Fishing World – September 2019

ONE of the talking points that
I see regularly discussed,
involves the technique and speed
required to effectively work a f ly or lure.
There are many factors that come into how
you fish a lure. Most lures are designed for a
specific purpose and retrieve speed so trying
to vary that will usually see the lure not
working to its best. Trying to crank a soft
plastic prawn back at warp speed doesn’t
work and working a metal slug slowly with
rod action is also usually a waste of time.

RETRIEVE SPEEDS

Too slow, too fast? What exactly is the correct

speed for retrieving your lure or fly?

ABOVE: Experiment with different retrieve speeds.

work a plastic or f ly deep and slow. Rule

number 1 – select the right lure but don’t be

afraid to mix things up if the standard lure

and retrieve speed isn’t working.

We get a lot of big queenfish in Hervey Bay

over summer and early autumn. We’ve caught

the odd one while throwing plastics at tuna

but to target queenfish successfully you really

need a lure that bloops and splashes on top.

They are very fast predators and will follow

and look at most lures but if that lure splashes

and breaks the surface at speed like a popper

or stickbait you’ll convert those follows into

spectacular eats. Having said that we’ve also

caught them on f ly using a medium strip.

SPORTFISHING

62 fishingworld.com.au | September 2019

With Greg Finney

Quite often the determining factor is the

species being targeted. You wouldn’t fish a

high speed metal lure for f lathead just as you

wouldn’t fish a soft plastic crab for tuna. All

species that sportfishers target have a range of

food that they hunt and eat and a well tuned

system of catching that food. Some are high

speed pelagic predators that feed on baitfish

and are quite susceptible to metals and plastics

retrieved at pace. That doesn’t mean you won’t

catch them on a slow retrieve with the right

lure or f ly. I’ve caught many longtail tuna by

slowly working a 5 inch ZMan plastic down

deep and even on a dead drifted f ly. If the

high speed retrieve isn’t working I’ll often