MASTER OF PUPPETS
Can you tell a jerkbait from a crankbait, or a swimbait from a wakebait? Knowing how di erent lures work will help you target the right species.
Words & Images: Kosta Linardos A Tricky Market to communicating new products on the to discount a product. Wilson may just be a market and providing in-depth reviews, we small Australian company when compared Pretty colours, highly detailed shapes, cool can’t cover every lure. Word of mouth and with American and Japanese tackle giants, packets, effective marketing campaigns and social media play a huge part these days, but they make some amazing products. Some hype can have a more dramatic effect on lure and unfortunately the new and somewhat good anglers could clearly see these lures sales than its actual performance. narcissistic quest for sponsorship and social offered something and had success, and now media notoriety is bringing about some very this cheap crankbait is highly sought-after. On the ip side, a lack of pretty colours, questionable posts and images. The educated highly detailed shapes, cool packets and an angler might have trouble believing certain The same goes for many of the lures from effective marketing campaign can also be sh were caught on certain lures. Kaj Busch’s Bushy Lures brand; they are the downfall of a lure that’s actually highly discontinued and in demand, fetching very effective in the eld – that’s just basic business So, as anglers you need to have a keen high prices online. and marketing. However, as anglers who want understanding of lure type, their intended to be buying the best product that catches us use, how they perform, and when and how It’s a shame these lures didn’t get the sh consistently, we need to wise up. to use them. This will help you make better- recognition they deserved when they were on informed purchasing decisions; you can block the market at accessible prices. As a lure enthusiast and someone who out any hype and become a better angler. reviews tackle for a living, I’ve always known Know Your Lures how marketing and good distribution affects I’ve recently noticed the now-discontinued sales, but it’s recently become strikingly Wilson Slick Back selling on the second-hand While they may look similar, a swimbait, evident that anglers are missing out on some market for three times their original price. wakebait and a glidebait have vastly gems when they’re right in front of us. They are a highly effective lure but at the different actions and applications. So, the time anglers discounted them without even angler buying one or the other may be quite While magazines such as Hooked Up giving them a go; they didn’t have a very ash disappointed in his purchase once he hits the are extremely powerful when it comes packet or a high price tag, but that’s no reason water if he doesn’t understand the difference.
34 AUGUST 2019 | ISSUE 89 WWW.HOOKEDUPMAGAZINE.COM.AU Now, the point of this piece isn’t about being haven’t had a consistent way of describing any are Jackalls, inline spinners are Celtas; for a anal or elitist, it’s about anglers understanding lure we come across, which leads to inaccurate long time soft-plastics were Squidgies; and prior to buying how a lure should behave marketing and communication. winged lures are Tassie Devils. Now let’s not when you retrieve it through the water. With take anything away from these brands and a limited understanding of what it does, you Believe me, I know: I’ve edited thousands of models – they became eponymous because may be choosing the wrong style of lure for press releases from Australian manufacturers they’re great lures and pioneers – but it’s your intended species or application and and wholesalers and it takes a lot longer to important we understand what style of lure therefore wasting your money and catching get to the point of what a lure does than an they are and what they do. less fi sh. American or Japanese press release would. Master Of Puppets Baits Or Lures? It’s also apparent that we’ve confused shape with lure style. There is no such lure type as a You have to remember that every lure or fl y So why is this so? It seems the fact that minnow, shad, deep-diver or hard-body, yet I is like a puppet on the end of your string and Australians refer to artifi cial baits as ‘lures’, have heard anglers use these terms countless you’re the puppet master; if you don’t know and not baits, is part of the problem – we’ve times – “they’re going for minnow-style lures”, what your lure is designed to do, you can’t somewhat ignored these defi ning categories or “I got him on a deep-diver”. Each style of work that puppet to the best of its ability. and lost a fundamental form of understanding lure can have varying shapes and dive depth and communication. In Australia, when we say – it is its action and response to rod and reel A keen understanding of what’s on the market bait, we think of a dead pilchard; however, by movement that defi nes it; shape, colour and and correct application for species and defi nition both lure and bait mean the same size are somewhat secondary. environment is what separates great anglers thing. from the rest. The other thing we do as Australians is overuse Pretty much every style of what we refer to as eponyms (using a brand name generically). So read on as we identify some common styles a lure has the word ‘bait’ after it: spinnerbait, Think ice box and Esky; cola/Coke, and of lure or ‘bait’, explain how they differ and crankbait, jerkbait, swimbait, glidebait, paracetamol/Panadol. We’ve done the same provide some well-known models within each wakebait, stickbait and so on. But here in with lures. Jerkbaits are Rapalas in the south category to give you some perspective and Australia, we call them all lures and we and Bombers in the north; lipless crankbaits maybe some new items for your shopping list.
