Most Overlooked Spinner: Bluefox Vibrax

Most Overlooked Spinner: Bluefox Vibrax

With the monsoon season here, I thought of Sebarau boils and when I think of Sebarau, I think of these - Bluefox Spinners.

Spinners have their place in every anglers tacklebox. They are one of the most basic form of lures for casters and there are a place and time when only they work while other lures don't.
Their appearance are less appealing to us and we often skip buying these hidden gems.

5gm & 10gm Bluefox Vibrax Spinners

Any type of spinner work with Sebaraus (Hampala Barb) but the Bluefox Vibrax simply work wonders. The bell/bullet shaped head is to emit vibrations that attract fishes and the blade provides flash to get the Sebarau's attention. It's made out of machined brass and is silver or copper plated.

Bell shaped body of the Bluefox Vibrax

The treble hook is sharp out of the box and quite strong but Hampala Barbs have the tendency to bend them during the heat of the fight. This lure comes with tempered VMC treble hook.

The colours will fade a bit after a while of regular usage but it does not affect the lure's effectiveness.

The 5gm size is a small pond and stream lure as it is excels in these places.

The blades spin freely and provides maximum flash while the lure is being retrieved. They are either silver or copper plated and depending on the colour options you choose, come with painted or printed patterns.

Durability is excellent, except for the colors fading after a while and the treble hook needs to be changed to something stronger (as with other lures) because we all know our predatory fishes are notorious for their unhooking ability.

In terms of looks, its simple. And this does not catch a lot of anglers but it certainly does catch fish.

So if you're out and about searching for fishing stuff, don't neglect these when you find some. Get one and try it out for yourself. Good things come in small packages AND they're inexpensive too.

Tight lines. Have fun fishing, that's all that matters.

Heddon's Zara Puppy & Super Spook Jr

Ever since it appeared in every fishing magazine I'e read, my hands itched to get myself at least one for field testing. And I finally got one from a popular local fishing tackle retailer. That was years ago.

At that time, most anglers were buying the Megabass Dog-X  & Lucky Craft Sammy lures.

I got one Heddon Zara Puppy in Flitter Shad colour and one Super Spook Jr in Blue/Chrome.  


The venue for the test is at Tasik Raban as I was passing through the place to get to the east coast. Long story short, I got 1 Peacock Bass and 1 Sebarau during my 2 hour of fishing using the Zara Puppy. I didn't even change lures in this session. The sebarau really slammed into this lure and fought well.

Construction of the lure is good. Its made out of hard plastic and the finish is up to the mark. The was minimal paint chip when used and stored in the tackle box. It has chrome flakes glued to the body of the lure and these held up pretty well. The weight, given the size of the lure is pretty good for casting.

Zara Puppy

Length: 7.62cm
Weight: 7gm

Super Spook Jr

Length: 3 1/2"

Weight: 1/2oz

Walking the dog is extremely easy with this lure. It sits fairly horizontal to the water surface unlike Lucky Craft's Sammy which sits bottom down when paused.

The puppy's size is ideal for ponds, streams and lakes where smaller baitfish is found.

The hooks could be changed to something better as a fiesty fish could easily bend the trebles.

Heddon makes one of the best top water pencils in the world and the quality is good as well for the price point. And in our opinion, since 1894, makes the most practical topwater lure ever.

The author's favourite topwater lure minus the trebles. 

River2Sea's Baby Bully 45 Hollow Bodied Frog

River2Sea's Bully Wa 45 Hollow Bodied Frog

This lure is great when fishing in lakes, ponds and other bodies of water filled with vegetation because of it's weedless design. Hollow bodied lures allow the body to collapse when a fish bites down on them, exposing the hook(s) and hopefully hooking the fish.

The general rule with hollow bodied frogs is to wait around 2-3 seconds after feeling the weight of the fish and then setting the hook. But also with any other topwater lures, the explosiveness of the fish taking the lure would make the best of us jump and pulling the lure away from the fish before it can engulf it properly.
Nothing beats top water strikes as they make our heart skip beats when fish suddenly strike them (often when we are not paying attention).

