Predator Fishing with the New Junglegym range

Well what an up and down month May has been and it certainly feels like the weather has been against us for much of the time so far. For the majority of us who are only able to fish at the weekends it has been hit and miss at best with the dreaded easterlies seemingly making an appearance most Friday afternoons! That being said here at Bluezone HQ we have had more than enough to keep us busy in the meantime. Our website is now fully up and running and we have a constant stream of new tackle items being added to the site. Among the new arrivals was a range of LRF and light game tackle from Sasame that is branded under the name Junglegym. While Neil is predominantly a boat angler I’m a lure fisherman at heart so I was certainly intrigued by this innovative range, as were several other anglers who we work with.

As I understand, the Junglegym brand is quite big in Japan but as is usually the way it has taken some time for it to filter its way over to us. The cat is out of the bag now though and we’re pleased to say we have the full range in stock and there’s more on its way from Japan too, including some exciting new mini 3-5g LRF casting jigs from SHOUT – but more on them once they arrive!

Anyway back to the fishing…we met up with Ant Glascoe Jr from Savage Gear at the opening of the new Gerrys Of Morecambe store last month. As you may or may not know Ant is a Savage Gear consultant and knows a thing or two about catching big predatory fish. Well that’s kind of got to be on your CV to be employed by Savage Gear I think! We loaded Ant up with some of the new gear and here’s what he had to say after using it on a recent Perch expedition.

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A real killer combo for Perch, perfect for keeping your Lures close to the snags. Getting some great results on the Beans! the stoppers act as a bolt rig and no need to strike. The Savage Gear 3D Bleak Real Tail is a perfect combo, for dormant Perch this rig is kept and controlled close hard on the bottom.
Ant Glascoe JR

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You can see the way Ant has rigged his lure and the extra freedom of movement offered to it as a result of the ring on the hook. Another thing I like about the Ring Rockers is the relatively wide gape of these hooks once they have been rigged weedless. When fishing for Pike and Perch you do need that extra gape to push through the body of the plastic to give yourself a better chance of hooking up. I’m still yet to use these hooks sea fishing but looking at the rigging of this it looks killer for Wrasse and Bass to me and the finer wired versions go as small as size 6 which would suit LRF styles very nicely.

Ant hasn’t been alone in testing out these new rigging systems as I’ve also been out and about targeting Pike on the River Exe and Exeter Canal. I switched the Ring Rockers to Tenka trebles and combined these with the Beans sinkers. They are a great way of adding weight to the lure when you’re fishing into weed and want to move away from standard jig head presentations. The fact there’s sizes from 3.5g right up to 28g means you can find the perfect weight required to slowly sink your plastic lure. It’s simple to set up too you simply slide the wire through the slot on the sinker above your clip and then reattach your clip, incidentally there is even a Clip in the range to go with it!

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I found the sinker actually locks into place onto the crimped loop on the wire so there isn’t need for a Stopper like you do with mono/flurocarbon Perch set-ups. I have been targeting the Exeter Canal which is notoriously deep and quite weedy at this time of the year so this approach has been working well. The Pike here seem to like big plastic lures presented deep and on a slow retrieve. I have found the actual lure choice to be less important than the method in which it is retrieved. Too fast and you’ll simply pull it past them and not fast enough and you will snag the weed, It takes some practice but making sure your lure is the correct weight will certainly make it easier!

Here’s a nice double figured Pike caught at night on a slow retrieved Twin Tail, rigged with a single size 6 Tenka Treble.

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With excellent Pike fishing on my doorstep I’d almost given no thought to the start of the Bass season. With lots of reports of decent Bass now being caught I know deep down it’s time to switch species so I’ll be targeting Bass over the next few weeks while testing and reviewing the new products arriving in our warehouse.

Until next time, tight lines all!