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GEAR GUIDE
Shimano Twin Power 10000SW
I've been using a set of 5 x Shimano Twin Power 10000SW reels hard core now for 15 months straight on the YouBoat. They have also done three months solid deepwater charter work on Think BIG and they still run as smooth as the day they came out of the box. I cannot comprehend how much work and salt they have seen and are still going like new. No signs of corrosion, drag still sillky smooth, gears still tight and very quiet. Absolutely love them, they are the best set of work horses I have ever had. They are ideal for everything from snapper/gummy to tuna, kings and even marlin. I have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone. When I took the above photo back in 2009 I was running monfilament 30lb line, now I run 30lb Power Pro braid on each reel. This gives me 400mts of line capacity on each but more importantly I now have a much more direct connection to the fish as their is zero line stretch. This is great because it enables better hook up rate when fishing in gear with tight drag plus it also gives vastly improved bite sensitivity. Recently I have been fishing these reels with 14kgs of drag on kingfish and they not been beaten yet. And not just rats but kings up to 13kgs. Not bad considering we are fishing ultra sharp, heavy reef in 12mts of water.
Other than the important observations listed above I should point out these specs. The drag system is twin disc, which means it runs two drags, one on top of the spool and one very large carbontex system underneath the spool. Carbontex is the worlds most advanced drag meaterial, it is also found in Stella reels. This means greater stopping power and heat dispersement when connected to mega fast fish. And finally, do yourself a favour, next time your in a tackle shop pick on up and inspect it very closely, If you can find another reel on this planet with better attention to detail than this reel it would be news to me. The calibre of manufacture and finish is the best in the business and its clear to wee why. The reel is perfect on a microscopic level, something nearly all other manufactures have yet to achieve. It says alot about Shimano's unequalled engineering excellence and manufacturing standards which is their greatest talent. No-one has their ability to design and manufacture with such perfection. I rate this reel a 9.5/10, the only reel I rate higher is of course its big sister the Stella SW which gets the full 10/10.
Gummy Gotcha Mark II
Years and years of intensive product testing are put into every single Winga MacFlasher before it goes on sale. Not only does the rig have to catch fish, it has to do so better than anything else available and be made of the best materials availble to make usre it serves you time and time again. They are all conceived and tested by Winga and Gawaine and as a result there is NO COMPROMISE when it comes to the physical make-up of our rigs. When you see Winga MacFlasher written on a rig you are seeing the best rig money can buy. The components are not only the best but they are also hand selected and correct size and spec for the specific job at hand. For instance, our our Gummy Gotcha hooks are Gamakatsu Octopus circle hooks in size 8/0, this may seem like any hook to some but from our testing there are several reasons why we chose this brand, style and size over everything else. Firstly they are the sharpest, they have the finest wire, they have the best hook-up rate due to their unique circle pattern and they have the best corrosion reistance out of any hook we have trialled. There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned on other brands and getting a single use out of your rig before it rusts, or the leader breaks or a knot lets go or a hook bends or snaps. We know our rigs are not cheap but they do cost heaps to make because we refuse to get them mass-made in China like so many others. So if you want to get onto a big gummy or School shark like you saw on Episode 39 and many other episodes then head directly to our STORE - all our rigs are exclusive to this site and available there. The Gummy Gotcha MkII is a single hook attached to a 1.25mtr length of 60lb Flurocarbon leader, and comes with glow bead and Owner crane swivel. It is designed to be used in conjuction with the EZI-RIG running sinker clip on your mainline in strong current. To get maximum effect we suggest you fish line 10-15kgs and use a 30cm length of 8kg mono as a sinker dropper from the running clip.
GT POPPERS
A variety of lures are used, influenced by water/wind condition and fish temperament.
Big, cupped faced poppers are very successful for raising large GT in New Caledonia. When we say big, we mean it! Most lures are 200mm in length and over 150g in weight, with weight distributed towards the rear for cast-ability in all conditions. An almost painfully slow action, one to several seconds between bloops – the water disruption created by the large cupped face sends GT in feeding or attack/defence mode as a lure is bravely worked through coral studded, GT territory. Lure favourites include Hammerhead I-Cup, Orion Cono Cono and Craftbait GT-3.
