Fisherman Long Pen

Fisherman is one of the most well known and respected manufacturers in GT fishing circles world wide. Based in Okinawa, the boss Suzukisan travels extensively to tests his products and it shows.
Fisherman Long Pen

A veteran Long Pen - Blue Mackerel

Green Mackerel

Pink Mackerel

Action: Hold the rod tip at 45 degrees and wind flat out.
When to use: I use them exclusively when targeting GTs in shallow water, especially around breaking waves.
Weight: Various weights are available. I prefer 100g because they have less drag in the water and tire you out less.
Length: About 250mm
Cost: 7, 000 yen or $80
Comment: These are my favourites of the Fisherman range. They are simple to use (just wind fast) and they catch GTs.They are generally well built and presented but have weak paint jobs that scratch easily.

An example of the nice detail of these lures, a double cap that strengthens the lure against the pressure of the through wire

Fishing Report, Oct 30, 2010

Have you ever had one of those days on the water that made you think you were in oppositeland? Thats how I felt yesterday as everything that I thought I knew was turned on its head.
Enter the usual protagonists of late, Kaleb, Richard, Francis and myself. The captain had decided that we would be fishing the southern fringing reefs closest to Koror (the main town) and it turned out to be a good call with a large swell hitting the Islands from a typhoon near Okinawa making fishing on the reefs or outside onto the reefs a little dangerous to say the least. Coupled with that was a 15-20 knot Easterly breeze that was gusting higher, so a long trip would have been painful and slow.
We hit the reef at around 8am on a rising tide to find a curious sight, 8-10 foot sets peaking on the outer reefs, peeling and barreling as if we were on Oahu! These were big mean waves hitting a section of reef on the south of the Islands (you can imagine what the waves would have been like on the northern reefs!!!) after already wrapping right around the western reefs and almost heading North again. I had never seen waves like that hitting the reef down there, so already the day started out strangely.
As the tide was quite low we decided to cast on some inshore reef patches until the tide got high enough for us to try to get to the normal area that we fish. Within a few casts Rich had snared a nice little GT of around 10kg using the legendary wide mouthed Hydro Popper f in green mackerel. A couple of casts later my Fisherman Long Pen was followed by a reef shark and 6 or 7 GTs. Kaleb was next to hookup to a GT but it threw the hooks.
I decided to try out my new rod, a Daiwa Saltiga 6'6 Jigging rod that I thought might be ok at tossing lures around with too. And so it was with my second cast getting swarmed by a school of GTs, unfortunately right next to large rock and I was cut off seconds after hooking up using a Duel Surface GT 150. As I tied another leader we drifter away from the reef patch and the bite stopped. We continued our drift with little action until I got another GT hookup using a Duel Slider 140f, alas I was again broken off on a patch of reef as the fish made a screaming wide run that just happened to put a rock between me and him... 2 lures down and no fish caught!
We got to our fishing ground and saw cloudy water, something very unusual here. It was cloudy white. either from stirred up sand or bubbles from the massive surf I wasn't sure. The conditions had obviously spooked the fish, with very little biting. Francis and Rich managed to catch a few Long nosed Emperors and Blue Finned Trevally but little else.
Soon after lunch a rain system moved in and we headed for the shelter of some nearby islands. By that time I was having a tough time of it having lost 2 lures, dropping 5 or 6 decent fish and landing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I was skeptical about trying to fish around the islands as they are really heavily fished and our day had been a bit of a bust so far. But I am happy to follow the local guys when fishing with them and it really paid off.
Having come from windy, rough cloudy water fishing the calm, clear, lakelike conditions were a blessing and within a few minutes Rich had caught a fish! Here? I almost couldn't believe it as he boated a nice sized Spangled Emperor.

Fish of the day. Spangled Emperor at a perfect eating size

      These fish are exciting to catch on small topwater lures (this on was again taken by the green Yo-Zuri) in shallow water. They hit with power and charge back to the reef, this one made the mistake of running and was easily handled.
Several other good sized fish followed, coral trout, Red Bass (cubera), rainbow runner and several trevally species. I was still sucking and hadn't caught anything at all and it was getting late and the rain was really getting set in.
Then it finally happened! I got a good hit on a Yo-Zuri Hydro Popper (silver and black) that I knew was a trevally. You really get tot know the different way each species attacks the topwater lures and you can often call what type of fish it is just by the strike type.
So I had a nice little trevally to test my new rod with. Looking at the rod you wouldn't believe that it would have much power, but in shallow water, heavy current and a heavy drag, it did a great job of stopping this fish. I was really happy to finally have broken my duck (at 4pm no less) and also to have christened the new rod with a solid test of its action.