THE JERKBAIT
One of the original and most to move away from prey or towards MUST HAVE JERKBAITS underrated, undervalued and a safe place but then is so exhausted misunderstood lures to ever grace it gives up and either sinks, suspends the tackle boxes of any Australian or fl oats, depending on the jerkbait’s fi sherman is the jerkbait. You’ve all buoyancy, and this is where it often is seen and most probably fi shed with a hit. Performing this action takes a bit jerkbait. A jerkbait can be defi ned by of getting used to as it requires co- the position of its bib. The bib sticks ordination between your rod and reel CLASSIC LURES 120 out from under the lure, as opposed hand. to straight out from where the fi sh’s mouth would open. In some models You don’t just slowly wind a jerkbait – the bib is fi tted a fair way back and with some of them you can, but they some very close up the front. This can do so much more. The slight bit of RAPALA ORIGINAL FLOATER OR CD bib position dramatically changes its practice required to work a jerkbait is action and the way you work it. why many anglers don’t favour them, but they are highly e ective for many Due to the position of the bib and the species. They are best fi shed with intended action they are generally high-speed reels for more control and DAIWA DOUBLE CLUTCH shallow-diving lures and mostly come faster retrieval of slack line. in long and slender, or ‘minnow-style’, shapes. As the name suggests, most If you’re not into jerkbaiting or don’t jerkbaits are intended to be retrieved have any, fi nish this article then drive with jerks and twitches of the rod. This to your local tackle store and buy gives them an action that resembles NORIES LAYDOWN MINNOW some. Whether it’s jewfi sh, barra, a prey that is injured and about to trout, bass, bream or whatever, there die. Jerkbaits dart, dive, kick and the is a jerkbait out there that’s waiting to good ones roll and shimmer. When get smashed. working a jerkbait I often try to work it like a bait that struggles and kicks BOMBER 14A
WWW.HOOKEDUPMAGAZINE.COM.AU AUGUST 2019 | ISSUE 89 35 THE SWIMBAIT THE GLIDEBAIT
Lures should be viewed like classical painting styles: you have Impressionism, where you can see the scene, you know what it is, but there is nothing ultra-detailed Glidebaits are commonly confused with swimbaits, or realistic about the way it has been painted; and and you can be forgiven for being confused as you have Realism, highly detailed, where the artist most Australian distributors of these American and tries his best to replicate a scene. A skirted game Japanese creations label them this way. They are lure is like Impressionism; it really looks nothing like highly e ective but they have a very di erent action a fi sh, but does a great impression of one. A Cranka from a swimbait. While they are a jointed lure, a Crab, however is the ultimate example of Realism; glidebait has only the one join and this changes the it looks very close to the real thing. In the realm of action dramatically. If you test one out or just punch ‘jointed’ lures, the action of a swimbait is much closer some of the names below into YouTube to see them to Realism. They are designed to swim like a healthy in action, you may be quite shocked at how they fi sh when simply slow-rolled. Some of them have swim. They don’t have that same snake-like swimming an amazingly life-like ‘swimming’ action; however, action of a swimbait. They glide and move in a left-to- it’s up to the angler to incorporate fast burns of the right action, more like a sinking stickbait or jerkbait reel, jerks and twitches to make that fi sh look sick or than a swimbait. They have that realistic shape and injured. To achieve this life-like action, multiple joins profi le of a baitfi sh or a trout, but they’re designed are required and these are the defi ning features of to imitate a fi sh that is about to keel over and die. a swimbait. Swimbaits don’t have a bib and can sink Just with the turns of your reel handle you can at varying speeds or fl oat. They can vary in size from present a glidebait very well and there is hot debate very small to ridiculously large and heavy. In their between anglers as to how much rod action should larger sizes they can be put into the bigbait category be employed. and weigh in excess of 10oz. Swimbaits can be made Most glidebaits are big lures, and they’re designed from hard or soft plastic or wood but are always for getting a strike from those big fi sh that might not defi ned by that life-like ‘swimming’ action. look twice at your smaller o ering. From the research I’ve done it seems that once American bass anglers started using big glidebaits, their captures not only MUST HAVE SWIMBAITS increased in frequency, but the size of the fi sh they were catching increased dramatically. It seems that many anglers here in Australia are fi nding the same results on cod and barra. Bigbait rods are necessary to cast these heavy lures out and low-profi le baitcast reels are best used to get that side-to-side action.
