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Brandon Khoo

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Post my six days fishing last week, I've been thinking about what worked well for me and what didn't. I'm already thinking about what I need for my next trip (notwithstanding that I don't go to Bugatti for another three months!). You can't plan too early!

Poppers

I think that after this trip, I am pretty close to retiring the large majority of my really big heavy poppers like the Fishermand Big Mouth HPs and the Hammerhead G and I Cups. While these lures undoubtedly work and work well, the energy required to work them for long periods of time is simply unsustainable for me over a few days. i used a Big Mouth Hp for about half hour one afternoon and by the end, I was *#$@! I will probably still take a couple along for future trips but they won't be the first poppers I reach for any more.

My primary focus is going to be on poppers I can work effectively for a full day. In this regard, what I will be packing are poppers where I believe I can get maximum pop or bloop for the effort. Poppers which fall into this category are ones like the Fisherman S-Pop and Krog and Heru Cubera and GT Mania. these lures don't weigh absurd amounts but have very big cup faces in relation to their body size.

What I will do with these is run a blade off the back instead of a hook which makes the lures seem bigger than they are and increase the commotion. I also found it was really important to ensure you had the right hook (in terms of weight) on the lure for it to get the best bloop. if you don't get enough weight on the midle of the lure, you start to get them spinning out of the water.

My most effective popper of the week by far was the Heru Cubera 125. It was the smallest popper I had in my bag and I sure had a few of them (thanks Hal!). i think the reason why this popper worked the best for me was because I could manage it over a long day and still get a good action. Interestingly enough, I hooked my two biggest fish for the trip on this little lure (that's why I got none left!). I think it is far more important to use a lure you can get a good action from than to focus on size. Personally, I don't believe too many people can work an Hammerhead I cup effectively for any period of time.

Conversely, my most ineffective lures for the trip were pencil poppers. For some reason, I did not get one strike on a pencil popper.

Stickbaits

There has been a lot of publicity about stickbaits over the past 12 months. Personally, I believe they work well but that a reasonable proportion of their success (and resulting publicity) is driven by the fact that many less experienced anglers find them much easier to use and to catch fish with than poppers. You can catch fish with a good stickbait by simply casting it out and retrieving it.

For this trip, all fish hooked on stickbaits took either the Heru Wahoo or Orion Bigfoot. Both worked well but the Herus were king. I love the Bigfoot myself as this has worked so well for me in the past (and on this trip) but I have to admit that a Heru Wahoo with a heavy enough hook to make it sink very slowly would have to be about the best stickbait I've seen in the water - and the results we got support this. It's also incredibly versatile - Damon was experimenting with it as a pencil popper and it looked great. The only slight disadvantage of the Wahoo is that in the largest sizes, it isn't the easiest lure to cast long distances. My personal preference would be the 125 over the 150.

I did try the Plat Billy, the Smith Runboh and the Carpenter Gamma but the conditions were a bit too rough for these. If you whack two big recorders onto a Runboh, it will sink well and then you have a great stickbait but I couldn't be bothered to do this as the Wahoo and Bigfoot were working well.

Overall, I will take a smaller and more focussed variety of lures for my next trip.
If it swims; I want to catch it!

Narc

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Hi Brandon,

I can't agree more on your observations.
To date, my preference is the chugger over stickbaits when GT hunting.

My 2 favourite chuggers are: Heru's Cuberra and Craftbait.

Heru's Cuberra are currently weighed at 125g without the terminals, they make chugging so easy that any anglers can easily last the whole day, and they catch fishes. I use them during the lull period while searching for fishes.

Craftbait is my choice as a heavier lure. I'll put 1 at the end of my rod (in fact the heavier model) when in a strike zone or hot spot. Somehow though unproven, I have this belief that bigger fishes are more attracted to bigger splashes. Though heavier, the lure's great buoyancy balance and offset cup makes chugging much less tiring than it would appear to be.

So now you start understanding why I off-loaded all the Hammerheads??  ;)

Just my 2cents worth.
Cheers.

