Sliding Spoon Lure you built for Costa Rica Tarpon

[hurdisct]

Larry,
I really enjoyed your recent show in which you talked through the development of a new lure design that slides on the fishing line that improved the land ratio of deep water Tarpon in Costa Rica. While I aspire to at some point learn how to make my own lures, I am wondering if there are any versions of this style lure that are comercially available. I know that you fish at Rio Parismina, and tested it there, should I expect them to carry a lure like this? (I will be there in May) Thanks in advance and I have really enjoyed your show this year!
Chris

[dahlberg]

Hi H
Sorry, none available unless you make them yourself. I think when you visit Parismina you'll be using sabiki rigs to catch live sardines and fishing them on circle hooks for tarpon.
best,
L

[Bill Crain]

I am sure that Rio Parismina Lodge would be happy to sell you a ton of the sliding lures, BTW are called "stingers" and are only used now when live bait is not available. Sidney is still there and is one of the best Tarpon guides.Tarpon now are caught as Larry says with a circle hook and bait, but there are times when the bait is not there and stingers and Coast Hawks are the lures of choice.
Best Luck
Bill

[dahlberg]

hi Guys,
Obviously, the "sydney rig" as I call the sliding spoon can be done to any jigging spoon that has wire eyes on each end that can bent at an angle so the line passes through. The sole purpose if for preventing the fish from having the weight of the lure to help shake the hook out.
The big difference, and it is a huge difference, between the lure I illustrated and the standard issues, is that rather than weighing 4-6 ounces and sinking like a stone, mine can be made to weigh as little as 3/4 ounces and a sink rate of less than a foot per second up to about 8 ounces and sinking at 10X that speed without changing the SIZE of the lure.
THe other thing, again huge, is I can distribute the weight of the spoon totally to the front if need be to counter balance the the 4/0 or 5/0 hook that you hang in the rear, resulting in a slower fluttering fall as opposed to falling tail down. This is most important when the fish are high in the water column.
best,
L

[surecatch]

Here in the Northwest we have had commercialy available lures much like the ones Larry makes. The original was made by Rex Field and was called a Buzz Bomb. He brought that to market in the 60s. It looked nothing like a baitfish but it still caught a lot of salmon, rockfish , lingcod and halibut. Later his son Doug Field invented the Zzinger. It was originally marketed in the 80s. It is a lead minnow that slides on the line. They come in many sizes and colors. He sells tens of thousands of them every year. You can easily find them by doing a Google on Zzinger or Buzz Bomb http://www.buzzbombzzinger.com/

[Bill Crain]

Kind of interesting in that one of Larry's sponsors Shimano has a great butterfly jig that come in many sizes..
The size stinger used in Costa Rica are 2 oz.

[hurdisct]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I was just curious. The show was so interesting and it applied directly to my next fishing destination. I know the folks at the lodge will take care of things. Fascinating stuff!

[dahlberg]

[quote="Bill Crain"]Kind of interesting in that one of Larry's sponsors Shimano has a great butterfly jig that come in many sizes..
The size stinger used in Costa Rica are 2 oz.[/quote]

the butterfly jig and the lure I'm describing and talking about are apples and oranges. Literally no similarity at all.
The shimano jig is designed to be dropped and worked aggressively back toward the surface. Fish usually bite it on the way up. It has a kind of vertical "walk the dog" action when properly executed.
The lure I'm talking about is designed to fish either skipped on top or fluttered on the drop. They bite it on the fall.
The two lures could not be more different, both in how you fish them and how the look in the water.

The buzz bomb, a fascinating and brilliantly designed lure, is designed to actually spin like crazy on the drop, so much so it's almost self propelled to one side. The purpose for it's "hole through" design is to prevent your line from turning into a tangled mess. Again, a totally different lure even though the concepts appear to be the quite similar.

When you say the size stinger (stinger is a type of jig shape that drops like a stone, not a generic term that refers to jigging spoons) used is 2 oz, it makes me suspect you didn't get the jist of what my main objective was.
The size of the spoon need to be expressed in inches, or some expression of length. The WEIGHT of the stinger is 2 oz.
You will likely catch more tarpon on the deep rocks I discovered years ago when I first brought depthfinders to Parismina using the stinger because it sinks so fast and spot is tiny, plus it's deep with significant current and the fish are often right on the bottom.
When the fish are anywhere other than glued to the bottom you'll likely do better with spoons that have broader surfaces so they fall slower and flutter.
I've caught tarpon on jigging spoons that range in weight from 1 1/2 to 6 oz, depending on depth, current speed and whether the fish are rolling on the surface or tucked in tight to the bottom.
Hope this helps make the picture a little clearer!
best,
L