Pacific Rim, Bill Harris

POINTED HEADS These lures come in a variety of shapes ranging from the original Green Machine to some of the more modern jet-heads from Melton. As a rule of thumb, for blue marlin there are very few lures in this category which are part of a traditional lure-fishermanís arsenal. Exceptions to this rule include some jet-heads from Black Bart and Marlin Magicís Big Mikey series, models which are routinely pulled on the long and shotgun positions, particularly in Hawaii. The basest way of describing these lures would be to say that they pull straight with little air movement, little head shake or swim, but are effective and catch many fish. It boils back to the old story of “If you donít pull Ďem, you wonít catch Ďem”. They are a very easy and straightforward option on a rough day. In addition, despite their seemingly lacklustre appearance in the water, they do catch more tunas and wahoo than the rest of the spread combined – one of the reasons for their popularity in Hawaii where yellowfins are an expected catch. In short, they meet the main criteria for being a fish-catcher – they are easy to eat. ANGLED HEADS This is the largest family of lures in the marlin world, and they range from enormous 18″ long hard-heads to tiny offerings of 6″ or so which are perfect for light tackle. There are many manufacturers around the world who make lures in this category, most deriving their shapes from the traditional lures pulled for decades by Hawaiians. These lures can be divided into three divisions, and I will deal with each of these in turn. These divisions in my opinion (for what itís worth, which most of the time is not very much) are divers, swimmers and splashers.DIVERS – these are the most consistent fish-catching lure among the angled hard-heads and this is because, again, they meet the requirements we discussed earlier where good hook-ups occur when a marlin can clearly see its quarry at some stage or another, but preferably at the deepest point of its dive. Champions amongst these lures are the super-plungers from Joe Yee, Marlin Parker, Black Bart and BIG T and others. Some may argue that Yee was the originator of this head shape, but it has been around for many years and even appears in other forms, slightly disguised, such as Saduís Calcutta series. Super-plungers are one of the very few divers which can get down to the magic 24″ depth. Another good diver which is no longer produced is a British bait (amazingly!) called the Skipper which used to be made by Proteus. I suspect it was a straightforward copy of another lure but it was made with excellent resin which gave it an extra dimension of weight and made it swim well. One other lure which gets down to that 24″ depth is a Zuker ZM-5.5 – after being given a 2.5 degree cut on the nose. If you want more info on this one please e-mail me on marlin@alderney.net. Suffice to say that I have this bastardised lure somewhere in my spread every day, and sometimes I have two. The hook-up ratio on this particular lure is awesome. Of the other lures mentioned above, they are all good, and I will always have a super-plunger and a Calcutta in my lure drawer. SWIMMERS – there are hundreds of swimmers around, and the majority do a great job of attracting marlin, although the hook-up ratio is not good. As a general rule, smaller swimmers will catch more fish than big ones, although some of the damned things we used to pull in Madeira, for example, were nothing short of monstrous. To be fair, they were effective, but probably only because the mouths opening to eat them were so big ! So, is the swimmer a fish-catcher, or a fish-raiser? All swimmers raise fish (that is if you follow the “Lure attracts fish” theory), but you can shorten the odds of catching the damned things by following a few rules. One of the most important to me is to find a swimmer that does get down and boogie some of the time. Joe Yeeís 505 and 501 models are prime examples of this, and any long headed swimmer similar to these will do a good job – Marlin Magicís Pears also fall into this category. Amongst the true swimmers there are also some other real legends. The Ruckus and Smokey Joe from Marlin Magic, the Dingo and Kwagga from BIG T, Williamsonís Big Blue Cavitator, the Apollo from Joe Yee, Murray Bros LNG series, Area Ruleís famous Doornobs and the diminutive 1656 from Black Bart. I also include in this group Steve Elkinís gigantic Bonzoid Bomber, which although technically a splasher, actually swims because of