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Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Tackle & Techniques => Topic started by: Mark Harris on January 08, 2012, 03:27:48 PM
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I finally got tired of hunting for lures stored in boxes and roll up bags, so have decided to build a lure wall in my soon-to-be new kit room.
Here is the first board (I think I will need 3 of these to take all lures including jigs). The board is made from a solid timber panel engineered from the heartwood of rubber trees. This was previously regarded as waste product until an enterprising firm in Sumatra started making these wall panels from it. Very well engineered with finger jointing, sturdy and quite an attractive natural finish. Each panel has been sawed to fit and will eventually be secured to the wall.
The single board takes 112 lures and just this morning I stuck a fairly random selection up there to grab a photo :).
(http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac239/markinbali/lureboard.jpg)
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That's awesome - I hate to think how much you have spent on lures, more importantly - I hope their insured!!
You should compile a replacement value - just to see the true value!!
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You are dead right Ben. I am too scared to calculate a value though...... especially when all 3 boards are done.
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You are dead right Ben. I am too scared to calculate a value though...... especially when all 3 boards are done.
Even if you averaged your collection at $60 a lure x 112 Lures x 3 boards = $20k
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That "Mark Harris" Custom Kong has got to be the sexiest lure on the board! ;)
Great idea!
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Yes, I still have that one Ben and it has caught a few fish. Top man you are ;)
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Nice board Mark.
I'll be too afraid to put up a board like that - then my wife would know how much I've spent on lures! :o
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Chris.....Another disadvantage of being married ;D . I am not going to let anyone see my kit room other than other anglers. All my friends already label me as borderline OCD, and this would be the final piece of damning evidence!
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I can't believe how many lures you have Mark!
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Brandon.....Oh God.. now I am feeling freaky. ::) I figured you would be one person who would maybe think... "that's not many lures".
And.. ummm... that's only a fairly random selection of about half of the GT lures... and even more there's all the small ones, and don't me get going on jigs...
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Nice porn mate ;)
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That is a great collection :o I like the one in the bottom right corner, it clearly stands out from the rest ;D have you caught anything on it?
Also, have you done any good with the Adhek Ocean Lady garfish imitations? I bought one in Singapore recently for novelty value, as it looked like a hilarious flutefish imitation, but now I am keen to launch it across some local Spanish Mackerel territory later in the year.
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Good idea Mark, looks great.
Brandon, I reckon you would have more than a few lures in your collection. :o
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That is a great collection :o I like the one in the bottom right corner, it clearly stands out from the rest ;D have you caught anything on it?
Also, have you done any good with the Adhek Ocean Lady garfish imitations? I bought one in Singapore recently for novelty value, as it looked like a hilarious flutefish imitation, but now I am keen to launch it across some local Spanish Mackerel territory later in the year.
The cute little thing in bottom right corner is an Adhek prototype from about 2 years ago. It is called Fish Nut, weighs about 80 grams and is designed to be fished with a single off the back. It casts well for something so light (very dense) and works very nicely with a soft chugging stroke. The drawback is that any sizeable GT could easily swallow it whole - not great. That's the main reason it did not make it to market I think.
On Ocean Lady - love this lure. It has to be longest GT lure I have used. Does a good fleeing Long Tom impression and where GTs feed on those, it has proved a very effective lure. I have had some nice 30 kg class GTs on this lure and know of one 55 kg fish caught with it. Adhek himself works it with an almost imperceptible up-twitch or a straight retrieve. Not sure I would waste it on Mackerel though!
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Great collection Mark,
Have you got bite marks in that special Nemo Gamma yet?
Regards,
Jarrad
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Great collection Mark,
Have you got bite marks in that special Nemo Gamma yet?
Regards,
Jarrad
Thanks Jarrad... and no I haven't. It has been cast though ;)
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I've only got a couple ;D
Good idea Mark, looks great.
Brandon, I reckon you would have more than a few lures in your collection. :o
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wow......its only one of the board?cant wait to see others.that little fish nut caught my eye.i wana grap one them in my collection.i am lucky to have friend from jakarta he bought few of the adek popper and including ocean lady .i havent have the chance to cast it.when shine in the sunlight it really reflect alot of light from every angle.definately which get attention from fish and me ;D.apart from that i am thinking the ocean lady will be fast retrive with rod tip high?or there are another way you work this lure ?i had never cast one so i dont know.fill me in plz.
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Tony - lovely. I see you like FCL lures then :). And all stored with hooks attached!
Kriss - as I mentioned before, work Ocean Lady with either a steady straight retrieve or a gentle up-twitch. Mix up the speeds but do not go too fast as the lure will then lose the zig-zaging motion. And with a high rod tip of course.
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Very impressive collection there Mark.Looking forward to seeing the photos of the other two boards.
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Ahh - so glad you posted that!
