How many lures would you take on a 7 day trip?

[Ben Rivers]

Guys

How many of the following would you take on a 7-10 day trip to the Coral Sea or a comparable destination?

-Poppers
-Stickbaits

I was thinking 4 of each? Too little or Too many?

Cheers Ben

[Chris Webster]

Hey Ben,

I went on a trip in September and i took a combination of poppers and stickbaits totalling 20 lures and i was worried i would not have enough.
Turns out i had 20 lures too many as the fish shut down but it is best to be prepared. 

Personally i prefer poppers but that's just me.

I have a trip booked to the Monte Bello Islands next year and i plan to take 20 poppers with me, but that's just me.

In saying this though, just because i am taking 20+ with me does not mean i will have 20 rigged and ready every time I jump on the dory.

Cheers,

Chris

[Ben Furness]

Being the tackle junkie that I am I would bring dozens just for the heck of it. You never know what will work and what you will loose!

[Mark Harris]

I am not sure that taking craploads of lures will be so unusual to the membership here .

For a 7 day trip I would have a minimum of 30 poppers and sticks combined and probably more.  I like covering all possible bases .

I once had nearly 60 jigs on 5 day liveaboard trip. I might add that I knew the boat owner and sent them ahead on the boat rather than carrying about 25 kgs of jigs!

[Ben Rivers]

My planned 8 (4 Each) is sounding well under stocked. Best hit the shops!

[Mark Harris]

My planned 8 (4 Each) is sounding well under stocked. Best hit the shops!

In all seriousness, I think you should. I have actually lost 4 lures in a day before.... imagine if that happened and you only had 8 with you for the whole trip!

[Ben Rivers]

My planned 8 (4 Each) is sounding well under stocked. Best hit the shops!

In all seriousness, I think you should. I have actually lost 4 lures in a day before.... imagine if that happened and you only had 8 with you for the whole trip!

Very good point - to the classifieds section!!

[Al Morrison]

Timely post this.

The guys at LPB recommend stickbaits and poppers/pencils, 12-15 lures for 4-5 days. Now, being me, i interpreted that as 12-15 stick baits, 12-15 poppers and 12-15 pencils  .

It is quite a stunning collection I must admit. Bear in mind i am taking tackle for 2 people, and have a variety of weights from 200g beasts down to 125g's for when i am knackered, it actually works out at about 5-6 for each lure style and weight range.

Colours appears to have gone out of the window as i cant really be that choosy....

[Warwick Joyce]

If your heading to the coral sea, 20 is fine. I took 20 used maybe 10 of those and lost 4 in 6 days. Main reason for loss was mackeral snip offs with only 1 from a brick GT.
I'm sure you could be unlucky and loose the lot in 1 day but if you haven't adapted to the conditions after loosing a couple in a row you are either under gunned or not meant to be fishing
Of course you'll be kicking yourself if you have no more lures to throw!

[Scott Maybury]

My first couple of trips I took around 20 lures, mainly poppers, used half of them (and probably didn't even need to do that, but you know how it is when one lure isn't catching fish, even if there are no fish around, must be changed!) and lost 4 or 5

Last 2 trips away I have taken 12 or 13 lures and it has been fine, haven't even used all of them. My preference is poppers so I took I think 9 or 10 poppers and a few stickbaits. The main reason for that many even is different weights and poppers for different conditions (ie some work better in lumpy stuff) and to have a few in each weight range in case you lose a couple. I really think for 5 or 6 days fishing that should be enough, any more are a 'want' rather than a 'need'.

If you were heading somewhere remote where you cannot possibly get replacements (ie if you are not on a Nomad Charter or similar) you may want to take a few more for comfort. I am off to Fiji in January and must take all my own gear, fishing 5 days nearly all popping and will probably take 13-15 lures.

Good luck.

[Doug Lindsay]

Its a good question. I always worry that I'm going to lose one of my favourites (say Heru Tuna 100 or Cubera 125) and not have backups. So I end up taking probably 20 or 30 lures on even a 2-3 day trip. Usually mutiples of the favourites. Having said that, never lost more than 3 poppers in a day!

[Ricky Lim]

One boardies, one shirt,one undies
The rest lures hei!!    that should take up all the room in the bag

[Ricky Lim]

Just remembered once a GT pro told me you only need one of each type:
Sinking Bigfoot
Gamma
I cup
Longpen

Than you need to bring spares, smaller size when you tired, diff colors, diff brands .....
Man better loss the undies hei!!

  as many as you can I recond

[Mark Harris]

If your only chugger was an I-Cup, you can forget actually enjoying your fishing  .

[Al Morrison]

I'm with Ricky, we've literally just had that discussion before travelling to NC. Lose the jocks and socks, Take more lures (oh and extra rods reels line and stuff to throw them with !).  I now have 3 bags, chugger bag, pencil bag and stickbait bag with lures of between 125g and 200g+ in two cateogries at least. I cups - check. Long Pens - check. Gammas - check. Orion Big foot - next time ... G190's - check, 170's check, 150's check .....  Is their a self-help group around because this forum isnt it...?