its enormous weight. All of these lures catch fish, and some of them are better than others in hooking up. Whilst it is true that huge fish like huge offerings, they also eat peanuts and, for me, the 1656 wins by a short head over the others mentioned here because of its size and regular, easy swimming action. Although it is offered in a straight-cut version as well as an angled-head one, my preference is for the latter. My advice for all of these lures is to try and slow the boat or lower the lure in the rigger if you see a fish coming – either action will cause the lure to swim more rather than splash and a fish will normally see it easier. BIG Tís Dingo/Kwagga was our all-time champion in Madeira, capturing no less than 18 fish over 1000lbs. Although a short-headed lure, the seas in Madeira are nearly always flat and this made the job of getting the lure to swim, as against splash and tumble, very easy. There are also some splashers which can be turned into swimmers by lowering their height in the rigger. A prime example of this is Marlin Magicís Soft Super Dog. Simply by changing its height you can turn this one into a large tube or a modest diver – a very versatile lure and the soft version of it is excellent. It is also in my lure drawer.SPLASHERS – here is the type of lure which changed the face of marlin fishing some fifty years ago – noisy surface baits which lit up fish and made them chase lures like cats after mice. As an aside, it is very likely though that in those days there were many more fish than there are now, so if you didnít hook up on one, you waited for the next! Herein lies the truth with these lures, whether they be tubes, straight-runners, Henrys or similar. By their very nature – aggressively attacking the surface and throwing water everywhere – they will attract fish. Unfortunately, their hook-up ratio is poor, especially on the first bite. Yes, I know of some huge fish caught on these lures, but to be honest I will not run them unless it is for a particular reason – such as to try and raise a fish when all else fails. For a teaser, you cannot go wrong with a large Henry from Marlin Magic, a Zulu Impi from BIG T, one of Black Bartís Zulu Impys [sic] or a huge tube you can make from a large Wide Range. As lures to be eaten, however, they are a poor relation to much better fish-catchers.In essence, most splashers consist of cylindrical heads with little or no taper that are sharply cut as much as, a very aggressive, 45 degrees. They are designed to run on the surface, using the bevelled surface to throw water out to the side and over their heads. To have a large tube (Marlin Magic and Black Bart both make good versions) running correctly on the long corner where you can watch every nuance of its action, is a thing of beauty. To make a piece of fibreglass do this requires skill and knowledge, and many expert deckhands take pride in making their lures run correctly. A large tube is the ultimate lure to run, requiring the correct skirts, correct hook rig and placement of it, and the correct correlation of height and length from the boat. This is one lure above all others that needs a 180 or 0 hookset to keep it upright, pegged exactly, balancing on its face like some bareback cycle rider. Positioned in this manner, in calm water, a tube will catch fish. More often than not, it is the first lure to be attacked in the spread when a fish launches a multi-lure attack! It raises fish like the devil, handcrafted and jewelled with some exotic shell, but it still has an appalling hookup ratio compared, say, to the lump of lard I know better as the Wide Range. The fact is, take two identical boats in flat calm conditions, one with four Wide Ranges and crewed by beginners, and the other run by experts with four tubes pulled correctly, and the damned softheads will catch as many or more than the works of art on the other boat. I always have some tubes on board though, and even though I know their reputation it still gives me pleasure to have one running back there on a calm day and I LOVE it when it raises a fish and no one else does!Of the other splashers, the Zulu Impi and Impy mentioned above are both huge short heads which realistically have to be pulled on the short corner, sometimes off the rod tip. Designed to do similar things as a tube but with more water spray and a heavier bubble trail, they are very productive in raising fish. Again though, due to their positioning, size and the amount of white water they produce, they fail