14 May 2007

Lure Test - YahooWahoo

About a year ago, Matava Resort Gamefishing was asked by Palm Fishing & Outdoors Australia to test and comment on a whole range of new skirted lures and bibbed minnows manufactured by Lurestreet in China. Palm Fishing was interested in stocking the best lures from the range and needed some field testing.

This of course gave my deckie Joeli and I the perfect excuse to jump in the inshore fishing boat on a quiet day with a fist full of new lures to have some fun….Sort of busman’s holiday you might say.

Over several months, we tried out everything from GT poppers to blue water skirted lures and a few of the lures impressed us sufficiently that they are now firmly part of our Gamefishing vessels available onboard lure rolls.

YahooWahoo

This blue water skirted lure was first run at the onset of our winter wahoo season when large packs of wahoo gather along the Great Astrolabe barrier reef. The lure is a sliced face heavy resin head with pearl inserts and a fairly large leader hole. It came to us from the factory with what looked like a rather mediocre quality 7 inch skirt but these are now being upgraded buy the manufacturer. Actually, it’s a marketing / cosmetic thing. Its common knowledge that half of all lures in tackle shops are designed to catch anglers not fish! We found the original test skirts worked rather well on the wahoo and we run these lures as they come until it needs replacing.

The test lures had brass tube inserts for the leader which can chafe mono however the manufacturer is changing this to a softer plastic lining.

The weight of the head makes this a higher speed lure and one that copes well with rough weather. At low speeds (4-6kts) it sits quietly and you are wasting your time for anything but tuna. Rig it on wire however and up the speed past 6kts and this lure comes alive in a big way. The narrow diameter wire through the large bore leader hole allows the head to shake violently causing the lure to duck, dive and headshake a huge erratic bubble trail. It’s a total wahoo magnet and during the wahoo season, we don’t leave home without it.

Position: Long Rigger

Rigging: Two hook 8/0 60 degree Semi-stiff rig.

Leader: At least 4 feet of 124lb Stainless Steel 49 strand wire

Best Colour: Green over Red as supplied or Lumo green

Tips:

Make sure your leader is significantly smaller than the lure leader tube bore. If you suspend the lure by holding the leader, the head should be able to wobble about. Consider using a short piece of plastic tubing to protect the head where the leader exits the front end. The action can be so violent that the head will eventually chip with no protection.

Run this lure as far back as you can and watch the wahoo come porpoising in from 50 yards away.

Maker – Lurestreet

Distributor – Palm Fishing Australia www.palmfishing.com.au

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