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COVER STORY: HIGH SPEED SPINNING

History

In early times, fishing lures were crafted from

bone or bronze. The Chinese and Egyptians

used simple lures, rods, hooks and lines from

as early as 2000 B.C., while the metal spoon

lure is believed to be invented by Julio T. Buel

in about 1848. However, it wasn’t until the

1960s that metal lures were being used for

high speed spinning from the rocks, with

pioneers of the sport such as Fisho founder

Ron Calcutt galvanising their use.

Since then land-based game has divided

into two distinct genres: lure casting and

livebaiting. The primary targets of LBG lure

casting are various tuna and mackerel

species, predominantly longtail tuna and

Spanish mackerel.

Lures have a sparkling future, thanks to the

growth in the global popularity of sportfishing.

Computers have ventured into lure design, and

some of the latest innovations include

scent-bearing lures, laser-honed hooks and

exterior finishes that are photographically

imprinted and amazingly realistic.

While some new lures are impressive with

their realistic finishes and lifelike actions, they

don’t always live up to the hype. As any keen

angler knows, the logic behind the old principle

of “matching the hatch” – that is, using a lure

that resembles the appropriate baitfish –

sometimes doesn’t work.

I’ve witnessed on countless occasions

popular land-based targets such as tuna and

kingfish feeding on a particular species of bait

but only striking lures that look nothing like

what they’re eating. My theory is that we

sometimes focus too much on “matching the

hatch”, rather than using factors such as speed

to fool and excite these predators into eating

something that otherwise doesn’t look all that

real. Let’s face it, no lure can ever match the

f lickering panic of a f leeing baitfish.

Heavy Metals

Metal lures are more complicated than they

may seem – particularly when used for high

speed spinning. In recent times there’s been

something of a void in high quality metal

lures for the land-based spinman. Firstly,

the switch from brass to alloy to minimise

production costs has seen some brands

become less effective. Other brands suffer

from inconsistencies in production quality.

And it’s fair to say that the growing

popularity of plastic bibbed divers and bibless

minnows has reduced the demand for

premium metal lures designed for the

land-based angler.

Regardless of the above, nothing can replace

the humble metal due to its epic fish catching

history, ease of use and durability.

Over time, the manufacture of fishing lures

has shifted from individual craftsmen to

commercial mass production. Recently, keen

LBG fisho Sam Moore (who is featured on the

cover of this issue) and myself have been using

and experimenting with custom made

80-gram stainless steel diamond shaped lures,

similar to the original Spanyid Raider. These

lures haven’t been cheap to produce but have

been well worth the trouble with great

captures of big golden trevally, Spanish

16 | fishingworld.com.au | February 2015

LEF T: The author with a

cracker longtail spun up

off an east coast rock

platform.

A classic LBG scene that

hasn’t really changed

in decades (apart from

the tackle used and the

clothes worn!)