Bibbed Lures

[Luvit]

I have been having success on the Nomad DTX minnows as you may have read in the recent reports.

In the past I have been disappointed with many brand name bibbed lures claiming they work at 'X' knots speeds and they do not.

I'm talking high speed lures for pelagics 7-12 knts. Finally I thought these new Nomads with auto tune were the answer, so I bought one and tried it out. The claim on the 165mm lures was speeds in excess of 9 knots. After many hours of trolling over 2 days I can say they are right. It would hold in up to 9knts but in excess well that's debatable, but 9 knts swimming true and getting hits was fine for me.  

After trying the first one worked perfectly I bought another two, 1 x 165mm and 1 x 200mm model, when I got home I found the important auto tow point was different to the first one.

It seems the second lures I bought were old stock Gen 1 lures and the first lure was a Gen 2.

My thinking was if the Gen 1 were OK why would they modify it. So yesterday I put the Gen 1-165mm in and the Gen 2 165mm in and tested them together. Surprise the Gen 1 blew out at 7knts while the Gen 2 stayed true till a little over 9knts. 

I went back to the store today because I'm sick of things not doing what they claim and told them what happened. They were very good and changed them over to the new Gen 2 models even though I had bought them on a 20% off sale. I then purchased another because I have been very impressed with them.

The reason behind this post is that I have 10 or so other bibbed lures that claim to be capable of high speeds and they are not in my experience, hence I don't use them unless trolling at slower speeds. These lures are quite expensive, but cheaper than buying 10 that don't work at half the price.

If you decide to buy one of these make sure it is the Gen 2 with the eyelet made from a flat blade and it is loose so that it self a lines. The Gen 1 have a round wire making the tow point.

 

Happy fishing everyone.

[MarkA]

Good info!

I got a 165mm dtx minnow as well but am not sure if its a gen 1 or 2?

 

[MarkA]

Do know what the story is with this eyelet?

 

 

[Luvit]

That’s a Gen 1 Mark. If you are not trolling above 7 knots it will be fine but I was targeting Wahoo and trolling at 9knts. 

Here is the Gen 2. The thing is, it’s loose and wobbles back and forth out of the water but finds its own centre when used. Also cones with a split ring. 

The extra eye is in case you want to remove the single and replace with a treble,  better balance. 

 

[MarkA]

Ahh thanks. 

Ive only given it a short swim but felt it was struggling when I pushed it a bit faster.  

I’ll make sure I’ll get the gen 2 next time!