Gomoku Jigging

Micro jigging is a relative new style of fishing here in Australia, most people are  aware of Samson fish jigging with big jigs and super heavy tackle.
which is very taxing on the body and isn't a lot fun when you want to target the less aggressive demersal species, you want light rods and reels and smaller jigs, something you can fish with all day with out fatiguing.

New from STORM, the Gomoku series of rods is specifically aimed at the micro jigging market, these rods are extremely lightweight and come fitted with some of the best component available. the pearl white blanks and custom Fuji real seats in red, blue or green to distinguish between the different models in the range. they are ideally suited for reels between the 2-4k size . the rods are capable of jigging as low as 10g up to a max weight of 160g. STORM has recently released  the Gomoku range in a new color scheme same ratings as the originals and same blanks and quality components now in a stealth all black blank and grips.

I have been fishing with 2 of the Gomoku rods for just over a year and think they are fantastic, i have the green Keiryo matched to a 3k size reel and spooled with 15lb braid  and the blue Kaiten matched with a 4k reel and spooled with 20lb braid, i use these for everything from flicking soft plastics for snapper and Dhu fish in shallow water to micro jigging for big Samson fish and other demersal species including pink snapper, Dhu fish and bald chin groper. while on a recent trip in Albany i used the Kaiten to troll a shallow diver to first entice a school of tuna landing two before they swarmed the boat and i changed back to a  jig and had a blast jigging several southern blue fin tuna.

I have been using the STORM Koika jigs in sizes from 20-100gm in a range of colors to target demersals and Samson fish for the past few months, when a Koika jig is matched to a Gomoku rod the pair just work together incredibly well, the design of the rod really works well with the Koika jigs and is really able to get the jig darting and dancing, when slow pitch jigging with a koika and a Gomoku it truly is a deadly combination and i have been landing some awesome fish.

if you are considering getting into micro jigging and don't want to break the bank the range of Gomoku rods is definitely worth a look at, also pick up a few Koika jigs and i guarantee you wont be disappointed!

Catch ya Next time
Corey Chandler

Madeye Paddle Prawn

I recently had the opportunity to head out for a fish with the owner of Madeye lures, we were heading out to the 40m mark off Rockingham in hope for pink snapper and Dhufish the water was dead flat which made it perfect to fish light jigs and soft plastics,
I opted for an 80gm jig which I dressed the assist hook up with a Madeye octo skirt in the pink colour,
while Jadon used a 5" paddle prawn in glow with an octo skirt on a 1oz jig head.
fishing started off slow as we only got out to the spots at lunchtime due to early morning commitments.
after a couple of spot changes we finally found some fish with Jadon landing a nice 55cm dhufish on the paddle prawn. This was the first time I had seen the Madeye lures in person and was very impressed with their elasticity and general toughness, I hooked a dhufish on the jig about 5 minutes later but mine was under size he was sent back to the bottom with a release weight to help ensure survival,
we continued to fish for a couple more hours producing a few small breaksea cod but had to call it quits about 3 and head in.


After the success on the weekend I went out the following Tuesday for a solo mission to my inshore snapper spot with the intention of getting a pinky on soft plastic. I had rigged a 5" paddle prawn and lumo octo skirt on a  1oz TT jig head when I arrived at the spot the sounder was showing some really solid arches and I knew the snapper were here. Due to work I was unable to get out till 530 which only gave me about 40 minutes until sundown I had a quick drift over the spot to find which way the current would push my boat as there wasn't a breath of wind. Once I anchored on the spot I began casting the plastic as far from the boat as possible and just using a small slow hop working the plastic all the way back to the boat, on the third cast right under the boat I had a solid hit but missed the hookup I immediately dropped the plastic back down to the bottom when smash another big hit but missed again this went on another 4 times I stated to think I had a big cuttlefish attacking the lure when on the 7th hit I finally hooked the culprit and fought the fish to the surface right as the sun was setting I pulled a dhufish on board that was smack on 50cm so I let him go to fight another day. Because the sun had gone down I decided I would put a bait out figuring the plastics wouldn't do to well at night......I cast a yellow tail out the back on a snelled 5/0 and small running bean sinker rig and within a minute was smashed by a pink snapper about 65cm, knowing the paddle prawn and octo skirt were lumo I decided to charge them up using my head lamp as I still haven't caught a pink snapper on plastic yet, after about the 5th cast I had a solid bite and hooked solid to a nice fish, with big head shakes and long runs I was worried about being busted off on the reef as I was using a Daiwa Caldia 3000 on a Gomoku PE 1-3 with PE 1.5 braid and a 30lb leader after about 5 very intense minutes I was able to subdue the fish could not believe was about to nett! A 7 kilo WA dhufish in 14m of water on a madeye paddle prawn at 7pm! I instantly fell in love with these plastics they are super strong and the dhufish clearly love them!

