lb Platypus Platinum + braid mounted on a Shimano 2500 Ci4. I seemed to cast the scuttle bug near the end of the bite period. Achieving only a couple of small touches from small flathead who spat the lure near the boat.
So Close
The tide was at its lowest point and about the turn and it was not until about a half hour after the tide turned that the scuttle bug was hammered by a nice 50cm+ flathead. I caught and released another 3 flathead of similar size before using my Minnkota 55lb electric motor to follow the tide further into this particular creek where I continued to catch fish on each lure.
Success
My triple lure challenge was a success with fish landed using each lure after following a couple of basic tips.
Firstly, the tide and water clarity. I am a big believer in targeting flathead as close to low tide as possible and have noticed over time that for about 1 hour before low tide and for about 2 hours after low tide that this seems to be the prime bite period.
Also the water clarity does play a part and I have found that if the water is too clear flathead seem to be more hesitant to bite. So, searching for patches of slightly dirty water proves more effective for enticing a bite.
Secondly, the retrieves used were a basic hop with pauses of 1 to 3 seconds between firm rod tip lifts. Also a nice slow roll after letting the lure sink to the bottom. The key being to let the lure get down hitting the bottom to take full advantage of the lures capabilities.
Lastly, casting distance, it does not matter if you are on a boat or on foot, use stealth, get the wind behind you if you can, watch where your shadow is cast, keep the noise down and use a fan or clock ray method for casting well in front of you to cover ground and find the fish.
Will You Take Up The Challenge ?
So, why not challenge yourself? Head down to your local tackle store. Or search through your tackle box and pick that one, two or three lures which you have occasionally looked at. But thought to yourself ‘No Way’, and give them a go!
Nice job Luke,
I remember using the old pink Blue Fox “Vibrotail” for flatties that a good mate of mine introduced us to when we were young kids (35+yrs ago)🤣. We had great success and went on to experiment with many different soft plastic shapes and colours then moved on to do the same thing with hard bodies. This trend has continued throughout the years to the point that I rarely chase fish on bait. It is always challenging and fun and would recommend the principles you have outlined in your article for both first timers an seasoned lure flickers alike. Well done, great article mate.
Thanks for your feedback mate, I really appreciate it.
Luke