Luvit

Cheers Davo,

15 hours ago, davostephens said:

I just went thru about 12 lures for 4 small fish.

My advice here would be don't fish for small fish with Gobblers and hook the fish in the hinge of the jaw it saves bite offs. 

But seriously, the injection machine once set up would allow for me to shot 2 colour lures which we will look at down the track. 

I hope to get back on here and contribute in the New Year.

Everyone please have a Merry and safe Christmas. 

Cheers Wayne

Hi @davostephens,

I have not been on here basically since we took over Gobblers 5 months ago because we have been busy working on improvements in many areas of the business. Receiving all feedback is the best way to do this.

I do agree with you on the paddle tails being thin in profile and the jig head is larger when you look down on it. Ideally if I had designed them I would have made them thicker however, in saying that they have a great action and and when you lift them you can feel the vibration through the rod similar to a vibe. The Paddle style we have is more like a boot style which instead of just the tail moving it also gives the body a slow wobble roll on the retrieve as well.

Offshore I'm the same as you I mostly use Jerk Shads and if rigged straight, on a fast retrieve the tails beat just like a real fish and look amazing. The Zman have advantages as each different brand of lures do, it's a matter if the advantages they offer are the best for your style of fishing. Yes, I understand what you are saying about the Zman being durable and not many lures will stand up to scissor like mackerel teeth. If durability is top of your list on what you look for in a lure then Zman is probably your best option.

Some of the advantages our lures offer are; we have lures that change colour in different lights, you don't have to store them in there own individual bags to stop melting each other, they do not distort worm proof boxes, out of our 24 colours we have only 4 that have additives that will bleed on to other colours, you can store most of the colours together meaning far less storage requirement, we are available for questions and advice on what colour lures to use, we customize kits for customers, we will happily recycle plastics if customers would like to return them. The range of colour have been developed for the many varying conditions and bait fish we encounter in Australia. I have always been of the opinion that I spend a lot of money on the gear & boat, that when I throw a lure and want to catch a fish I go with what I think I have the best chance of getting a bite with. If this means I lose a SP on each fish I get I'm not so worried. I think it depends on the fish your targeting, I've caught 5 Trevelly on the one lure and other times I'll get 1 or 2 tuna on a lure where you have experience only one hit before having to replace them. I know of other brands I have tried and they are a lot softer than ours and every bite means a new SP, but many people swear by them.

We have some customers asking us to make the lures softer and others that ask they be harder. Over the years the formula of the plastic that Gobblers has developed is a happy medium between action and durability. Way before I was even involved with Gobblers Lures I used Zman and they catch fish no doubt however, for me personally I found them hard to push the hook through straight and very bouyant requiring a heavier jig head weight to compensate. The TT jig heads were developed for the Zman's because they were continually slipping down the hook and they required super gluing. As I said earlier all different Brands have Pros & Cons and you spend your money where you think it is most value. After a while I have worked out which jig heads suit the plastics I use and the way I fish them.

I do envy where you live with the variety and size of the fish you have available.

We appreciate the feedback and thank you giving us a go.

Good fishing to you.

Cheers

Wayne

Here's a few more photos from the trip.

Selfie 

Fueling up

Langi Beach

Land based Barra

Good luck all that go. 

I can’t go but I did get s fix on the weekend at Hervey Bay. I didn’t catch this but did net it. 

12.7 kg amazing fish. Scarlet Sea Perch or Large mouth Nannygai 

Ok, I'm feeling guilty. Here is one of the highlights of the trip.

We were fishing the incoming tide in a small inlet, I hooked up to a nice fish and then things didn't feel right. When the fish surfaced it had a croc attached to it. We played this for quite a while but, I have edited it down. Eventually we got the the fish alongside the boat with the croc still hanging onto it. Not to be beaten Brett persuaded the croc to let go after a few death rolls and splashing. This part somehow got lost in the editing process    

To our surprise the barra took off once the croc released it grip and I quickly got back to the boat and into the net. In the excitement I claimed the lure to be a 4" paddle tail, but it was a 6" I underestimated again.

Remarkably the fish only sustained a small bit of damage between the gill plate and the wing fins. You will see that in that in the photo.

We were only in 1.2 meters so it got the adrenaline pumping when the croc came up. 

I am sorry I can't be more active at the moment. I jump in as soon as I get a chance but don't have time to read the posts.

Here's so more photos. Sorry Drop Bear.

You need to be very aware whenever you are near the water up there.

Ok, one of the highlights was hooking a Barra and the fight was strange. When we got a look at it a croc had the Barra in its mouth!

I was not impressed,  Brett started the motor and while I played it back to us and then finally got it beneath the boat. ( we were only in 1.2m of water) As the Barra came up Brett gave the Croc a little tickle with a pole and it released its grip. Much to our surprise the Barra took off in a flash only, he was still connected to the line. Very quickly I played it back to the boat knowing the Croc would be right back on it and our hoots of excitement rangout when we netted the biggest Barra for the trip landed at 90cm. Lost estimated 4 meter plus Barra's between us.

We got it all on video so I will edit it and post it for you to see for yourselves.

Here's the photo of the big girl. Unfortunately the croc had done some damage and you can see between the Gills and the wing fins. Otherwise it was in fairly good nick after the croc did the death roll with it in its mouth.

More to come.

G'day everyone,

I am back from an amazing part of Australia and have some stories to tell and things to share. 

There is a lot to catch up on with real work and the new lure business also, I will get to photos videos etc as soon as time allows.

Rather than doing a full report with heaps of photos etc like i would normally, I will be doing small videos and releasing photos slowly to get whatever mileage I can to promote the business. (I don't expect I will be doing a trip like this for a very long time so I need to make the most of it).

I am expecting to release small videos of the trip on FB and the Gobblers web site so if you would like to follow that part of the journey you can.

One of the best investments I made before the trip was to buy that drone. It gives a whole new level of appreciation when you see where we were and the amazing places we saw.

Here is a small sample of what I mean.

Cheers Wayne