fcl labo squid pen

[Gavin Ng]

Hey guys, I've been using this lure recently, and on the company's video, it is shown rigged with the pointy end of the lure as the tow point. and it has a kind of walk the dog or hop from side to side action.

Recently I have been using the lure backwards, and i can actually get the lure to swim, and it actually has a very nice action, and ive also got a couple of fish on them backwards. (small ytk's) I've never gotten fish on the lure rigged with the pointy end forward.

Just wondering which way everyone rigs this lure, and have you had success in this way. I'm not going to stop doing what works for me, but I've very curious to see how everyone else is using this lure.

I'ts pretty hard to get the lure to dive, it doesnt like choppy water at all, but once its under the water, the normal long sweeps, straight wind retrieve, and small short sweeps really gets this lure swimming or dancing depending on which action you impart.

Just wanted to see if anyone was getting success with this lure and which way they were using it

Cheers

[Tak Otsuka]

Hi Gavin,

This lures is designed with the motif of squid and pointer side is meant to be the front of lure (eye is on tail side)

Cheers,
Tak

[Peter Childs]

Hey Gavin, I've run the lure both ways around in the past.  As Tak said, it is designed to run with the eye at the back.

The lure seems to work best (in the large sizes) using a slow walk the dog retrieve.  Smaller sizes seem to swim better and actually dive, can be worked a little quicker.

I've experimented with adding a small rubber skirted tail over the rear hook of the larger size lures, looks like a very lifelike squid in the water, and helps it hang onto the water a little better in rough conditions, It still works best when worked slow though.  Try it out, it makes for a drop dead likeness of a squid and adds a little more profile to the lure, at the expense of a little casting distance.

[Gavin Ng]

Thanks for the reply Tak and Peter, I'll give it a go rigged the "normal" way and experiment with a few retrieves. It's interesting to know that this lure is effective both ways.

cheers

[Angus Hulme]

I was thinking when I first tested this lure myself, that it might benefit from retro-fitting some lead weight in the front wire hole to get the lures' nose down just a touch, while still retaining the snaking surface movement (which I am guessing is due to the shape as well as the highly bouyant material used in the construction). Obviously such mods would require the lure to be rewired, but seeing as I am a keen lure maker, that's no drama for me. These sorts of modifications are not for everyone, I know, but eventually I should be able to produce some sort of report on the revised swimming action, if anybody is interested.

Further to Peters rubber skirt modifications, I have used bucktail and crystal flash fly tying material on the rear hook, and that seems to help also, both in stability and giving the lure a nice pulsing  action, with some flash thrown in.