FROM THE PRESIDENT
I would like to wish all members and their families a very happy, safe, and successful New Year for 2026. Sydney Game Fishing Club is incredibly fortunate to have such a dedicated and generous membership — people who consistently come together and simply make things happen. Our annual Kids Christmas Day is a perfect example of this. The day would not be possible without the support of our members, skippers, crew, and volunteers. It is your help and generosity that make this event so special for the families from Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. A full write-up of this wonderful day can be found inside this edition. We have an exciting club meeting coming up on Thursday 29 January from 7:00pm, with Furuno joining us at the club to present on OMNI sonar technology. If you have heard even a little about OMNI, make sure you don’t miss this meeting — it truly represents the future of fishing. For those of us not quite ready to invest in OMNI technology, there is also an excellent article in this magazine by Peter Pakula on trolling lures, which makes for a great and informative read. Fishing Report Members who have managed to get offshore recently have been rewarded with continued action, tagging striped marlin and even encountering a few small yellowfin tuna. Ramsey (Connoisseur) reported losing two striped marlin but still managed to bring home three small yellowfin tuna. Henrik, excited to sea-trial his new boat Hypertension, raised two marlin on his first outing and successfully tagged one. Rob Molnar (On Call) enjoyed an outstanding mid-December session, raising 11 marlin and tagging five striped marlin and one blue marlin—perhaps with a little help from the latest OMNI technology, which certainly seems to be increasing fish encounters. Ivan (Ambition Charters) has also been consistently successful, tagging a striped marlin on each recent outing. Tournament Season Ahead: January marks the start of the tournament fishing season, with a busy and exciting calendar ahead:
Central Coast Tournament – 17 & 18 January (Round 3, Central Zone) Botany Bay Tournament – 31 January & 1 February (Round 4) Port Stephens Billfish Shootout – 13 to 15 February (three-day event) NSW State Championship / NSWGFA Interclub Ladies Day – 19 February Interclub – 20, 21 & 22 February Sydney Game Fishing Club – Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament – 21 & 22 March (Round 5) Broken Bay Tournament – 11 & 12 April (Round 6) Port Hacking Tournament – 2 & 3 May (Final Round, Central Zone) I look forward to catching up with members over the coming months, hearing some great fishing stories, and enjoying the many events ahead. As a reminder, please ensure your membership is current, your fishing licence is up to date, and all safety equipment—life jackets, EPIRBs, and flares—is in date. A little preparation now ensures a safe and hassle-free year on the water. Tight lines, Glenn Wright President Sydney Game Fishing Club
Calendar of Events SGFC January 2026 17th - 18th Central Coast GFC Tournament + Central Zone 17th - 18th Summer Point Score 27th - Committee Meeting 29th - Club Meeting with 31st - 1st Feb Botany Bay GFC Bill Heyward Memorial Tournament + Central Zone February 2026 1st - 2nd Summer Pointscore 3rd - Club Meeting 12th - 15th Garmin Billfish Shootout N&PSGFC 14th - 15th Summer Pointscore 21st to 23rd 2026 NSWGFA Interclub State Champions NSWGFA Port Stephens 28th Committee Meeting March 2026 2nd - 3rd Summer Pointscore 3rd - Club Meeting 14th - 15th Summer Pointscore 21st - 22nd SGFC Peter Goady Memorial Tournament + Central Zone Weekend 31st Committee Meeting
22nd 23th
SGFC Club Meeting Furuno sonar talk Thursday January 29th time 7pm Sonar Omni, come along and learn all about the future of fishing Shane Breadmore and Sandeep Prasad from Furuno will be at SGFC talking all things Omni, Members and guests welcome.
