INDIANANGLER

One of the perks here in Australia is that if you keep your eyes peeled and ears open, you can get some good deals on fishing equipment that is placed on sale by some of the larger outlets.

They may be clearing inventory or newer stock has come in which means the older models have to be sold at a discount to make room. Whatever be the reason, it can be a windfall for us anglers.

The latest example would be the sale on Savage Gear Manic Prey lures here ..... just look what you get at A$5/- ( yes, five dollars!!) per lure:

. Tough ABS body
.sliding internal weight for long casting
.through wire construction for strength
.3x strong treble hooks (possibly VMC ?)
.strengthened split rings
.2 extra strong spare 1/0 hooks for replacement of trebles if needed
.11.5 cm length
.27 Gm weight
.Floating lure with diving depths of 8-12 ft or 12-20 ft depending on model
.7-8 different colours to replicate different fish

See pictures below:

I took two of the lures out (green mackerel and yellowfin tuna) to test them. Incredible detail and paintwork, with extremely sharp hooks.

I tested them in the water, both had a good wiggle and sideways roll which will give off flashes to attract predators. Forgot to mention the inbuilt rattle, as well.

The yellowfin tuna ran true straight out of the box but the green mackerel was tracking to the left upon retrieve. A minor adjustment to the towing point with a pair of pliers cured the problem right away.

It just remains for me to actually use these lures in the nearby estuaries and rivers to see how they perform in the field and I hope to report back later.

If anyone has used these Savage lures, I would be interested to know of their opinions.

Kingfish

Nice lures for a very good price!!

very good lure, i have landed a nice spotted snapper on it, while the rapala were not catching.

@ RaMpEr

Hello, thanks for the feedback.

Were you trolling or spinning with the Savage lure?

Regards,
Kingfish

Hello Venkat,

No news from you fishing wise ! Will you be going after the monsoons ?

Do let us know .... can't wait to see your next GT !

Kind regards,
Kingfish

Kingfish, thats a very good price for quality lure. I have used the MP-145 In the dirty Silver color, and have caught bluefish with them.

Hello Binu,

Thank you for the feedback. Lots of tailor (bluefish) around Sydney, so I hope to catch them on these Savage lures.

Kingfish

Last one year I did not do much fishing. Last years fishing season is spoiled by lack of rain and the good harvest of lobsters resulted in netting along the coast line.
Lately trips to my native were also very short duration and I could not do any fishing.
Hopefully I am looking for August to come...

Regards,
H.Venkatesan.

Venkat,

Unfortunate that you could not fish as much as you wanted to, due to various factors.

Perhaps you should diversify and go to different locations and also start hitting the freshwater
scene?

Your rivers in Kerala should offer year round action with barramundi and MJs. Just my thoughts.

Regards,
Kingfish

Couple of months back I started fresh water fishing around Bangalore and landed a murrel on the very first outing.
Unfortunately the reservoirs are dried up due to summer and with lesser water the mortals cleaned up the lake with all kinds of tactics.
Waiting continues for fresh water as well..

Thanks for the writeup kingfish!

Have a couple of those gold/black back in you tackle box when you are fishing some of my spots.
They'll produce very well for both MJs and Groupers.... Be ready to lose a couple for the unstoppable

Maruthu

Hello Maruthu,

Thanks for the tip ! At $5 per lure, it may not hurt as much to lose one of these Savage lures .... especially as the more famous names cost four to five times as much here in Australia.

Regards,
Kingfish

Hi Kingfish,

These are Aussie lures but where are they made? They could be made in China that is why the price, I use a lot of Chinese lures with 50/50 success. Most of the branded Chinese made lures are OK. I have also Chinese brand lures which cost about the same as the ones above and they were dynamite, with good quality VMC hooks and they were robust, all I had to do was add a split ring on the nose to keep the action true. These were small 3 inch lures but wonderful, I used to pick them all up when the shop stocked them, my daughters loved using them too and caught a load of fish with them. Unfortunately I have not seen them around in the shops here and may have only one or two left in the box, we used to fish them in very rocky terrain with light line and no leader so the loss was high. The shape was very similar to the floro lure in your picture but the lip was a shallow one and they only came in red/white and fire tiger colours.

Bobby

Hello Bobby,

These are not Aussie lures. Savage Gear (who sell these lures and several other types, such as soft plastics, poppers etc.) seem to be a US based outfit and are actively selling in all major markets worldwide.

However, you are right in that the actual lures are made in China.

The models pictured above ( Manic Prey) come in shallow, mid depth and deep diver versions. Their actual retail cost is A$ 15, so to get them at $5 each was too good an opportunity to pass up.

If you could post a picture of the 3in lure that you mention, we could better judge if they are from the Savage Gear stable.