Now, whenever I think I might have too much fishing tackle and shouldnt acquire anymore, I can always look back at that and convince myself that I need that extra lure :)
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I've only got a couple ;D
'Couple of bags', in each port ;D
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Nice one Mark!
How do you decide what to take? There has been many times where I have thought "if only I had that lure here with me"!! If I took them all there would be limited standing room!
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It's always a tough decision Warwick.... I just try to get a balance of lure types and sizes. Far less concerned about colours.
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Nice collection there Mark & Tony. Obviously I haven't spent enough money yet as I only have about 10% of the amount of lures you have Mark... Hehe
(http://s15.postimage.org/sokr8opev/Picture_001.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/sokr8opev/)
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Tony,
I looked at your trebles and did a bit of math......I didn't like the outcome because it reflects on what I have spent on split rings and hooks, let alone the lures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is over 120 hooks there! Even if they are Shoguns (as opposed to Decoy or Gamakatsu), there is a few bucks just to keep them battle ready.
Mark,
If for some reason, one of those boards doesn't fit in your room, I'll be happy to babysit it for you!
Very nice mate.
Nothing like walking into a really nicely done "man room" with all your toys displayed nicely!
Cheers,
Aaron.
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Thanks Aaron. 8)
I am now going to make myself feel better by only owning a limited number of hooks and changing them around a lot rather than sets for each and every lure :P .
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thanks mark for the reply.
hay guys
Please make those board kept coming.i can look at them all night long. ;D
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Nice work Tony, I agree with you, armed and ready for battle!
We'll be the ones leaning over the side with the bent rods, not the ones fumbling around the floor of the boat looking for that 11H split ring - during a hot bite.
When you said you had a couple of FCL's, I didn't realise you were wall papering the house with them!
What are you using to keep the hooks in new condition? The down side of carrying everything pre-rigged of course!
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Nice work Tony, I agree with you, armed and ready for battle!
We'll be the ones leaning over the side with the bent rods, not the ones fumbling around the floor of the boat looking for that 11H split ring - during a hot bite.
I've been running the same 6 hooks for the past year! 3 on a popper, 3 on a stick all SJ41's 2 baker rigged 1 single. Takes no longer to change a lure as well as the hooks. If you get busted off then you usually have to re-tie anyway and I have new hooks on splits ready to go.
Sure saves me $ on hooks rusting away!
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Hey Warwick,
I've been using the gorilla owners instead of the sj41. Don't rust anywhere near as quick and the point on the hook is better. Drive em into bone! Always spray my hooks, belly swivels on poppers with a lubricant too. Last ages and saves a lot of $.
Chris
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Gotcha Tony.
Just working the bugs out on the new machine on the home waters. I managed a deep jigging session on Saturday for 6-8 kings in the 4-6 kg range (not huge but not bad for summer time). More encouraging, was that I was comprehensively smoked on two occassions on PE5 after a mid water hookup! Burried into the reef both times, so there are a couple of bigger fish still out there.
I'm keen to get up to the bay as soon as the crowd subsides, probably first couple of weeks in Feb. I wasn't aware they did the Shoal Bay ramp, has it got much gradient on it? Those bunk trailers are a right royal pain in the %$*# on your own on a flat ramp.
I'll drop you a line, when I'm heading up if you are keen for a kingy luring session, any reports coming in of fish in the shallows?
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Nice work Tony, I agree with you, armed and ready for battle!
We'll be the ones leaning over the side with the bent rods, not the ones fumbling around the floor of the boat looking for that 11H split ring - during a hot bite.
When you said you had a couple of FCL's, I didn't realise you were wall papering the house with them!
What are you using to keep the hooks in new condition? The down side of carrying everything pre-rigged of course!
Pete, on hook preservation and for what it is worth, I keep all mine in sealed plastic food boxes with rings already attached. After each use I wash them thoroughly in cool fresh water and spray the eye (by far the part most susceptible to corrosion) with a spot of WD40. That definitely helps.
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Thanks Mark, maybe I just need to be more dillegent with my washing and lubrication.
I find the SJ41's particularly troublesome, especially if stored with stainless rings attached! Not just at the eye either, they seem to cause corrosion to break out all over the hook!
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Yep agreed. In fact all of the owner gold colour singles (eg SJ 41, SJ 43, SJ 51) do not fare especially well. I really only use those for jigging but the problem is the same. All very good hooks but they do corrode.
For singles on casting lures I tend to use Owner Jobus which are far, far more corrosion resistant. Gorillas are another cheaper option but I don't like the non-welded eye on those.
I have had far fewer corrosion problems with the huge matt silver Decoy jigging hooks, but they are silly money compared to an SJ43 for example.
