Bent minnows vs sugar pens

[Aussiefisherman]

Morning raiders👋

 

After fishing with @R E G I C Y C L E multiple times I realised that he had an competitive edge over me. Not in the ways you would expect but in the small banana shape lure which he throws. When fishing a sand flat or estuary, the go to method of fishing is usually the sensory topwater fishing method. For me it would be the sugar pen or similar walk the dog action styled lure and for @R E G I C Y C L E it would usually be the osp bent minnow. The bent minnow seamed to trigger the fish in a way that a sugar pen couldn't. Even working the same patches of water.

So I decided I would take a home loan out and purchase one of these bent things 😂🤭

The following day I hit up a marina which I hadn't fished before but i had previously walked past . I knew there where plenty of bream at this spot, because they could be seen cruising along the top of the water column and close into the shore. I decided to prove my theory. So I chucked on a sugar pen and began flicking it under boats. After about 5 minutes with no luck I decided to swap to my new weapon. First cast on a boat that i had already thrown at with the sugar pen and already I was being whacked. This particular fish took 3 goes to finally get hooked up. 

I couldn't believe it, a bream was quiet happy to hit a paused bent minnow 3 times but would even look at the sugar pen. 

Anyone ever had this ? Or does the bent minnow just trigger the inner hunter in the bream ? I guessing it just looks like a free meal. 

After no further luck at that marina I moved on to another. This time the bent minnow was ready and was my first choice of lure. First cast and boof, just like that a monster bream(guessing it was a 40cm fish) had smashed it on the pause. Unfortunately this bloke broke me off after about a 30 second fight 😢. I watched the fish swim off with 35 dollars in its mouth.

I couldn't help my self so I purchased another bent minnow.

I returned the next day to the same marina and cast in the same places that I was being whacked at the previous day. This proved unsuccessful, maybe due to a 40cm bream swimming round with his mates and showing them his new peircing 😂

Anyway I moved to the edge of the marina and began casting away from the structure. I began seeing silver flashes which I assumed were bream. They turned out to be choppa tailor, 🫢

After landing one, I threw my lure out again and this time my luck ran out, snip there goes my second bent minnow 🥲

I don't know which is worse loosing a bent minnow to a choppa tailor or big bream.

Anyway I was wondering if anyone knows any cheaper alternatives of the bent minnow ? I am aware of a couple such as the  bender and other cheap junkies. Anyone use any other that they would recommend? Something that dosent break the bank 😂

Additional does anyone know any information on the Dr flex lures by fishcraft ? See images below 👇

Tight lines 🎣🎣

Edited March 20 by Aussiefisherman

[Green Hornet]

Bugger about losing a couple of expensive lures, l’ve used the Hurricane, Switch 66 bents before with results I reckon that are just as good as the OSP’s, but you can never be sure of something like that. Another thing I do is fish barbless hooks on all my multi-hook lures. I don’t believe I lose any more fish and the bonus is sometimes after a bust off, the fish will “throw” the lure soon after and it will float to the surface.

 

[R E G I C Y C L E]

There is something special about the bent... and I'm not just referring to the price.

Nice bream.

[lhan]

I heard Berkley ones are OK if you change the trebles. But personally I never hooked a single fish using it (I didn't fish topwater that much tho)

[big Neil]

I'm not going to comment on the effectiveness of the dearer lure versus the cheaper option. 

I have always maintained that if you want to catch fish you must be prepared to lose some tackle, including expensive lures. HOWEVER, I can't really see that large Bream should be busting you off. I know that you can't use QE2 mooring rope for leader if you hope to hook up, but I don't think that you should be getting busted off by Bream that probably weigh less than 1.2kg.

What size (breaking strain) line are you using and have you tried anything that is a bit more substantial? Are you connecting the line directly to the split ring or the tow point? I never tie leader directly to a split ring as they have sharp ends that can break your line. Better to remove them altogether unless you are using a swivel clip. Maybe you can get by with a little heavier leader and still get hook ups...and not end up with breaking off.

Certainly, you can't keep re-mortgaging the house to buy these expensive lures, so have a good look at every other possible consideration involved in your losing lures. There may well be a simple explanation. Good luck with overcoming your dilemma.

Good report and great photos...

bn

Edited March 21 by big Neil
more info

[Little_Flatty]

I've caught more fish on the Berkeley Bender than the OSP, but that could be just that I have owned the bender for longer and also I don't dare cast the OSP into risky places...cost-wise it's like throwing the whole family's dinner into the mangroves if I lose it!

A lot of the reason why lures can be expensive is because of the amount of R&D required to get them right. A lot of experimenting is required to get the weighting and action just right. I've learned recently how tedious a process it can be, playing with my foam popper lures. I have a very cheap imitation bent minnow lure which was sold as a topwater lure, but the darn thing SINKS! Still, not all is lost, can use it for a flatty lure I suspect. It looks pretty good sub-surface.

