Nothing makes an offshore angler's blood boil more than a disparaging
comment attacking the lures he's pulling. I got set up like a bowling
pin during the Miami International Boat Show this past year when I
joined a table full of lure manufactures at the Clevelander bar. Capt.
Jeremiah Nachtigal asked me what my favorite lures were while sitting
across from the famous Hawaiian lure makers Bomboy Llanes and Marlin
Parker. The Jack Daniels told me that the best course of action would be
to piss the whole table off, so I blurted out, "They're all the same,
and I could whip anybody's butt with four black Wide Ranges."
The ensuing silence seemed to last for an hour, but I'm sure it was
only seconds before Nachtigal waded in and saved my sorry butt with the
quip, "He's been hanging around Peter Wright too much, eh, fellas?" The
resulting laughter told me I was forgiven for my East Coast ignorance,
and the night proceeded without a pummeling.
After a few discussions that night, I decided to do another top 10
lure article. Instead of asking just the top captains, we turned to the
general population of offshore anglers and asked them their favorites.
We posted the question on our website, in our newsletter and through
several e-mail blasts, encouraging anglers to pass it on and reply. And
while a lot of the same pro captains I talked to on the first weighed in
for this list, the large majority of responses for this one came from
regular fellows pulling lures in their home waters.
Several fishing websites got news of the list, and the forums were
pretty entertaining for me to read as the list took shape. One of the
fellows immediately posted three lures he didn't want to see on the
list, starting with the big overall winner, the Mold Craft Wide Range.
Perfect. I love to get you boys talking.
Like I said before, no accounting firms tabulated these results, and
they aren't listed in any particular order, although I do have to say
that the Wide Range pretty much shows up in nearly everyone's spread -
and it ain't because it's the prettiest on the block either!
1.
Mold Craft Products Std. Wide Range Unrigged Purple/ Silver/ Black #4550BN41
:
One of the original Mold Craft lures, the Wide Range
(pictured above)
came to Frank Johnson through the suggestions of Capt. Peter Wright in
1977. Wright and Hawaiian Capt. Jeff Fay were experimenting with lures
made out of rolls of sheet rubber while working together on the
Humdinger in the mid-'70s. Wright showed his prototypes to Johnson
during a charter, and they struck a deal on the spot to make the lures.
The lure gets its name from the "wide range" of speeds and conditions
through which the lure can be pulled. "It's definitely the lure of
choice for rough water," says Johnson. "With its squared-off nose and
center hole, the Wide Range stays stable in almost any conditions."
This lure showed up in a vast majority of the responses, and all the
big names seem to pull at least one Wide Range in the spread. On almost
every boat I board, no matter where I am in the world, I'll usually find
a Mold Craft Wide Range. One of my favorite testimonials came from a
Richard McAdams, who fishes the Gulf of Mexico: "If I could pick only
one marlin lure to fish with anywhere in the world, it would be a
purple/silver/black Mold Craft Senior Wide Range. This lure gets the
most vicious strikes I have ever seen. I can put it on the flat line or
short 'rigger, and it runs like a champ in all seas. I fish the northern
Gulf of Mexico where the seas can jump from 3 feet to 6 feet in a
matter of minutes, but this lure catches fish no matter how rough it
gets. It runs well with either a single- or double-hook rig and is
pretty much idiot-proof ? which makes it the perfect lure for me!"
2.
Mold Craft Senior Super Chugger, Pink
:
Traveling angler and freelance writer Tony Pena, whose work you often
see here in Marlin, can't say enough about the Mold Craft Super Chugger
- and he has plenty of company. "My vote goes to the Mold Craft Super
Chugger (8 1/4 inches in blue/white/yellow combo). I've caught blue,
black and striped marlin, Pacific sailfish and numerous other species,
such as 300-pound yellowfin tuna, on this lure. It works bigger than its
size and is truly a universal lure, producing great results from
Thailand to Panama."