When GT become timid or gun-shy of large poppers, it’s time to switch to a stickbait! A combination of floating and sinking style stickbaits can be used, again depending on fish activity and sea conditions. Sinking stickbaits can are excellent when GTs are shy and holding deeper. Their action is only affected by current, rip then up quickly or use aggressive jerks with occasional pauses to get the stickbait darting around. Floating stickbaits are best during calmer conditions where a more suitable and less obtrusive action is warranted. Slow sweeps of the rod across the horizontal, or, medium-pace, downward jerks should produce the best results. Lure favourites include Orion Crazy Dog, Orion Big Foot, Orion Big Nambas and Carpenter Gamma.
GT Popping Outfits
Reels: Not all reels are made equal! And that’s exactly why it’s almost unfair to fish with a Shimano Stella. Stella’s are the most heavy-duty, yet smooth and refined threadline reel ever made. We use them for GT fishing due to the extreme pressures and exertions that GTs put equipment through. Hunting dangerously close to reef fringes and bommies (coral heads), coupled with the massive power of the GT – drags need to be smooth and powerful, capable of at least 25kg of drag pressure in order to subdue one of these beasts before they get close to these structures and cut you off. We choose the Stella 18000 SW because it has a high-speed retrieve (5.7:1) and can hold at least 300 metres of PE8 or 80lb Power Pro braided line.
Rods: We use a variety of rods for GT popper and stickbait fishing due the variety of lures (featured in next week’s gear review), retrieve techniques and casting distances required. The Shimano GT Special is 8ft in length, capable of 12kg of drag and a line rating of 80lb Power Pro braided line. It has a medium/progressive action which is an ideal balance between casting ability and fighting advantages for the angler. It is ideal for poppers, stickbaits and pencils to 130 – 170g. To date, this rod has caught GT up to 60kg! Another rod that is commonly used is the Fisherman GT Game TRSH. This is a boutique GT fishing rod ideal for GT enthusiasts that like to have an individual rod for a specific application. It is 7’6 in length and rated to PE10. Being 7’6 in length it is only recommended for advanced casters, due to its slightly shorter configuration, however, those that can harness this rod, it will soon become one of their favourites!
Scaler-Mate
After a hard days fishing there is nothing worse than having to come back to the ramp and scale and clean your catch. This is especially so with armour-plated species like snapper; they are very tough to scale and doing so is a painful chore fraught with spikey dangers. Well this is NO MORE thanks to the Scaler-Mate, a rechargable battery operated scaler made by Platinum Marine. This high-speed rotary machine has a custom hard plastic blade than spins at high speed to rip scales off fish without damaging the flesh or skin. It is powerful, smart and long overdue and as you see on the show it turns the chore of cleaning a large angry red into a fun exercise as it tears all the scales off a 6kg fish in seconds. Winga first saw this little weapon at a seminar he was speaking at and knew its potential immediately. He asked the Platinum Marine rep if he could borrow one to demonstrate on the show and used it for the very first time live in front of the cameras. It was an impressive demonstration to say the least. Winga now has one on the YOU-BOAT ready for any snapper he chooses to keep. The Scaler Mate lasts up to 90 minutes per charge, all you need to do when the batteries run low is plug it into the charger supplied to recharge.
