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This fat maiden fish nailed the Walking Stick trolled behind the little WingDing lure in my hand immediately, the diving lure helping pull the whole rig deeper as well, until I was trolling slowly up the river with the lure touching bottom at about four metres. And four metres is Strike Zone, as was proved pretty much straight away by a string of nice winter maiden fish. I swapped lures over a couple of trips, going from the little Puppy Dog lure to another in the range, a 50mm long lure called a Walking Stick, then the stumpy little Sub-Dog. All three lures pulled fish. The only issue I do have with them is that they run treble hooks. I can't say as I really like trebles for trout, but they are legal these days and the lures are so small, no decent single hook would really load the lure up enough to work them properly. So trebles it is I am afraid. Sharp little buggers they are too. In a momentary brain-fade I managed to bury one of the barbs up under my fingernail right to the curve of the hook (ow!). To get it out I had to turn the hook down (oww) and then pop it back out through the skin about 8mm below the entry point (..owww!!). Then a simple (ha!) matter of snipping off the wire hook, grab the barb with the pliers, and pull it through ooOWWWW F#%$&!!! Boy am I glad I have a medikit on the boat. Blood was going everywhere! Eeeuw! OK, so these little lures work a treat on the trout (and the fingers), how would they go for saltwater fish? This was all coming together right on deadline for this story so I only had a couple of days to get to the beach to try them in the salt. The same weekend Whitianga had 200mm of rain. Oh terrific, I like fish to be wet. I like lures to be wet. I do not like me to be wet. So before the deluge arrived I only had about an hour up the Whitianga estuary to try my wizard little trolling set This beautiful little fish loved the pink Puppy Dog to see what I could find, and I indeed found a snapper! I was totally stoked, I love it when a plan comes together! Shame I didn't check the batteries in the damn camera before I went out though, so documentary evidence of this capture is sadly lacking. Trust me though, I am a fisherman, we are renowned for our honesty(!) What I am really itching to try, is trolling with the spinner- blade and lure combo in summer up the estuary, as I think it may be a good little way to pick up flounder. It is, similar to lures used in the UK to catch their flounder after all. The idea is, the spinner pulses along over the bottom, stirring up small puffs of mud and sand as it skips along. Flounder are a predator after all, and the little puffs of sediment (it is assumed), imitates a small crab or something burrowing in the sand. This catches the flounder's eye, and then as they investigate this, they see a small lure chasing along behind it, hell.. it works in the UK. Surely our flounder should be just as keen on such a lure here? I'm gonna try anyhow. I also am keen to get back there and see if I can't get stuck in to a pile of gurnard on this same rig. I figure that when the fish are off the beaches over the sand in four or five metres, then working this rig along should also reap rewards. I am definitely gonna give it a go that's for sure. And then I will have batteries in the darn camera just you wait! Just to be ready I have picked up a pile of the little WingDings, 20 of them(!), and a bunch more of the little Berkley 3BCrank lures. So anyhow, that was how I have been filling in the gap between my trips tropical this winter: playing with me little wigglers. By the time you read this I will be back up in the Islands, using these lures again, hopefully adding to the range of species they have bagged so far! "The world's leading inspection, vertifi cation, testing and certifi cation company" SGS NEW ZEALAND LTD NATIONAL SHIPPING OFFICE: 17 Maurice Road, Penrose 1061 PO Box 13 518 Onehunga 1643, Auckland Ph: 0800 174 025, Fax: 09 636 6054 Email: nz.auckland.industrial@sgs.com Construction Survey, Cargo Surveying, Safe Ship Management, Equipment Inspection and Testing (including Radiography, Thickness and Crack Testing etc), Cranes, Lifting Equipment, Pipeline, Boilers and Pressure Vessels Design Verifi cation and Certifi cation, Water and General Laboratory Testing, Vibration and Oil Analyses. ISO 9001:2008, ISO 17925, ISO 17020:2000 Marine Surveying, Design Approval and new www.nz.sgs.com New Plymouth, Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru, Invercargill, Dunedin OFFICES IN: Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Rotorua, September/October 2012 Professional Skipper 51 VIP.S85