Capt Asparagus wrote: Well there ya go then! Next seasons contest will be to see who is first to get a marlin on a stickbait or popper eh. Tell you what BA, if you're gunna be chasing a lot of Marlin with a spinnig reel, and wanna look at something perhaps a little nicer than the Fin-nor (not that the Fin-nor is not nice, I just got 2 more of them myself), then have a looksee at the Accurate SR50 Twinspins.... maaaaatteeee.... what a reel!

that is the plan Stu, kinda like the Fin-nor infact like you am getting a couple more, solely for marlin fishing, looking at the oh so nice xzoga popper rod to try it out on a popper/sticky thing going to drop in line weight though, got two popper rods now, one for over head and one for the spinner, I have to say using the spinning gear is so much more enjoyable than the big sets. bring on the noise i say.

Big Owner Jobu hooks will do the job, in my book you would have to at least cast to a marlin to be a legit stickbait capture ,none of this trolling stickbaits crap.

interesting stella, was seriously thinking of a cirlce on a small length of 400, will certainly be a single hook for sure. oh well a few months to wait and ponder.

Capt Asparagus wrote: Just looked up those Nomad lures, looked at the price, and now after the ambulance has left and the CPR has done its job... I think I may just stick with me old cheapie ones after all. Flaming heck, $50AUD for a lure! Caramba! Boulders would be one of the best I've seen off the 'net so far! A bit more affordable really.

You may be in for a of a shock when you see some prices for a few of the other stick baits around

stick baits like many poppers are made of wood with the odd ones in metal.
its wrong to think stickbaits sink as the best of the ones I have seen working in fact float in a vertical position when resting between strokes. ie Carpenters and fishermans.
I understand you can specify them as sinking or floating and is a huge part of the hook choice you need to run to get them to work properly.
Tricky things to get right but when you do its extraordinary
Book a trip with Ginga of Extreme charters as he is the best charter guru I know for stickbaits

Capt A if you think $50 is dear go buy a carpenter stickbait where you could well be asked for 250+ that is if you can even find one to buy