FISH & BOAT, February 2019- P53 Fishing From previous page Paddlers seem to provoke an extra aggressive response from cod. of recent times, thanks mainly to Prop Baits Saratoga are surface feeding specialists. Small fizzers their success down south, where they Surface lures which feature a pro- worked just enough to imitate the kicks of a struggling have been a real hit in cod fishing peller at the front, back or on both insect really attract their attention. circles. Paddlers are easy to identify,ends are often referred to as fizzers, as they either have a wide curved lipdue the sound they make when the on the front or are equipped with a blades start churning through the set of wings on the side. water. Fizzers are great lures for a When retrieved Even activepredators like range of species, they literally crawlbarra and jacks seem to be but I suspect theirway across the e responsive to subtly many anglers surface creating an mororked fizzers, while that don’t get the best enticing ‘plip, plop’ w out of them. sound which candrive fish crazy. goesdouble for smaller species To maximize likebass and saratoga. their effective- Classic examples ness, it’s impor- of paddler style lures include the tant not to try and make them create Heddon’s Crazy Crawler and Ar- too much fuss. Small, short twitches bogast’s Jitterbug. Modern examples of the rod tip which get the props include Halco’s Nightwalker, Bal- spinning without creating a mas- lista’s Hunchback, Jackall’s Pom- sive disturbance are usually the most pador and for the ultra-light freaks productive. amongst us, Predatek’s superb little Even active predators like barra Spaddlers. and jacks seem to be more respon- Paddlers seem to have different ef- sive to subtly worked fizzers, while fects on different species. If you arethat goes double for smaller species Nine times out of ten they’ll get hitI’ll finish up by reminding you thatdence and hang on. If you do that, talking bass, then they are one stylelike bass and saratoga. on the pause so don’t be in too much the most important part of using it shouldn’t take you too long to start of surface lure that definitely does Good examples of this style would of a hurry to move them out of the surface lures is confidence. What- enjoying some of the best lure fish- their best work early in the morn- include; Heddon’s classic Torpedo strike zone. ever you tie on, fish it with confi- ing action there is. ing or late in the evening and into range and the Luhr Jenson Wood- There are literally hundreds of cup the night when they can be actively chopper. As I do a lot of bass fish-faced poppers on the market. worked across the surface. ing, the locally manufactured Taylor In the smaller sizes, Halco also Bass and fizzers are a great combination. They will take fish during the day Made Fat Bangers are one of my have their mini Roosta Poppers in of course, but for that, they generallypersonal favourite fizzers. 45 and 60mm which are nearly bul- work best when tossed right back Poppers letproof. into shady little pockets of deep Last but by no means least, the Of the imports, Rapala Skitter cover and are not moved too far or humble cup faced popper is an all- Pops and the Rebel PopR range are too fast. time surface fishing classic. proven performers. Murray cod, on the other hand, Poppers are ideal for working Walk, Paddle, Buzz, Fizz or Pop seem to prefer a much more vigor- cover, and their strength is that theyTill You Drop ous action. Of course, cod are much can almost just sit on the spot, send-At the end of the day, there are no bigger than the average bass, and ing out surface vibrations that justhard and fast rules when it comes the lures used to chase them are scream ‘come and eat me’. to picking a successful surface lure. correspondingly larger and create a Like fizzers, don’t overwork pop- These are just some guidelines lot more commotion as they breast- pers and it’s important to be patientwhich I’ve found helpful on the wa- stroke their way across the surface with your retrieve. Leave lots of ter, and hopefully, they should stand of river pools. The strikes they drawpauses and watch for fish hanging you in reasonable stead while you are move a lot more water too. underneath between pops. starting out. Off And Racing in Wow, what a start to the year We are busy, busy, busy and already well and truly getting stuck into new gear reviews, boat tests along with preparations for some fairly large editorial projects which seem to be gaining ground on us quicker than we can plan forthem. It is all very exciting and to add to this we have just smashed through the 125,000 follower count on social media, which is absolutely massive. Short video seems to be winning the day when it comes to audience engagement, supported by well researched written content and of course spectacular still imagery. If you are wondering how to get your products in front of a highly engaged fishing & boating audience then please, call my number below.Luke Luke Fitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttzpatrick 00440000 9944 574 ssallllllllllllllllllllllllllllles@fishandboat.com.auttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt g f i s h