# QLD Longtail tips



## WhipperSnapper (Jun 2, 2012)

Hey guys,
Last year I fought and lost a longtail while snapper fishing, fight lasted 90 min before a knot gaveway.

This year I seek revenge.

Anyway I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice on which techniques are firing this year. My last one was caught on a halo laser pro.

Anyway from what I've heard z-man's are getting a few and I was wondering what advice people could give me on longtails this year? I'll attach a photo of the _popular_ lures at the moment.

Moreton bay tuna are picky sometimes I've heard. Last year they stuck around til August so hopefully that happens again this year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Hey Whipper, one plastic hooked up every single time it hit a boil this year, no matter whom cast it. Atomic Plazzos 3 3/4" jerk shad in Pearl white. I havent seen a plastic closer to the white bait they feed on. From the 100% hookup rate, Id say the fish hadnt either. ;-) 
Load it on a heavy gauge 3/8oz 1/0 jighead, cast it into a boil and hang on.

If you search my posts from the past few April\May seasons there are a few chestnuts you may find helpful. Though casting into the boil when you got the opportunity caught the most fish for us this year, all the other methods worked too. Drifted 3" paddletails out the back accounted for quite a few as well. HB lures accounted for very few fish.


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## WhipperSnapper (Jun 2, 2012)

Paulo your a legend! thanks for the tips I'll have to buy some of the plazzos!


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## WhipperSnapper (Jun 2, 2012)

Sounds good will have to try that. They do stay low at times in moreton bay so that might be the gun technique. What I'm not sure about is the best brand jighead for the 3-4" plastics, I'm sure some of of the jigheads this size would have weak hooks that straighten easily. So can anybody recommend some strong jigheads for drifting plastics?


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## geebz (Mar 24, 2009)

I havent ever caught a Tuna, but its something I want to work towards. What size spinning gear are you guys generally using ? 30lb leader, what about mainline ?


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## ryan (May 30, 2012)

god loving this post guys some valuable info here I have been fishing moreton bay for a few months now everywhere from the port south and never seen a tuna spent a lot of time trolling xraps from xr6 to xr12 sizes and never had any luck and whipper snapper let me know if ya ever want to go for a fish sometime in the bay would be choice to make some more yak fishin buddies in bris


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

I used the TT headlockz in 1/4 on hook to suit the plastic I'm using. The plastic I had most success on during the recent DI trip was a simple pearl white 4" finesse shads. I caught fish with this both drifting and casting into a school. The mustad hooks on the headlockz jigheads are a good strong pattern but the last fish I caught did start to straighten the hook a little.

I landed two fish of similar size within two days of each other, both on a 6-10kg rod loaded with 15pd powerpro braid, the 1st with a 20pd leader and 2nd with 40pd leader. These two fish fought very very differently, the 1st only took about 15-20min and came in pretty easy really, the 2nd really put his head down and I struggled to lift him using the same gear as the fish I'd caught just 48hrs earlier and took 45-50min to land.

Line capacity on the reel seems to be the key as regardless of your line strength and drag pressure that first run cand be a doozy, I would suggest around 300m on the spool.

Kev


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## WhipperSnapper (Jun 2, 2012)

BIGKEV said:


> Line capacity on the reel seems to be the key as regardless of your line strength and drag pressure that first run cand be a doozy, I would suggest around 300m on the spool.
> 
> Kev


I've been there before. :lol: Started chasing it full speed on the TI and it was still taking line.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

WhipperSnapper said:


> Sounds good will have to try that. They do stay low at times in moreton bay so that might be the gun technique. What I'm not sure about is the best brand jighead for the 3-4" plastics, I'm sure some of of the jigheads this size would have weak hooks that straighten easily. So can anybody recommend some strong jigheads for drifting plastics?


WS you've had Indiedog and BIGKEV recommend both the TT Headlockx and the TT Snake Head jigheads, but I note that both have experienced some hook straightening.

The strongest hook TT make is (was) called a Headhunter Extreme. It's current designator is XH. Beekeeper got me onto these from Lure World a couple of years ago because of the powerful crushing jaws of big snapper. We've been using them since, and for me particularly lately for tuna, and neither of us have ever had a hook straightened. Here is the TT page for Lure World...
http://www.lureworld.com.au/products.php?category=932

If you scroll down a fair way you will see the:

3/8oz #3/0XH Head Hunter. This slightly incorrect designator is *a 3/0 hook* (not #3 meaning size 3), in XH, which means *extremely strong hooks*. That is what we're talking about with Headhunter Extreme.

