Testing Booth: Jigging Lures

Jigging Lures: great Australianmade soft plastic lure options

Fishing with soft plastics has come a long way, even in the 10 years I have been with the magazine. There are so many shapes, sizes, colours and options, that for some anglers looking at a wall of soft plastics in your local tackle store is a nightmare, while for others it is the stuff of dreams.

in this case the Jigging Lures range of soft plastics are only available online (they do attend markets around SE Queensland). So, I felt it was important to go through the process and place an order myself (they did supply me with ample plastics to do this testing booth). Once on the website you click on the shop button and there is a group of

The strong swimming action and profile of the 3.5” EXO paddle tail makes it ideal to target bass with.

The continuing growth of online shopping has also opened opportunities for smaller operators to dip their toes in the market place. One such operator is Jigging Lures based on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Here are my thoughts after testing them for you for the last few months.

The range

Jigging Lures offer 10 different shapes from a 2” single tail grub to a number of

This 5” EXO paddle tail was slow rolled over a large shallow piece of water in the hopes a big female flathead would eat it. This little guy didn’t read the script.

5” options. Each style is available in 20 plus colours and a packet costs $10 plus postage. To check out the range you need to go to www.jigginglures.com.au. The Jigging Lures Facebook and Instagram pages are also worth a look and a follow. They highlight recent captures, markets they are attending and any new colours and ranges when they come out.

How to order them?

Generally, when I am talking to you about where to find the products I am testing, I send you to your local tackle outlet, however images of the soft plastics that are available. Click on the shape you want to buy, pick a colour and how many packs and off you go. The bonus for buying five packets is that your plastics come in a small tackle tray, ready to go. I thought that was a great idea, so that’s what I did.

From order to delivery was three days (me being in Brisbane), which I thought was as good as you can expect, when Australia Post is involved.

Breaking the range down

The range has a little bit for everybody, with three 2” options, four 3-3.5” options and three 5” options.

Small sizes

The three 2” options lend themselves to targeting species like, bream, whiting, redfin perch, trout, etc. There are definitely colours in each one that will suit any of those species and more.

I had a couple of outings where I found myself using either the Jigging mini paddle tail or the Jigging single tail grub around the many pylons of the Hornibrook Bridge at the mouth of the North Pine River in Brisbane. These pylons are home to plenty of bream and flathead, and these two lure options delivered some nice bags and the odd trophy into the net.

Depending on the current, I rigged them on jigheads weighing from 1/24-1/8oz with a size 1 hook. I simply cast them to the structure, let them slowly drop to the bottom and then shook and wiggled them back The stinger hook wasn’t always needed.

The author was instantly drawn to the 5” Jigging curl tail in the range. Rigged with a stinger hook it accounted for three 50cm+ flathead in five casts the first time he tried it.

to the boat. You will generally know pretty quickly if the bream are about.

The colours I liked for this, from what I was sent are, salt n pepper, sesame oil UV, golden crush, pickled gherkin UV, grapefruit squash, squid jelly and pink cotton candy UV.

Small/medium sizes

As you head up in size, the next four plastics provide a much broader range of profile and species options.

Comprising of a ribbon tail grub, a fork tail and a couple of paddle tail options these plastics could be used on many of our inshore grounds, throughout our estuary systems and in our rivers and lakes (fresh and saltwater).

The 3” Jigging ribbon tail is the most finesse of the small to medium sized plastics and lends itself to being fished in a similar way to the 2” plastics already mentioned or crosses over nicely to a 1/4-3/8oz jighead

When rigging the EXO paddle tail for bass the author liked to trim the nose from the plastic so that he maintained the 3.5” length and profile.

with a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. This broadens the fish species you can target with them significantly.

The plastics that immediately caught my eye when they arrived where the 3.5” Jigging fork tail, Jigging EXO paddle tail and Jigging paddle tail. They slot into my wheelhouse as vibration, so it lends itself more to being used in shallow water (or from the shore) and at times of less water flow. The extra movement drawing attention from a broader area, giving the angler a better chance of catching a fish. Both paddle tails in the range have very strong swimming actions, but it was the

The undoing of this flathead was a 3.5” paddle tail in sesame oil UV colour. results, while for the flathead it has been those plus the grapefruit squash, sour lemon UV and bubblegum blue colours that have worked well for me.