Haruans and toman are favourite quarry for these frogs as they are ambush predators and like to hide near vegetation.

With the event of hollow bodied frogs in Malaysia, the options are limited. We would love to get our hands on Lunker Hunt's Lunker Frog but the cost is too much for us to bear as they cost around RM45 each!

So for now, we would be doing a small write-up on River2Sea's Bully Wa 45 frog.

We procured the big brother of this frog - Bully Wa 55 a few years back and had quite a few strikes with it. We got them from a famous fishing retailer in Kepong and at that time, there were a whole lot of them stacked on their shelves - ranging from the Baby Bully 45 to the Bully Wa 65 in all available colours.

This year, we decided to purchase some more but could not find any of these over there so we went to a retail store in Puchong instead. Fortunately they do stock them but the Bully Wa 55 was sold out, they only had the Baby Bully 45 in 3 colours - I Know It , Tonic and Coot. We went ahead with buying 2 of the "I Know It" colour and 1 of the "Tonic" colour.

These frogs are soft, and would expose the hooks fairly easily when a fish bites down.
The finish looks good but the durability is adversely affected after strikes from our predatory fishes. The lure would take in some water but it can be quickly dealt with by squeezing the frog to let out the water. Doing this every 8-10 casts would probably annoy the average caster though. The skirts work really well with this lure, you can trim it to your desired length if you need to. Hooks are strong enough to handle Haruans but it would be interesting to find out whether they could withstand a massive Toman (we couldn't get one to bite).

Everyone should have at least one of these frogs in their tackle box because we know that even on bad fishing days, the Channa Striata would just jump on these.

The Baby Bully is 4.5cm long, not including the length of the skirts.

Working the frog is easy but making it "walk-the-dog" like the box says, would take some getting used to. We just used the age old "retrieve-pause-twitch-pauuuuuuuusssseee-twitch-twitch-twitch-retrieve" method.

Sad to say, we've lost 2 of our Bully Wa 55 and 1 of our Baby Bully 45 since our last outing.
It would be permissible if we lost these lures to fishes, but we lost them to snags. This is due to our own fault for tugging a little too hard.

All in all this is a good frog to use and have. The colour range is more than enough to satisfy the most demanding angler. Although durability could have been improved.

Another trip to the tackle store is inevitable. 

Egg Snaps...Snapped!

The ultimate thing about fishing is that your terminal tackle must be tip-top. Or you'l learn a very expensive lesson later on.

What I'm saying applies to lure fishing.

I have had the opportunity to experience this myself, even though I was confident with my terminal tackle and line ties.

I recently bought a Japanese snap called the "Egg Snap" and even though it was rated to withstand up to 30lbs of pressure, it broke open after i tried freeing my lure from grass near the bank!

Japanese products are always related to quality - or so i thought. With this bad experience, I would go back to using the snaps that I'm used to - RM2 per 10 snaps.

UPDATE: The failure could also be attributable to the superline (braid) I used. Maybe the snaps weren't made to handle superlines.

The "Egg Snap".

Can take up to 30lbs

Made in Japan.

Oh well. Maybe is wasn't made to handle grass.

Toman Hunt: 22nd January 2012

Sunday 22nd January 2012

Hunting Area: Area 52

Time: 9:25am - 11:15am

Weather: Cloudy

Water: Slightly Stained

Gear

Rod: Abu Garcia Vendetta Medium Heavy (5'6")

Reel: Abu Garcia Revo Skeet Reese Baitcasting

Line: Berkley Fireline Braid (40lb)

Lure: 3/8oz Buzzbait

This morning, I decided to hunt in Area 52. Arrived at around 8:35am and stayed in the car as it was raining heavily, but by 9am the rained finally let up. Started to fish at 9:25am and used the same lures - buzzbaits & soft plastics.