Type: Jighead
Description: 10g, *#3/0XH hook.* Extreme Heavy Duty Mustad Chemically sharpened, Black Nickel hook. Multi Grip Slim line Grub keeper. Same great head shape as the Tournament Series, more per pack. Hook dimension is 36mm from the back of the jighead,19mm gape. 5/pack. 
Price: $7.25

Also, the 3/0 hook size in XH is a much bigger hook than other manufacturers (indeed also bigger than other 3/0's in the TT range), but that is a good thing. In the 1/4 oz range, you can get 1/0 and 2/0 hook sizes (equivalent to about a 4/0 in other ranges).

If you're lost, ring Kevin on 3829 2626 for advice.


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## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

paulo said:


> Hey Whipper, one plastic hooked up every single time it hit a boil this year, no matter whom cast it. Atomic Plazzos 3 3/4" jerk shad in Pearl white. I havent seen a plastic closer to the white bait they feed on. From the 100% hookup rate, Id say the fish hadnt either. ;-)
> Load it on a heavy gauge 3/8oz 1/0 jighead, cast it into a boil and hang on.
> 
> If you search my posts from the past few April\May seasons there are a few chestnuts you may find helpful. Though casting into the boil when you got the opportunity caught the most fish for us this year, all the other methods worked too. Drifted 3" paddletails out the back accounted for quite a few as well. HB lures accounted for very few fish.


I've seen the Atomics and they are the exact same length and a similar profile to the z-mans that I got mine on. I might get some of the headhunter extreme jig heads though as the squidgy ones I'm using are super strong but only come in light weights which cost me a lot of casting distance.

Joel


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## outbackAl (Oct 8, 2011)

I use 5 inch snap backs in bubble gum, they never refuse them, even when they are eating small bait, unfortunately you can't get them anymore but I was lucky enough to get 10 packs of them from an online store that happened to have them laying around. Luckily though you can get a similar profile and colour in the z-man streakz and they seem to be just as effective. Another good plastic that they don't refuse (also discontinued) is the 5" hollow belly split tail, you can occasionally find these for sale on ebay.

I rig them on 1/2 oz 5/0 XH head locks or head hunter extremes like Trev suggested, I also use nitro stealth jig heads. TT and nitro rate their sizes differently so when using TT I go for a 5/0 and when using nitro I use 3/0.

I hear allot of people saying you need to burn the plastics though the schools but this is where they go wrong I think, I have found it best to cast to the front of the school and work the plastic with a slow twitching retrieve which keeps it in their face for longer, half the time though you just have to land it in the right spot and it will get eaten before you crank the handle of your reel.

I practice catch and release so like to fish heavy for them and keep the fight sub 15-20 mins so the fish aren't so buggered when you bring them aboard, 30 lb - 50 lb braid and 60 lb mono wind on leader.

There are plenty off Bribie at the moment and in the coming weeks they should be targetable off Redcliffe, they have been there for a few weeks now but not in numbers and the bust ups have been random and short. I have been getting them out in the middle of the bay in the stinker for a month or so now but they are to far out to target from a yak, though you could probably get out there with an AI if you have one.

Cheers,
Al


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## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

outbackAl said:


> I use 5 inch snap backs in bubble gum, they never refuse them, even when they are eating small bait, unfortunately you can't get them anymore but I was lucky enough to get 10 packs of them from an online store that happened to have them laying around. Luckily though you can get a similar profile and colour in the z-man streakz and they seem to be just as effective. *Another good plastic that they don't refuse (also discontinued) is the 5" hollow belly split tail, you can occasionally find these for sale on ebay*.
> 
> I rig them on 1/2 oz 5/0 XH head locks or head hunter extremes like Trev suggested, I also use nitro stealth jig heads. TT and nitro rate their sizes differently so when using TT I go for a 5/0 and when using nitro I use 3/0.
> 
> ...


Hi al,

If you like these plastics check your local Big W. They have been selling the discontinued stock at $4 a packet for quite some time. There was still some left at my local Big W (Kawana) a week or so back and they have been at this price for months. I have about 3 packets worth still left.

Joel


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## outbackAl (Oct 8, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestion Joel,
I'll check my local Big dub, they didn't have them a few weeks back but things may have changed.
They usually have the paddle tails but I haven't seen the split tails in any store for quite some time. I have even done the big ring around and came up with nothing. Eventually I found some of my favourite colour from a US ebay seller and I bought all of their stock but they wont last forever.

I have heard the locally made Gobblers sp's have been doing well on the LT's also, I have been using some of their range on the snapper lately with good success, I bought some of the their 4.75" jerkshads and I think they will be great for the tuna but I haven't bothered to use them yet.