in the clean hook-up department. That is not to say that they are useless, and I admit we caught some huge fish on them in Madeira (large mouths again!) but they are not my first choice of short bait anymore and I rarely have one on board. Straight runners, or Henries (and some fabulous ones are made by Joe Yee, Black Bart and the legendary Chee family), are another splasher in their own right. Longer in the head than the Zulu Impies (although from my point of view Marlin Magicís Big Henry is actually nothing more than a disguised Zulu Impi), they are more controllable and much more tolerant of changing sea conditions. Due to their longer length of the head they are also more malleable when it comes to changing their height, and at their lowest point of fulcrum will even try and swim. A very traditional design is to have a smallish straight runner (imagine a tube cut in half) combined with a long skirt for stability – this works well as a good fish-raising and fish-catching short-bait in calm water. Correctly positioned, this small head will still throw vast amounts of water but there is less fibreglass in the bite when it happens !A very good lure along these lines is an adapted straight-runner with a slightly tapered head called a Lunger, made in Kona by a friend of Gene Vander Hoek. The only source I know of for this lure is Bill Harris of Pacific Rim Tackle and you will be hard pressed to find any since they are made in very small quantities. Take the trouble and try to find some if you can though, since this is a prime lure for the long corner or short bait in calm water. CUPPED A fast growing group of marlin lures, made by many manufacturers, all of which are fish-catchers as a rule, and available in a variety of sizes and shapes. Many of these lures can be run straight from the package and it would be strange to find any boat in the world without at least one of these lures on board. The current champion in this group is Mouldcraftís SuperChugger, but its popularity is rapidly being eroded by the growing number of softhead materials being introduced by Black Bart, BIG T, Pakula, Pro-Soft, Sevenstrand, Marlin Magic, Murray Bros and others. Of course many of these companies and others make cupped heads in resin as well, and Iland Lures also have the Black Hole and the Ilander Express fitting into this category. A cupped lureís action is very straight and flat. Some dive a little, the SuperChugger and Black Bartís Prowler range being just two examples. All of them leave a relatively narrow trail of bubbles, the density of it depending on the skirt material. Some of the shorter heads will even wiggle and swim a little through the water. Whether hard or soft, all cupped heads run true and are eaten easily. Other lures I have personal experience of and can recommend as no-nonsense runners are Pakulaís Smoking Jo and Animal, and the new Sevenstrand softheads. Black Bartís soft Candies and Prowlers are also effective. R&S and Schneider also make cupped heads which work. As a rule of thumb, I find cupped heads work best when positioned low on the face of the wave (or even just in front of it) while riding high in the rigger. The higher they can go, the more they will reciprocate with depth in the dive cycle.ADDITIONAL THOUGHTSSKIRTS – many people think a skirt is a skirt. They will buy a lure, use it, replace a skirt in the same material and forever miss out on one of the main issue of lures. The Bubble Trail. As I said earlier, for me that bubble trail is very important, and the finer the bubbles and cloudier the trail, the more I like it and the more marlin seem to like it too. My own personal view of this is that from below, a dense line of bubbles is probably much easier to pick out as a trail than a series of larger bubbles.Skirts are almost all made of plastic. Yo-zuri, BIG T, Sevenstrand, Mouldcraft, Yamashita, Trawelite and Newell are some of the more well-known manufacturers. To these plastic skirts can be added some other materials such as Mylar, coloured rope, reflective tape, coloured hair and automobile upholstery vinyl. Any combination of these materials can make a lure swim, pop, trail bubbles or somersault, depending on your whim. For me, I must be honest and say that I feel that the Yo-zuri type of skirt is the most lifeless skirting material of all. I know that the combination of colours and patterns available make them the best selling skirts for lures, but I think that the very slickness of the skirtís surface does little to hold