Alternated these two types of lures and at around 10:50am hooked up onto a parent Toman after running the buzzbait through a circle of Toman fries. The fish pulled out line at a rapid speed even with full drag , but this time I was prepared...thumbed the spool to stop the fish from reaching underwater trees.

Could feel that it was a big fish by the way it took off with the lure, even with thumb pressure, it succeeded in reaching some underwater structure (I could feel the line scraping against something woody), still kept some pressure on the fish but pumping the rod won't budge the fish, it felt like the lure was stuck.

Keeping steady pressure, I waited.....and waited......I pumped the rod, trying to free my lure....then, I could feel something..... THE FISH! It was still on the line, after feeling it move a little bit, I pumped and reeled the fish frantically, so that it would not wind my line to the underwater tree. It worked!

I could feel the fish getting tired (the runs were shorter and felt like the fish was just using its weight instead), then carefully, dragged the fish to the bank.

Checkout the size

When I first saw the fish, I was overjoyed as it certainly was big - the biggest for me, at least. My hands were trembling from the fight, so I dragged the fish way up the sloping bank so that it would not escape (as in the previous case). This is because I just had to take photos of the fish before releasing it.

Placed my rod next to the fish and started photographing away with the mobile's camera. (Sorry about the out of focus pics, my hands were still trembling when I took photos)

Comparison with the fishing gear

Estimated to be around 6-7 kilograms (13lb +), the fish was released after photographing, as usual. Used a flimsy camera phone to take the pics, so I must apologize for the quality. Plus, I had no one to take pics of me and the fish.

I'm no meat hunter.

Toman / Giant Snakehead

Measurement of Pliers - 16cm long.

The buzzbait was bent, but still holding. The sharp hook did its job very well, and so dd the wire....it bent under load but didn't fail.

Was happy with the quality of the lure, it stood up to a very formidable adversary.

Buzzbait After Toman Hunt 22nd January 2012

Even after 2 years, my hands are itching to catch a fish this size again. I wonder where and when will it happen.

Tight Lines.

Field Test: Keitech Plastic Worm

Keitech Plastic Worm

Recently I've had the chance to procure a packet of plastic worms from Keitech.
The packaging is kept simple and functional - i like.


Keitech Lure - Field Test Packet
Keitech Swing Impact 4" Worms.


For this particular test, "Area 52" was chosen as the location. "Area 52" is typically a natural lake and the fishes are finicky about what they eat as it has been under fishing pressure for quite some time.

Test Location: Area 52
Time: 9:45am - 11am
Weather Condition: Sunny
Water Clarity: Stained
Rod: Silstar 6 feet, Medium Heavy Spinning Rod
Reel: Pinnacle DTF 40 Spinning
Line: Maxima Chameleon 15lb
Leader: Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon 17lb
Hook: Fire Eagle 2/0 Offset / Fire Eagle 1 Offset

Product Spotlight: Keitech Swing Impact 4" Plastic Worm (Silver Flash Minnow)


Keitech Lure


The worms comes packed in a blister case and is scented.
Rigging the worm is very easy, as the worm itself is very soft. On this test, I rigged the worm weightless for finesse fishing.

On the very first cast at the edge of the underwater grass area, I had a hit. Reeled in a fast as I could as the fish was headed straight under some lotuses but could not stop it on time, and while trying to "persuade" the fish out, the fish shook the hook free. Since it was too hot to continue, I called it a day.


Fish 1 - Me 0.


Hunt - Area 52
Area 52.


Continued field test on the next outing.

Fishes were actively feeding on the surface not too far away, so i concentrated my casts within the vicinity of that area.
A few casts later and i hooked up on a decent sized fish, which came hurriedly from under some clump of lotuses. Quickly set the hook,  reeled him in and took the customary photos and released him back into the lake.

It was a beautifully coloured Toman ( Channa Micropeltes). Although not huge in size, it was definitely proof of the fish enticing quality of the bait.