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Hey Warwick,
I've been using the gorilla owners instead of the sj41. Don't rust anywhere near as quick and the point on the hook is better. Drive em into bone! Always spray my hooks, belly swivels on poppers with a lubricant too. Last ages and saves a lot of $.
Chris
Hi Chris, I have used the gorillas before, they have the same point as the SJ51's. I much prefer the 41's point, a lot finer and sharper.
I have also found the 41's corrode quickly if not looked after but cleaning 1 set of hooks is easier than 10!
But anyways this thread has drifted off topic ::)
Mark is the wall of lure going to be part of some sort of shrine?! :P
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Mark is the wall of lure going to be part of some sort of shrine?! :P
Hah! Kind of, it is all part of my grand design for a proper kit room (aka man-cave) :) .
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Mark is the wall of lure going to be part of some sort of shrine?! :P
Hah! Kind of, it is all part of my grand design for a proper kit room (aka man-cave) :) .
Gotta have a man-cave. I am looking for property at the moment and one of the requirements is it needs to have a man-cave.
Chris
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Nice collection Mark can't wait to see the other boards.
How's the preparation going for Southern Oman? - decisions decisions on which lures to choose.
I agree with changing hooks and not having every lure rigged, only takes a few seconds to split ring them on and off and also less chance of all hooks rusting and loosing sharpness when not used for some time.
Good luck for the trip hope you get a monster.
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I don't want to harp on about this hook thing, but I spend a fair bit of time trying to get just the right hook combination for each lure so that it swims right and maximises the hook up rate. Most of them seem to work with something different, not to mention changing lure sizes and variations in conditions.
I might be getting a little old, but I have enough trouble working out the right hook combination for each lure in the first place........never mind trying to remember it in the heat of battle. Should it be Baker rigged with 11/0's and a Jobu or does this one swim better with a 5/0 on the belly and a 4/0 on the tail?...you know the kind of thing. This is made all the more difficult when you have quite a range of lure sizes and styles, as I see some of you guys have.
What do you you guys do? tote around a lure rigging chart or something? Or is there an Ipad app that you quickly flick to with the ungloved hand (he says tongue in cheek)?
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;D @ Pete. Actually, when I choose my lures to go out with on that day, I usually rig them all once underway on the boat, and then hang them on the edge of a rubbish bin or something like that.
I find transporting rigged lures to be a real pain - you either have to use those annoying hook cover things which I always lose, or the lures just get hooked up to each other and everything else nearby.
I pretty much have it in my head which lures take which hooks which is made simpler by the fact that these days I almost never use singles on poppers or pencils, and sparingly on stick-baits.
@Craig - yes I think I have pretty much sorted out which lures I am taking to Hallaniyat next Saturday. I will drop you a line as soon as I am back given your impending trip to the same spot.
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very impressive wall...
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Thanks Mark.
I'm Picking by those comments that you are not actually driving the boat at that time!
That not only frees up the hands......but also the mind!
Nice lure board by the way!
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I have been known to drive but not normally :)
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Thanks Mark are you going to be running your lures with trebs on the trip?
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You have an eye popping collection Mark! I think i'm with the other guy, displaying all that stuff would make the wife think too much like how much i'm really spending on tackle lol!
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I enjoyed that mark and I am looking forward to seeing a photo of your rod and stella rack please!
cheers
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Thanks Mark are you going to be running your lures with trebs on the trip?
Most yes.
I am very much a trebles man Craig out of habit. I think that is because where I fish most often, strikes are at a premium and you work really hard to get them. You just can't afford to miss too many hook ups.
Trebles v singles is probably not a debate to be had in this discussion thread though.
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What trebs and what size you going to generally use?
Thanks for all your info and assistance.
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Nice collection guys. I only have a few and already worried that my missus will see em. So they are always nicely hidden in my cooler box. Furthermore I don't fish all that often so it's not all that tough to dig em out whenever they are required.
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I have been using this old milk crate filled with different sized tubing for years on the boat.
It can be filled with any combination and holds lots of gear.
Easy to wash after a trip and I let them dry then INOX the hooks to stop rusting. INOX is food grade unlike WD40 and does not leave any residue.
Mark
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In the most friendly and polite way, I only have one word each for both of you (Mark and Tony)
FREAKS
:o
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Replying to Pete's comments about hook sizes etc, I've always used eyeballing to judge the hook based on its size but recently I've started writing in coloured indelible ink on some of my lures what weights they really are (Adheks are a bit iffy to say the least, with a substantial variance) and also in some cases what hooks/rings to hang on them. The weight difference between say ST 66, ST 76 and GT recorders is significant, 13g to 19g per hook. I only fish some of these lures a few times a year so it helps me remember. The initial testing is done in a pool or a local waterway, its not ideal, but helps. The so-called indelible ink can still be removed with the correct solvents and not damage the lures. Some lures fish best with hooks that to me look too small, so its those i annotate.