Gearing up to go hard

Spring fishing with lures has a new dimension with the increasing availability of hard body (bibbed and bibless) and blade lures. If you don’t yet have any of the new sinking versions, try your floating lures at dawn in the wash zones.

The secret to eliminating massed lure tangles is the humble rubber band. Simply use one to wind the trebles together and pass a loop over the end of the lure to keep them tight and make the system easy to undo.

A simple lure-fishing tool kit: Genie clips make lure changes simple, the ‘toothed’ split-ring pliers are indispensible for split-ring and treble changes, heavier pliers make short work of crushing barbs, and finally the long-nose hook-out pliers make lure removal easy and eliminate the risk of getting pinned yourself.

A single compartment tackle box makes everything easy to clean when back at home, including the tackle box itself. Using the rubber band trick eliminates the need for individual lure compartments.

Extracting lures with multiple trebles is no place for fingers, even when the lure has been swallowed as deeply as this. Hook-out pliers are essential for your own safety when removing lure hooks; remember you have to paddle home!

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Another spring snapper run is upon us, kahawai are hammering lures, and I’m beginning to get the kingfish jitters – that hint of ‘buck fever’ – in anticipation of big green hoodlums marauding around the kayak.

It’s that delightful anticipation of loaded rods, singing braid and screaming reels as we’re dragged off on another ‘Neptune’s sleigh ride’, trying desperately to wrestle control from the fish before the next bit of hard ground is encountered!

For me, part of the excitement is the opportunity to spend more time casting and working hard-body and blade lures. These have been brilliantly successful whenever I’ve used them over the last couple of years, and with tackle suppliers now bringing in more comprehensive ranges of product, it’s time to lift the game to a whole new level. These new lures make it possible to target fish such as snapper everywhere from the wash zones and shallows out to deeper waters in excess of 30m.

Even better, most of us can leap straight into this ‘new’ technology (‘new’ for us in NZ, because in reality many of these lure styles have been around for a very long time in other fisheries) without having to purchase yet more rod and reel sets. If fishing soft-baits, you already have the basic rod, reel and line combo to get started. The same easy casting, light physical weight, yet strong rod, reel and line combination allows us to cast, work, and stay in touch with hard-bodies and blades when targeting species such as snapper, kahawai, trevally and john dory.

Since most of us already have the suitable rod and reel combos to get started, let’s look at the rest of the basics to make fishing these multi-hook wonders as pain and stress free as possible. I phrase it like this because the most significant difference between the soft-baits we’re familiar with and hard-body style lures is the number of hook points we have to deal with, and the way they’re attached to the lure.

There’s nothing like dragging your first lure-caught snapper to the side of the kayak, peering down at the extra sets of trebles flailing around as the fish shakes its head, and realizing you’ve not thought about getting the fish aboard without dragging it, hooks and all, into your lap! I’ve witnessed a couple of kayakers give the classic, long, pregnant pause as they’ve visualized hooks imbedded in sensitive anatomical locations before I’ve paddled over to offer my net or gaff and a set of long-nosed hook-out pliers. The looks of relief said it all, so here’s a quick guide (in no particular order) to some of the important accessories you’ll find invaluable when fishing hard-body and blade-style lures.

Split-ring pliers
Available in a wide range of sizes and styles, split-ring pliers quickly become indispensible when changing hooks and split-rings on and off the water. It only takes one ripped thumbnail and bleeding quick, dampened with salt water and snapper slime, to make the investment worthwhile! Then there’s the frustration of having your favourite lure out of action because of a damaged hook that simply won’t come off the lure.

Like most pieces of fishing equipment, you can pay as much or as little as you like. There are expensive saltwater-proof items machined from the latest exotic metals, and there are those found ratting around the bargain bins. I have one of these that cost me the grand sum of $6, which I use as a loaner, and it’s every bit as effective as others I have costing 10 times as much. The only practical difference (aside from the ‘magpie effect’ of owning the fancy, shiny, latest bit of bling) is the need for a generous spray of silicon to keep the salt at bay.