Field Test - Keitech - Pic 1
Handsome specimen - juvenile Giant Snakehead.



Field Test - Keitech - Pic 2
Beautiful colour.


You can keep the lure swimming, even at a very slow retrieve...thanks to the design of the paddle tail.
This method really works on inactive fish, as I can see a lot of "follows" from fishes coming out of the grass.

This keeps my heart pounding, just anticipating when the fish will smash the lure while on the retrieve.
I also noticed that on a faster retrieve, the lure comes to the surface and the tail wags enticingly.

For the first few casts on the first day of the test, i used a size 2/0 offset hook, which was too big for the fish. This resulted in multiple fish lost. A quick change to size 1 hook eliminated this issue.



Field Test - Keitech - Pic 3
The test outfit. 19 year old fishing rod and reel.



Field Test - Keitech - Pic 5
The fish.


The worm was easy to cast, even when rigged weightless. The only downside was when there is a gust of wind, your aim might be a little off. The design is excellent as the ribbed body makes the lure vibrate and the strong squid scent really attracts fish.


Made of very soft material, rigging is extremely easy but so is accidentally ripping the worm. When you get the worm stuck on underwater brush a couple of times, you might end up ripping the worm.
Same thing with catching a fish, sometimes you need to change the worm after every fish caught.
But with careful usage, it would last you about 3-4 fishes.


Keitech Lure - Ripped
Photo showing the ripped lure. Rig was running sinker.


Calculated at just over RM3 each, the Keitech worms are expensive. But for those finesse fishing fans, its worth using.


Conclusion:

The design works although the look of the lure is something to be desired. It functions well, no matter which way you decide to rig it - Carolina, weightless or Texas style.

 PROS

• Good design
• Extra long lasting scent
• Attracts fish
• Easy to rig
• Easy hookup (as the lure is soft)
• Salt Infused

CONS

• A bit expensive (as with any Japanese gear)
• Tears when fishing through structure after a few casts
• Not easy to find in Malaysia

BOTTOM LINE
Love the product and if I have the money, I would definitely buy lots of these. A good thing to have in your tacklebox.
Quality product by Keitech. Love the simple but functional packaging.


NOTE: Rigging it weedless would be the best option, and hooksets should not be violent as the plastic composition is very soft. No jigheads, no problems - just use Texas rigging.

Fishing: The Giant Snakehead November 2011

The Giant Snakehead November 2011

The Giant Snakehead that i have caught prior to November 2011, has all been up to 3 kilos and nothing that i could not handle with rod and line. But on one fateful day in November 2011, I went out to scout for a new spot and was greeted with a bunch of juvenile Giant Snakeheads travelling from one spot to another, within casting distance (a few feet away to be exact).

Heres what happened:
Early afternoon, I went alone to this place that has a number of lakes but only one fishable one.
I trekked my way through the undergrowth to find a suitable spot to start fishing, the surprise was that the path was submerged in water at most places so did the necessary fold-up-the-trouser-legs thingie and trudged onwards.

25 meters into the trek, there was the lake on the left of the path and to my dismay, reeds and lotuses were present. So i trekked on hoping that somewhere further down the path, there would be a clearing so I can cast. Being a lure caster does have its downs.

After another 65 meters, i could only find one spot that would make casting possible, but i walked further on another 10 meters from that spot as there was a shelter that i could rest myself in. Put my bag on the makeshift bench and started to light a cigarette while looking at he surrounding areas for signs of activities - fish activites.

5 minutes had gone by when i noticed a school of fish breaking the surface with their mouths  on my right - juvenile tomans!
I proceeded to watch them pass from my right side to my left, all the while keeping closely to the bank of the lake.

I started to tie on a black/white spinnerbait on to my mono line and waited for the school to re-surface, if they do i would be ready.
Then they did break the surface again to my left, right where the clearing was. I stalked them stealthily and when i got to the clearing, i casted my spinnerbait past the school and retrieved it so it would go into the group. This, i hope, would entice the parents to wham the bait. 1st try, nothing happened...2nd try, still nothing....on the 3rd try, all hell broke loose as a parent Toman peeled of my line like Usain Bolt.