air and therefore I always try and combine a Yo-zuri with another type of skirt to increase the air holding capacity. Others who make similar skirts include BIG T and Sevenstrand, and these two companies, combined with Yo-zuri, take the lionís share of the skirt market. However, I find it strange that both BIG T and Sevenstrand also make a collared skirt for use on their own lures which is not offered for retail sale, which is a shame, since these skirts lie so flat when glued in place that lures built using them offer no drag behind the head where two Yo-zuri type skirts would typically be folded back and tied down. In addition, these collared skirts seem to have a different consistency to them and, being slightly rough, hold air much better than Yo-zuri type skirts. At this point I will also say that I much prefer some of these heads from the lesser known manufacturers, because the shoulder on which the skirt goes is flat, as against angled, and the skirt lies so much neater.Other skirts which hold air well are made by Mouldcraft, Newell and Trawelite. The ones made by Mouldcraft are called Ringers, and are available in several different colours although they are all the same size. They are approximately 12″ long and consist of a 1″ collar from which each strand of the skirt hangs. Although this may seem small, with judicious use of hot water, these skirts can be made to fit almost any lure except for the really giant Hawaiians. Easy to fit and virtually tangle-free, Ringers are skirts that need no cutting out to thin them and as such are my first choice for an inner skirt. They hold air well and can completely invigorate a tired lure. Newell make a similar skirt to the Ringer and it has basically the same attributes, although it is made of slightly stiffer material. Trawelite makes skirts that are used for other companies lures, and you will have seen them on the Murray Bros LNG series, and some of Saduís, to name just two.Of the other materials mentioned above, Iland Lures have long used coloured hair for their lures and, although it looks great when new, I have to say that I do not like it much as it tangles like the devil, attracts stains, and dries with a curl if youíre not careful. However, I do love the Sailure for wahoos since the hair is virtually indestructible! Mylar and reflective tape are both materials used by many people nowadays and they are well worth the effort of obtaining for use as inserts or wrapping the neck of a skirt. The one other material I must mention here is the traditional Hawaiian automobile vinyl.Available in rolls or individual pieces approximately 12″ long, automobile vinyl has long been used for skirts because of its durability and air-holding ability. The plastic outer covering is heat-pressed onto a mesh-cloth liner and it is this liner that holds air. It takes some practice to actually transform this sheet of plastic into a skirt and then attach it to a lure, but the results are well worthwhile. The vinyl comes in red, green, blue, black, white, charcoal, silver, brown and gold (as far as I can find out) and is apparently becoming increasingly difficult to locate. I get mine from Melton and Pacific Rim. To many people, the material looks dull and uninteresting when compared with a colourful ĎYo-zurií skirt, but in my personal experience this has not stopped several hundred marlin that I have helped capture from eating lures dressed in vinyl. Be warned – small and light heads do not take readily to vinyl, but on the other hand, it can be used as a brake on large active lures. It is the only material I use on Black Bartís Grander Candies. If you want advice on skirting a lure with this material, please e-mail me.When skirting a lure with plastic, I will always try to use glue if possible, even if this means sticking the outer skirt to the inner one. I hate a bulge behind the head and will do anything to get rid of it since I feel it impairs the headís ability to keep the whole lure tracking straight. If this means cutting a ĎYo-zurií skirt into a sheet which is then wrapped around the head, then I will do so. If I have to use whipping, I will use a 30″ length of waxed string which I wrap tightly as possible before super-gluing the last inch into place. This leaves no unsightly bulge and a skirt can be glued down flat on it. Almost every new lure I put in the water is too heavy in the skirt and I will automatically cut out alternate inner strands to give the head less weight to deal with. I also like to have