lurespinner Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Hi all Im looking to catch a few bonnies later this year in Pittwater Not sure what lures to use. Im thinking baitfish profiles (i.e. raiders) and bibbed lures? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. cheers, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooky. Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 (edited) 3' bass minnows on 3gm Squidgie Finesse heads. Rig the minnow upside down so it swims straighter. 57903[/snapback] Agree with swoffa. I found some Watsons Leaping Bonito amongst schools of yellowtail last weekend east off Lion Island and they seemed to like a 3" bass minnow in smelt colour but not rigged upside down as swoffa has mentioned. I was using a 3gr squidgy ball jig head and a size 2 hook. cheers Hooky EDIT:clarification, I didn't fish with the BM's rigged upside down, never have, but it may be something to try in the future. Edited July 14, 2005 by Hooky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatheadheaven Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 I ain't no expert, but have caught a few monster bonnies from Whaley on the lazer HB lures. 50 and 70 gm did the trick. Colour wasn't really an issue, but ones with splashes of red seemed to do OK. Anything with a bit a flash should be OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurespinner Posted July 14, 2005 Author Share Posted July 14, 2005 Thanks guys gotta try those bass minnows everyone is talking about sound pretty good next time i visit the local tackle store ill pick some up I ain't no expert, but have caught a few monster bonnies from Whaley on the lazer HB lures. 50 and 70 gm did the trick. Colour wasn't really an issue, but ones with splashes of red seemed to do OK. Anything with a bit a flash should be OK 57911[/snapback] thanks hathead, i have similar things a couple of spanyid lures (20 g raider, 17 g maniac) that should do the trick how did you retrieve them? fast i would think, and do you let them sink before the retrieve or straight away? thanks for the help guys cheers tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken A Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Bonito will take most small metals either slices or baitfish profiles. They are suckers for Hb's like Rapala CD's if your trolling also. An effective retreive for Bonito is start off with a few fast turns then pause & start the retreive again at a slower pace. They will often hit as you start the retreive after the pause. Can't see much point tossing plastics at toothy critters that are happy to much metals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bombora Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 As Ken said Bonnies can chew up a plastic. If ya wanna compromise, tie up some nice bucktail jigs nice and slender around the same length as a bass minnow. Use one of the darter style heads around with some new age artificial fibres for tails and you got the4 best of both worlds _ a lure with jig versatility but nowhere near as fragile (sorry gotta stop harping on about "bucktail" jigs) cheers Bombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurespinner Posted July 14, 2005 Author Share Posted July 14, 2005 ye thats wat i thought about the bass minnows ken thanks for the advice and tips might try those bombora thx cheers tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken A Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 I must say I haven't come across many picky schools of Bonito. Frigates ,Stripies & Salmon yeh but normally Bonnies are co-operative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooky. Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Maybe I was just lucky. I fished the school of bonito and yellowtail using up just two BM's for two hours. Every fish was hooked in the corner of the mouth and the BM was never in the fishes mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken A Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 You can be lucky mate I had a Tank S that nailed 9 good Flatties once without splitting or getting wrecked. Thems the breaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurespinner Posted July 15, 2005 Author Share Posted July 15, 2005 yeh those bm's seem to be good for a whole lot of fish... gotta get me some of em thanks for the tips guys cheers tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashir Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 I agree with ken, bonito aren't very picky. They're near suicidal, trolling small minnows like rapalas and bobo spitfires, or a couple of xmas trees should see you into a few. If you find a school, they will nail most metals, I prefer slim profile ones cranked at warp speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurespinner Posted July 15, 2005 Author Share Posted July 15, 2005 thx for the tips bashir will try next time im fishing in pittwater cheers tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingy Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 I've found that Rapala CD-7 and CD-9's work really well. Caught most of mine on the red head colour (red head with white body) trolling at around 5 knots. The second treble on the CD's adds points to help hook them, while the metals only have one treble (more likely to throw hooks?!?!!!!?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurespinner Posted July 16, 2005 Author Share Posted July 16, 2005 just bought a CD-7 the other day cant wait to try it out cheers tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REKLESS Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 When I have gone after Bonito for bait we usually find them by trolling CD 9 or 11's if out "blind trolling".I still prefer the 20g chrome slugs as Bashir said at "warp speed",when they are on the surface and feeding .....come on summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fauce Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 i must agree with kingy. a cd-7 or cd-9 in the red head colour is by far the best. When i troll round barrenjoey we put out a spread of lures and i call our red head the bonito lure becuase you can garantee that is what it will catch. Maybe it has just been luck but that is the only lure which takes bonitos consistently on the troll for me.. I do catch them on others tho. it is not to say others don't work. But that is the best Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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