The drag on the baitcaster was set not too loose, and the spool was spinning like nobody's business, i did not want to risk snapping the line by adjusting the drag, so i thumbed the spool...and boy, did my thumb burn. But that stopped the fish.

I pumped the rod and could feel that the fish was seeking shelter in the underwater weeds, i tried stopping it by leveraging the rod to go the other way but was too late....it had reached some underwater structure as i could not budge it. So, i kept some tension on the line and hoped that the fish would come out sometime soon, and it sure did.
I pumped and reeled in some line and about 2 rotations of the handle later, the line went limp.
Disaster - the monofilament line snapped.

I reeled in the rest of the line and found that last 3 feet of line had abrasions and nicks. So it was time to change to braided lines. Note: I am not a fan of braided lines as they are cumbersome to me, they handle differently from mono lines and there is no stretch in them.

Anyway, i cut of the last 3 feet of line and re-tied a top water lure and stalked the same group of juvenile snakeheads and caught 1, and left the place soon after.



What still haunts me is the feeling of the adult Snakehead taking the lure.....i wish i had landed that fish.
And i have spooled up with braided after this incident, just to be safe.
Went again to the place on a few occasions, but cannot seem to land any fish although there were times where they followed my lures until the bank and not take a bite.

Juvenile Giant Snakehead
Giant Snakehead babies
Where the fight took place
Idle rod
Scenery of the lake


At the end of the day, the toll was: 3 lures gone (1 lost to big Toman, 2 lost to snags).
Oh yeah, I'll name this place "Area 52" from now on.

Field Test: Lightspeed Custom Buzzer

Lightspeed Custom Buzzer

Had the chance to field test the experimental buzzbait at Area 52.

The build of the buzzbait is sturdy and it gives out a loud squeaking noise when retrieved (this is an attribute of this particular Buzzbait). It tracks wonderfully when retrieved and at times, attracted some follows from fishes. Even at slow speeds, the blade keeps the buzzbait working near the surface.

Field Test Unit Details

Colour: All Black
Weight: 3/8 oz


Gear Used

Rod: Abu Garcia Vendetta (MH) 5' 6"
Reel: Abu Garcia Revo Skeet Reese baitcasting reel
Main Line: Berkley Fireline Braid (40lb)


Conditions

Weather: Cloudy
Water: Stained


The wire of this buzzbait is meant for bass and other American/European fish species. And I was using it to hunt the notoriously aggressive Toman (Giant Snakehead - Channa Micropeltes), and I don't know whether it would bend and destroy the buzzer. But, this is a field test after all, so I went for it.


The buzzer is great to be used when the fishes aren't spooky, as I have tried it at the same area for 2 days without a single hit. On the third outing however,  on the 2nd cast, with a slow steady retrieve, I caught a decent sized fish (Channa Micropeltes). And after taking the 1st (and only) picture of the fish, the fish threw the hook and snaked its way into the water.

Toman on buzzer.
The only photo of the caught fish. NOTE: The rubbish in the background isn't mine, but I cleared it before I left.

To make matters worst, on the 3rd cast after catching the fish, I snagged the buzzer on a small branch near the bank. I freed it after some struggling and proceeded to cast it out.....and to my dismay, it swam awkwardly. Upon closer inspection, I found that the metal rivet that was holding the blade is missing.

Luckily I had another (very cheap) Buzzer in my tacklebox, so I took it's rivet and replaced it on the field test unit. Field repair on the field test unit.


Buzzer with rivet replaced.
Had to replace the lost rivet.


Closeup of buzzer's rivet.
Closeup view of the replaced rivet.



All in all, I was happy to catch fish.
This lure can work, you have to vary your retrieve to find out what the fish want on that particular day. Don't be discouraged if you don't catch fish yet, more often than not - the fish will actually follow your buzzbait right to the bank. And this is good as you know the fish is interested in your buzzbait.

