Page 86 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine

A close-up look at the Firebug colour and a trophy- sized bass taken from the kayak.
A solid 41cm bass tried to inhale the Bass Bug and found the front treble.This was on a windy, chilly morning in early August. Bring on summer!
EPredatek Bass Bug
XTRAORDI- NARY circum- stances this
Product Review
by NEIL SCHULTZ
year have forced many Australian small busi- nesses to shut down and sadly, many of those will never reopen.
negative effects COV- ID-19 restrictions would have on eateries, tourist and service ven- ues, but I was surprised by the drastic downturn in sales of consumables used for outdoor pur- suits, bait and lures be- ing of particular inter- est to anglers.
at point of purchase. Shortly after the on- line store was up and running, a couple of new products were re-
We all expected the
In hindsight, this was probably predictable as, with travel being re- stricted to work or for medical reasons, many were unable to use their fishing gear.
the transparent-bodied versions of their suc- cessful small surface walking lures, the 40mm MicroSpaddler and 50mm Spaddler, perfect for educated fish, appealing to spe- cies like bream, estuary perch, trout and bass.
Quite a few Aussie lure makers have been personal friends of mine for decades, in- cluding the dedicated crew of Predatek Lures in Port Macquarie.
Following those was the release of an entire- ly new model, a larger paddling surface lure, the 60mm Bass Bug!
leased.
The first of these were
Page 86 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, September 2020
* continued P87 www.bnb shing.com.au
When lure sales plum- meted, they, like other small business owners, were faced with a dif- ficult decision – run at a loss until they were forced to close down, or take innovative steps to generate enough in- come to keep the staff paid and the doors open.
I first cast a lure for freshwater ‘perch’ in 1969, and have been a fan of surface paddlers for the not insignificant number of years since.
DAM LEVELS
CURRENT AS OF 17/8/2020
DAMS PERCENTAGE
APR MAY JUN AUG SEP
Atkinson Awoonga Bjelke-Petersen * Boondooma * Borumba * Burdekin Falls * Callide *
Cania *
Coolmunda *
Dyer/Bill Gunn *
Eungella *
Fairbairn *
Glenlyon *
Hinze
Julius
Kinchant *
Leslie *
Macdonald
Maroon * Monduran/Fred Haigh * Moogerah *
North Pine/Samsonvale * Peter Faust/Proserpine * Somerset *
Teemburra *
Tinaroo*
Toonumbar
Wivenhoe *
Wuruma *
Wyaralong
For updates on dams, visit sunwater.com.au or seqwater.com.au
5 5 5 69 66 66 23 20 18 37 36 35 99 97 96 98 94 95 32 30 30 53 52 50 31 29 29
5 13 65 64 17 16 34 34 93 92 92 90 28 27 58 50 28 29
3 3 3 89 88 88 16 14 13 14 5 13 99 96 95 96 92 91 82 85 86 14 13 13
3 3 87 87 12 11 14 14 93 93 88 87 85 84 13 13
101 100 100 60 58 57 61 60 59 36 32 30 62 64 62 70 68 68 80 79 78 99 99 99 74 73 72 69 66 66 52 50 49 62 61 60 98 96 96
102 102 56 56 58 57 27 26 60 59 67 66 78 78 99 99 71 69 67 68 48 46 60 58 95 95
*This symbol indicates that a Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to sh these dams.
Since customers couldn’t travel to tackle shops to make purchas- es, Pretatek took the initiative to create an online store, enabling purchases direct from the factory.
The mainstay of the bass anglers’ surface lure armoury back in the day was the Ar- bogast Jitterbug, but my favourite was the Heddon Crazy Crawler, mainly due to its fold- ing wings that allowed it to fit into tackle trays – I still have one hanging on the ‘wall of fame’ in my den.
Although Predatek are now selling direct to the public at retail prices, tackle stores can continue to stock their favourite fresh- water lures, giving cus- tomers the option of seeing lures first-hand
Some readers may be thinking that there’s nothing new about a paddling bass lure, and though this style has been around for more than fifty years, there was room for improve- ment.
The most common drawback of the old Jitterbug style paddlers