Going cold-turkey on bait!

I took a nice little Barra at the top of this mornings high.
Always good fun, but I got to thinking that the two lines that were out were both running the same rig.

I'm developing the notion that good fishing is about confidence.
And while I have great confidence in a baited line- I've very little with regard to lures.

SO..
For the rest of the week the cast-net is getting hung up.
Fluro-carbon will be for straight leaders and not Paternosters.
.. and only ONE casting rod will be coming out with me.
I'm off bait for a week!

Interested to see how it'll go!

:20_003::77: welcome to the dark side :byebye:

sweet barra alex I'm looking forward to seeing the results mate try some surface there looks like a nice lil creek for it

Haha- we'll see mate... whatever gets 'em onto the pointy bit at the end of the line!
Was about time I made a meaningful commitment to the method though!

Aw, what, no bait?
Nice barra Alex.

Once you get that first hit on a lure you won't want to use bait again.. Nice little Barra to mate....
Baz

A dangerous path you are taking there mate, once that first smash on a lure comes, its a downwards spiral into more lures, better rods and reels to cast them with, more lures again - very addictive, and this is coming from a former dedicated bait fisho.
Its all good, bait, lure, placs, fly, as long as its fishing, looks like a nice little creek you have there.

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Originally Posted by BR65

A dangerous path you are taking there mate, once that first smash on a lure comes, its a downwards spiral into more lures, better rods and reels to cast them with, more lures again - very addictive, and this is coming from a former dedicated bait fisho.
Its all good, bait, lure, placs, fly, as long as its fishing, looks like a nice little creek you have there.

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There you go with the fly again Brian. Next you will be telling us your getting a set of waiders....

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Originally Posted by 3Macks

Aw, what, no bait?
Nice barra Alex.

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ha ha.. yeah it's just for a week Graham. Even the Zerek won't catch fish from inside the tackle box, so putting in the effort while I've got the time to spare!
Promise me you'll slap me if I get too hooked up on it though!

Brian- Yeah, it's a good little spot. Almost 'inner-city', but those in the know aren't suprised by anything that comes out of it. I've heard blokes lay claim to metre plus Barra. Entirely plausible!

A.

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Originally Posted by SuburbanFishoCairns

ha ha.. yeah it's just for a week Graham. Even the Zerek won't catch fish from inside the tackle box, so putting in the effort while I've got the time to spare!
Promise me you'll slap me if I get too hooked up on it though!

Brian- Yeah, it's a good little spot. Almost 'inner-city', but those in the know aren't suprised by anything that comes out of it. I've heard blokes lay claim to metre plus Barra. Entirely plausible!

A.

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slow twitched B52, up-grade the splits to double Halco 4XX, and owner ST66 trebles, barra lolly mate

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Originally Posted by BR65

slow twitched B52, up-grade the splits to double Halco 4XX, and owner ST66 trebles, barra lolly mate

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Yeah, the B52 are OK

It's hard to stay off bait when your only just starting out with lures I found. I remember Each time I used to set out on a 'lure only' mission, I would always take a bag of prawns 'in case' just to guarantee a fish.. A whole day planned of lure casting would be a day of two casts and retrieves with the remainder soaking baits.
Just gotta find some willing blokes or blokettes willing to take you around and show you a few tricks to get started, you'll never go back once you get started. Ever.

Going out confident, but not expecting fish is the way I go.

Critical turning point mate, lures and soft plastics can get very addictive! Start getting a few fish and you'll be hooked!

Nothing wrong with soaking a bait,it has its place in the scheme. Scoring a fish on a plastic or lure does give you a sense of achievement though. You've tricked the fish, a plan of attack has born fruit and a learning curve moves on...to the next fish. It's very addictive, surface work especially.
Paulo.

I have a similar problem.I have used lures for many(too many) years for pelagics off the rocks,flathead,trout,marlin and a little bit of barra fishing etc but Bream and whiting on lures elude me.Every time I try,I end up going back to bait after a short time.Must be the old story of not teaching old dogs new tricks,or when on a good thing stick to it.I have toyed with the idea of going cold turkey on bait for a session or two but that is about as far as I have got to date.After my poor showing on lures at the M&G weekend I will definately need to improve.Will be interested to see how you get on.
Cheers, Mick

Can I ask if anyone's had trouble with short strikes on the Zerek Live Shrimp? Had a couple of times yesterday when the SP got carried away by the tail!

I've rigged a single stinger hoping it'll fix it.
30lb braid threaded through the segments with a needle to try and minimise the effect it'll have on the lures action.

The weather's gone to buggery today so I haven't tried it out yet.
Plus, I'm making it all up as I go along.. so any and all comments welcome.
A

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

like the idea of a stinger on a few plastics. Looks good to me and it should work ok. You may lose the odd stinger because of the braid being abraided but its definately worth a crack. Good thinking.

they look deadly- that barra or jack is not far away

Pay very close attention to the knots. Braid does not knot very well in the traditional sense. I'm not sure how braid and superglue react on each other, but if it's o.k. then I would be supergluing the knots for a little extra security. Other than that, they look really good and stingers are a godsend when it comes to cod fishing so I can't see why it wouldn't work on the Z-reks so long as it dosn't take away from it's action. Keep up the good work and hope to see a report of the one that didn't get away with your stinger.:p


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Originally Posted by tackle_buster

Pay very close attention to the knots. Braid does not knot very well in the traditional sense. I'm not sure how braid and superglue react on each other, but if it's o.k. then I would be supergluing the knots for a little extra security. Other than that, they look really good and stingers are a godsend when it comes to cod fishing so I can't see why it wouldn't work on the Z-reks so long as it dosn't take away from it's action. Keep up the good work and hope to see a report of the one that didn't get away with your stinger.:p


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Had the same thoughts Gaz,
Nice tight snell (lucky 10 winds) on the terminal hook, but the tie to the main hook is a bit more dubious (2 hitches and a hangmans knot of sorts). Did think of superglue but used the last of it up on my Swimmerz the other day!

Re the action: Any mod is going to effect it I gues so it's always going to be a compromise. My chief concern was the improved chance of snagage!

I enjoy the tinkering, but for the price, it'd be nice if they came with a stinger rig... IMHO.

SFC - sorry mate, dont know your name - they look the goods mate!
Experimenting is half the fun, very few lures of any kind off the shelf cant be improved by us dumboes who fork out the big coin for something that needs to be weighted, hardware up-graded, trimmed, boiled, painted, rattled, silenced, scent added, all part of the game to find the compromise between improved action/results, and the dampening affect over customizing can create.
I reckon somethings going to eat them no worries.
Super glue is sweet, I use it on my leader knots in heavier line class, I just change it over after a day or 2, no particular reason, just eliminating a possible weak point.
Yeah, I know, learn to tie a good leader knot, but I like the allbrite, its just a little loose with 80 leader.
Very much looking forward to that first pic of jack or barra on lure - stick at it!

That's good to know people use supa glue on knots, I've always wanted to but thought it would eat away at the lines..

nah, shes sweet mate, I buy mine from bunnings, blue lid, cant remember the brand but costs a couple of bucks a tube, Ive never had a leader knot failure, including fishing the salt for reefies and snapps, after super glueing the allbrite.

Attachment 18656

Make sure it's the liquid not the gel.