MF40 – bridging the gap

Last year it was the metal blade, this year it’s the hybrid. The MF40 is a cross between a plastic and a blade, a lead weight head with a Powerbait coating. The MF40 is a little bulker that the Big Eye Blade which gives it more water resistance, therefore the MF40 has an excellent sink rate.

I recently spent a day working the MF40 up and down the many bridges that intersect the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers. The method was fairly simple, make a lengthy cast parallel to the bridge pylons and work the MF40 back towards the boat. I used a slow steady lift and drop retrieve, this gave the lure plenty of vibration which was easily felt through the rod tip. It didn’t take long before I was hooked up to a nice plump 35cm bream. The system as a whole has been fishing rather tough of late and to consistently pick up hits and fish through the bottom of the tide was really quite impressive. By the end of the morning session I had a nice bag of fish swimming around the live well.

I also counted a couple of hits from Mulloway while fishing the bridges. The first one was short lived, I lifted the rod tip to find quite a bit of weight on the other ended. As I had it under the boat and was just about to steer away from the bridge pylons the hooks pulled. I really didn’t get a chance to set the hooks properly. The second jewie slammed the lure as it was sinking back to the bottom, a very distinctive “tick” came rippling up the fireline and could be felt through the rod. This time a struck hard and really woke up the large fish. The jewie peeled off a good 10 metres of line and then turned and disappeared under the bridge and that’s when it really started to motor. Line disappeared quickly until the inevitable happened and the line touched one of the pylons and broke.

It was really exciting and rewarding to spend a day catching fish on a new lure. The MF40 is already producing quality fish all over the country and the list I’m sure will continue to grow with the upcoming release.

Hodgey

Brad is one of the Berkley Pro Anglers and has been testing the MF40 for several months.

They are now available from most tackle outlets.

Dinger.