Kids Christmas Day 2025 Once again, the club truly outdid itself with its annual Kids Christmas Party, proudly welcoming the patients and families from Sydney Children’s Hospital for a day filled with joy, generosity, and unforgettable moments. This special event has become a highlight on the club calendar and continues to grow thanks to the incredible spirit of our community. The success of the day was made possible by the outstanding support of club members, volunteers, sponsors, and friends who generously gave their time, resources, and energy to ensure every child and family experienced the magic of Christmas. Special Thanks to our hard working secretary Annita Flannery who coordinated the day beautifully, thank you goes to Tony Santamaria for providing the Christmas tree, and Anthony Levi and Adena Shagrin Levi went above and beyond, generously funding all the Christmas gifts, helping wrap presents, running the BBQ on the day, and assisting wherever needed. We are grateful to Doyles for supplying lunch and Abu Ahmad Butchery for generously providing all the meat. The children were thoroughly entertained thanks to Lillian the Clown and her family, who created a wonderful arts and crafts experience, while Pirates Terry, Willie, and Brian added extra fun and excitement to the day. A special thank you to the Sydney Water Police for safely delivering Santa, ensuring his arrival was one to remember. Our appreciation also extends to the dedicated skippers, boat owners, and crew—John Sartori, Rob Molnar, Frank Fotios, Mamasioulas, Adam Foley, Tim Pope, Chiefly, and Randall—who made the on-water experience possible. We thank Makira Wright for capturing the day through photos and video, as well as lending a helping hand throughout the event. Mia Wright and Keeley worked tirelessly in the kitchen and assisted Santa. Sincere thanks also go to all the volunteers who assisted with safely loading patients and families onto the boats, as well as Ben Still and Ant for their ongoing support throughout the day and with the clean-up afterwards. And, of course, a very special thank you to Santa, who brought smiles, laughter, and Christmas magic to everyone in attendance. The families have asked that their heartfelt thanks be passed on to the club, expressing how much they look forward to this special day each year. It is moments like these that truly reflect the strength and generosity of our club community. From everyone involved, thank you for making this event so special—and Merry Christmas and safe New year to all. View an online Video of the day - HERE
Blue marlin: what do they eat and how does it influence catching them? By Tristan Guillemin Known for their explosive fighting ability, blue marlin (Makiara nigricans) are one of the favourite marlin for anglers not just in Sydney, but across their circum-tropical range (occurring in all tropical and temperate seas). However, few bait fish have ranges as extensive as blue marlin, meaning the food they eat in one part of the world is unlikely to be available in other areas. So naturally, their diet should vary across different regions, but does it really? As part of my research, I’ve chopped open stomachs from over 60 NSW caught blue marlin. While I’ve found an incredible diversity of species within these stomachs, over 70% of the diet was comprised of just one thing “scombrids” - aka the family that contains tuna and mackerels. Interestingly, this was almost exclusively two species, skipjack/striped tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and frigate/bullet tuna (Auxis spp.). The second largest category, comprising only 10% of their diet was “unknown fish”, which were generally fish too digested to ID and I suspect a lot of these were also tuna, so 70% is likely an underestimation of the importance of tuna to blue marlin. The other 20% was made of an incredibly diverse and eclectic mix of other pelagic or deepwater fish, a lot of squid (especially flying squid) and a few larval crabs. These larval crabs likely end up in the marlins stomach after it digested the small tuna and fish that ate the larval crabs in the first place. But how does this compare to other regions? Blue marlin diet has been studied quite extensively across the globe, including studies in Hawaii, Japan, Ecuador, New Zealand, and Mexico. Across all these studies, they also found incredible diversities of species, with many unique to each region. However, all studies have similarly found that scombrids dominated the diet of blue marlin, ranging from comprising just over half to almost the entire diet of blue marlin. While skipjacks and bullet/frigates were also common in other studies, so were small yellowfin, blackfin, mackerel and other tuna species. So what does all of this tell us about blue marlin diet and why do we care? These results suggest that even though blue marlin do eat diverse prey, the dominance of tuna suggests they are tuna specialists. They don’t seem to mind what tuna species it is, as long as it’s tuna. That being said, the high diversity suggests that they are willing to eat all sorts of other prey as well. Nonetheless, their movements and occurrence will likely be influenced by the abundance of tuna. So if you’re out there looking for blue marlin, the diet studies suggest that a high abundance of small tuna (skipjacks or frigates in Sydney) will be more likely to hold blue marlin than other bait such as yakkas or slimy mackerel, so look for those little tuna!