As to why the bream preferred the bent minnow to the sugapen, it could've been that the bream wanted an 'easier' feed that day, as the bent minnow probably looks more 'wounded' in the water than a stickbait. It's a bit like how we sometimes don't feel like cooking at the end of the day and reach for a freezer meal or opt for take-out🤣

[Mike Sydney]

I’ll second the vote on the Berkley bender as a cheaper alternative to the OSP. Besides bream on surface, I’ve also had success with the 105 model catching surface flathead. Yet to land a really big one but have had four surface flathead on run out tides on the sand flats using the bender.

They come in closer to $20, the 76mm ones around $16 bucks and the larger 105s $21. One of the big retailers - the orange one - had a promo a few weeks back offering two for the price of one and I stocked up.

The 105mm model is still pretty light and can be cast on your bream gear, though I’ve been using a 12lb leader instead of my normal 6lb when casting it.

Three bloops, pause, rinse and repeat. 

Edited March 21 by Mike Sydney

[Bennyg78]

hey @Aussiefisherman

I find a few differences in using the sugapen vs the bent minnow.

• The sugapen and similar such lures cast alot better and further, they really excel as a searching lure as you can work them over longer distances and an array of distances. They only work along the surface
• The bent minnow, doesn't cast as well add some cross or head wind and it catches a lot of that wind. The big advantage of the bent minnow and other similar lures is they also work sub surface which can have advantage over other topwater lures.

They both catch fish very well

[Steve0]

9 hours ago, big Neil said:

I'm not going to comment on the effectiveness of the dearer lure versus the cheaper option. bn

I suspect I agree with what you are not saying.

Lures are designed more by marketers to catch fishos than they are by fishos to catch fish. Fish live in a different environment to humans and need to perceive the world differently. On any day, I suspect silhouette, which translates to darkness/lightness rather than colour or maker's name may make a difference.  The unknown variable is whether a fish is near enough to become interested as you retrieve. Who can be sure? if a house-mortgage lure works for someone, I am not going to advise them not to use it.

Whatever gives you confidence.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22 by Steve0
Punctuation

[big Neil]

7 minutes ago, Steve0 said:

I suspect I agree with what you are not saying.

Lures are designed more by marketers to catch fishos than they are by fishos to catch fish. Fish live in a different environment to humans and need to perceive the world differently. On any day, I suspect silhouette, which translates to darkness/lightness rather than colour or maker's name may make a difference.  The unknown variable is whether a fish is near enough to become interested as you retrieve. Who can be sure, if a house-mortgage lure works for someone, I am not going to advise them not to use it.

Whatever gives you confidence.

 

 

 

 

Yep this discussion has been around for a long time, in a lot of different forms, and basically, it boils down to the discussion about how long is a piece of string. We humans, who think we have all the answers to ALL the questions are insufficiently well-informed to know exactly how the feeding/defence processes of every fish species works.

I use lures a lot but I would be crazy to buy a truck load of the same lure because I have reasonable success with it. It happens too and I start to think that one works better than another, but it's a trap. Some well respected guru says that this lure is the best thing since sliced bread, so many people buy it. The well respected guru gets some sort of kickback. As you mention though, the fish aren't aware of the role they are supposed to play in this scheme. Their basic needs are the same as ours...food and shelter, eat but don't get eaten. Fish, like humans, need a varied diet, so it would be absurd to think that one lure that mimics one food source is going to cut it every time.

My opinion is that what works, at any given time, is the best lure on the market. But don't fall for the promise that it is the only option, 'cos it's not.

 

Here endeth the first lesson from the BIG NEIL school of fishing myths and legends...

signing off, bn

[faker]

I use Chinese knock off sugapen and still catch fish. Floating pencils are not a new invention and mechanics of it is well understood. Bent minnow requires relatively more research and knockoffs action are mediocre.

Fish cannot tell brands and some things just work better on different days

[joshGTV]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:05 AM, Green Hornet said:

Bugger about losing a couple of expensive lures, l’ve used the Hurricane, Switch 66 bents before with results I reckon that are just as good as the OSP’s, but you can never be sure of something like that. Another thing I do is fish barbless hooks on all my multi-hook lures. I don’t believe I lose any more fish and the bonus is sometimes after a bust off, the fish will “throw” the lure soon after and it will float to the surface.

 

The other good thing about using barbless hooks is that if you plan to release the fish, you don't mangle its mouth trying to unhook it.

[Blackfish]

Also the other good thing about Barbless hooks is they are easier to get out of your hand and the body.