Bandit lures

摘要

While I make no bones about being a barramundi fisherman, do almost as much fishing for other species in fresh and saltwater. Sometimes I solely fish for Saratoga, an ancient link with the past. There are two species, the Leichhardt Saratoga, found inthe Dawson river and in some stocked southeast Queensland dams. The Jardine Saratoga ranges from the west coast streams of Cape York to the freshwater reaches of the Adelaide river, south of Darwin. The billabongs and river pools of Arnhem Land are noted Saratoga hotspots. While fishing as a guest of the Arnhem Land Barramundi and Nature Lodge, I was introduced to the Bandit Scout lure, a diminutive 8cm minnow style lure which did it itself proud, with a number of Saratoga up to 85cm landed and two over a metre lost. Saratoga have a large, toothy - but very hard mouth, and are notoriously difficult to hook. I was so impressed with the Scout that I checked up and discovered that it had two larger cousins, the 12cm Scud and the 14cm Prowler. I got my hands on these lures and went barra fishing.