The concave face of the Super Chugger allows the lure to come and
grab a gulp of air and let it out in a thick bubble stream with a short
side-to-side wiggle of its head. It rises and falls with a surprising
regularity that seems to drive blue marlin crazy. The lure's face causes
it to pull hard through the water, but it still remains stable in rough
water. "It works well at a wide range of speeds as well," says Frank
Johnson Jr. "You can pull anywhere from 5 to 12 knots, but it works best
at the lower end of that range."
Paulo Amorim's 1,402-pound, all-tackle Atlantic blue marlin ate a
pink-and-white Super Chugger off Vitoria, Brazil, in 1992, sealing the
lure's status in big-game-fishing history.
3.
Pakula Original Small Sprocket - 9" - Frigate
:
While fishing in the USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament on the
Poli-Sea, I saw first mate Jody Wentworth jump overboard to retrieve a
lure that had just caught a 500-pound blue and fallen into the water. As
usual, there were big sharks in the area attracted to the struggles of
the marlin, but Wentworth, determined not to lose his last Pakula with
two days of fishing left in the tournament, swam down around 20 feet to
retrieve the sinking lure.
"Peter Pakula's cup-nosed creations are relatively unknown in
California, but they have been a well-kept secret of many crews for the
past 15 years," says Greg Stotesbury of AFTCO. "I have several vintage
Pakulas aboard the Kawakawa that look like they were trolled over
asphalt from all the bill and teeth marks in the resin heads!"
Peter Pakula started making his lures in his native Australia in
1976, but his first lures went to Hawaii, and he didn't start to sell
them in Australia until 1980. Designed as a straight runner with very
tight swimming action, the Lumo Sprocket works well in any position but
runs best in the long outrigger slot.
4.
Chrome Sea Star :
The legendary Ilander, or "Hawaiian Eye" as some of you still know
it, has probably caught twice as many blue marlin on the Atlantic Coast
as its nearest competitor. The Ilander is another one of those lures
that you're apt to find on board in even the most remote fishing holes
on earth.
Developed by Jim Kress in 1976, the lure was initially named the
Hawaiian Eye and was designed to troll at high speeds on the way out to
the fishing grounds. The Ilander accounted for several innovations that
can be found on many lures today: It was the first true high-speed
trolling lure, the first to have permanent nylon skirts and the first to
use realistic eyes.
Versatility (along with tremendous productivity) probably accounts
for most of the Ilander's success. Anglers like John Lavelle of Cape
May, New Jersey, reach for the Ilander no matter what species of marlin
they're chasing. "I know you're going to hear from a lot of captains on
the East Coast who never leave the dock without a trusty supply of
blue/white Ilanders with some meat behind them," says Lavelle. "Besides a
naked ballyhoo, the blue/white islanders are the bait of choice for
white marlin on the East Coast."
The lure is so popular on the East Coast that its use played a large
part in the recent retraction of the National Marine Fisheries Service's
call for the use of all circle hooks in billfish tournaments when using
live or dead bait. The huge number of dead-bait trollers didn't want to
put circle hooks in front of the beloved Ilanders.
5.
Coggin Copa Angle 45 Dichro
:
Not only did Steve Coggin's Tado get a lot of votes, but the pleas
for recognition usually came with a picture of a huge blue marlin with a
Tado hanging out of its face! (It was also the only lure that got a
vote from the maker's wife - but don't worry, fellas, I didn't count
it!)
I first became aware of Coggin's lures while interviewing him for a
story written by Jim Rizzuto called "Jewels in the Spread" (June/July
2003) for some filler material. His beautiful, big lures looked more
like works of art than something you'd fish. He makes all of his lures
by hand and still uses real shell inserts.
"Tado is a big lure, and it runs great on the short corner," says
Coggin. "I first started making it during the late '70s and early '80s
at a time when most guys were making smaller lures. I gave one to Chip
Vanmols on the Jen Ken Po, and he caught a 700-pounder on it. He
promptly named the lure Tado, which is short for the Hawaiian name (Kona
slang actually) for skipjack over 10 pounds, 'otado.'"
The big Tado bait secured its reputation in Kona by catching a
1,197-pound blue during the 1993 Lahaina Jackpot for the boys on the
Cormorant, which held the spot for the largest tournament fish ever
caught for several years running.
