Professional Skipper - Free Sample issue (July/Aug 2011)

basically not my size (I tend to dwarf such small gear, sadly). Also, of course, being 30lb gear in those shark-infested water – the word "infested" is used advisedly, I promise you – this was just not the set to use here. However, I am itching to have a play with it in New Zealand when teeth will not interrupt play quite so often. As I mentioned above, I had a TiCA Talisman reel on the much heavier 500gm Van Staal rod. This reel, loaded with the 80lb line, was just superb. I have had quite a long history with the Talisman, having first seen, used and abused pre-production models over the last couple of years. What started out two years ago as a very nice reel with a couple of little glitches has now been refined into a superbly rugged and robust reel. I was using the high-speed version, my pick of the range, as I like a bit of speed in my spinning reels and it certainly paid off with all those damn sharks around, I can tell you. The reel is solidly built, with huge line capacity and a brilliant drag, I have to say. To lock and load the fish up in Norfolk I had dialled the drag to a pretty high setting of around 15 kilos, heavy for most normal fishing. After a couple of sharks had naililed my rigs and led me a merry dance around the boat trying to keep up with them, I decided to wind the drag up a little harder. Once I got to the point I could no longer actually grab the line to pull it off the spool without being in peril of cheese-wiring off my fingers, I thought I'd have the herbs to deal with these pesky shark varmints. You know, a 2.4m shark is not as soft as me, and they just stripped line off that spool with gay abandon whenever they hooked into one of my poor fish. I was putting over 25 kilos of drag through that reel and it never showed any sign of sticking or hesitation, so I can believe the label's claim of being able to handle over 30 kilos with no problems. The reel easily handled For my money, go for the Select Pro. Of all the various split-ring pliers I have seen out there, it simply cannot be beaten for its versatility and price. The last set of gear I wanted to try The TiCA Talisman and the heavy 500gm Van Staal jig rod in action. The reel was at 25 kilo drag pressure and it never even blinked! the pressure and the rod made it so easy as well. I thought this was a dynamite combination and can strongly recommend both products! Another pair of toys I had along to try out were some split-ring pliers. Not quite the glamour- puss items like rods and reels, but as on Norfolk Island was a range of lures. I had a pile of poppers, stickbaits and bibbed minnows, but the weather was just agin us. In my opinion, you need reasonably calm conditions in order for a popper to work well, and brother, let me tell you, this is not what we had. However, I was able to troll around some smaller bibbed lures in the microscopically small calm lee of Norfolk one day. These were all Strike Pro Dave had to show off by bagging this thumper cod angling accessories go, these are really crucial. I had a duo of Berkley split-ring pliers, one the older Select Pro set in heavy stainless steel, the other the newer, hoopdie-doo lightweight aluminium jobs. The aluminium pair sure looked like a million bucks (but only cost $80, so don't panic), being a glossy, ruby-coloured set with a small titanium cutter and a fine, needle-nose split-ring opener nose. The Select Pro is much more work- a-day looking, heavier due to not being aluminium, but able to open much larger split rings than its yuppie mate. Although not a titanium line cutter, I found this cheaper, older set (about $30 a pair less than the aluminium one) to be easily the equal of the flash set. It is markedly better at cutting off large knots in heavy nylon trace and it can handle a lot more side-ways torque and twisting. lures and very nice they are, too. One lure in particular I wanted to try was a small, sexy, jointed number called a Flex-X. This is such a sexy little lure I knew it had to work. I'm sure it's really a casting lure and I certainly intend to take a bunch with me to the Solomons in June. But it worked just fine on Norfolk as a trolled lure, picking up several local bonito tuna. They are found righ htt on t th he rocks, in much the same way as our kahawai. All up on this trip we caught a pile of fish, mostly trumpeter. We really only got limited shots at the kingfish I had been aiming for, but those damned sharks just blew us away all the darn time if we hooked up anything at all interesting or strong. Amberjac is just an awesome fishing c platform and I am itching to get back there early next summer so we can head down to the known wahoo, tuna and marlin hotspots south of Norfolk Island. After we left, Dave caught 11 wahoo weighing over 30 kilos each on one trip. So dammit, I gotta get into some of that action. Roll on summer, guys! Welcome to my world, a paradise called Munda,Western Province, Solomon Islands. Visit our website at www.zipolohabu.com.sb Email zipolo@solomon.com.sb • Ph 00677-62178 ZIPOLO HABU RESOR Munda, vince,Solomon Islands. Visit our website at www.zipolohabu.com.sb Email zipolo@solomon.com.sb • Ph 00677-62178 or contact Captain Asparagus Email StuCawkerCapt.Asp@xtra.co.nz pt.Asp@xtra.co July/August 2011 Professional Skipper VIP.S79 r 51 for fishing, diving, surfing or just relaxing in the sun, visit ZIPOLO HABU RESORT ZIPOLO HABU RESORT

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