Baby GT. Finally a fish on the new rod! A quick pic and back in the water with him to fight another day

We fished on for bout another hour landing a few more fish, including one Long Nosed Emperor (of about 2kg) I took on my GT outfit! Talk about being over-matched!
In the end it was the strangest of days, catching fish where you wouldn't normally, not catching fish where we normally do, North Shore type surf conditions in Palau and losing as many lures as fish caught! Strange but good and totally worth it!
MVP: Richard. He caught as many fish as the rest of us combined
Best Lure: Yo-Zuri Hydro Popper 130f (green mackerel)
Catch of the day: Rich's Spangled Emperor
Play of the Day: Captain Kaleb's call to fish around the islands after we got blown off the reef

Lure Reviews

This lure review we have the Tailwalk Gunz 18s model. As the name indicates this is a 180mm stickbait that sinks. When new these lures are very attractive (to fishermen at least) with great looking paint and a very reflective 3d eye. They also have a pleasing weight in the hand. In the air they are very good and can be cast a long distance. In the water they are also good swimming with a nice darting action. I have caught GTs on this lure so we know that it works BUT they are fragile. Customers aboard the Sara Guide Service boats have brought these to the islands brand new and had them full of water after catching only one small fish. I have had my personal lures leak too. Overall: Not Recommended (unless the leaking problem gets fixed then they would be Recommended)

As above in an excellent colour combination.

 OTI Komodo in Blue Lazer. Great colour, crappy paint quality, especially over the chrome stickers on the lures sides.

 OTI Komodo in Blue Hawke. Not the teeth marks! Another large strike with no hookup.

 OTI Komodo in Nemo colour pattern. Probably my favourite colout pattern for deep water GTs. This finish is slightly better than other OTI colours but with still look crappy after 1 or 2 fish.

These lures are basically good lures but they are not really worth owning due to their substandard finishes. Some lure companies make the effort to produce a lasting finish one their lures others make very little effort. When the fish are not super aggressive, something as small as the paint on your lure can make the difference between coaxing a strike out of a fish or leaving it cold. In the future I will be putting my money where my mouth is and sticking to higher quality lures. 

Fishing Report Oct 21, 2010

Well there wasn't that much to talk about as far as the fishing goes today. I went shore based fishing again and caught a mixed bag of small Cubera/red bass, Coral Trout/Grouper, long nosed emperor (all between 20 and 45cm) and a barracuda of about 70cm. All the fish came on the one lure, a small 30g Sidewinder spoon.
The excitement happened when I was casting from water about mid thigh depth, using a Yo-Zuri 130mm popper when a shark about 1.5m long came from BEHIND me to try and attack my lure!! Holy SHIT!! I was shocked to say the least.
I wasn't afraid of getting eaten because it was a black tipped reef shark and they dont eat people BUT he was in a frenzy trying to eat my lure so I was afraid of getting bitten accidentally. After scrambling out of the water I took a few more casts and another 5 or 6 similar sized sharks had moved in prowling the reefy shallows for my lures. I decided to cast at them and have a bit of fun by trying to evade the predators with my lure (ie the exact opposite of normal fishing).
It was fun but I soon remembered that the tide was rising quickly and I had to wade through 2 chest deep bodies of water to get back to dry land. I took a few deep breaths and headed off. I didn't see the sharks at all on my walk back to the dock but I had learned that you cant see reef sharks in shallow coral bottomed water unless they move in a strange way, so not seeing them didn't exactly fill me with confidence...

Shore Based Fun

The weekend saw generally crappy weather conditions prevent any real thoughts of going out on the boat. There was a typhoon to the North of us and we were getting periods of squally wind and rain.
There isn't many land based fishing options here in the islands. Land based fishing is illegal in Koror state (where I live) and to be honest it would be pretty pointless anyway as the area is totally fished out. On the main island there are a couple of old WW2 ports that you can fish from, so I decided to drive up there and test my luck.
I had just received an order of lures that I had placed with Cabellas a couple of weeks earlier and these land based areas give me a good chance to work out how the lure performs without the pressure of my fishing mates giving me shit or me wasting time at a good location. And there is also the possibility of getting some dinner too, which was high on my agenda.
So I hit my spot in windy and cloudy conditions with the threat of rain, no real problem, a little cloud cover usually provides better fishing anyway. As usual my target was Blue Finned Trevally, there is a school of them that comes into the port on high tide and I was eager to get amongst them. The problem with these fish is that they have seen thousands of lures so its takes a little bit of cunning to catch one.
My usual tactic is to fish with small poppers (50 - 70mm) and a light bass outfit (2-4lb rod, shimano Sienna 4000 with Varivas PE#2 line) and thin leader (12lb). I have caught a few fish with this gear but I have also lost a lot of lures thanks to the occasional stray barracuda, reef shark or the sharp rocks. This time I wanted to concentrate on spoons and topwater "walk the dog" style lures such as the Heddon Zara Super Spook, so I used a heavier outfit (6-15lb ugly stick, Shimano Baitrunner 8000D and 30lb Power Pro line) with 50lb leader. This outfit was certainly overkill but I wanted to make sure that all my gear came home with me.
The fishing was tough as usual with about 3 hours of casting accounting for 3 fish, one of which (pictured) I took home for dinner, a perfect pan sized 51cm Blue Finned Trevally, who took my new 100mm Stingray ("monkey puke" colour) spoon and put up an excellent fight. The other fish caught were a Long Tom/Needle Fish/Datsu/Alligator Gar of about 100cm (a crappy fish whatever you call them) on the same lure and a nice Mangrove Jack of about 35cm caught from among the seagrass on a 20g Kastmaster slug.
Fishing from the land up there reminds me a lot of fishing in Australia, you really have to work and plan what you are going to catch. It made nice change from the boat and I will probably do a little more of it in the future. Oh and as a bonus I found a lure that I had lost up there about 6 months earlier! What more could you want???

