While casting large stick baits or
even smaller poppers, one rod really
stood out. This was the 7’11” 40-60lb
Venom Stick Bait rod (RLFVST2). I
found I could cast this light versatile
rod all day long with no problems.
It’s naturally softer than the popping
rods which aids in casting long
distances and ensures stick bait lures
work and move well on the retrieve.
When loaded up on big fish it’s got
a beautiful even taper that puts very
little strain on the angler. These rods
were also hugely popular for trolling
lures and stick baits and accounted
for a huge amount of wahoo over
40kg, sailfish, dogtooth tuna, jobfish,
GT plus more. Some of the other
guys also found them very useful for
casting and working large plastics
for huge coral trout in 20 - 30m of
water as the stopping power was
exceptional.
Jigging at Wreck Reef is hugely
popular and not to mention very
successful. Obviously Venom jig
sticks are the perfect choice for this
style of fishing and the PE3-8 and
PE5-10 rods were ideal at Wreck Reef.
The shorter 6’6” length means you
can put plenty of hurt on fish when
hooked to reduce bust offs. These
rods feel fantastic when loaded up
and once again all the force from a big
powerful fish is put through the rod
and not the angler, which is hugely
important. I was using the 450g
PE5-10 Venom Deep Jig stick mostly
and it accounted for some great fish
including the biggest GT of the trip.
An absolute monster dogtooth tuna
was also caught on one of these rods
and it did it with ease considering
the size of the fish.
••• lures •••
Zerek lures have become a popular
name in the fishing industry and
have accounted for a large range
of fish species from estuary to
blue water fishing. Wreck Reef is
certainly an ideal place to put them
to the test and I’m happy to say they
passed with flying colours.
The Zerek Zappelin stick baits were
without a doubt the lure of the trip.
These strong durable lures with a
great colour range not only look
good but have a great action in the
water to attract a range of species.
Casting the 220mm 125g stick baits
around the shallow reefs accounted
for GT, red bass, coral trout, green
jobfish and more. Although stick
baits are generally used with a cast
and retrieve method I was hugely
surprised to see how effective they
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