6.
Black Bart Super Plunger - 14"
:
Although Bart Miller and Gene Vander Hoek are widely credited with
coming up with the first plunger, they weren't the ones to bring
popularity to the shape. "Joe Yee's Super Plunger is probably the most
famous and widely used plunger," says Tracy Melton of Melton
International Tackle. "We've been selling them since 1994, and in my
opinion, there's only one super plunger, and it's handmade by Joe Yee. I
think he's got 12 or 13 granders on that lure, including the current
50-pound record Pacific blue marlin weighing 1,166-pounds caught off
Kona."
But the Joe Yee Super Plunger also performs well in the Atlantic.
"It's a great big fish lure, and a lot of guys pull them in Bermuda.
Some Bermudian fellow came over to Kona and caught a grander on one and
took a boatload back home with him. The Pink Pearl Super Plunger is the
one everybody wants," says Melton.
Joe Yee still makes every Super Plunger in his basement in Kona.
"Capt. Peter Hoogs on the Pamela asked me to make a plunger for him,"
says Yee. "Capt. Gene Vander Hoek was making them and doing real good.
But I didn't know what a plunger was. So I made up a big lure for Hoogs,
and he went out and caught a 500-pounder on it. And since Gene's was a
12-inch lure, and mine was more like 14, Hoogs called it a Super
Plunger, and the name stuck.
"A lot of people have caught big fish on that lure," Yee continues.
"One day I was eating dinner with a group that was going charter fishing
the next day, and I ended up telling the lady that she was going to
catch a grander - just kidding, you know? I went to my room and brought
her back a Super Plunger and told her to catch a big one. The next day, I
was having lunch near the docks and heard that the Jen Ken Po had a big
one on. Sure enough, it was that same lady, and she ended up catching a
1,183-pound blue."
7.
Marlin Magic Ruckus Digga - 14" - Black/Clear
:
Another overwhelming favorite, the Marlin Magic Ruckus, worked its
way into the spread of a large number of big-fish captains, falling just
behind the Wide Range in overall popularity. Capt. Marlin Parker has
been making lures for more than 20 years, and the Marlin Magic Ruckus
was one of his first designs.
"I came up with Ruckus after chopping down a much larger head and
shaving down the nose," says Parker. "The resulting shape carries a lot
of air down on the dive, and it looks like a white explosion as it
releases the air underwater. That's why we named it Ruckus.
"The Ruckus has a softer slant, so its one of the easier of my lures
to rig and run," he continues. "It's highly productive and one of my
best tournament lures. I've won more tournaments on the ruckus than any
other lure, including the Bisbee Black and Blue in 2004 and the World
Cup in 2002. The lure goes off in any position, and if you match the
hatch, you should do well. If there's a lot of skipjack around, pull a
purple/black; if there are more mackerel, pull one with some green and
blue. Last year we even had a run where the pure black was just
incredible."
8.
Black Bart 1656 Angle Face
:
This one really surprised me. I was pretty sure at least one of Bart
Miller's lures would make the list; however, I just figured it would be
one of his ever-popular styles like the Breakfast or Grander Candy.
Instead, the smaller-size 1656 Angle pulled ahead of its big brothers in
the voting.
"That's the shape I used to catch the 1,656-pound blue marlin, only
it was a much bigger head than the one we sell now," says Miller. "I
sized it down a bit because most people don't pull 130-pound line. With
the smaller head, you can use 50 or 80 and pull it fine."
Miller attributes the lure's success to its versatility. "It really
takes a variety of good lure features and wraps them into one shape. It
has an easy entry that allows it to run well in all conditions, it
doesn't have a radical slant so it stays in the water, and its 12-inch
size elicits a lot of strikes from different species," he says. "A
slight reverse taper gives the lure a nice wiggle but doesn't make the
lure change its course, so it has a really high hookup ratio. I make a
whole line of them ranging in size from a 9-inch up to the Braziliano,
which is actually closer to the size of the one that caught the 1,656.
We also make the 1656 with a flat nose. I've gotten a lot of mileage out
of that shape."
