Richter Lures Jellybabe update

Richter Lures have long been producting the Jellybabe, as part of their fantastic Softhead range. They’ve had a few tweaks since release, some new colours here and there, new eyes, but nothing really revolutionary.

We have some of the first pictures of the new colour range, and of the new head design. The cup edge has a little flatspot around the rim, and isn’t quite so steep, to help them hold water better and the compond used for the head is a little firmer.

Ask for them at your local stockists, they were always great for Dolphinfish and Tuna, and now they’re even better.

Shown in the image is 502, Chartreuse, UV Green, 46, UV Blue and the latest addition – UV Pink.

Studio Ocean Mark at TackleTester

At Tackle Tester, we have seen all sorts of reels touted as the next best Sambo jigger. Many of these don’t make their first season, some  don’t even survive their first outing.

Studio Ocean Mark is a Japanese outfit catering to specialist jigging and popping fishers. Their 16000 spool is a must for ever angler that wants a bit more capacity on their Shimano Stella SW10000, to fish them right to the limit.

They have gone one better than that though. Not content to make aftermarket parts for Shimano and Daiwa, they have made their own entire reels and we have one here for testing. Saber Strokers, the Australian and Asia region distributor, have sent us  a  Studio Ocean Mark L120hi to test!

On paper, its a fantastic reel! The reel is pushing out a max drag of 20kg, with a 5.4:1 gearing taking 116cm of line per turn. It features angular contact bearings, ball bearings and double-stacked one-way bearings for antireverse to an impressive total of 11 bearings. Line capacity is 300m/PE8 right through to 600m/PE4, we will be looking to fill it with PE5. It checks in at 780g, but you can just tell how well its built when you feel it’s heft.

That is enough of the paper though, the freespool is over 30seconds with a bare spool, pretty sure we can get minutes once we have it loaded. Expect to see this reel a bit more once we get the line onto it and take it for a spin!

Don’t forget to try Saber Strokers for both the L120, and other SOM aftermarket parts.

CUSH-IT by Luna Sea

We have all had that experience, the gimbal belt getting hooked up on things on the boat, or just generally in the way. If that isn’t bad enough, you’re usually not even wearing it when you get an almighty strike jigging. You have to respond quickly or that fish will bust you off against the reef.

Well, thast where the CUSH-IT by Luna Sea is different. It’s placed on the end of your rod, so it there whenever you need it.

The guys at Nomad Sportsfishing Adventures have seen it all, and on with both tuff customers, and tough fish. They recently picked up the CUSH-IT and have been finding it great for their GT Fishing. GTs don’t offer second chances, so its all about being ready to go as soon as the lure is in the water!

At Tackletester, we have been send a couple to try by Nomad Sportsfishing Adventures, and we hope to get them out jigging over the coming months. If you can’t bear to hear how we have been doing, then run down to their online shop, and grab one for yourself  

 

Adidas Boat Lace

Want some new boat sneaks?

Adidas have it for you here. Grippy, lightweight with free-draining mesh bottom and a quick-dry fabric upper.  Good toe protection so no problems on the rocks, or with teeth and available in a range of fashion colours.

Check out the range here, at Adidas.

Braid Jig range at Pro Tackle

Most people would be familiar with Braid Products’s harnesses and teasers, but they also make a range of jigs. We have Peter from Pro Tackle’s picks here to trial.

Top to bottom:

• Braid Slim-Swim in hot pink/glow, 70z, this is a head-weighted jig with a triangular profile and should be the bomb.
• Braid Long Hammer in blue/white, 70z, this is a centre-weighted jig with slim baitfish profile, er’re really expecing this one to product with the Sambos and other Seriola.
• Braid Aussie Jig in blue/white, 1.5oz, as an Aussie, I guess I have to give this offering a crack, I’ll probably break it out on some inshore pinks!

Look forward to some updates when we get them wet!

Lamble Bait Darting Haoli

Peter from Pro Tackle sent us this recently. This Lamble Bait Darting Haoli is probably one of the oddest looking lures I’ve seen in the ongoing  evolution of the mechanical jig is this . It looks like a cross between a regular jig and a inchiku.

Lamble Bait really have a good quality finish on the lure, and I’m looking forward to getting this one wet soon!

We will keep you up to date on how it fishes!

Finger Savers from ProTackle

Looking suspiciously like man-jewelery, this latest offering from Pro Tackle piqued our interest.

Who hasn’t cut themselves cinching knots in braid, or reached for pliers to really put the welly into a heavy mono knot?

These Finger Savers are anodied aluminium rings, available in 3 colours, with an inset of plastic to stop the line from slipping. They’re sold in pairs and really save your skin when reefing your knots up nice and tight and tight. Even better than gloves, they take up next to no space in the tackle box, so they’re there when you need them next time.