Regards,
Kingfish

Hi
I have mentioned the same fact about our local lake being cleaned up with illegal nets.... we also had some improvements lately.(you might find the content in one of the other posts). What we decided to do was just maybe a simple but effective idea !.... a few friends of mine and myself we chopped some thorny branches ( a lot of them)....we got into the water and lined the shores with those thorns about 5 ft from the shores....immersed in the water. Finished doing this on some parts of the lake which were the favourite of the ones using the smaller nets. Did it with a view to save the fingerlets of the Mahseer and the other smaller fish.
*** I am no Railway authority.....but still went ahead and did it as i feel its necessary to do things the authority neglects...even it means doing it without permission.
Once mid monsoon ....when the lake fill up a bit...will repeat the same...and then again when the lake is full to capacity.....that should go a long way in stopping those illegal nets all throughout the year..... hope this helps.

Kookaburra endorsement

Most of you will be aware of the Kookaburra, an iconic Australian bird from the Kingfisher family.
It is mentioned in the song " Waltzing Matilda " and if you ever visit these parts, you will often be woken up by maniacal laughter - trademark call of this bird which sounds like a crazy person laughing his head off!

Imagine my surprise when I went fishing with the new Savage Manic Prey lure in the green mackerel colour yesterday evening.

I was walking with the lure dangling from the end of the rod, when I felt a swoosh of air and a blur that hit my lure .... it was a kookaburra that mistook the lure for a real fish and tried to grab it !

I guess there is not a better testimonial for this lure?

Kingfish

Mr. Kookaburra, he is the one who eyed my lure and decided it was too good to pass up. These guys are from the kingfisher family and fish is a part of their diet ... they cleaned out the goldfish I kept in our ornamental pond at home.

Any one else have a similar incident .... am sure we would all like to hear about it.

Kingfish

I had kites and gulls attack on the lure many times in the surf. While fishing for snakehead with rubber frog, a kite had taken the frog and flew and I had to fight the kite like a fish.
It happened at least 2 times and after that I did not allow the kite to take the frog.

Hello Venkat,

That must have been some experience! Releasing birds can be quite dangerous, as they fight tooth and nail ( beak and talon?) when they are struggling to be released.

I have found that a large cloth or towel thrown over any captured animal or fish, so that their eyes are covered, quietens them enough so that one can untangle and release them safely.

Regards,
Kingfish

Whilst on this subject, I believe a member has caught a sea snake when fishing and posted a picture of it on the forum.

Then there are those crazy Australians who will specifically target saltwater crocodiles with poppers ......!

I must confess that I did try to catch baby sharks on a Halco popper, they would turn aggressively towards the popper but fortunately did not get hooked!

Kingfish

I had made a spoon out of a door handle when times were tight, it had fantastic movement, I had several terns take a dive at it only to abort when they were a few feet away, it used to be quite entertaining.

With plastics I have never had that problem, but I worry when I see cormorants swimming about but have had no bird strikes.

Bobby,

You have good reason to be worried about cormorants.

I was fishing for bream in shallow water in Port Stephens, some 3 hours out of Sydney, using a very small hard bodied plastic lure about 2 inches long.

I could see my lure working in the water as I was on higher ground. Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared swimming right behind the lure .... it was a cormorant!

I quickly pulled my lure out of the water ... really did not wish to have anything to do with him.

Kingfish

Once my brother caught a eel with bait, it is the weirdest thing we have caught so for. How much ever we try it will coil around the leader line and
we could not remove the hook which was hooked deep inside. Finally we had to kill it.




The place where I fish, occasionally few black sharks used to show up. One time even 3 dolphins came within casting distance.
Whenever these show up I will stop casting and watch them. I don't want to hook a fright train..

Regards,
H.Venkatesan.

Eels are ugly creatures and look so much like snakes, it was always unnerving to catch them in the dark ..... we used to catch a lot of them on bait while fishing for flathead in shallow, sandy beaches.
They used to coil around the leader, just as Venkat has described , and the simplest thing was to cut the line and push them into the water.

By the way, eels are apparently good eating and smoked eel is featured on the menu in a lot of restaurants abroad.

Does anyone know if they are eaten in India?

Kingfish

kingfish
If the Baam fish is an eel then yes it is eaten in india. I myself enjoy it a lot.
Since this is a thread about a reel....can someone tell me about Banax st 4000 c reel.??? Is it a good brand and reel ???

@ oncebitten 13

Google tells me that the Baam fish is from the eel family, thank you for the information about it being a food source in India.

I am personally not familiar with the Banax reel so I would not be able to give any input on its merits, perhaps there are other forum members who can comment on it?

I also wanted to mention that you have taken a good initiative in suppressing the netting at the local lake
that you fish at ...... perhaps you should be a bit careful that the netters don't take offence and cause you any trouble.

Regards,
Kingfish

hi kingfish..
A few weeks past and no one with a review on banax ST 4000 C reels.
As regards the netters..... appreciate the concern.. and don't worry i myself am a bit connected with a good family name..... not much trouble can be caused to me here. Alhamdulillah.
REgards

@oncebitten13

Most probably no one amongst the members has the Banax reel, which in itself should be a warning sign.

Plenty of reviews for this reel on the internet, suggest you look those up.

Kingfish