LURE TALK WITH PETER PAKULA
“Not having the ultimate fish attracting boat and engine combination is not a disadvantage. With the aid of teasers, you can match all-comers in a competitive atmosphere.”
Anything you tow behind your boat will do the job of attracting fish, as they are incredibly inquisitive rather than frightened. Essentially, anything that moves through the water and is able to be caught by a predator is likely to be thought of as food. In saying that, it’s unquestionable that some of the things used to attract fish do a rather poor job of it, while others have quite spectacular success. The factors that contribute to make teasers work are essentially the same as that of lures. It all comes down to size, action, vibration and colour.
Without question, the most obvious teaser is the boat itself combined with the engine vibration. The larger the boat and engines, the more effective they are. For instance, big diesels and wooden hulls seem to be the ultimate fish attractors. No boat and engine configuration actually scares fish – they all attract them to some extent. But not having the ultimate fish-attracting boat and engine combination is not a disadvantage. With the aid of teasers, you can match all-comers in a competitive atmosphere.
The lures we use are all teasers, too; exactly as their ancestors were. Someone eventually realised if you stuck a hook in them, they could actually be used to catch fish. A good pattern of lures working in harmony certainly does the job of attracting, teasing and catching all at once. There are two main types of teasers. The traditional one is still directly attacked by fish and often has to be pulled out of the water to get the fish to switch to something with a hook in it. They represent food to the fish. The other type is the exciter, which works by getting the fish fired up and is designed to increase the competitive reflex in the fish – the exciter appears as another predator in the area. Of course, we can’t be completely sure about all this until we actually talk to a fish!
TOP TEASERS
Despite the fact that anything pulled behind the boat will act as a teaser, several are quite effective.
1 Bird Teasers come in many sizes, although the most common are 8-14 inches in length. They flutter on the surface with their wings putting out highfrequency vibration and sheets of water that may imitate fleeing baitfish. They are generally rigged with daisy chains of rubber squid and hookless lures, to add drag that in turn makes the bird ‘flap’ harder. They are effective close to the transom, or run a long way behind the boat as a teaser (as they were originally designed to be run for tuna). Note that the daisy chains also put out vibrations and are often run from the outriggers with or without birds and lures attached to the chain.
2 Delta Wing Teasers are one of several systems that have multiple chains of squid, bubblers, soft plastic fish and other attractors set up as multiple daisy chains that work off a main frame. Others in the same family are spreader bars and drogues. They essentially imitate a school of fleeing baitfish and are very effective for species such as sailfish and other small billfish under 200lb.
3 Tinny Teasers are not generally taken as seriously as they should be. Few other surface teasers put out as much deep-toned vibration. Note that low, deeptoned vibration travels much further than higher-pitched vibration. They are very easy to make, but the fish love them so much, you could be rigging tins all day! Use a minimum of four cans on a rope, spaced evenly every two feet.
4 The Witchdoctor runs deep and rocks from side to side putting out deep throbbing vibrations with mirrors flashing sheets of light. The Witchdoctor never comes to the surface to tangle other lines. They are very effective for all gamefish species of all sizes, including larger marlin. The vibrations put out by the teaser are similar to a large predator and brings out the competitive nature of all game and sportfishing species. These are even deadlier when used in conjunction with a flash-strip teaser.
5 “That Flippy Floppy Thing” is a daisy chain depicting a critter scattering a bunch of bait in the air. It is made with 9-inch Squidnation Rubber Mauler Squids, eight 6-inch Squidnation Fat Daddy Squids and one Squidnation 5-inch bird. Rigged on 275lb test tipped with a 300lb Marlin Coast Lock swivel. A proven sailfish and marlinraising machine.6 Music, certainly loud music with a heavy bass and drum beat, attracts fish as the speakers resonate through the hull into the water. There is much debate on which tunes are the best.
PETE’S TOP FIVE TEASIN’ TUNES
1. RAWHIDE – BLUES BROS. VERSION
2. THUNDERSTRUCK – AC/DC
3. BLACK BETTY – SPIDERBAIT VERSION
4. BAD TO THE BONE – GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS
5. DOWN UNDER – MEN AT WORK
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