As a weapon in my casting arsenal I am first to admit that I have recently neglected my stable of cumbersome hardbody deep divers. Blinded by the bright lights and slick finishes of the pricey swimbait craze.
I was so disconnected with my legion of diving hardbody baits that they were not even a mandatory inclusion on every fishing expedition. If space was at a premium the first baits to be culled were always my impossible-to-store diving hardbody’s, with their bulky bibs and large swinging trebles.
It was a trend that was showing no sign of abating, until I took a phone call from fishing friend and part-time boutique lure maker Dean Capello. Deano is based in my hometown of Griffith NSW and is a part-time boutique wood warrior, making the highly sort after Legohead Lures.
As we chatted about all things fishing he detailed a recent trip with good mate Tom Armstrong, where they exclusively used his Legohead hardbody divers. They did well, really well, even managing to nail his first metre for the season – on his fifth cast of the trip!
I quickly, and somewhat awkwardly, confessed my recent falling out with hardbody baits and explained that I just didn’t have a need for them in my tackle box anymore. Before I could even finish my anti-hardbody rant Deano was booking me in for a trip back home to reacquaint with my neglected box of floating divers.
As fate would have it the cod planets aligned and we hit a high barometric pressure and clear, rising river. We caught copious cod on all manner of diving hardbodies, but the real eye-opener was the type of terrain Deano tossed his Legohead lures at.
The gnarliest strangle of sticks were no match for a careful hand and buoyant hardbody, as we danced our baits through some seriously sticky territory. It was good to reacquaint with the humble hardbody on the cast, as they are a serious weapon in treacherous terrain.
It was my naivety to these freshwater facts that meant I wasn’t fulfilling my fishing potential – blinded by the bright lights of other sinking solutions.
While on the water tossing our floating firearms we had a cracking yarn about a few hardbody hints that guide Deano’s Legohead Lures philosophy.
GO BIB
Deano is a big fan of a decent size bib on his hardbodies. Some may think they look disproportionate to the body of his baits, but thankfully the cod don’t listen to such whimsy rhetoric.
Reason being, he fishes some very sticky water and a bigger bib helps for a steep dive into the strike zone. Secondly, the big bib acts like a bumper, deflecting underwater snags, as it jostles it’s way back to the rod tip and registers less snags.
BIB BLING
Another often neglected factor Deano has been experimenting with is his bib material and reflective stickers. When it comes to material he likes to alternate between both metal and plastic bibs.
For some reason one type can outperform the other on any given day. As a result he likes to have a mix of both in his box.
He has also become a big fan of putting reflective adhesive on his bibs in a myriad of different colours and patterns from bright gold and silver to green and even purple.
Not only does this give the hardbody a bigger presence in the drink, the reflective panel turns the lure into a spinnerbait and hardbody hybrid. The reflection generated by the swaying wobble of the lure needs to be seen to be believed !
His infatuation with reflective highlights stems from his trademark Spider Man eyes he puts on all his lures.
Another huge benefit of a metal or reflective bib is it puffs the chest out on the lure. Meaning it makes it look bigger than what it actually is.
This illusion, especially in small sticky rivers, can’t be underestimated as throwing big baits in such conditions is close to impossible.
SURFACE DIVER?
After looking at rolls of surface strikes from his GoPro the final tip him and Tommy do more than most is let their hardbodies dance on the surface before thundering them into the sticks.
Not on every occasion, but when they nail their hardbody into some backwater or a shady pocket they twitch it on the surface for a few seconds before deployment.
Honestly, without seeing the explosive surface strikes you could pass it off as hogwash, but from cast to catch the camera doesn’t lie. Let me say, this little tweak is one small adjustment I’ll make in all future hardbody assaults.
