Soft or hard lures!

[SteveGB]

Hi guys,

I know that many people use soft lures rather than Rapala type lures. I personally always preferred using Rapala hard lures, due to the fact that I have caught a few with them. But after the competition and what I describe below it got me thinking.

Yesterday as I was inspecting both my Rapala Lures which I used for the competition and I noticed that both of they had bite marks. The marks where on both sides and where quite deep. I compared the bite marks to other lures which I have already caught Alungi on and they where the same. These lures are quite hard so the fish had to bite quite hard to leave such a mark on them. These two lures where brand new and out of the box.

The strange thing is that the drag never went off and the bite marks where quite up, a bit further down from the head so I am quite surprised how the hook which is situated on the tail of the lure did not hook up with the fish.

After all this, I came to the conclusion that the fish (I guess Alungi) attacked the lure with its mouth wide open and when they bit and felt that the ?bate? was hard they re-opened their mouth without giving any time for the back hooks to make contact with the fish. Do you think that if I used a soft type of lure (like a williamson etc) the result would have been different due to the fact that the lure is soft and the fish might have not released it so quick. Or maybe my drag settings where not good? Would be interesting to know what u guys think, and maybe improve for next season.

Thanks Steve

(ps?. I would appreciate no comments from Bikri or Fishfinder) Thanks

[The_Gaffer]

quick question before I answer...where the rapala lures you used for during the competition new?

[SteveGB]

These two lures where brand new and out of the box.

[fishfinder]

Those bites where from Kalang and Bikri because you took them in a wrong area for fishing

according to Skars those are scratches from the hooks

[camkev]

Sometimes the marks are of the treble hooks touching the lure,the only problem is that you said they were new!

[The_Gaffer]

These two lures where brand new and out of the box.

Now that is an entirely different equation.  Seems quite difficult to get teeth marks on a lure, travelling at around 6 knots, and not even a strike...
Think about it Steve, and follow the action...the alongi usually attack sideways, they open their mouth, they bite down on the lure, they leave their teeth marks, and no sign of this activity on your rod or reel...bit difficult don't you think.  Also, since you found bite marks on the lure...then the lure was dragged inside the alongi's mouth...wouldn't that have constituted a strike, not to mention a hookup?.  I'm saying this since those tripple hooks on the Rapalas are notorious to penetrate anything in their path...and with the rapala inside the alonga's mouth...there wasdistance travelled..even if it was a split second...the marks on your rapalas can verify that!

[BIKRI]

I had marks too on my popper and i verified with the hooks and matched perfectly. If not i think that you are still an amateur and you will never make it as big game fisherman. What i suggest is that you stick to your fishing tied to the fishfarms for vopi and sawrell

[Jonathan]

Steve, try swinging the hooks forwards and backwards and check whether the "bite-marks" are exactly in the place where the tip of the hooks would scratch the lure's body. If yes, then your problem of how the marks got there is solved

[robby017]

you were probably trolling above the recomended speed.... i think rapala max limit is 6 knots... not sure though.

[skip]

A drag set too hard would have still set the hook enough to hear the reel go off even if for just a few secs before ripping out of the fish's mouth.

On the other hand given the swell there was it could be the hooks were banging up against the lure and those are the marks you're seeing. Online alot of ppl recommend changing the std hooks and rings....try and do a good search.

Would be interesting for those who want to share on the privildge boards what they were using yesterday in terms of spread. I reckon that between us all we were probably running a very very diverse pattern and set of lures, speeds and distances from the boat and most of us still didn't catch.

[SteveGB]

Aw fishfinder and Bikri!

Fishfinder...why did you take your crew to the right spot to fish? Did not see you amongst the winners!

Bikri...the only place where I saw you catch a few fish was next to the fishfarms..and you wanted to go again..so i recommend you keep on going there..enjoy!

Thanks Gaffer and Jonathan for your replies...that?s why, I thought it was strange that i got no activity on the rod. Will check if it might be possible that the deep hits on the side of the lure might have came from the hooks but this did not occur to me as the hooks are tied under the lure, and due to the fact that whilst trolling the hooks are always travelling straight under the lure.

It might be because of the moving action of the lure, if so its quite as let down if lures which are used for trolling get damaged by there own hooks.

Thanks,

[benri]

I think the reason is the hooks rubbing against the lure especially with the X-rap that swims from side to side. This happens even more when you troll at higher than recommended speeds.

[fishfinder]

at least he had a strike

[SteveGB]

...prosit....next year the organisers should make another prize for most strikes then !



Benri thinking about it and the reaction i got from others the reason might be just that! will have a better look at my lures! Thanks

[fishfinder]

Steve,

apart from joking, I have all the same on my Hard lures and they are all reached by the sharp treble hooks. to be honest I prefer soft plastic lures with 1 hook so that they can swim better. until now the soft once never failed a bite.

we've tried all sorts but If there's no fish you can troll all day blaiming the lures.

one thing that we knew was that we had high winds for nearly 2 weeks and we all know that Alungi often hunts in deeper water but still we got our strike on a close to surface lure

I think it's already gameover for the Alungi