Bomber Jr's Update.

I have been working on these little poppers for a while now, like most lures it takes a fair amount of time to get them how I would like. Currently working on a batch to for a angler in North Queensland AU, I may just put some aside for myself yet... 

This little duck has proven to be a great surface lure with the GT's... I may "upsize" the lure for heavier line classes as it is currently made for "light tackle" GT fishing.

GT Popping, Vava'u Tonga.

Location - Vava'u, Tonga

Date - 20th of February 2012

Number of Days - 5 days

Charter Operator - Poppin' Tonga ( Kurt Carlson )

Number of Anglers - Myself

I was lucky enough to be surprised on Christmas Day with flights and transfers to Vava'u from my partner and daughter to go hunt down my first GT! 

So I started planning and making a few lures for the trip. I had a few poppers I wanted to try out and see how they worked on GT's. With only stick baiting rods in the quiver I contacted the team at Synit to help me out.

Synit came through and I had the rod hand delivered by Graeme the night before flying out. CJ had spun up a Synit Topshot GT, 2 piece, 7' 10" and 25kg Max drag at 45 degrees with a max lure of 260g... Just the ticket.

Landed in Tonga, and after a short taxi ride I arrived at the domestic terminal for the flight to Vava'u. I had a 4 hour wait but there was a great little cafe, took the time to re-fuel...

Getting ready to board.

Flying into Vava'u, checking out the numerous reefs along the way.

Landed safely in Vava'u and was met by Kurt at the airport, the gear was loaded in the 4x4 and we we were off. Stopping in at the local store for some supplies and cold beer we then made our way to Lucky's Beach Houses also run by Kurt and his wife Lyn.

View from my beach front room...

Spent the last of the evening casting from the beach, trying out the new rod and lures. 

Day 1 -

Worked the inshore reefs, and some of the bommies along the way... Kurt gave me a few pointers and we keep working what seems like an endless amount of spots. I was fishing a stick bait hoping to lure a GT, the fishing was slow with a tide change late in the afternoon we kept working. Managed to raise the odd boil but no hook up yet... 

Changed out to a Cubera 100g and worked the reef next to a channel which attracts large numbers of Manta Rays... Kurt saw it well before me, the popper was absolutely inhaled by a Red Bass, I was tight on a fish and it felt good after hours of casting. With the fish at the boat it was clear to see why they fish didn't have a lot of fight, the lure was swallowed deep.

Another Island and reef to explore...

Kurt knows this place very well, some spots you cast a few lures then move on, other you work right along the edges... We kept hitting spots all day long, by now I had dropped 3-4 fish and had fish mouth a few lures... The tide had changed and I changed out to a black popper and finally hooked up... After 8 hours of casting I had my first GT!

Success!

All GT's are released with Poppin' Tonga... Too much!

I managed to catch another GT late in the day. By now I was pretty tired, and feeling the effects of casting all day.

Day 2 -

Finding bits of your body that aren't bruised...The wind had picked up and set the tone for the rest of the day.Wind and rain wasn't stopping us.. With a few leader changes due to some very stubborn wind knots I was getting plenty of knot tying practise in... Once again we hit some truly awesome spots, listening to story's of what has been pulled out from these spots always keeps you on edge. Late afternoon tide change was what I was waiting for but Kurt kept working hard, spot after spot, pass after pass. The radio was alive with talk of marlin, YFT, spanish mack's and sail's what a wicked place! I again dropped a few fish, one took a lure really deep, how did it not it not get any hook??

Late afternoon we hit a few small islands, the wind was whipping up but was at my back... Once again my own black 130g popper was the lure of choice...

Only fish for the day, but it was great... We had to really work for this one. We had a few feathered friends intent on eating my popper, it was inevitable the one should end up tangled. These birds were angry, and I mean angry. Biting the gaff, the boat and then Kurts hand as he tried to free the bird... It was a laugh first time round, second time not so cool. We said good bye to the birds and headed home. 

Over the course of the trip Kurt found plenty of bait, large schools of Fusiliers that we struggled to get any bites any where near the bait. But hey that's fishing...

Day 3 - 

I hadn't planned on fishing, I had a half day to kill before flying out but Kurt wandered over and told me not to put all my gear away "We are going fishing". Sweet...

What looked like good water soon turned into angry seas and was blowing hard. We started out at some deep bommies, I decided to fish the 200g /50mm popper all day, and just suck it up...

We had a hit and drop, we moved on casting at the reef on the outside... Good swell running, lots of water moving it looked fishy. 

My favourite spot of the trip.

Having had a hit on day one in this spot, I had high hopes of hooking up. This spot is wicked to say the least... Huge ledge, nice reef section off to the right.

We finally hooked up, it was a good looking cast into some nice water and it was smashed... The fish stayed flat in the reef but eventually came out to the drop off, started to sound, turned back to the reef and rolled out the hook... Wicked, its still cool losing GT's! Kurt was surprised I lost the fish so late in the fight, it was hooked for 4-5 minutes but found its freedom. 

