Black Magic’s new range of ‘Enticer’ colours improve upon a winning formula – four exciting new colours have now been added to the range. Blair Whiting joined Jason Harman to see if the local Hawkes Bay trout would enjoy them.

After a long, windy drive down gravel roads we arrived at our river of choice. The flow rate was slightly higher than usual, but this wasn’t going to be a problem for us; the extra water would help to mask the lure’s splash. Fish would also be more confident in the deep pools since the poor visibility would help hide our shadows.

I picked out a small 7g ‘Texas Tea’ Enticer. Just looking at the Black and Gold design, straight away I knew this would be a winner. When I was first learning how to spin I used many lures with this iconic colour-combo and it had proven very successful for me. Jason went for a UV ‘Crimson Cracker’.

What the fish lacked in size they made up for in aggressive bites.

The first pool we reached featured two currents that combined into a deep hole. In this situation, I really like fishing the front drop-off as trout tend to sit just below the current waiting for an easy feed. I landed the lure on the far side and as I began the retrieve, a rainbow surged up onto the lure and crushed it in the shallow water. The spirited fish took to the air, dancing across the pool. After a couple of photos, he was sent on his way. The wild wobbling action and golden flash of the lure had enticed this fish out of the fast water and into the slack water, where it finally hit.

Over the next three pools, I had trout racing up on the lure, nipping at the tail all the way to the bank. One fish even waited patiently for the lure to be dropped back on its nose before scoffing it. Both Jason and I tried varying our retrieves and we found that the lures worked best with a slow retrieve in fast water. The lure stayed down low enough to be visible to fish and wobbled with just enough action to attract fish right up to the bank. The Liquid Lava and UV Crimson Cracker stand out very clearly in murky water (because they feature bright UV paint) and are brilliant to use when rivers are higher.

The 'Crimson Cracker' was popular.

Fish continued to fly out of the gloom onto the lures, with all of them hitting the lures almost at our feet – it was spectacular to witness. Often, we’d be lifting the rod to recast the lure and then an unsighted fish would steal the lure just as it was about to break the surface.

The Enticers also come in a larger 12g size, and a few in the 20g size – perfect for casting at surface-feeding kahawai or swinging for salmon. But 7g is the definite choice for trout, as this size causes little disturbance when it touches down compared to the heavier models.

Looking back on the session, I was pleasantly surprised how far trout would move to investigate these funky wobbling lures. The new Enticer colours have earnt a well-deserved spot in my freshwater spinner box.

September 2022 - Blair Whiting
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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