Medium/Large sizes

The 5” Jigging lure models have been great fun to test. They have challenged my thought processes on how to rig them (see the rigging tips nearby) and how to fish them.

The Jigging Jumbo EXO paddle tail has a great profile and lends itself to be slow rolled. It has lots of action and I look forward to the next opportunity to fish one in one of our SE Queensland barramundi impoundments or if I am chasing a Murray cod south of the border. Come to think of it, it would be the perfect trailer on a stinger hook set up on a spinnerbait or mumbler to target them as well. However, I didn’t have that opportunity so I rolled them over shallow flats hoping a big female flathead may take a liking to them. No big girls played the game, but the fish I did catch left no question they wanted to eat it.

My favourite has been the Jigging EXO curl tail. It has so much movement and vibration in the water, that I was just drawn to it. I preferred to fish it very slowly and let the action of the lure do all the work.

The results speak for themselves, three flathead over 50cm in five casts on the first morning I used them had me hooked.

Everybody will have their own favourite colours within this range, but for me you can’t go past orange cordial, sour lemon

far as fishing with soft plastics is concerned.

My first thought always tends to go down the flathead path, but I have realised over the years that plastics of this size and shape, will catch a huge range of fish species. Snapper, mulloway, bream, trevally, bass, golden perch and trout are just a few that instantly come to mind.

I tend to use a fork tail and a paddle tail in slightly different situations (targeting flathead). In deeper water and during times in the tide

Although the author preferred the 3.5” EXO paddle tail for his bass fishing, the standard 3.5” paddle tail was pretty effective as well. UV, salt n pepper, squid jelly and sesame oil UV.

Final thoughts

The Jigging Lures range and colour options will provide most anglers with an option to suit their fishing needs. They are reasonably robust and definitely catch fish.

I don’t like saying that I have favourites

RIGGING TIPS

The 5” EXO curl tail rigged with a

Mustad inline single stinger hook. • As with rigging any soft plastic, it is important to line them up as straight possible to ensure that they swim straight in the water. • Try and match the colour of the jighead to the plastic whenever possible, as it then becomes an extension of your plastic. • Trim a small piece from the nose of the plastic so that it sits flush against the jighead. For bass fishing, I remove the same amount as the length of the head of the jighead so that the total length remains the same. • In the case of the 5” EXO curl tail, I found it hard to find a jighead that the hook came out far enough down the plastic, and therefore I missed bites. My solution was to add a Mustad inline single stinger hook to the rig. It worked very well. • Play with the weight of the jigheads to ensure you are maximising the presentation of your plastic depending on your fishing situation.

(because I think you should try them for yourselves), but for me the 3.5” Jigging fork tail, the 3.5” Jigging EXO paddle tail and the 5” Jigging EXO curl tail are the standouts, with the 3.5” Jigging paddle tail and the 5” Jigging EXO paddle tail not too far behind. They cover the majority of my fishing needs.

Well done to Kym and Paul from Jigging Lures, you have done very well. Check them out at www.jigginglures.com.au.

With 10 styles and 20+ colours of each, there is bound to be something for every angler in the Jigging Lures range.

when you have a lot of water flow I like to use a fork tail. It has less water resistance, so it gets to the bottom faster and stays in the zone without the current sweeping it away. When it comes to the paddle tail, the tail creates much more movement and

The author used the smaller 2” plastics to target bream. He was very happy with the results. Jigging EXO paddle tails accentuated action that caught my eye. The ribbed shape of this lure allows for even more role and movement. Much of the testing period has been during late winter and early spring, which is when the Australian bass in our SE Queensland impoundments school up on the deeper contours of the waterways, and rolling soft plastics through and around these schools is a great way to catch them. The extra movement was something that I thought would be perfect for this.

Lake Kurwongbah is one of my favourite urban bass fisheries (kayak only) and where I put my theory to the test. Kurwongbah is not as deep as many of the other impoundments so I used a 1/4oz 2/0 jighead and once I found fish, I cast to them, let the plastic get to the bottom and slow rolled it back to the kayak. It pays to stop occasionally to let the plastic get back to the bottom. Most of your bites will either come on the slow roll or the pause. I have caught fish on both the paddle tail Jigging lures, but the Jigging EXO paddle tail has had the better results of the two.

Colour wise for the bass, it has been the golden crush, pickled gherkin UV and the squid jelly colours that I have had the best