Lure Reviews

Surprisingly this lure hasn't worked out for me. Yo-Zuri Hydro Popper 90mm/about 25g. I say surprisingly because I have caught quite a few nice sized Blue Finned Trevally with the same lure in Redhead colour. This colour pattern (we call it watermelon) is generally my favourite but so far this lure is a big disappointment, proven by its age of over 6 months. Good lures dont grow old here! Overall: only for calm water, light line popping, below average.
Yo-Zuri Bull 150mm/70g in the new Sashimi changing colour scheme. The lure shape is sound, good to cast and easy to pop but in this colour scheme it is pretty useless. It has accounted for a good sized barracuda -12kg but all in all its not a great lure. I will save it for when I am fishing in really shallow water or when the Red Bass are thick, so I wont be to sad if I lose it. Overall: Give it a miss.
Duel Surface Slider 140f. 140mm/48g. This lure has been used on one trip and caught a few fish, the best being a 6kg BFT. I am generally impressed with this lure but it is a little to light to cast good distances. CHANGE OUT THE HOOKS is you are going to buy one, the standard ones are crap and cost me one good fish. Finish of the lure is typical Yo-Zuri/Duel standard ie. if its shiny the paint will come off easily. Overall: RECOMMENDED.
Fisherman Big Hard, about 200mm/150g. This is a difficult lure to work, it really needs a very stiff popping rod. I use a Tica Swells PE #6 rated popping rod but its not enough. Lure hasn't caught any fish and probably wont unless I get an even stiffer heavy rod, which I dont plan to. Overall: Expensive ($70 ish) and weak finish.

Lures, the VILLAINS

Time for the LIST OF SHAME! These are the lures that just plain and simply SUCK!Yo-Zuri Hydro Popper 120mm, 43g (small mouth version). I have to admit I did catch one fish with this lure (a nice sized GT - 12-15kg) but I think I just got really lucky that day. This lure is a pain in the arse to pop. It can make a good splash but the precision needed to get it right is far to high. If you dont pull quite hard enough, there is no splash and if you pull a tiny bit too much the lure cartwheels over the surface. My advice; dont buy this lure unless you are really patient and use light line and a purpose built light popping rod. Overall: Below Average
Storm Kickin Stick 12. The local tackle shop guy asked me to try this one out for him and tell him if it catches fish. I cockily told him I wont return until I have caught fish with it. Needless to say I haven't been back there since! I will go back soon but I wanted to make sure that I cant catch fish on it. Used it 4 times, no fish even looked at it that I saw. Overall: Dont bother with this one.
Rapala Skitterpop, about 120mm/30g. This has to be the worst lure that I own that swims properly. It makes a light splash when popped but the fish dont even look sideways at it. I think that sound that it makes (a metallic jangling sound) keeps the fish away but I can be sure. I wont waste my time with this one again. Overall: Pure Crap
Ocean Tackle International Komodo Popper. 130g/200mm ish. I bought a few of these lures because of the success that I had with the Wombat model. I am a bit pissed of at OTI, they used to supply their lures with Owner hooks and the lures themselves were US made. When these ones arrived they have some really shitty hooks and the packs dont say where they are made. Judging by the crappy finish and peeling paint, my guess is MADE IN CHINA. Fish have attacked this lure on 4 occasions but I am yet to get a hookup. This lure already looks beaten up but hasn't caught anything yet. Also it is very tiring to work this lure properly. Overall: Below Average
Mystery brand lure named Bull Dog. I bought this lure purely because of the colour. BEWARE this lure doesnt even swim properly. MADE IN CHINA rubbish! Overall: Absolute SHIT