Happy fishing.

The Rebels Have Landed!

Fishes be warned, the Rebels have landed in Malaysia and are coming for you.

The Rebel Pop-R has been the standard by which all topwater poppers/chuggers have been judged for more than three decades. This lure won anglers hundreds of thousands of dollars in bass tournaments while it was discontinued. After “The Secret Bait of the Pros” was revealed in a major bass fishing magazine, the Pop-R returned to the lineup and sold more than a million lures the first year.

Length: 1 3/4 inches

Weight: 1/8 oz

Hooks: #6

This is one shipment that we've been looking forward to. The Rebel Pop R is the most iconic popper ever made and it would be awesome to find out what our local species think of them. Will they whack the life out of these Rebels?

Time for some haruans, tomans, peacock bass and sebaraus.

Products & Ordering Information

Hedgehog Studio

We offer quality stainless steel performance replacement ball bearing for most baitcasting reel models. These ball bearings have been handpicked and assembled by master craftsmen at Hedgehog Studio, Japan. Use these bearings to replace your current spool bearing to increase smoothness and castability.

Other products from Hedgehog Studio include custom handles for baitcasters, clutch bars, replacement spools, performance spool bearings, bearing oil. These truly are Japanese style quality.
We are proud to be the distributor of Hedgehog Studio products in Malaysia.

Keitech

Kei Hayashi has established a company with an excellent stable of plastic lures, jigs & swimbaits. These are formulated from their ultra fine SR-40 silicone blend - making their lures swim with lifelike action like no other.
This company is also from Japan.

Carbontex Drag

These are arguably the best drag material around. They offer smooth functioning drag (either greased very lightly or used dry), and are used around the globe by anglers demanding the best from their gear.
Made in the USA.

Van Fook

We offer you Van Fook's worm hooks - Worm 55 Devil (Heavy Wire/Mini Barb). For soft plastics, these are good and strong to withstand hammering from predatory fish.
Origin: Japan

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How To Order

Go to our FB page and check out our products, then drop us an email on the product name, colour and quantity. We will then reply back on stock availability and pricing, and if you confirm your intention to purchase, we will then email you an official invoice so you can pay us via Paypal.

Payments

We currently only accept payments through Paypal - for security to both Buyer and Seller.

Deliveries

Item(s) will be delivered within 24 hours after receiving cleared payment. Shipping will be via local courier (with tracking) for Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah & Sarawak.

For international shipping, we usually use EMS and price will be according to weight & destination country.
NOTE: Custom duties & taxes are the responsibility of the buyer. Please check with your local customs department for the exact rates.
We will not be held responsible for any charges or occurrences that are out of our control.

About Lightspeed Custom Baits & Tackle

About Lightspeed Custom Baits & Tackle

Established early 2012.

We are in the business to offer lures and gear that we ourselves use and have tested in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, streams, swamps and ponds - all freshwater. These are lures and tackle that work - because you know that record fish is still out there waiting to mangle your gear. Don't be caught off guard.

Our product lineup will expand from time to time, so be sure to check in periodically. Take note that we don't want to sell expensive lures because we want anglers to use them and catch fish and not display them in a showcase :)
Furthermore, using a lure without fear of losing it will cause an angler to twitch, jerk, shimmy the lure with confidence and enjoy fishing more.

We go out on the field and test gear and lures from around the globe to catch Channa Micropeltes, Channa Striata, Peacock Bass, Barramundi and Hampala Macrolepidota. These fishes will destroy your lures & tackle like Wreck-It-Ralph. Only reliable and practical products make it to our short list.

Being the anglers that we are, we constantly hunt for these predatory species and choose reliability, practicality and affordability in our tackle and lures. What we use, we also sell to fellow anglers. Plus, these items will last a lifetime if you take care of them properly.

Enjoy your fishing.

Tight Lines,
Lightspeed Custom Baits & Tackle