Halco Roosta retired

[Max Grimbacher]

I have been using the same Halco Roosta 195 popper for the last 18 months and decided that it deserves to be retired. It has lost its eyes, has many bite marks and lost half of the paint within swing range of the hooks, but it was still catching GT's until last Sunday. Who knows how many times it was cast out and scared the fuseliers as it flew overhead. The hooks and rings were replaced by stronger Owner items that did a fine job until one hook snapped on Sunday -  but it was a bit rusty. I guess this means I haven't been bricked by a GT in 18 months too, which is another reason to celebrate...

Going through my photo archives I counted 15 GT's with this lure in its mouth, plus some Mackeral, Red Bass and Jobfish - plus many more fish that were caught without taking a photo. None of them were huge fish - just the standard Barrier reef rats.



So a big thanks to Mr Halco for making a cheap but strong lure. For the moment it is hanging on the garage wall, next to another cheap popper of a different brand that had the internal wire ripped out of its guts on its very first small GT! A brand new Halco 195 with new Owner rings and hooks is tied on to my line for the next trip out. Hope it lasts just as long.

[Graham Scott]

You could upgrade to a R2S dumbell 200.

[Mark Harris]

....... or a Yozuri Surface thingy.  Or even an unmentionable Maniac lure

Jokes aside, I think that's great. I get loads of ribbing about the rather silly quantity lures I own, but I have some old faovurites as well which are literally falling to pieces.

Notable is a black Cubera 125 which is now more filler than actual wood. I have caught so many fish with that lure I just will not let it go into retirement. 

Similar is a Craftbait GT3 150 which was completely mutilated when it would not stop catching Red Bass and Barracuda in Lombok. It has been filled and resprayed so many times it now weighs 190 grams!  Testament to Craftbait though is that the wiring is the same now as the first day it went into the water.

[Max Grimbacher]

Very funny, whats the biggest fish it caught?

Last sunday my friend came out and landed one that was 15 to 20kg. Unfortunately i have only once seen a bigger GT on a lure up here - there only seems to be rats and then more rats.

[Max Grimbacher]

You could upgrade to a R2S dumbell 200.

I think you mean downgrade...he he he.
Others might have a good run with River 2 Sea, but the few i have used suffered very quickly compared to all the Halcos i have used. Have any of yours lasted multiple fish? Even the local tackle shop has some mangled ones on the wall.

[Max Grimbacher]

....... or a Yozuri Surface thingy.  Or even an unmentionable Maniac lure

Jokes aside, I think that's great. I get loads of ribbing about the rather silly quantity lures I own, but I have some old faovurites as well which are literally falling to pieces.

Notable is a black Cubera 125 which is now more filler than actual wood. I have caught so many fish with that lure I just will not let it go into retirement. 

Similar is a Craftbait GT3 150 which was completely mutilated when it would not stop catching Red Bass and Barracuda in Lombok. It has been filled and resprayed so many times it now weighs 190 grams!  Testament to Craftbait though is that the wiring is the same now as the first day it went into the water.

what have you found works for filler? i have a few trolling lures that have been "Mackeraled" and don't swim straight with chunks missing.

[Mark Harris]

To be honest Max, nothing I have tried really works that well.  Once a lure has been patched I have found it needs doing again and again.  I only bother with lures that have a special place in my heart .

The filler I have used most is Bondex Water Putty Wood Patch.

....... or a Yozuri Surface thingy.  Or even an unmentionable Maniac lure

Jokes aside, I think that's great. I get loads of ribbing about the rather silly quantity lures I own, but I have some old faovurites as well which are literally falling to pieces.

Notable is a black Cubera 125 which is now more filler than actual wood. I have caught so many fish with that lure I just will not let it go into retirement. 

Similar is a Craftbait GT3 150 which was completely mutilated when it would not stop catching Red Bass and Barracuda in Lombok. It has been filled and resprayed so many times it now weighs 190 grams!  Testament to Craftbait though is that the wiring is the same now as the first day it went into the water.

what have you found works for filler? i have a few trolling lures that have been "Mackeraled" and don't swim straight with chunks missing.

[Mark Harris]

Nothing wrong with 15-20 kg GTs, especially if you lighten up the gear a bit to match the fish size. Excellent sport.

Last sunday my friend came out and landed one that was 15 to 20kg. Unfortunately i have only once seen a bigger GT on a lure up here - there only seems to be rats and then more rats.

[Cam Munro]

I think the point of this story is when a GT is hungry or something lands on it's head, the H Rooster will do the job....