I spent the weekend in Albany and my aim was test the paddle prawns down there to see if I hadn't just fluked the dhufish. My father and I headed out on his boat Saturday morning and the weather was less then favourable typical Albany so we tucked up against a headland and fished in 20-40m. the old man hooked up first using a 5"paddle prawn and was fighting a really good fish on 20lb gear he was getting smoked when the fish wrapped him up and busted him off. The way the fish was fighting we both were calling it for a dhufish, with big head shakes and real powerful lunges back to the bottom. He set the precedent for the rest of the morning session we got a few undersized breaksea cod and swallowtail when he hooked a second fish and the fight lasted about 20 seconds before being bricked I hooked up immediately after on 30lb gear thinking I might have a chance to land one of these brutes...but luck was not on my side I got stitched up even quicker TWICE! we had to call it quits as the weather was deteriorating,. luckily enough Sunday was looking much nicer.

We had an invite on his friends 26 foot trophy and the plan was to head out to the back of breaksea island and fish some lumps in the 60's I rigged up an orange 5" paddle prawn and lumo octo skirt on a 4oz nitro elevator jig head. First drop before the plastic even hit the bottom I hooked up and shortly after landed a 36cm swallowtail, the wind was up and the drift was quick so we reset for a second drift I was up the front of the boat and casting my plastic as far forward as possible as everyone else was fishing baits and I did not want to tangle. while I was feathering line out on the Daiwa Saltist 30H and T-curve Lucanas jig rod the plastic got hit and line started peeling while it was in free spool I engaged the reel and set the hook, line was getting ripped from the reel at great speed my first thought was a southern bluefin tuna all I knew was I had a hooked a good fish....for the next 20 minutes I fought the fish as he dragged me from the front all the way to the back of the boat and managed to finally tire him when I got colour my PB sambo at 1.2m long and approximately 14-15kilo. Is there any fish that wont smash these paddle prawns? The 3 times I have used these prawns they have out fished bait every time not just with numbers of fish caught but the quality too.
If you want to fish plastics at night the lumo paddle prawns are the definite way to go! I will be targeting some inshore snapper at night using the awesome glow of the lumo Paddle prawn.

 Jadon showing off a horse of a pink snapper and a nice sambo taken on a Madeye 5" paddle prawn.


catch ya next time
Corey Chandler

jigging hard and screaming reels

I was lucky enough to score a few days off work and the weather forecast was average but still fish able so I organized a Wednesday morning trip out wide to the 40M mark with a mate from compleat angler and camping world Rockingham.
we were at the boat ramp at 5 am and steaming out towards the horizon just as the sun was starting to rear its head, the forecast of moderate north easterly winds was pretty well on par, we pushed out wide and soon reached a spot I hadn't fished in a very long time on a 37m edge. The sounder wasn't showing any fish but the ground looked promising, the plan for the day was to jig for demersal species, I was using a shiamno stradic ci4 4000 spooled with 20lb fins braid on a storm gomoku kaiten pe 1-3 rod, these rods are definitely my favourite go to rod when light tackle jigging comes to mind.
Matt was the first to drop and was hooked up within seconds when the rod loaded and line started peeling off the reel extremely quickly I knew we had hit a school of Samson fish, these brutes are famous for being incredibly tough fighters and love to eat jigs! my daiwa bala jig was hit hard and i had a solid hookup i landed my fish first as it was only a rat sambo of about 40cm matt soon had his 90cm sambo boat side for a quick snap and a successful release, the sounder was now showing a school of Samson fish sitting about 12m off the bottom so we both dropped our jigs straight back down, we let them hit the bottom then started a quick double pump and wind jigging technique, with samson fish as long as the jig is moving quickly the actual technique doesn't matter to much especially when they're in a frenzy like they were.                                                                                                                          pictured above the storm gomoku kaiten rod.

we had multiple double hookups and we were both getting smoked by sambos on the light gear the biggest for the day was just hitting a metre, after 5 drifts and hooking and landing about 12 sambos between the pair of us the small school dispersed we spent a while driving around trying to find them but the north easterly was really starting to blow hard, after copping a few waves over the front of the boat we decided to head into shallower ground for some protection.
Jigging for samson fish is a not a new thing and is a huge sport here in WA with people heading out to the barges in chase of some monster sambos on big jigs and big gear, the pain these fish put you through is incredible even on the lighter gear with the smaller fish they will stretch your arms till they're about to drop off! but it is so much fun you just don't want to put the rod down especially when you are hooking monster fish that are peeling line and heading for the bottom quickly you have got your drag at almost full lock your arms have extended another 6" and your just waiting for your shoulders to pop. then the fish gives and you pump and wind slowly getting this freight train with fins towards the surface. once you have that fish in your arms and its nearly as long as you are tall....there is just no better feeling.
it is the main reason so many anglers spend huge $ on top end gear and jigs, its the reason i get out of bed to head out wide on some days i should have stayed home!
to target sambos on jigs i prefer to use the lighter gear and the gomoku for $150 rrp is a rod i recommend to everyone who wants to get into jigging as you can jig all day when its matched to a 4-5000 size reel as the combo wont weigh more then your can of beer, and we can all hold one of them for a few hours. with jigs you want to fish the size that suits the currents and winds on the day, traditional knife jigs work well for speed jigging but if you want to target demersals as well i recommend jigs like vexed and the daiwa bala and pirate jigs when you work these jigs slowly they flutter around the bottom and pink snapper, dhuies, red bight fish and baldies will happily swallow them as well. my next trip out i will be getting a sambo on a soft plastic that will be one less to tick off the bucket list.

another solid sambo on a vexed jig


catch ya next time
corey chandler