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like snapper, so yo-yoing it along the bottom is sure to attract fishy attention. Of course no product exists in the marketplace by itself for long, and other lures are already coming into the shops, such as the Strike-Pro Flapjack lures. Though they weigh only 32gm, about half the weight of the similarly sized Sebile, these 90mm lures are very similar in idea and action to the Sebiles. And at a retail price of around the high teens, they are a little less expensive than their competition as well. Due to their relative lightness, to get the Strike-Pros to drop to any decent depth you may have to add a small sinker ahead of the lure, but I don't see much of a problem with that, and this would not be an issue at all if casting into shallower water of only a few metres or so. I shall certainly be giving both these lures a fair crack in the tropics around the bommies and mangroves this summer, I promise you! The other lures are small poppers and stickbaits (as pictured), also used on the same sort of gear, light-to medium spin sets, and are likely to be every bit as much fun for the fisherman. Designed as they are more for surface fish, these are the kingi-katchers I mentioned earlier. In the picture you see several of these options. They include poppers by River-2-Sea and Strike Pro, the R2C Bubble pop and Strike Pro Lazerlite, Stickbaits by Sebile and R2C (the Sebile Bonga Minnow and the R2C Wide-glide 120SS), and a couple of other interesting lures, swimming lures like the Sebile Magic Swimmer jointed lure, and the very interesting little R2C ultra- heavy bibbed minnow, the Depth Charger (a prototype lure with a prototype name.) This is particularly interesting to me in that this small 100mm minnow lure weighs in at a solid 70gm, very heavy for such a lure. It casts a mile when given a flick off a good rod, sinks like a bullet and on a fast, ripped retrieve it zaps about like a lunatic. I'm just itching to try this wee lure on yellowfin around the FADs in the tropics, but it will have to be a lethal little lure on any work- up here in Kiwiland. I think a different type of rod is needed for all these lures. Your average soft-actioned, soft-bait rod I think is just not grunty enough. I think my new Kilwell rod will really make these lures rock! One thing you will note in all these lures I have mentioned is that they are rigged with trebles. Boy, do I hate trebles. They are vicious on the fish, vicious on fishermen (once you have worn a treble hook in your hand with a fish swinging off the other end of the lure, you will know what I mean!) and a true bastard to try to store without grabbing every other lure in sight in a huge, snarling, spiky mess. I hate treble hooks, I really do. That's why I'm delighted there are now small "decoy" hooks available down to 1/0 size that can be put on these lures to replace A range of new Sebile lures on the market the trebles. Decoys have an eye that is set at 90 degrees to your normal hook. You can pop one onto a lure with just a single split ring and it will swim upright, not on its side like a normal hook. In other words, it actually works on lures. These smaller decoys come in packs of five and should be in most of the better shops before long. They are linked to the R2C lures, so if you find some of those in your local shop, you will find the decoys. The next new product I have stumbled across is quite a difference for me as it is not glitzy, sparkly or blingy but is just a flat, rather boringly shaded piece of unrippable paper. Big deal, says you? Well yes, this one is quite a big deal, as the piece of paper in question turns out to be a marine chart (NZ5318 to be exact) that has been reproduced onto a sheet of untearable, non-fading, super- duper fabric paper. That means no more charts with creases that act like a "tear- along-this-line" page divider and no more charts slowly mouldering away into a mass of sludge because a bit of water somehow got into the plastic bag. These things are nigh on indestructible. I likes that in my charts. Made by Repro-online, I found this marvellous little nav aid when the boss of Repro popped in one day to buy some of my asparagus. (The world's best, by the way, I kid you not. I even have a sign that says so!) He saw the hundreds of huge fishing pictures lining the wall of my packhouse and said, "Man, have I got a deal for you!" Your charts may cost you a tad more than the three kilos of asparagus mine cost me, but according to Peter Haszard, not by much. I suggest you check them out some time on www.repro- online.co.nz. The life this chart saves may well be your own! Have a great Christmas and summer everyone. See you next year. Welcome to my world, a paradise called for fishing, diving, surfing or just relaxing in the sun, visit ZIPOLO HABU RESORT ZIPOLO HABU RESORT Munda,Western Province, 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 VIP.S79 January/February 2012 Professional Skipper 51