Hurricane Kaplunk Prototype

[Sloth]

So I think we lost Nordy's thread on "sinking hardbody thoughts" in the server crash......

But I have to admit something.

I've had the two prototype lures for a week ... and not fished them. Today the missus and kids were out but it was blowing an absolute gale ....

I went anyway.

My first thoughts:

The name is fitting as thats what happens when you first cast it. A bit weird. Very different. It sank rear first and has a quick sink rate - far greater than any of my vibes. On a tight line it will sink down showing a bias towards the rear but if you slack line it, it twirls and swirls to the bottom. So its definitely not a stick, which is how I imagined I'd use it. It vibes strongly on the lift and if slow rolled and twitched darts nicely like a bibbed minnow.

I was fishing the deeper edges of the yarra and working it like a vibe with lifts and drops but with the howling wind I gave up pretty quickly and headed to docklands.

I'd discussed my thoughts on the Lure with Nordy and expressed that the one place I really wanted to test it was the docks. Its 10m deep and when the bream are on the bottom its generally vertical fishing with blades or vibes. Its hard to present anything else at that depth other than plastics - and they only work if they bream are hungry. What I was chasing was a reaction bite. What I really wanted was to have a crankbait but at depth. I decided first off to locate the fish using my old favourite blade:



Job done.

Now I have to admit something else. Nordy - I lost your lure

I switched to the kaplunk and cast it out - past the pylon I wanted to work and let it sink to the bottom. I gave it a few lifts and drops and then decided I'm going to slow roll and twitch it. About 15 seconds into this - the lure got absolutely monstered.

I had my docks outfit of the 2-5kg pinster, 2506 caldia, 10lb braid and 8lb leader and I could not slow nor turn the first run which had braid screaming off the reel. After the first run slowed and stopped I got my phone out to try to get some video but it ran again so I chucked the phone on the deck ......

Heres the second run ....




So a strange first thoughts/review. No glory pictures of the lure hanging out of a fishes mouth. But I will state that its an effective lure for fishing deep. I'm gutted I only have one left. But I'll definitely be running the second (and will keep you updated) but I'd say if these go into production then a few will find there way into my tackle tray. It's opened up a completely new way for me to fish the docks. I'm officially excited

and now as I sit here also kind of gutted I just got comprehensively smoked by a docklands jewie

[laddercat]

Bad luck man the reel was singing !

Loving the sound of this lure sounds alot different to a standard sinking stickbait.

What do you think gave out a knot or line ?

Exciting stuff mate and a good write up i would happily buy one of these off the shelf going on your report.

[Malestorm00]

Bummer dave, could have been a nice jew or a known winter snapper that tends to get in there this time of year.

excites me to no end knowing what else could be lerking down there at this time of year aswell....have to get my water access unit and hit it again soon!

also on this winter time in the werribee river also produces the goods on jews aswell on softs and vibes fishing the deep holes and channels...have to wait and see!

[Sloth]

Cheers.

The braid was cut well above the leader. I expect it did me on the mussels on the pylon. Scary thing was I was fishing a fairly tight drag as I usually do at the docks. Been smoked three times now by what I have to assume are jewies .... Always scary watching your braid disappear at a rate of knots :/

[manno]

Sounds like a great lure you got your grubby little hands on there dave!

[Sloth]

Originally Posted by manno

Sounds like a great lure you got your grubby little hands on there dave!

Yeah - I like it. Throws you at first in terms of how best to use it but I think just the ability to slow roll and twitch at extreme depth is killer for the docks

[xg-panelvanman]

ouch.
Man that line was flying out. Sucks that you didnt see it.

Well at least Nordy knows his lure works on jewies/snapper

[Sloth]

Originally Posted by xg-panelvanman

ouch.
Man that line was flying out. Sucks that you didnt see it.

Well at least Nordy knows his lure works on jewies/snapper

And bream - fast becoming a favourite. Devo if I lose it:

[Sloth]

Seems popular with a range of species .... Greedy git hit it as soon as it touched down

[laddercat]

good deep water colour aswell i wouldnt alter that too much even for a full production model.

[timk1111]

What's the sink rate on these roughly? They look like they'd smash anything down deep....

[Sloth]

Originally Posted by timk1111

What's the sink rate on these roughly? They look like they'd smash anything down deep....

Hard to say as water clarity hasn't been great for me lately so only see it in the top couple of feet - it's quick.... It drops like a micro jig so kind of arse first and "swirls" down on a slack line. On a tight line it kind of just slides down arse first.

I'd say it's up there with a 4 or 5g blade. I'll be fishing the docks this week so I'll count it down and get a better answer.

so far I've fished areas 2m down to 10m effectively with it..... The way it's weighted is interesting.. If you twitch it it reacts quite aggressively - darts forward and darts off to the side - turns 90 degrees to the side at times. If you lift it, it puts out a strong vibe. When you let it drop it droops, swirls and rolls around. It's quite unlike anything I've used before.

[GTShoon]

Awesome work!
And on a more important topic, please put these into production seems extremely versatile and I want one (or 10)
Cam

[NORDY]

KAPLUNK TIME

Nice Solid 44 cm Bream SMACKED !!!! by the Prototype KAPLUNK Lure.

Angler is Mr Brett Geddes in a Far East Gippsland Lake River System.

Brett and his good Mate SMACKED !!!! a bucket Load of Bream over 5 Days.

KAPLUNK is a quick sinking 50mm Hardbody with a extreme wobble action.
Can be Used as a Hardbody or even used like a Blade due to its action.
Fish it Deep where you could not go before. Or Fish it Shallow very versatile.

Should we Bring Some to OZ ????

Thanks for Pic Brett

[laddercat]

Definitely would buy especially with winter in full swing at the moment.

A 70-80mm version would be amazing on jew i reckon aswell.