Kurt and Lyn run a great operation, if you stay make sure Lyn cooks your meals as she is a lovely cook and you are well feed. Kurt is a top class guide, and is down to earth he shared plenty of tips and lure designs with me, a few should be out later this year for testing.

New Lures...

Spent this afternoon testing some new lures from the shore... We have had a lot of rain so the water quality is not so good but when it clears I will make an effort to shoot some video...


First up is a new 130g Popper...

The popper is rigged with an ST66 5/0 on the belly swivel... I purposely tested the lure with no rear hook as this lure will be for targeting GT's. I have researched and found GT's crash the middle section on most lures and in most photo's the fish is hooked on the belly hook, leaving the rear hook to do a lot of damage to the fish, not the best for both angler or fish. If targeting YTK a single hook on the rear would be a good idea. 

The popper has impressed me so far, big splash, lots of noise and a great "waggle" as the cupped face spills the water pressure...I will testing this popper properly in Tonga next month. 

Another new lure is the 230 Stick bait... Again this lure is 130g...

Rigged with ST66 4/0 both front and rear...

This is a diving lure and the action is wicked, very hard to explain so you will have to wait for some video.. I finished this lure in fusilier colours to mimic the common reef bait. Again this will be tested next month in the tropics.  

In need of a name....

The test bait is in need of a name...

Black... As requested by Capt Ben Pokaia.

Currently finishing up a few baits for sale, includes poppers, stick baits and some popping pencils... Will get some pictures up as soon as they are done...

Season's Greetings

Happy Christmas to all,


I hope you are enjoying this time with your family's...


I managed to get out with my father on Christmas Eve for a spot of bottom fishing, it is not often our work schedules allow us to get out fishing together so it was a great day on the water.


Next year is looking even better for RAL as more lures are put through testing to ensure I have a quality product.


Enjoy the Holidays and all the best for 2012 from RAL!

Sup bro...Check this out.

Nomad NZ HQ checked in today, it seems they have been having some insane fishing. 


Ben also had some feedback on one of the stick baits I made for swimming singles, Ben had mentioned he liked the lure earlier and was putting it through its paces...It is really great to have a Charter Capt' thrash the lures, it has shown a few improvements that can be further made to the lure but overall it's swimming great and catching fish.


I will be making some tweaks and trying some new cosmetic changes to the lure then sending some more back out to be tested again...In the end it will be a great lure, good things take time is what I keep telling myself and lessons learnt can be applied later on as the range of lures grow. 


Some of the changes will halt progress I am making with other lures until I hear how certain components and products perform in real world conditions.


Here's some photo's courtesy of Nomad Sportfishing NZ.

Great to see the bait swimming single's well! Nice fish!

Schools of Kahawai, YTK candy!

Ben putting these guys onto some more fish! 

Fat fish, Big smile = Wicked!

This way to the fish! 

Diving Baits

I thought it would be good to give those interested an insight into what goes into making a stick bait. Not all stick baits are the same and this is my take on one style of lure. These will be diving baits, they sit at 90 degrees to the water surface at rest with some practise and well timed rod work they swim with a diving, bubbling erratic action. They are what I would call a "finesse" bait, you do need co-ordination and favourable sea conditions to get the most out of these lures, but when you get it right....They are fish magnets! 

200mm Blanks

When finished these will be 200mm/95g baits. They start out as blanks cut from a clear straight grained piece of wood, wood species varies depending on the intended action of the lure. Good quality, well seasoned and a reliable source of wood should see baits that swim with a close action, they won't be identical as they are wood but that's what makes wooden lures great, every now and then you get one that is just "different".

The blanks are marked out using a template, they are also already drilled to accept the through-wire later on. The template is a shape I have tested and what I think looks good to the eye, no real science to it. 

Next stop.... The bandsaw.

Now I have an idea of the baits shape we can go to the bandsaw. This is a quick way for me to reduce the blank to a starting point for carving. Once cut I then can mark out other important features like belly swivel holes etc... I do this after the blank as I have found it to be more accurate. 

Ready for shaping.

With a shape to work to I can start carving/shaping the lure blank. I have adapted a tool to suit my purpose, the angled blade helps shear the timber as it's cut improving the finish. I have yet to spoil myself with a purpose built carving/whittling knife but I will one day. The chisel/knife has got to be sharp and I mean razor sharp. 

Ready for sanding.

The key here is keeping it symmetrical, sure it's not going to be machine perfect but your eye is a very good tool and is very accurate, getting your hands to do what the eyes see is another thing all together! 

I have been toying with the idea of making a machine that will produce these shapes for me, multiple axis and funny shapes it should be a fun/weird machine. Carving lures is great but my hands cramp after carving / sanding many lures. I have yet to start building this contraption but I have some ideas in my head that could work.... It could be safer that I carve them!

I will try and follow these lures through the process as I work on them, there is a lot to go yet!