MUST HAVE GLIDEBAITS JACKALL GANTIA JACKALL CHIBITAREL
GAN CRAFT JOINTED DUO ONIMASU CLAW
JACKALL GANTAREL BULL SHAD BULL SHAD
DEPS SLIDE SWIMMER MEGABASS I-SLIDE
LUCKY CRAFT REAL LUCKY CRAFT LUCKY CRAFT DEPS BULLSHOOTER CALIFORNIA REAL BLUE GILL REAL AYU
36 AUGUST 2019 | ISSUE 89 WWW.HOOKEDUPMAGAZINE.COM.AU THE WAKEBAIT THE CRANKBAIT
Wakebaits are another lure getting thrown into the swimbait category, and again, they can be classed as a bigbait as some of them are huge. Much like a swimbait, some wakebaits do have the snaky If one lure category could be called the most popular swimming action, but not all are jointed. A wakebait and had more models under its name than any other is a sub-surface lure, by which I mean it’s designed to it would be the crankbait. There are without doubt swim just under the surface. more crankbaits in the world than any other lure You’ll easily be able to tell a wakebait from a swimbait type. The crankbait greatly di ers from the jerkbait by its defi ning feature, which is a bib. The bib is most as you can just ‘crank’ it in with the reel with no rod commonly situated under the lure like a jerkbait. movement and it will have (or should have) an action When you work a wakebait it creates a wake on the that fi sh fi nd appealing. Slight jerks and twitches surface and this attracts fi sh. Wakebaits are perfect can be placed in your retrieve, but the speed that for fi shing areas that are very snaggy or in shallow you crank and the length of your pause is what will waters; best of all it’s visual and you see the strike. fool your target species. Knowing your lure and the So, if it’s jointed and has a bib, it’s a wakebait, not a optimal speed and length of pause for your target swimbait. Don’t discount wakebaits that aren’t jointed species is what separates good anglers from great – they are excellent lures that have amazing sub- anglers. Crankbaits range in size from tiny 30mm surface action with a simple slow roll. bream lures through to monsters that are trolled for barra and cod. They can dive to extreme depths or run quite shallow. They can have every type of shape — MUST HAVE WAKEBAITS — imaginable and can be trolled or retrieved. They all generally share the wobble and tail kick action we all know so well but each one di ers slightly and these ever-so-slight di erences are what make some lures famous and some end up in bargain bins. Crankbaits have an action that imitates a wounded prey as opposed to that ‘I’m just about to die’ action of a jerkbait. They have strong vibration, visual presence EVERGREEN NOISY DACHS and they’re highly e ective on every species of fi sh.
— MUST HAVE CRANKBAITS —
JACKALL MIKEY
ECOGEAR SX40 JACKALL CHUBBY
OSP DUNK IMA RATTLIN’ ROUMBA CLASSIC LURES DR EVIL
JACKALL CHAN WAKE JJ’S STUMP JUMPER ATOMIC HARDZ CRANK
DAIWA DAIWA RPM TOURNAMENT SPIKE DUEL HARDCORE NINJA SWIMMER
38 AUGUST 2019 | ISSUE 89 WWW.HOOKEDUPMAGAZINE.COM.AU OTHER LURE TYPES Here is a brief rundown on many other lure types that were once originally made from wood, metal or lead. There is also a few hybrids and inventions that have come along since. This list obviously doesn’t include soft plastics, jigs and a variety of creature baits, but it does break down various lure types that are often confused into categories with their original name.
LIPLESS CRANKBAIT BIBLESS MINNOW BLADE Sometimes referred to as “hardbody The bibless minnow is designed Often referred to as “vibes”. They di er vibes” or “jackalls” due to the to be trolled at high speeds for from a lipless crankbait. They’re made popularity of the Jackall TN60. pelagic species. from a thin metal and vibrate with less force.
SPINNERBAIT BLADED JIG INLINE SPINNER Whether it’s bass, toga, yellas or cod the A lure that came about this millennium. Australian’s often refer to them as spinnerbait is a highly e ective lure for Often re ered to as a chatterbait or “celtas” but many brands produce various species. Mumbler but these are brand names. the Inline Spinner.
SPYBAIT PROPBAIT A spybait is often confused with a propbait. Spybaits sink and are TAIL SPINNER Most commonly referred to in Australia designed to send out subtle vibrations. A great little mix of a few as a “fizzer”, propbaits are a surface lure with two propellers that make a They’re big on the American and di erent lures and an underrated Japanese bass scene but never quite lure amongst Australian anglers. fizzy type sound props spin through the water. took o here in Australia.
STICKBAIT POPPER A popular and highly e ective lure. PADDLER BAIT Poppers float and the big cupped face Stickbaits walk and skip along the Paddler baits walk or paddle grabs water, makes a bloop or chug surface like a fleeing baitfish being along the surface. They make a sound and causes a lot of commotion. chased. They come in sizes from lot of noise, have great action They come in every size imaginable. ultra small to ultra large. and cause a lot of commotion.
SLUG WINGED LURE SPOONS This is the simplest lure in existence. Commonly referred to as “tassies” One of the simplest lures in existence. A slug is a shiny piece of lead that as the first lure of this type was Spoons have a great action and you retrieve through the water as Australia’s own Tasmanian Devil. can be cast or trolled. They catch fast as you can. They can catch It’s a hybrid of a spoon and a slug everything from trout to mackerel. anything and everything. and is highly e ective.
40 AUGUST 2019 | ISSUE 89 WWW.HOOKEDUPMAGAZINE.COM.AU