www.tantrumlures.com
The Art of Trolling Skirted Lures by Peter Pakula Trolling skirted lures through the ocean in search of pelagic fish ranging from small tuna to Godzilla sized marlin is easier in essence than just about any other form of fishing. The technology in electronics, rods, reels and harnesses, plus their relatively inexpensive prices has even made small boats, even as small as 12 foot (There is an 8’ game boat in Kona, appropriately named “Brain Damaged”, though I certainly don’t recommend boats that small!!!) viable platforms to hunt these fish on an even footing with the large Game Fishing battle wagons, though indeed the larger boats are certainly more comfortable and handle rougher seas with more comfort and safety. There are few things on this planet that give as good an adrenaline rush as witnessing a rising dorsal accelerating to intercept a surface run lure. Without exception the take, and the moments following a strike are awe-inspiring and totally addictive. As with all forms of fishing the starting point is rather technical, learning how the gear works on its own and interacts with the other equipment is essentially a technical exercise. Only when that has been understood and using it becomes second nature can you effectively start enjoying the art of lure trolling. Somewhere on the planet a season is just ending and another just starting, anglers may have cracked their first successes, or they are just about to. The conditions and currents might have something to do with this, though I suspect that many of the marlin captures are a direct result of anglers having a better understanding of the workings of the ocean and skills of trolling artificial lures. It is, at long last, accepted that artificial lures are not only an effective weapon for catching large game fish and the most spectacular of all. In many cases it is the most effective, being responsible for many wins against those using other methods. The best news is that trolling lures is very easy to do. Indeed a novice can be very competitive with just a basic knowledge of lure trolling. Those who consistently miss out on success may do so for a many number of reasons, not the least of which is sheer bad luck. Though I suspect the main reason for failure is because of a misunderstanding of basic lure trolling principles that significantly decreases the chance of reasonable success. Anglers generally experience some form of trolling before using skirted trolling lures for game fish. It might be trolling for trout along weed beds and drop-offs in a lake, or trolling around the edge of the sandbanks, circling schools of small pelagic fish or trolling for kingfish and small tuna along rocky shores and reefs. These forms of trolling have many things in common. They all involve relatively low trolling speeds, under five knots, and often at a slow walking pace. Lures are placed a long way behind the boat so the lures will be in the ‘zone of convergence’ that is, the distance behind a moving boat where disturbed fish converge and resume normal behavior and hopefully, resume feeding. In most of these types of trolling it is assumed that the boat scares the fish. (In most cases in all forms of trolling this assumption is incorrect, however the assumption remains ingrained Unfortunately these types of trolling have nothing whatever to do with trolling for large oceanic game fish. In fact, it’s generally just the opposite. When converting to blue water trolling, you have to abandon the idea that the lures should be as far away from the boat and its wash as possible. When trolling for the big game fish, the boat and it’s wash are actually part of the system and the trick is learning how to use it to your advantage.
These forms of trolling have many things in common. They all involve relatively low trolling speeds, under five knots, and often at a slow walking pace. Lures are placed a long way behind the boat so the lures will be in the ‘zone of convergence’ that is, the distance behind a moving boat where disturbed fish converge and resume normal behavior and hopefully, resume feeding. In most of these types of trolling it is assumed that the boat scares the fish. (In most cases in all forms of trolling this assumption is incorrect, however the assumption remains ingrained Unfortunately these types of trolling have nothing whatever to do with trolling for large oceanic game fish. In fact, it’s generally just the opposite. When converting to blue water trolling, you have to abandon the idea that the lures should be as far away from the boat and its wash as possible. When trolling for the big game fish, the boat and it’s wash are actually part of the system and the trick is learning how to use it to your advantage. THE MOVING F.A.D. When using skirted lures, the biggest difference is the speed. In blue water skirted lures are pulled along at effective speeds from a minimum of 6.5 knots, mostly 7.5 to 8.5 and as fast as 15 knots with the accompanying noise, vibration and white water. These components actually combine to form an effective ‘Fish Attracting Device’. Many anglers, because of their previous experience with other forms of trolling, run their lures way back out past the end of the wash, fearing that the boat noise and wash will scare the fish. In this form of fishing this is not the case. The action is concentrated in the area between the transom and the end of the prop wash and turbulence. This is known as the Strike Zone. This area is where you should run your lures. Indeed fish do get hooked on lures a long way back, but they were probably on their way to the boat. The chance of getting a solid hookup on a fish are far better on a short line, due to less line stretch and belly. It is possible that the wash itself may appear to be a shoal of tiny bait fish foaming the surface in a feeding frenzy, or perhaps they have come to know that the motor noise and vibration could mean a trawler dumping trash over the side resulting in an easy meal, perhaps it does attract small predators like striped tuna and frigate mackerel that search the white water for a feed or camouflage, this may in turn attract larger predators. Regardless of what we imagine the wash represents to fish the boat does not in any way scare these predators. The larger, bolder predators have even less fear and will come in so close to the transom they almost ram it as if they were attracted to it.