Brandon Khoo

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if I was going on a one or two day trip to (say) Fraser Island, I'd take my poppers like the Big Mouth HP and Hammerheads because you can give yourself a hiding for two days and then go home and die. I still love the Hammerheads because even though they look funny in the water, they still work as well for me as any popper I have used. the problem is for a long trip, Bloody hell, you wake up and you can't open and close your hands and the thought of casting that huge popper is scary!

George used his hammerheads once - he cast it in, it got smashed immediately and then after that fish, he didn't want to risk losing his beautiful $120 lure!!

I agree with your comment on the bigger the splash you can make, the bigger an attractant it is - provided you can pop it effectively.

Damon has the popper with the biggest cup face I have ever seen. I only wish I had taken a photo of it. We got him to use it one afternoon and after ten minutes, he'd had enough! It is a specially made Bill's Bugs and the cup on it is three times the size of that of the hammerhead.

One of the things here is price - why would you pay $100 for a Hammerhead/Craftbait/Fisherman etc when a Cubera is every bit as effective? I know we're all (well, most of us) a bit silly when it comes to acquiring these beautiful poppers but realistically, you will lose a lot of poppers on a trip like Shoalwater. Losing ten Japanese lures is a lot of money!
If it swims; I want to catch it!

Greg Burt

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I totally agree, most of us are a bit silly, ::) I lost 6 lures last weekend to Wahoo and a Marlin but couldn't get the smile off the dial in the process.;D ;D ;D More 'yahoo' than wahoo.
Greg 'FFF' Burt

Narc

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I'll still buy a Craftbait popper even though the Cuberras are effective, simply becos the Cuberras are a little on the light side. In situations where I need a little more distance as well as heavier lines and in a hot area with potentially huge fishes lurking, I'll prefer to fish with a bigger lure.
So sometimes, its not just becos we are silly that we are buying more expensive gears.  ::)

Till 1 day, if I get hold of a bigger Cuberra that is as effective as the Craftbaits, yea.. I may stop buying anything else.....

Jon Li

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Till 1 day, if I get hold of a bigger Cuberra that is as effective as the Craftbaits, yea.. I may stop buying anything else.....

Hi A.G. ,

How BIG a Cubera you want it to be , the 150 gr. ia available but I find it a bit too heavy for my aging body .

Jon .
It's not what you don't know that gets you into trouble , it's what you know for sure that ain't so . Mark Twain .

Narc

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Till 1 day, if I get hold of a bigger Cuberra that is as effective as the Craftbaits, yea.. I may stop buying anything else.....

Hi A.G. ,

How BIG a Cubera you want it to be , the 150 gr. ia available but I find it a bit too heavy for my aging body .

Jon .


arrr!!! Thats the one I have been waiting for!!!  ;)

As soon as I lay my hands on them, I'll go try them out!
My faith tells me I'll be able to chug all day with them even with the extra 25g!  :D

pray... that soon they may even experiment with 170g!  ;)

Brandon Khoo

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the 150g looks noticeably bigger than the 125g
I tried one but happy with the 125g
If it swims; I want to catch it!

Narc

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the 150g looks noticeably bigger than the 125g
I tried one but happy with the 125g

oh! You meant you have already seen the 150g?!?!

We still havent the opportunity to see 1 in this part of the world yet .... how deprived..

Brandon Khoo

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I hate wahoo - they like pinching Sea Frogs   >:(


I totally agree, most of us are a bit silly, ::) I lost 6 lures last weekend to Wahoo and a Marlin but couldn't get the smile off the dial in the process.;D ;D ;D More 'yahoo' than wahoo.
If it swims; I want to catch it!

Jon Li

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So now you start understanding why I off-loaded all the Hammerheads??  ;)

Just my 2cents worth.
Cheers.

A.G. ,

Naughty , naughty ! :D

Jon .
It's not what you don't know that gets you into trouble , it's what you know for sure that ain't so . Mark Twain .