Beach lures

[Subtropic]

Hi Raiders

This topic may have been covered previously however given lures and techniques evolve, what lures are people using on the beach?

Regards

Grant

[Green Hornet]

These days its pretty hard to beat the Halco Twisty for a lure that casts well, has plenty of flash and can be worked fast or slow. Throw in a couple of Surecatch Knights and Samaki Torpedoes and your tackle box is almost complete. That being said, beach tailor aren't fussy and will generally hit anything that moves most of the time.

Get a couple of gold Twisties as well as the chrome ones because on those rare days when the fish are fussy, the gold can make all the difference. Also if you like, grab a popper or two for those calmer days. The Halco Rooster Popper is relatively cheap and easy to use. 

Its always a good idea to swap the trebel hooks out for singles for a better hook set and less damage done to the fish, should you choose to release them. If swapping the hooks over on Twisties, its a good idea to change the split ring while you're at it, as Halco use those rings with an extra turn in them and they can be too wide to fit the eye of some singles.

Down south where we catch more salmon than tailor, I add an assist hook to improve my hook up rate, plus they hold far better in a salmon's soft mouth. I don't find its much of an advantage on tailor.

The lure in the pic is a Surecatch Bishop with the prismatic tape removed. From what I can see these are discontinued, but if you see one in "the cheap bin" at the tackle shop, grab it as they're my all time favourites.

 

[XD351]

This summer I hope to Put in  a lot more time using plastics off the beach . Mainly for bream , flathead and whiting but there is also the chance of a salmon.

[Rebel]

As @Green Hornet says you can't go past Halco's.

In saying that, experiment with other Lures.

You will never know till you try.

Cheers.

[Green Hornet]

1 hour ago, XD351 said:

This summer I hope to Put in  a lot more time using plastics off the beach . Mainly for bream , flathead and whiting but there is also the chance of a salmon.

I usually work my way down the beach with a metal and on the way back hop a hard body vibe across the bottom. The vibe has been pulling its share of flathead and bream, though I’m really hoping for a decent Jew.

 I’ve tried plastics but found casting distance to be an issue. Particularly if the lure has a curly or shad type tail that flaps around in air.

[XD351]

I tried last year but using conventional jig heads on small curly tails and the casting distance was areal problem unless I went up to a ridiculously large jig head . 
I did see a guy on YouTube fishing sand worm lures on a paternoster rig that had a decent sinker on the end and I am now thinking of using a drop shot rig or just a rig with a short dropper and a smallish snapper lead on the end , I could cast out and hop this back to shore -  maybe with some pauses . I do like hitting the beach with a 10ft spin stick a shoulder bag and a handful of lures - nice and light to carry and very mobile .

[nutsaboutfishing]

3 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

These days its pretty hard to beat the Halco Twisty for a lure that casts well, has plenty of flash and can be worked fast or slow. Throw in a couple of Surecatch Knights and Samaki Torpedoes and your tackle box is almost complete. That being said, beach tailor aren't fussy and will generally hit anything that moves most of the time.

Get a couple of gold Twisties as well as the chrome ones because on those rare days when the fish are fussy, the gold can make all the difference. Also if you like, grab a popper or two for those calmer days. The Halco Rooster Popper is relatively cheap and easy to use. 

Its always a good idea to swap the trebel hooks out for singles for a better hook set and less damage done to the fish, should you choose to release them. If swapping the hooks over on Twisties, its a good idea to change the split ring while you're at it, as Halco use those rings with an extra turn in them and they can be too wide to fit the eye of some singles.

Down south where we catch more salmon than tailor, I add an assist hook to improve my hook up rate, plus they hold far better in a salmon's soft mouth. I don't find its much of an advantage on tailor.

The lure in the pic is a Surecatch Bishop with the prismatic tape removed. From what I can see these are discontinued, but if you see one in "the cheap bin" at the tackle shop, grab it as they're my all time favourites.

 

Hey GH,

Do you always add a swivel to your Halco Twisties??

Cheers

Richard

[Green Hornet]

4 hours ago, XD351 said:

I tried last year but using conventional jig heads on small curly tails and the casting distance was areal problem unless I went up to a ridiculously large jig head . 
I did see a guy on YouTube fishing sand worm lures on a paternoster rig that had a decent sinker on the end and I am now thinking of using a drop shot rig or just a rig with a short dropper and a smallish snapper lead on the end , I could cast out and hop this back to shore -  maybe with some pauses . I do like hitting the beach with a 10ft spin stick a shoulder bag and a handful of lures - nice and light to carry and very mobile .

I’ve fished curly tail soft plastics on a paternoster rig, left it out there and let the wave action work the tails, like you would a surf popper and caught plenty of salmon. I’ve also used Gulp 2” worms on a standard, bait hook and running sinker rig and caught good whiting on a very slow retrieve.

My local beach is in Booderee National Park (Jervis Bay) where it is now illegal to gather pippies and beach worms, so the Gulps will be getting more of a workout next summer.

Edited June 15, 2022 by Green Hornet
Spell check. I collect pippies, not puppies LOL.

[Green Hornet]

36 minutes ago, nutsaboutfishing said:

Hey GH,

Do you always add a swivel to your Halco Twisties??

Cheers

Richard

I do Richard. Not so much for the twisting qualities of the swivel, but because I don’t like tying my leader directly to a split ring and the sharp ends of the wire they have. I guess you could also use a solid ring or snap too.

Edited June 15, 2022 by Green Hornet

[nutsaboutfishing]

54 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

I do Richard. Not so much for the twisting qualities of the swivel, but because I don’t like tying my leader directly to a split ring and the sharp ends of the wire they have. I guess you could also use a solid ring or snap too.

ok thanks for that

[Hill373737]

Paddletails like MinnowZ work off the beach although if there are tailor around, they"ll take a heavy toll on your plastics.

 

Its hard to beat chromies especially through the colder months, they cast a mile and you never know what bycatch you'll get. 🙂

 

 

[Subtropic]

Thanks everyone, informative replies. I have got some Halco Twisters and Surecatch Knights. Buying a Surecatch lure was surprising, somewhat different to the expensive bass and bream lures. Looking forward to seeing how the halco poppers go in the warmer months. What hardbodies did you use Green Hornet?

[Green Hornet]

@SubtropicThe hardbody I've been having success on is an IMA Kourme 90mm/26g, same colour as in the pic. Even at 90mm the bream smash it. I removed the front set of trebels,as they kept getting caught up on the leader when casting.

Another great looking lure that @wazatherfishermanput me onto that I havent tried yet is a Little Jack Sayoris 182mm/55g. They should be a killer lure when the garfish are around.

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Green Hornet

[Rebel]

I don't use trebles at all.

Only single hooks. Much easier.

I tie the leader to a clip with a swivel attached.

I don't have to cut my leader every time I change lures.

The clips come in different sizes.

Cheers. 

[Subtropic]

6 hours ago, Rebel said:

I don't use trebles at all.

Only single hooks. Much easier.

I tie the leader to a clip with a swivel attached.

I don't have to cut my leader every time I change lures.

The clips come in different sizes.

Cheers. 

Yeah I use clips, I would hate to cut the leader constantly.