THE WINDOW The next items to take note of in the Strike Zone are the waves following the boat. These are pressure waves kicked up by the boat and vary in size depending on the boat size and hull type. The distance between them is the waterline length of the boat. These waves are the most important part of the wash for trolling skirted lures, as they are run and carefully positioned or tuned on the leading face of the pressure wave. They are largest at the transom and gradually get smaller further back in the wash and generally fade out around the end of the prop wash and turbulence. The top of the wave is steeper than the bottom of the wave. The face of the wave is far more visible from behind than the back of the wave. We’ll call this the ‘window’ as shown in the adjacent figure.(Fig 2. The Window) The further down the face of the wave, the larger the ‘window’ and the more visible the lure is. It is important to note that some boats don’t have pressure waves, in which case the positioning of lures is less critical. It is also important to note that the rougher and choppier the sea the harder it is to distinguish where the pressure waves are, though with a little experience you will get to know how properly set lures appear and behave and position them accordingly. WHAT A LURE IS Until we can interview a game fish we really don’t know why lures do catch fish. However over the years we have come to understand why some lures consistently catch more fish than others. It appears that they work because they trigger feeding and, or aggression responses. Basically in the world of the predator anything that moves and easily caught is possibly edible, the more like something it’s used to eating and the sicker or more wounded it appears the more likely a predator will commit its precious energy resource to an attack. This is a natural hunting response. A cat will attack anything that comes within range. A child will try and catch anything that is thrown towards it. The factors that contribute to the effectiveness of a lure are size, shape, colour, vibration, action, rigging and of course, but often overlooked fact of, using them in an area likely to produce results.
READING THE WASH Before we put the lures out, let’s slow down to an average trolling speed of about 7 knots and have a look at the Strike Zone, the area between the transom and the end of the prop wash or turbulence created by the boat hull. You can read the wash behind a boat in a similar manner to reading the water around a headland, island, reef or beach. The features of the wash are shown in the adjacent figure. (Fig 1. Reading the Wash) Down the center is the prop wash, a very concentrated boiling confusion of white water, or so it seems. This white water is at its deepest at the transom, with the maximum depth at the props. Perhaps it is not as deep as you might have imagined, and comes very close to the surface within a few feet of the props. Although it looks like solid white water, it is quite translucent, allowing enough light to enable even small tuna to find tiny lures in the midst of it. Along the side of the prop wash there are alleys of clearer water with little or no white water turbulence; a nice place to run a lure, as it would be very visible. Remember though that predators are used to chasing tiny bait fish that are very well camouflaged. No matter what size or colour your lure is, it will show up very clearly no matter where you run it, as will your leaders and rigging. Notice the white water coming off the sides of the boat. This Side Wash is very shallow and almost transparent consisting mostly of surface bubbles. A lure that is run in this area is probably more visible than in any other area, as the frothy white surface will highlight the lure’s silhouette. Every boat has a different wash format at every speed, in every sea condition and in every direction traveled. For example the wash is longer going into a current than it is going with it. To maintain the lures position you may lengthen a lures distance going into the current and shorten it going down current.
When choosing lures we tend to specify them according to the species of fish we most desire to catch, such as Blue Marlin Lures, Sailfish Lures, Tuna Lures, Wahoo Lures etc. Unfortunately this method of classification is not only incorrect, it is often misleading. A lure pattern should imitate a selection of wounded or fleeing bait species that are likely to be in the area at the time you’re fishing. As most predators will feed on any available food source over any given period, if you get this right and you’ll target whatever predatory species are around from small tuna to monster billfish. “Matching the hatch” is actually quite easy, as the species of blue water bait are very similar throughout the world’s game fishing areas, though it is very important to note that the food types change as they migrate through an area at certain times of the year. By following this system through you’ll also notice that through any given period there are many available food species. By working out which food is most likely to be in the area you can more accurately select a lure that “matches the hatch” in action, colour and size. There is no doubt that if you get this system right you’ll even catch the fish you’re after out side the period considered to be a normal season. NB: There may also be an argument for trolling a pattern of identical lures if you think that there is only one dominant bait species that you can imitate it successfully.) SELECTING LURES FOR THE PATTERN There are several considerations in choosing lures to form a pattern: Number of Lures The next step is to decide how many lures you wish to run and the line classes involved. The number of lures run varies greatly. In areas where the fish are in great numbers, or there is a small crew to handle the gear the number of lures is less than in areas where there are less fish or more crew on board to handle the gear. For example in Cairns many boats troll only two lures and no teasers. In other areas up to ten lures and a brace of up to six teasers are used. In the following we’ll assume that we’ll use five rods which is not too many for an amateur crew of three or four to handle if you hook up to a hot fish. Size Each line class has a maximum sized lure that can be effectively trolled due to the drag setting used. There is however no minimum sized lure for any line class. Nor is there any minimum sized lure for any species or size of fish you are chasing. Granders have and will eat lures as small as five inches long, however as they are rarely rigged to catch fish of this size they are normally lost on smaller lures. As a uideline most predatory fish, particularly billfish can swallow a meal of twenty percent of their own weight. The largest lures that are readily available are eighteen inches long that is equivalent to a bait of around four to six pound, so even the largest lure you’ll use is not out of the question for a small sixty pound marlin.
