Lures – Barramundi
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{{+1}}Castaic Jerky J Swimbait 5 inch{{-1}}
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The Jerky J Swimbait 5" is the little brother of the &' version. It's a great lure to employ at those times when barra are looking for smaller baits or when smaller baits that land softly are required.
My three favorite colours are:
- Salt and pepper as in the top of the photo above
- Golden shiner
- Green Shad as in the bottom of the photo above
The three hooks that I rig this paddle tail soft plastic on are from top to bottom in the photo above:
- Owner Flashy Swimmer 5/0
- An alternative is to rig it on a 5/0 Owner twistlock to which has been added a few turns of lead wire that has well coated with a couple of layers of red nail polish.
- Owner Nitro Saltwater Pro 5/0 1/6 oz
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Author: StephenChatterton
{{+1}}Bomber{{-1}}
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Bombers in general are a very well known lure and it's likely that one or more colours are represented in lure boxes across Australia than any other lure. They have a retrieve depth of 2-3 feet when cast but on a longer troll swim down to 4-8 feet even at a slow speed.
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Author: StephenChatterton
{{+1}}Yakamito Hyper Jerk 90 minnow{{-1}}
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Author: StephenChatterton
{{+1}}Happy Rock Softies – grub{{-1}}
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This just one of the Happy Rock softies that is a credit to its designer Trev Burgess. He gave me my fist one probably two years ago and I have been using them ever since.
Unfortunately Trevor passed away in a tragic boating accident at Lake Awoonga on 4th September 2020. A very sad day for our fishing community ... RIP Trevor.
This is the only grub soft plastic that I carry and I fish it with confidence in those very quiet times when we can see the fish on the sounder but they are not interested.
I rig it up weedless in two ways.
- The first is on a 5/0 Owner Flashy swimmer ... this can be fish as you please but the original retrieve that Trevor described to me was a very slow roll.
- An alternative is to rig it on a 5/0 Owner twistlock to which has been added a few turns of lead wire that has been well coated with a couple of layers of red nail polish.With such a small amount of weight this softy can be fished really slowly with the tip of the rod imparting gust a few twitches.
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Author: StephenChatterton
{{+1}}Powerbait – Hollow Belly{{-1}}
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Powerbait hollow belly soft plastics are available in 5" and 6" versions and I use them for both weedless and jig hook presentations.
The four colours that I use are:
- Tennessee shad
- Hitch
- Bone shad
- Blue gill
Weedless hook presentations
In those cases The reason for that is that they are indeed hollow and so when a barra munches on them there is little resistance in squashing the lure and exposing the weedless hook and thus enhancing the chance of a hook up.
For the 6" hollow bellies the two weedless hook set up I favor are:
6/0 Owner Flashy Swimmer
6/0 1/6 oz TT Chinlock
For the 5" hollow bellies the two weedless hook set up I favor are:
5/0 Owner Flashy Swimmer
5/0 1/6 oz TT Chinlock
For the 5"
Jig presentations
For the 6" Hollow Belly the three hooks that I rig this paddle tail soft plastic on are from top to bottom in the photo above:
- Mustard Big Game Head Size 10/0 20 gram (7/10 oz)
- Mustard TT headlock size 7/0 1/4 oz and 3/8 oz
For the 5" Hollow Belly the three hooks that I rig this paddle tail soft plastic on are from top to bottom in the photo above:
- Mustard TT headlock size 5/0 1/6 oz and 3/8 oz
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Author: StephenChatterton
{{+1}}Slick rig 130 – competition tuned with stinger or blade{{-1}}
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I have progressively modified the Slickrig by reducing the internal weight so that it swims mid water, have modified the tail so that it swims better at a slow speed, added a subtle rattle to make it easier for barra to detect the lure and finally have added either a spinner or a set of trebles under the lure to induce and convert more hits to hook ups.{{end}}
Author: StephenChatterton
{{+1}}Castaic Jerky J Swimbait 7 inch{{-1}}
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The Jerky J Swimbait 7" is one of just a handful of soft plastics I rely on when Barramundi fishing in competitions.
Predominately this is a dusk, dawn or full moonlight soft plastic.
My three favorite colours are:
- Green Shad as in the top of the photo above
- Boneless Chicken which is a translucent pink colour
- Blue Shad as in the bottom of the photo above
The three hooks that I rig this paddle tail soft plastic on are from top to bottom in the photo above:
- Mustard Big Game Head Size 12/0 20 gram (7/10 oz)
- TT Head Hunter / Warrior 8/0 12 gram (3/8 oz)
- Owner Flashy Swimmer 516-080 10/0 (1/2 oz)
Also I note that when required, as in top example, I also add either a willow or beetle silver or gold spinner mounted on a screw in twist lock.
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Author: StephenChatterton