Rapala News

The original Live Series were really good and I caught many fish on earlier samples that Freetime, the local distributors sent me some years back. Storm took the concept up another step in 2010 with the introduction of the Live Kickin Shad. In line with the original Live Series soft plastics, the lipless Live Kickin Shad has a very natural body, highlighted by great fish attracting colours, which complement the natural body shape that imitates bait fishes. However, the most outstanding featire is the super life like swim action that is activated by the segmented body.

This year Storm launched three new lipless swim baits into its Live Kickin family – Live Kickin Perch, Live Kickin Pike and Live Lickin Minnow. The three new baits imitate their respective natural baitfish in body shape, colour and swimming action. In line with all the Live Kickin family member, the baits are lightweight and very responsive. In my own tests they have proven to be hardier then at first appearance, due to the three layers of internal holographic mesh construction. These lures look fantastic in the water and their natural swim action allows various retrieve techniques and applications – slow, steady, fast stop-and-go retrieve, and aggressive jerks if the fish are a bit slow on the uptake.

Due to their light weight they fish very well in shallow water to close to the surface. The storm Live Kickin Series baits are available in a number of sizes and colours, ranging from 7cm to 14cm in length, making them suitable for a vast range of our fresh and saltwater fishes. They are fitted with superior VMC needle-point back hook and treble belly hooks.

Storm's unique UV Bright finish reflects more light energy, strengthening the lure's total visibility. The UV finishes are a combination of fluorescent paints, reflective surface and optical brighteners that are very vivid in visible light and particularly effective for all species in situations where fish are feeding by sight. This is the reason they are so good in low light conditions.

VMC Hooks:

VMC has just released its new 2011 Spark Point Super Light Worm Hook. The PR says it's the lightest hook on the market today. That may well be true but as I don't have a hook of every brand, I will have to take their word for it. The Spark Points are available in 1/0 to 3/0 sizes (7310bn) in black nickel only,

The Spark point feature VMC's groundbraking Spark Point technology, wherein the point of each hook is hardened by a die-forging process before it is chemically sharpened.

The front and back "ribs" guarantee rigidity while so-called "energy channels" increase the speed of penetration resulting in extremely efficient and effective hooking power.

Extra fine vanadium steel, VMCs premium alloy, is used for all lightweight hooks. You'll notice the ultra sharp spark point is parallel with the locking bend for instant strike readiness, and the extra wide gap makes rigging up plastic a simple task.

The new worm hook is complemented by the Spark Point 3X Strong treble hook, which is designed for tough fresh and saltwater species. The manufacturing and sharpening process is the same as for the single Spark Point Hook. It's available in 1/0 to 6/9 in black nickel or tin (7556bn/ti). VMC hooks are the preferred choice for many of the world's lure makers and rightly so as they are superior to most.

Williamson Lures

Whilst little known outside game fishing circles, the Williamson Lures first saw the light off the rugged coast of South Africa and they are now part of the ever-increasing Rapala Empire. The range is small, but it is very selective for the target species by filling the spot in any needed saltwater game fishing spread. They are super strong, and are fitted with VMC's Dynacut point saltwater hooks, or super sharp VMC hooks.

The Live Series soft baits are particular useful when light game fishing for mackerel, tuna, bonito, dolphin fish, and other pelagic fishes. I have even caught barramundi while trolling about estuaries and headlands for queenfish and trevally on Williamson 17cm Live Mackerel soft baits. A mate uses 17/22 Live Series mullets and mackerels in Lake Tinaroo and on his last outing he caught three barra over the magic metre, using both casting and trolling techniques.

The Live Split-tail and Live Mullet are exceptional in size, colour and swim action and compare very favourable to real mullets. For mackerel and other pelagic speedsters, there is the Live Mackerel and the Live Bluefish series which complement the Live Google Eye, Live Little Tunney, Skipjacks and Bonito.

All the Live Series come fitted with strong mono leaders. Their large reflective eyes easily fool most predators. The flexible bodies have holographic true colours that match the baits they resemble. The series will swim at a rated 7 knots. The patented Hook Locking System ensures perfect hook presentation and maximum strike efficiency when a fish takes the bait.

Blue Fox Lures:

Vibrax spinners are very popular with freshwater fishos. I have used them extensively on sooty grunter and jungle perch with great success.

The new range of Blue Fox Vibrax lures have been vastly improved and are available in a tremendous variety of colours and shapes in shallow and deep diving versions.

Blue Fox also has a top range of jigs, wobblers, irons, trolling and casting spoons. A mate who lives in Tassie catches feral Pacific salmon on the things. He wants me to come down and help him, but the weather is not to my liking at all.

Trigger Biodegradable Soft Baits:

I must admit I fish very little with pheromone scented baits, but they are widely used by many. Pheromones are natural chemical signals that are released in the water by fish in very small quantities where they act as some form of communication for fish of the same species. Researchers have discovered that pheromones trigger feeding, shoaling, fear and migration behaviours in fish.

The trigger X products use patented pheromones that stimulate the feeding behavior of target species. They are environmentally friendly and designed to perfectly copy the natural stuff that fish release.

Trigger has carried this a bit further by the bio-salt infusion of its soft plastic baits. The baits release a cocktail of pheromone that is both a mix of fear and aggression, which encourages fish to bitye,

Trigger has a vast range of infused soft baits to cater for almost any fishing situation. There are worms, lizards, bugs, grubs, lobsters, crabs and just about anything you can think of. The natural swim motion, either trolling, jigging, or just dunking, works on most species of fish that predate on others, or eat meat.