Distributed by Platinum Marine
Find your nearest retailer: 03-9768 2020
WATCH DEMO HERE
Snapper Slayers
Originally we had the Snapper Slider as our premiere snapper rig and it worked very well for presenting large baits in current for snapper and mulloway. However, the biggest breakthrough for us in 2009 was downsizing our baits to small chunks and or squid rings on small single circle hook Winga MacFlashers. The result of doing so lead to an improved hook-up rate with less dropped fish. As an example, in show 31, you see us catching snapper in Western Port on tiny squid rings on our flasher rigs, well by the end of that day we land 23 snapper to 7kgs from 23 hits and that's on tentative cold water snapper. The size of the snapper and mulloway we have been landing has also increased dramatically too. We do believe the secret to this was removing the second hook that made our Slider so famous and going back to a single 6/0 Gamakatsu circle hook. Smart fish can now move up behind a bait and mouth it without feeling a hook and once they approve of it they quickly inhale it and bang you hook that clever fish you normally wouldn't. And as we now know once a circle hook is in it aint coming out until you remove it. The end result of the 2009 product trials was we deleted the Snapper Slider from the 2010 line-up and introduced the Snapper Slayer which has now gone into full production. Other than the type, number and size of hook nothing else has changed, Our leaders are still genuine 1.25mtr lengths of 60lb Jinkai leader and we still use Uncle B's legendary and mysterious red flashing, there is simply no substitute for it or his handy work. Yes that's right each lure is still hand made by Uncle B himself. We are tipping we will see some insane results this coming season on these new rigs so make sure some of them are yours! Breaking news, I have just been informed by a customer he has been catching snapper at Joes Island in Western Port using our the Snapper Slayer without bait, now that is incredible and awesome feedback!!! Please note, you can no longer buy genuine Winga MacFlashers in tackle stores anywhere in Australia, we have made them exclusive to this site, check them out in our online store. Stock is very limited so dont hesitate or you will miss out,
Power Pro PE Superline
After many years of chasing big fish around Australia the YouFishTV crew have tried just about every brand of braided line you can imagine. However many of the brands out there simply dont meet the high standards we set in our fishing life. The ultimate line needs to be of thin diamter to increase spool capacity and be up to the task of handling that fish of a life time. In other words it has to have excellent knot strength. Well we put Power Pro 65lb braid to the ulitmate test recently when we visited Eagle Hawk Neck (episode 30) and tackled one of the toughest fish on the planet, a southern bluefin tuna of 116.3kgs. Well the line did not miss a beat even though we used up to 18kgs of drag and had over 400mts of line off the reel. The secret to any braid is the knots you tie and of course the ultimate knot is the bimini twist so this is what we used to create our double. After the fish was landed we later put the line on a set of calibrated scales and it tested at 27kgs (60lb) at the knot, Now this is a mark I have seen other brands of so-called 80lb line not reach and thats before an epic battle with a fish. Because we used 65lb line we managed to get 520mts of line onto a standard Stella SW20000 spool. Other brands we have tested that break at around 24-27kgs at the knot have only managed to get between 340 and 450mts of line on the same spool. The one other brand we have used that had similar diamter/strngth specs as the Power Pro 65 was nearly twice the price and very hard to come by. So it looks like we have found a genuine superline we can count on when it comes to big game fish and the best thing is we have finally found a line that comes in large 3000 yard spool.
STICKBAITS by Shimano
 
Bluefin Tuna LTD Edition 2010
These are the ultimate casting stickbaits for tuna. Nothing else we have seen comes close in terms of build quality, strength and specification. Quite simply at 150mm long they are the perfect size for tuna ranging 15-150kgs. At 70gms they are perfect weight for long distance casting, and finally they are a sinking lure. The finish quality is exceptional and the color schemes are stunning and as you saw on episode 29, out of the few casts we had the hookups were immediate and intense. The only modification we made to these lures was binding red feathers to the trebles to match the look of the local baitfish (redbait) which have red pectoral and tail fins. To maximize the performance of these lures they should be matched with a 15-24kg graphite casting rod (9ft Shimano T-Curve GT Special), PE line (Power Pro 50lb) and a quality offshore spinning reel like a Stella 18000SW. These lures are designed to handle big tuna and of course this means they do not present very well on ultra light tackle. Technique is simple, cast the lure ahead of the fast moving tuna school, allow it sink to the desired depth, and then start your retrieve. Try to make sure you retrieve the lure in a similar direction to which the tuna are travelling as tuna generally wont take a stickbait that is going in the opposite direction to their school. Some days the retirieve is best done fast and others a slow stop start motion will induce a strike. Even doing a medium speed flat roll will tempt a big tunny.
KEIMURA by Sephia.
Episode 28 featured Sephia Squid jigs with the new Keimura UV cloth. Basically the deeper these UV jigs plunge into the depths the more visibale they become to squid thanks to this new technology. The reason: UV light penetrates deeper into the water column than any other light and as a result this cloth picks it up and reflects/emits it back out. This basically allows the squid to see the jig as a glowing beacon as it moves across the bottom. Research shows squid tend to see UV light better than any other light in the spectrum so this is why they are so deadly. The range of Sephia jigs with Keimura technology is growing all the time and on episode 28 we had access to about 4 different colors. On that day they all worked but the stand out was color 14T - snow flake. We have since used them in Western Port at Flinders and again the power of the Keimura was evident.
Here are some more images of the new Sephia jigs.
 
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