However, you never golfers playing a round with one club!
Nice post

[Graham Scott]

Hi Max,
I started with Halco Roosters and R2S dumbells, and still haven't progressed too far up the money tree for poppers, my current favourites are secondhand Ebi-pops, although I did splash out and buy 3 poppers from fishead.
The R2S make a bit bigger pop than the roosters and casts a bit further, but like you say they do get busted up. I have a range in various stages of destruction (hanging on the wall), but my fav probably caught 8 or 10 fish. Halcos are amazing value for money.
Just a thought on your GT cohort, have you looked in a different environment for a different class of fish? In CQ we seem to have different size classes between coastal headland and Islands, Offshore Islands, and then reef. (with the inshore fish the biggest). Are you driving past big fish to get to smaller fish??? Not sure where you're fishing so may not apply, but GT's definitely have a very wide range of habitats. We have a bloke from South Africa over here who started live baiting straight out the front on one of the swimming beaches on the coast. Before we could all stop laughing at him he has landed 2 GT's over 25kg!!!!

[David Noble]

Haymakers definitely catch fish, big fish too.  I use the small roostas 80's, 110's, 135's and love the ripping sound they make in the water.  For some reason I select more expensive, designer offerings in the 100g + category, maybe should reconsider.  Congrats on retiring a true performer, most wooden lures would have been rendered no good after fewer fish.  Here is a GT a mate caught on a haymaker.

Cheers David

[Max Grimbacher]

Here is a GT a mate caught on a haymaker.

That is a good fish! good to hear they can hold up

[Thien Dao]

Someone should write into Halco and try to convince them to make a bigger version.

[Max Grimbacher]

Just a thought on your GT cohort, have you looked in a different environment for a different class of fish? In CQ we seem to have different size classes between coastal headland and Islands, Offshore Islands, and then reef. (with the inshore fish the biggest). Are you driving past big fish to get to smaller fish??? Not sure where you're fishing so may not apply, but GT's definitely have a very wide range of habitats. We have a bloke from South Africa over here who started live baiting straight out the front on one of the swimming beaches on the coast. Before we could all stop laughing at him he has landed 2 GT's over 25kg!!!!

Good point thanks Graham- You are probably right. We usually go to the reef and catch the same smaller fish each time. Find fuseliers and find the GT's - but then it only seems to be small GT's. I'm not sure where to try for bigger GTs since i have covered on numerous occasions the closer reefs and those further out near the drop off. There are other reasons to go to the reef since there are plenty of other gamefish to target when the GT's go quiet.

Maybe the close in islands here do have bigger fish, but we have tried in the past without success. I have seen photos of 20kg models from the coastal headlands, but nothing bigger. The wrecks that lie between the coast and the reef apparently hold the bigger 30kg GT's - i have seen some photos and have been done up very quickly by somethings when jigging.

Some of the islands that are green zones off cairns have some big GT's - we have gone swimming with them. Hilarious fun throwing pilchards at friends in the water snorkeling, and having the big GT's follow the bait through the air and race each other at full speed to eat the bait as soon as it lands near someones face. So big ones do exist, but i am not sure how to catch them on poppers outside green zones.

Have you had much success on the bigger inshore fish on poppers? Are there any different methods you have found are more successful like dawn or dusk? maybe not using the cheapest poppers??

[Andrew Susani]

We have caught some very big GTs in close but I don't really know what the secret is.  Very early morning helps, but we have also caught them mid morning if the boat traffic is not too high, and there is bait and current around.  Some of the places I have heard of people catching them are really 'un-fishy' spots most of the time.  I guess they have coincided large amounts of bait in close to the rocky headlands, with lobbing big poppers around.

Some days we get them first cast, if it is accurate.  Other days it will take a lot of casts into the same area.  I think you have to be throwing big lures to tempt these fish.  We don't use fancy poppers either but I have noticed that a quality stickbait will tempt a fish if poppers are drawing a blank.  Interesting that you love the haymakers so much, none of the people I fish with will use the roostas in any size.  They are durable and tough as hell but I have found they tend to slide too easily rather than keel themselves with stability in the water.  Plus they are way more prone to tumbling than anything else I have used.  Anyway, each to their own!

It would be worth speaking to divers and spearfishermen about what local spots hold big schools of GTs.  Recently we have found hot action in locations of no current and only small bait schools, when nearby the current was pumping and there were far more baitfish.  We always move around an area if we don't get any interest from the obvious spots.