WHAT A LURE DOES The types of lure we are specifically discussing are surface running skirted trolling lures. (Though much of the theory has relevance to other types of lures and forms of fishing). When run behind the boat, trolled, they tend to ‘work’ in a repetitive cycle. A lure that is working properly runs through the following cycle: It comes to the surface, grabs air ‘breathing’, dives down leaving a long bubble trail, ‘smoking’ and when it stops smoking, it comes up for another breath. It should not run under the water without a smoke trail for any length of time, if it does; it is called ‘lazy’. Also, it shouldn’t come out of the water, ‘blowing out’ when breathing. All the different shapes and sizes go through these motions with different aggressions and timing. For example, for many sliced headed lures the cycle is repeated every 15 seconds, some as long as 30 between breaths, Pakula lures are at their best when they breathe every 5 seconds. Some lures come to surface and softly breathe before diving, others explode on the surface causing a sonic boom. Some dive as straight as an arrow, others may ‘swim’ off the side or dive in deep consistent arc, others shake their heads or tails as they dive. Smoke trails vary from pencil thin to almost creating their own prop wash. This mainly depends on the shape of the lure head, lure length and trolling speed. How often a lure goes through the working cycle depends on sea conditions, boat speed, lure position, line class and rigging. LURE THEORY Now that we understand the basic idea of where our lures are to be run and what they are supposed to do we can now move onto the lure selection. This is generally based on the level of information you’ve got, varying from getting a set of lures recommended by your local tackle store or from anglers fishing in the same areas, or perhaps chosen by recommendations from manufacturers, web forums, and indeed from personal preferences based on your own experiences. Care should be taken if you incorporate individual lure recommendations to form a lure pattern. Think of it as getting advice for car parts, you could end up with an economical 1200cc motor, 4wd diffs, balloon tyres, comfortable LTD body etc, all great as separate items but when they’re put together it’s a bit of a disaster.
To make things more difficult the standard terminology used to describe the lures position i.e. long corner etc is not appropriate, as it does not convey the relevant information. Whether a lure works in a certain position in a pattern relative to the others depends to great extent on the angle at which the lure hits the water. As shown in the figures below they vary considerably. Images Fig 3 and 4. Angle of Entry Though it is certainly important to totally understand this concept when designing lures it is enough that you should be aware of its importance in positioning lures. There are certainly many methods of adjusting the angle at which the lure enters the water such as simply raising or lowering the rigger halyards or by putting the rods in straight or angled rod holders and or using rubber band and release clips to the gunnels to lower the angle on flat lines. Other aspects that affect the angle are the line class and size and length of leader, the heavier they are the lower the angle of entry. The Image Fig 5. Head Shape shows some of the many variations available of head shapes in their relative positions in a 'pattern' of lures to show the relevance of shape and position. NB: There may also be an argument for trolling a pattern of identical lures if you think that there is only one dominant bait species that you can imitate it successfully.) datory fish, particularly billfish can swallow a meal of twenty percent of their own Short Corner The largest lure in the pattern is Black as it is run closest to the boat at the position in the most turbulent part of the wash the dark silhouette shows up clearly. (Though in reality most bait species are well camouflaged so regardless of what colour a lure is it will show up clearly regardless of where it is run and even if it were invisible the vibration that its action puts out would be felt by the fish’s lateral line making it easy to track down in any case). Main combinations are Black over Pink, Black over Purple, Black over Green. In some patterns you may wish to substitute a very bright Pink or Orange combination in this position. Long Corner The next lure in the pattern is the second largest and is a Blue combination such as Blue and Silver over Green and Gold, Blue and Silver over Pink or Blue and Pearl White over Pink and White. Short Rigger The most successful colour in this position is Purple in combinations of Blue and Black.