Split-ring pliers are definitely in the ‘must have’ category, and is one of the most-used items in my tackle box on and off the water. I upgrade all the split-rings on my lures, regardless of whether I change the hooks, so my pliers get a lot of use. My logic with changing the split-rings is that I don’t ever want to leave a hook in a fish as a result of it separating from the lure. I can accept straightened hooks (barely ) because, though

I’ve lost the fish, it’s won its freedom without having to deal with a treble hook stuck in its mouth afterwards.
On the water I regularly change hooks that have had their points damaged if I’ve run too close to the rocks.

I’ve also had occasion to change good quality, light-gauge, nickel-plated carbon steel trebles that have suffered metal fatigue and broken on a hot bite after landing fish after fish. Of course there’s the need to replace straightened hooks, too. This could be as a result of trying to cheat and lift smaller fish aboard using the lure body (a dangerous practice if the lure has more than one set of hooks!) or because the hook simply wasn’t up to the job.

In all circumstances, split-ring pliers make it fast and simple to change or upgrade lure hardware. They are also essential for re-rigging some of the smaller lures we are now using. These can have high performance hooks and split-rings that cannot be grasped any other way.

Heavy-duty pliers
These aren’t in the ‘must have’ category, but are a very worthwhile addition to the tackle box. I use the stronger jaws for closing the barbs on larger trebles, and for cutting inferior hooks and split-rings from lures. Doing this rather than using the split-ring pliers stops me from being tempted into re-using the split-rings and/or hooks – something that has got me into trouble in the past.

Rubber bands
These are my secret weapons to control tackle rage! No, I don’t shoot them at other kayakers on the water, I use them to stop my collections of lures tangling into one of those incredibly frustrating balls of sharp points and barbs. Simply stretch the rubber band between the trebles, wrap them together, and then place the last loop over the head or the tail of the lure. This will hold the hooks together and close to the lure’s body, virtually eliminating the treble hooks’ incredible ability to link with ALL others in the same box!
Rubber banding the hooks together also makes it much simpler to rinse the lures when you get home to remove any salt that may have made it into the tackle box. Remember, some of the lures can be quite expensive, and it’s certainly worthwhile keeping them looking good. Hooks that haven’t gone rusty will also be stronger.

Tackle boxes
Prior to taking up serious saltwater kayak fishing, I used to use multi-compartment tackle boxes. This has all changed, due to how wet kayaks can sometimes be. At the very least we’re regularly accessing fresh tackle with wet hands, so a build-up of salt is inevitable. This is hard on gear, and I quickly found I was eventually losing much of my tackle to corrosion. It also means that when cleaning terminal tackle that has been damp, there’s also a need to clean the tackle box. Having multiple compartments can make this time consuming, and getting them properly dry is difficult, too.
As a result, I now use single or double compartment boxes only on kayaks. With a little organization, a few small zip-lock plastic bags (that are easily replaced rather than cleaned) and the rubber bands mentioned above to control those dreaded trebles, servicing and keeping all my terminal tackle in top order is no longer a chore.

Landing nets, gaffs, and fish grippers
Fishing hard-body and blade lures from kayaks creates the odd extra challenge, with one of the most significant being what to do with the fish at the side of the kayak flailing an extra set of hooks around. It’s not a good idea to reach over the side and grab the body of the lure to lift the fish – this is an excellent way to get your hand pinned by the extra hooks. Nor should you simply trace the fish aboard. Instead of wearing the extra hooks in your hand, the potential target is now your sensitive inner-thigh area!
To get the fish aboard with the minimum of fuss. I use the gaff for the bigger fish I intend to keep, and one of the new generation of silicon rubber-mesh nets for those I intend to release (the rubber material stops hooks from getting stuck in the mesh). I’ve tried fish ‘grippers’, and while they are very effective at controlling the fish, I find they can sometimes be a liability if fishing in rough conditions close to the backwash.

Hook-out pliers
These are definitely part of my essentials kit, and they see use on EVERY lure-caught fish. I now use the stretched long-nose pliers type, but any of the styles will work well. They make it simple to avoid any exposed hooks and to reach the one(s) that have pinned the fish. I cringe every time I see someone use their bare fingers to free a lure, even if it has only one treble. The risk of injury simply isn’t worth it, especially if you have to try and paddle home afterwards!

I’ve found that by using the long-nose type and closing the barbs on my hooks, I can also release fish at the side of the kayak without bringing them on board. This is especially useful during a hot bite where I only keep injured fish, or when the hordes of kahawai won’t leave my tempting offerings alone!
 

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