less skirt at the rear of the lure and regularly cut the last two inches of outer skirt off – this gives the lure the appearance of having a different coloured tail and makes the rear end of the lure swim. HOOKS – suffice to say that this topic could take up a complete article, so I will simply say what I use. I make my own hook-rigs out of 7732 Mustads, 600lb Melton stainless cable, crimps from SeaSure, glued-filled shrink-tubing from Melton and waxed string. I use double-hook rigs, and I use single hook-rigs. If theyíre doubles, then I will always use 180 degree rigs. After all the trouble Iíve gone to in skirting the lure and making sure it is aerodynamic, the last thing I want to do is go and put a 45 or a 90 degree rig in there and make the whole unit unbalanced. I know many anglers and crews who routinely pull 90 degree rigs in the most beautiful of lures AND catch fish. But I canít do it – to me itís like trying to keep a bike upright with two wheels going in different directions. Normally I will have the rear hook down as a rudder, but if I have a lure which is misbehaving I will often simply try turning the hook-rig around to see if that is what the lure wants. Saduís large Calcutta is a lure that responds well to this treatment for some reason. Talking about the Calcutta, the first thing I get rid of when I rig one is the existing bucktail or Trawelite skirts and replace them with a vinyl/Ringer or ĎYo-zurií/ringer combo skirt. Donít know why this makes them so much better, but it does. Believe me. They also run well with vinyl.I also rig my lures with the complete bend of the trailing hook outside the skirt. I find this makes the tail swim like hell and the point is clear of anything it could tangle. If you go this route, beware of swimming the rear hook off. Check the cable regularly and replace it if you see rust or a loose strand. I try not to have too many of those Ďwahoo bitesí as an explanation anymoreÖÖÖÖÖÖCONCLUSION – there isnít one really. Now you know that I like to run baits that swim and dive in a regular cycle without too much splashing. Fish eat them better than extreme lures, and you have to find the fish first. Thatís it as far as I am concerned. Iím sure there are thousands of fishermen out there crying with laughter at this piece, but there we go. Until someone shows me a better way to lure-fish, then Iíll carry on with this. Itís taken me a long time to come this far (or so near, perhaps), and no doubt thereís a long way to go. If you think you can give me advice or help, please e-mail me. If you want to discuss anything, ditto. Melton Tackle, 2600 Katella Avenue, Suite B, Anaheim, CA 92806. Tel: US 714 978 9192 fax: US 714 978 9299 www.meltontackle.comMurray Bros, 884 US Highway One, North Palm Beach, FL 33408 Tel: US 561 626 7840 fax: US 561 626 0131 www.murraybros.comMarlin Magic, order through Melton TackleBlack Bart, 207 East Blue Heron Blvd, Riviera Beach, FL 33404 Tel: US 561 844 4722BIG T, Big T Lures, P.O. Box 2355 Plettenberg Bay 6600, South Africa Tel: 27 (0) 44 53 31350 fax: 27 (0) 44 53 31350 www.bigtlures.co.zaCapt. Harrys, Dept T5310, 100 N.E 11th Street, Miami, FL 33132 Tel: US 305 374 4661 fax: US 305 374 3713 www.captharry.comArea Rule, 931-E Calle Negocio, San Clemente, CA 92673 Tel: US 949 366 1333 fax: US 949 366 3223Boone, Boone Bait Company, 440 Plumosa Ave, Casselberry, FL 32707 Tel: US 407 830 7474 fax: US 407 830 9626Pro-Soft, Pacific Trolling Gear, 1 Bridgeview, Irvine, CA 92604 Tel: US 949 551 1071 fax: US 949 551 1091 www.prosoftlures.comZuker, Zukerís, PO Box 1192, Oceanside, CA 92051-1192Iland Lures, Tournament Tckle Inc, PO Box 372820, Satellite Beach, FL 32937-2820 Tel: US 407 259 1903 fax: US 407 255 2328,Mouldcraft, 501 NE 28 Street, Pompano Beach, FL 33064Tel: US 954 785 4650 fax: US 954 786 9232 Pakula Tackle, International Marine Consultants, 5174 SE Pine Knoll Way, Stuart, FL 34997 Tel and fax: US 561 223 0213C & H Lures, 13051 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32246 Tel: US 904 992 9600 fax: US 904 725 4827Braid, 616 E. Avenue P, Palmdale, CA 93550 Tel: US 661 266 9791 fax: US 661 266 9849 www.braidproducts.comSchneider, Bob Schneider, e-mail: plure@pb.quik.comSevenstrand, 899 West Cowles St, Long Beach, CA 90813 Tel: US 562 437 1010 fax: US 562 495 4707Yo-Zuri, available through Melton TackleJoe Yee, available through Melton TackleSadu, Sadu Frehm, 4660 122nd Dr. N, Royal Palm Beach, FL33411 Tel: US 561 795 9516 fax: US 561 795 5011

Pacific Rim, Bill Harris