Now That's A Lure!

My fishing buddy, Keith Graham, of Bransfords Tackle Shop has always been an innovative thinker as far as fishing tackle goes. Over the years he has worked with the likes of Shimano, Daiwa, Rapala and co and many of his suggestions (subtle little tweaks to product lines etc.) have made all the difference to the end performance and subsequent angler satisfaction.


One of our joint passions is obviously lure fishing our magnificent tropical waterways – targets include the iconic barramundi, mangrove jacks, trevally, cod, tarpon, sooty grunter, jungle perch etc………….and if your really lucky, flathead. (This is an in joke, sorry Keith!).

We are always striving to find that perfect lure, the one that will obviously catch fish, but also have many other qualities that make it a real gem in the minefield of tackle available on the market these days. Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention, and the very real unavailability of various lures for many reasons makes the search even more important. We get desperate sometimes if our favourite lure is not available for months on end. You just gotta buy a new one!

Over the years Keith and I have field tested many new offerings from lure manufacturers with varying success. But we have always strived to source that “just what the doctor ordered” lure, the one that is a stand out from the crowd. Bransfords range of Stealth, F111 and Tropical Rogue lures are now legendary and have accounted for literally thousands of fish over many years of proven reliability.

WE NOW HAVE THE GRAND DADDY OF THEM ALL!

Last Sunday, Keith and I headed up to the Daintree to field test his brand new range of………wait, we don’t even have a name for them as yet! They are a beautifully finished lure, looking every bit the perfect barra lure for use in relatively shallow waters. They come in a variety of approx. 10 colours, all hand picked by us to work in our tropical streams, we were like kids in a lolly shop – which one do we put on first.

Not a gold Bamber!

Being a fan of the legendary “Gold Bomber”……I just had to try this colour first and guess what. On my third cast of the day I hooked up and landed a lovely little 50cm barra. Well they do work we mused. But “one swallow does not a spring make” as they say, the proof would be in the pudding oh er CATCHING!

How good does that look!

A nice barra on the new lure

Keith snapped on a beautifully looking bright yellow sided / orange back model – the flash from this lure as it worked through the waters was amazing. It just said come and eat me fish. And eat it they did. It wasn’t long and Keith had landed a couple of juveniles as well and we were on our way.

This article is not supposed to be about the fishing experience on this day, it is all about the lure. So I won’t go into a blow by blow description of where we travelled, what we landed and what lure we used. But suffice to say that we worked the system from way above the boat ramp to down to the river mouth. We caught fish all over the place and the images hereabouts are testament to our (the lures) success.

In all we hooked up to an impressive tally of;

• 28 barra

• 2 jacks

• 1 flathead (sorry Keith)

A jack attack

At one stage, working a back water near the river mouth, Keith had tired of the success of his pink coloured lure and casually asked what should he try next……these lures are all so darn good looking its really was a hard choice. Clip on the green one I said, it will work well in this dirty water.


I love a man brave enough to go pink!



Barra on "pink"

Green does work!

Well two casts later Keith was hooked up to the best barra of the trip. It was a spectacular fight, the salt water barra jumped all over the place and we were stoked. He landed another of similar size a few casts later……..man these lures were good.

And work they do.

At about 3:30pm we decided to pull the pin, we had seen enough. To say we were ecstatic is an understatement.

We came, we saw, we tested and we conquered – well, on this day anyway. I am not as fickle to suggest that these new lures will work under all conditions, on all tides, in all locations. But I am prepared to state that these lures are one of the absolute best barra lures I have ever hooked up to my Loomis………and that’s a big statement coming from me.

• They are slightly heavier that a Highjacker making them very easy to cast accurately

• They are more buoyant than a B52 but not as much as a gold bomber

• They have a superb finish – some models are painted while others are laser etched with prismatic tape inside

• They come with quality VMC hooks

• They have an excellent high impact plastic bib that did not budge

• They can be worked vigorously in the “boof” style so popular in the tropics

• They hardly ever hooked up to the trace on casting – weight & hook placement near perfect

• They come is a great range of proven colours

• THEY ARE DARN GOOD LURES

Check out that finnish!

Check out the images, check out the range, get to Bransfords Tackle Shop at Clifton Beach……….its now even more “Well worth the drive”

PS - I was in Bransfords yesterday purchasing some of these new lures for a friend. Young Mathew Graham had been fishing off the rocks near Clifton and you guessed it - he had landed a very nice barra on these new lures!
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS..........hope you have a wonderful New Year and happy fishing.
 
Kind regards, Les
http://www.fishingcairns.com.au/