Check them out at Pro Tackle!

Shimano Sustain FG – Back in Black

Ok so Shimano went back to white for the new Stradic FJ series and saved bad black for the Sustain FG. In the process, they updated the reel with some top new features.

• X-Ship, allowing closer and smother gear meshing and a ball-bearing at the end of the pinion gear,  something we first saw in the 2010 Stella
• Mangunmlite Ci4 rotor for the 1000-4000 sizes
• Reel stand to prevent scratches, and maybe hang a hook off it.
• A new EVA ball handle.
• Waterproof rapid-fire drag.
• New fully machined handle.
• Saltwater approved.

No idea on the Aus release date, but expect them to ship for the US Summer season priced between $329 and $349US, depending on the model.

Daiwa Saltiga Boat Dendoh Style Deep Drop Rods

Right now we’re jigging out deep, and testing new ground, sometimes its good to have some bait to drop and see whats down there, especially when you just can’t hold bottom with a 600g jig.

After looking around and not finding anything locally, we found these Daiwa Saltiga Boat Dendoh Style Deep Drop Rods online and they looked great! Money down, some very prompt shipping and they’re here already from Melton International Tackle. We selected the baby of the family: 40-100lb and 5′ 6″ in length.

 

Spec-wise, we were really loving them. Fuji Alconite guides, Pacific Bay detachable bent butt, Aftco swivel tip to prevent those annoying tipwraps.

 

Fortunately some good weather turned up and we didn’t have to wait too long to give them a run on the boat. Conditions were very trying with a strong 4kn drift, so we sized up to 6lb sinkers. This style of rod butt isn’t really designed to be fished from the hip, more the gunnel, so each was placed facing out from the gunnels, like outriggers, to give us the widest spread possible, then safety-strapped in.

 

We ran them with two different reels, the Daiwa Tanacom Bull 1000, also available from Melton International Tackle, and the Miya Epoch Command 4. Both reels fitted and worked fine although ergonomics of the Miya were especially good. At that gunnel height, they put the screen and buttons nice and close to you, with the speed control dial at the front right hand side of the unit.

 

Before too long, it was fish on! The rod was great, it kept a bend up, but still had plenty of power left in it despite being just the baby of the family.

So whats down there? A nice Grey-Barred Cod comes over the side, pinned on the big circle hook.

Synit/Accurate Revisted

As frequent readers would know, we have tested and reviewed the Synit DeepShots a few times: here, and here, and dry-tested the Accurate Boss BX-600N here too. A few more fish later, it was time to see how they’re going!

We have had the pleasure of fishing the Accurate BX600XN and the BX600, and this is the two reels compared:

• Drag: we’re fishing PE5/70lb, or PE6/80lb and we have benchmarked the drag to 15kg and they seem to run that fine.
• Capacity: the BX600 takes 600m of PE6, the BX600N barely takes 600m of PE5. We really feel that is about the sweet spot for deep-drop jigging. So far we haven’t been overpowered on PE5 yet and do appreciate the reduced line drag in the water.
• Gearing: we really expected the high gearing to be less suitable for deep sea jigging, but it has so-far proved fine. You can’t grind small fish up on the high speed, you must pump and wind, but even 600g jigs can be spun up no problems. OTOH the low gear is fine and you can jig all day. It certainly provides a bit more turning power for those pesky Samson Fish.
• Palmability: the BX600N was a very good match for the Synit with the Fuji Palm Support System reel seat. The BX600 was a little wider and less comfortable, but if you need the capacity, go for it!
• Maintenance: both reels are going strong with nothing more than the occasional dab of the supplied Reel-X.
• Handles/Arms: its probably a touch on the short side, and you really only feel it with the high-gear.

If you want an all-round, all-day deep jigger, you can’t beat the Accurate BX600N, in either the high or low gear. We’re using 600m PE5/70lb for the cod, and swapping this out for 350m of PE8/100lb for the sambo sessions, hopefully a few more outings in the coming season.

We have grown fans of the awkward-looking Synit antacid wrap. Its really a step past the acid wrap a few brands are using. The oval guide very effectively zeros the spiral around the blank, and the taller reversed stripper keeps the line central for the narrow jigging reels like the Accurate BX-600N.

The blank is super tolerant of a wide range of jig sizes. We have successfully worked anything from 200g in 100m right up to 600g in 350m on it, and it handles it very well.

Our most recent trip was a good workout for the gear:  a 4kn drift in 350m. We sized up to the 520g LJ Nasout jig and only really just managed to hold bottom, a fellow angler with the same jig and PE6 just couldn’t make it down. Lucky the fish found it!

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