As discussed earlier the Strike Zone is from the back of the boat to the end of the wash or turbulence. To enhance this we select lures from highly aggressive and large near the back of the boat to more sedate and smaller as we get to the end of the prop wash which is also the end of the strike zone. The greater the range of sizes used the more species of fish you are likely to target. For example a five lure spread would consist of one fourteen inch, one twelve inch, two ten inch and an eight inch lure. There may be times when you may wish to eliminate smaller species such as Skipjack or Bonito, in which case you wouldn’t run lures under eight inches. Shape The chosen set of lures should be compatible with each other in action, vibration and effective trolling speed. The simplest way to do this is run lures that are all similar in type, i.e. all Scoop Faced Chuggers such as the Pakula Range, or all Sliced Head Lures such as Black Barts and Hollowpoints. Mixing lures types when your just starting out is really making the sport far more difficult and unsuccessful than it could be. Each lure developer designs their lures to run in specific positions within a pattern. Knowing where this position is just by looking at the lure without a great deal of experience can be quite difficult.
Colour It’s not surprising that there has been an ongoing debate as to the significance of colours of lures to the fish we are trying to catch with them. This ongoing discussion shouldn’t come as a surprise as every aspect of fishing is under continuous scrutiny. Scientific research is in a similar situation, regardless of what is known there is always more to find out. Research by Kerstin Fritsches of the Vision,
Long Rigger Without doubt the best colour for this position is Green preferably Lumo over Green and Chartreuse The above colour groups in their specific positions have more than proven their effectiveness over many years successfully replacing many game fishing areas traditional hot colours. This set of colours matches the most common baitfish colours found in all game fishing areas around the world. You will also see that these colours range from very bright to very dark, giving maximum variation in their silhouettes. The fifth lure on the shotgun and any supplementary lures in various other positions are the “try out” lures. This is also where you should run an area’s own particular ‘hot colour’ for example black and red or yellow around tropical reefs, pink in the light tackle fishery in Australia. Any lures you wish to try out in new colours or shapes should be run in these positions.
Touch and Hearing Research Center at the University of Queensland, Australia finally proved that Marlin do have colour vision and there are plans to further this research. With the amount of information in the form of anecdotal evidence and individual catch rates of specific lures and lure colours with reference to the proportion of that colour produced I firmly believe that colour is a vital aspect of lure choice. Not only do I believe that predators see relevant colours, it would seem that they also have a wider range of colour recognition into ultra violet, luminescence and possibly infra red, and we have included many additives to our lure heads and skirts based on this premise. For a novice selecting lure colours can be quite daunting. Luckily most blue water bait species are similar throughout the world’s oceans. To make things easier still their colours are to a great extent proportionate to their size, which can be reflected in the lure selection. Over the years four colour groups have accounted for the highest catch statistics and even more than that these colours would appear to have certain best positions in the spread, these factors add up to make up a central backbone applicable to any blue water lure pattern. I’ve noted the colour groups in specific positions in the pattern. The normal terminology for placement is on which pressure wave the lure is run. For example a pattern may be described as waves 2,3,5,6 and 8. Once again this standard terminology can be misleading. For example a large displacement boat may only have a very short wash and only four or five waves to work with. A fourteen foot boat with a 40hp motor would have a very long wash and up to ten waves to work with. In reality the positions are not that important as long as the lures are within the Strike Zone.
-The longer the head and the smaller the face the longer the position. - The shorter the head and the wider the face the shorter the position. - If a head is both long and has a wide face the more likely it is to work in all positions though because it would have a more aggressive action it is best used in a short position. As mentioned previously it is important to place the more aggressive and active lures closer to the boat. If this simple rule is not followed and you put the larger or more aggressive lures at the tail of the pattern you can set up a “Blocking Pattern”. Many fish will not go past a larger lure to attack a smaller one. Unlike many land predators many predatory fish have very delicate skins evidenced by how easily the skin and fins are damaged when handling them and the line marks inflicted on their bodies even though minimal drag is used. Without the protection of armour such as heavy scales it is unlikely that they would risk damage or injury by challenging another predator for food, regardless of size. Though all this sounds complicated it is quite easy to put it into practice with a little planning and observation. Until you are confident it is worthwhile having a couple of jet heads to run in positions that you can’t work effectively. As jets run under the surface they can run in any position at any speed.
HAYLEX TACKLE I supply hand made custom lures from Ali'i Kai (Shawn Rotella), Big Reidee (Ron Akana), Crampton Baits (Brian Crampton), KC Lures (Kendrick Ching) and Koya Lures ( Eric Koyanagi). Each lure maker has perfected their art over more than 30 years each of lure making.
SAINTLY WHISPERS