Tilsan Bass?

[Conehead]

G.day.

Anybody used the Tilsan Bass before?

Just wondering how they would go either cast for bream or trolled for pinkies.

[Bear]

The Tilsan Minnows are a better bet to me. Caught plenty of fish on them.

[breamN2wheels]

have caught a fair few on Tilson bass in black and gold but the minnow is better as bear said .

HTH

[madsurfe]

the Tilsan Bass is one of the all time Big Bream lures. I have 1/2 a dozen in my lure box in the goto colours. Goto Buschys view and have a read, then if interested equip yourself with these colours

T112 Jaffa - awesome upper Murray River lure, excellent in clear and dirty water

T113 PP Tiger - a Blackwood River, dirty water favourite

T122 Jindy Green - Swan and Blackwood when the water is almost clear

Timber Lures that are unbreakable and after crash diving will suspend really well.

I actually used the T122 in the 1st ABT Albany Qualifier 2003 and my non boater was taking the mickey out of me, eh Josh! but alas it didn't find a connection to any Big Bream that weekend. I only caught littlins and the little buggers up around honeymoon island were still harrassing the Tilsan Bass.

Use a Tilsan Minnow to rove the flats and ledges and when ready to upgrade throw on a Tilsan Bass. Neither the Minnow or Bass are better than the other, they were designed for a purpose. Put them in that scenario at the right time and reap the rewards.

[Duncan M]

I was thinking about this thread for a while. Tilsan Bass have a rep as being a big bream lure, but after scanning the memory banks I couldn't remember ever catching a decent bream on one. Then i remembered a fateful couple of weeks, around january 2002. Fishing a certain set of snags in the canning, I managed a bunch of fish up to 41cm on attacks and scorp 52's. However, every Tilsan lure I threw in there got thoroughly monstered, and never came back. Probably lost 7 or 8 of them. Dunno how big the fish were, but i bounced the 40cm jobs out without too much trouble, the other things were just way too badass
The point of my rambling is, yeah, bream will eat them haha
Cheers
Duncan

[yellosub]

I'm not sure of ideal lure size with bream, seems like up to 50MM is the norm but there are so many beautiful lures just a bit over like TILSANS and others but after catching big fish on smaller than 50, eg SX40,s and such i just wonder if it is costing me fish if i start going bigger. I have being running jackall tiny fry 50' s of late and loving them in shallow water but when do you go bigger? If I'm fishing well with SX 40's or JURO's do i change to something bigger mid fish or do i just go bigger from the start?

[Conehead]

Thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming!

So anybody tried trolling with them at all? For flatties, pinkies etc...

[madsurfe]

the Tilsan Bass & Minnows are an excellent crash diver and as such are really good on deep dropoffs like those found in many of the SW WA rivers that are formed with rock ledges and snags. I have used these lures for many years in anything from 3 foot to 12 foot of water. If you are getting lots of undersize fish then tie one on, you have nothing to lose.

Yellosub the lures you mention do not get into the strike zone of the Tilsans unless you use some weight to get them down. A comparable lure is the River 2 sea Static Shed 60 & 70mm's. They don't crash dive to the same depth, close but not quite and are an excellent option if the fish need a rattle to wake them up. The Tilsans are solid timber and have no rattle. You also don't need a lure with rattles to catch Bream at night. Quite a few people have had the pleasure of seeing me use an Oargee lil' Ripper and Tilsan Minnow to good effect in the dark.

[Duncan M]

Good point about their crash diving abilities JP, they (especially the Bass) really dig in when you retreive them, I would say compared to a lot of more popular lures they are not as comfortable to fish, probably turns a few people off.
Yellowsub, i have changed my ideas on the best size for a bream lure so many times its not funny. My Pb bream is on a fly exactly 53mm (I retired it and keep it in my sock draw ) and i have caught fish close to that size on flies ranging from 15mm to nearly 80mm. At times, in the same session I have pulled kilo fish on both 20mm and 60mm flies. So yeah i really don't know anymore, if you start thinking about it too much you'll spend an entire session rummaging through your lure (or Fly) box and not get much done
Interested to read your comments on lures at night JP, i always though rattles were pretty important. Do you rate colour (ie black) as the key factor ot what?
Cheers
Duncan

[madsurfe]

Hi Duncan

yeah lure size and colour. You know Col who was my non-boater on the first day in the Perth ABT 2003, ( it was the 1st time I had met you ) hell he got the 1st Bream on a shallow Scorpion 52 in Fluoro Green and shortly after he fell overboard was it the shocking lure colour or the 20 knot wind and chop on a forty degree day. The varibles are expansive and so many fishers get hung up on the gun lure. Bream are scavengers they eat all sorts of junk, I don't get too wound up over it.

I will use lures at night that provide good contrast, black is not necessary and I've had great success in the swan on a full moon.
The 3rd SSNS 2005, I finished 2nd to Dror, saw me land a heap of fish on a gold oargee lil' ripper and my non boater Damien didn't land a single fish on his laser pro 45. I really felt for him and did my best to provide some tuition. My point is that my retrieve was just at the right place and pace for the little blighters. So yeah sometimes you're rythm is more important and fish will pick up the vibes from the lure through their lateral line.

Matilde-Rose has always done well on the Gold/red R2Sea Static Shed at night, she is comfortable with it and that gives her confidence.

I hope you understand what I'm trying to communicate.

[yellosub]

Informative post, thanks mad on the pointing out the guts on the Tilsan's. I will defiantly grab a few next lure shopping expedition.