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FISHING SMALL LURES, BIG FUN! BY CAPTAIN ASPARAGUS I love new lures. It must be the magpie in me I am sure, but any new and shiny little gizmo that gets trolled past my nose gets bought, no questions asked (within slight reason). Hell, if I were a fish, I woulda been fried years ago. Just recently I made one of my random trawls through the warehouse of my mates at Purefishing who have Berkley, Abu, etc, and the guys there showed me these real dinky little lures called 3BCrank lures. Dumb name, doesn't really trip off the tongue does it, but there ya go. The examples that particularly tickled my fancy (and opened my wallet dammit!) were the Puppy Dogs, the Sub-Dogs and the Scum-Dogs. I mean, these lures are tiny... an inch long, for petes sake! Did I even have anything wee enough to cast them? Well of course the answer was yes.. probably. But when you're in a warehouse full of new toys... I weakened... so a shiny new Abu SX10 Soron reel, and a spool of 6lb Nanofil line were soon sitting in a box beside the new lures. Man I am such a schmuck, I am sure that Pure fishing's share price jumps every time I walk in their showroom. Now, small diversion from the lure for a second to mention that line, the nanofil. This is a next generation development of the tried and true that Fireline Berkley have been making for yonks, my very most favouritest line for any spin reel. The only issue with Fireline is that it does deform - flatten actually, after use. But really, that's not a biggie to me. in cross section, does not fray or flatten like the Fireline, and is pg, hopeless for casting, they tangle in the trace something chronic,g however…hmmmm. How about a trolling weight? However, this nanofil stuff is supposed to be, and stay, round ,y , much thinner meaning you should pick up a few metres more in every cast over the already brilliant Fireline. The only issue ding to the guys in the office, is that with anything , meaning you should pick up a few metres more over the already brilliant Fireline. with it, according to the guys in the office, is that with anything it is so skinny they couldn't see it well enough to under 4lb line it is so skinny they couldn' tie knots in the darn stuff! So what the heck, I got a spool of 6lb. e darn stuff! So what the heck, I got a spool of 6lb. I had my new reel all loaded up, and an SX10 reel tropics to give them a bash in the Solomons. ply awesome. there was simply awesome. first favourite, being the first one I tried, was the Scum-Dog. ana shaped stickbait, being a floating lure, was This tiny banana shaped stickbait, being a floating lure, was fishing the sandflats off the just dynamite fishing the sandflats of resort where patches of sea- grass made any other lure impractical. light lure out was easy enough, but the awesome action of d the lure as you slowly wind-and- twitch it back in, making the lure duck and dart about on, or just under the surface, was just amazing to see. Even better, it did all this over top of the sea-grass just a centimetre below the surface. Did it work? Hell yes. I had small sweetlip emperors, trevallys and garfish The Mangrove Jacks just nailed the Sub-Dogs in the tropics 50 Professional Skipper September/October 2012 Flicking the light lure out was easy he awesome action of beaches of the resort where patches of sea- y other lure impractical. These little lures just got munted by everything in sight. My , being the first one I tried, was the Scum-Dog. lures just got munted by everything in sight. My Now, once I had my new reel all loaded up, and an SX10 reel is very small by the way, a real micro reel, I headed of by the way, a real micro reel, I headed off up to the e them a bash in the Solomons. What happened up g , however…hmmmm. How about a trolling weight? Run without a hook, just with a lure running behind? Hopefully it would running behind? Hopefully it would get down deep enough. So, that's how I rigged them. The wingding tied about 600mm ahead of the small PuppyDog lure. Worked just perfectly. The weight and angle of the spinnerbait s how I rigged them. The weight and angle of the spinnerbait pulled the lure down zapping in from hither and yon to nail the new toy. In the 100m from my bungalow at the resort to the bar (it is important to maintain your fluid intakes in the tropics eh), I bagged four nice fish, all promptly taken from me by the staff who were following my progress with considerable interest. These fish were about 20cm long. For the Islanders that is the perfect eating size. The lures worked brilliantly all trip, steadily whittling down in numbers until the last one died on the last day to a particularly greedy barracuda over a shallow sand bar. They were munched up large on the flats by trevally, mangrove jacks mauled them in the rivers, and all sorts of weird and wonderfuls hit them over the reefs. Great toys. When I got back home I re-stocked straight away as I wanted to try these little lures out on trout, and for something a little different, snapper, here at home. The trout were a learning experience. Out on Lake Karapiro, flicking the little "Puppy Dog" lure that I really like (the pink one is my favourite), I found it cast like a bullet. But as it is winter, the fish are feeding a little deeper than they do in the summer and the lure was just not getting down far enough for my liking, diving to about a metre in three metres of water was just not pulling in the fish. Hmmm, what to do, what to do? In my tackle box I had a little lure that I had always thought was just awesome, although to be fair, the fish didn't seem to think so as it has been resolutely un-eaten for a couple of years now. Its a little Wahoo Lures "Wing Ding", a small, heavy spinner blade, y