Cheers,
Al


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

I have always used the Nitro Saltwater Pro range without too many lost fish. In general the fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth.
They seem to be releasing a range with Owner hooks. They aren't as heavy gauge as the previous brand hook they used. (Not sure what brand that was). 1\0 jigheads in 3\8oz or heavier can be hard to find in tackle stores. Heavy weight + small hooks is an unusual combination for most fishing applications. We tried a packet of TTs and also the new Nitro SW Pro with the Owner hooks. We stopped using the TTs after we deformed three of them. Also managed to deform one of the Nitro (+ Owner hook) too. The fish were always landed so I guess they did their job..... once!!
To date I haven't straightened one of the Nitros with the silver hooks.
Most fish were taken on 20lb braid + 40lb leader. About 60\40 sightcasting into boils over drifted\trolled.









As you can see in the photo, spreading the gape of the TTs was the most common deformation. The SW Pro twisted. Lynette even got one fish on the #1 size SW Pro when she used it by mistake.









Each of these paddletail plastics caught multiple fish. All drifted\trolled out the back. I used 1\0 hooks in the ZMans and 2\0 hooks in the Lucky Crafts.

























Each of these should have caught fish and on a busy day would likely get nailed. However each failed after a number of money shots into boils.

















This one got smashed everytime it hit a boil and also accounted for a few fish drifted out the back


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## outbackAl (Oct 8, 2011)

Those two zman minnowz colours are my favourite snapper plastics, opening night and pearl blue glimmer, can always manage a fish or two on them.

I have tried the Jackal clone fry on numerous occasions for all sorts cos they look so god damn sexy and look like a fish catcher but I haven't been able to get a sniff on them yet.

I reckon the 5" fish arrows look like a winner, I'm yet to get hold of some but I'll be keen to give them a try when I do.

Cheers,
Al


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## WhipperSnapper (Jun 2, 2012)

paulo said:


> I have always used the Nitro Saltwater Pro range without too many lost fish. In general the fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth.
> They seem to be releasing a range with Owner hooks. They aren't as heavy gauge as the previous brand hook they used. (Not sure what brand that was). 1\0 jigheads in 3\8oz or heavier can be hard to find in tackle stores. Heavy weight + small hooks is an unusual combination for most fishing applications. We tried a packet of TTs and also the new Nitro SW Pro with the Owner hooks. We stopped using the TTs after we deformed three of them. Also managed to deform one of the Nitro (+ Owner hook) too. The fish were always landed so I guess they did their job..... once!!
> To date I haven't straightened one of the Nitros with the silver hooks.
> Most fish were taken on 20lb braid + 40lb leader. About 60\40 sightcasting into boils over drifted\trolled.
> ...


 That's interesting because I've got a packet of the peal blue glimmer plastics and I have a few of those nitro jigheads. So that is a must do for the tuna. Hopefully the weather good in the next month or so hopefully the season lasts a bit longer this season.


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## outbackAl (Oct 8, 2011)

Whippersnapper, guys have been catching Lt's in the southern bay for months, don't ask me where as it's not my end of the bay and I don't fish there but they have definitely been getting them. From what I hear though, out from Cleveland is a good place to start.

Cheers,
Al


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## Zonbie (Aug 24, 2009)

Paulo.

I have been searching the Northside of Brisbane for some Lucky Crafts, though have hit the wall.

Are you able to maybe let me know where I be able to get me some of those Lucky Crafts gadgets?


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Zonbie said:


> Paulo.
> 
> I have been searching the Northside of Brisbane for some Lucky Crafts, though have hit the wall.
> 
> Are you able to maybe let me know where I be able to get me some of those Lucky Crafts gadgets?


Hi Zonbie. Try Jones tackle on Lutwyche Road.


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## Zonbie (Aug 24, 2009)

Jones Tackle. I keep forgetting about them since they moved from Lutwyche. I think they are at Chermside now. I will give them a burl tomorrow.

BTW. Thank-you for sharing your wealth of Knowledge here. It gives me hope!


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## outbackAl (Oct 8, 2011)

Zonbie,

The Tackleshop Castledine stock the Luckycraft sp's.

Cheers,
Al

PS - picked up two Lt's on Thursday arvo and another two yesterday arvo, was in the stinker but caught them within paddling distance out from Redcliffe, trusty old 5" pearl watermelon shad hollowbelly split tail did the job.


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## Zonbie (Aug 24, 2009)

Thank-you Al. They have been added to my shopping list !


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