Turtleback Worm

It’s no secret that the Turtleback worm is a favourite lure of mine and it is often my go to lure. With the recent colour additions this effective lure just became a lot more exciting to use.

My preferred water depth when using the Turtleback worm rangers between 2 to 4 meters. I look for drop offs and weed edged to target. I like to rig it on a 1/12 – 1/8 jighead which gives the tail plenty of action when the lure is falling. This tail action on the drop, I have found to be imperative and I believe it can be the key between catching and not catching. Once I have chosen a Turtleback colour, threaded it onto the right weighted jighead I will test the swimming action beside the boat. When I do this, I’m looking for 2 things. That it falls in a straight line with plenty of tails action and when I give the rod a couple of sharp flicks, the lure must swims straight without spiralling. If the lure spirals at all, or doesn’t have the desired wriggle then I will re-rig it until it’s working perfectly.

Mixing up the retrieve is vital to finding the most productive method for the day. I usually start with a lift and shake that gives the lure added action. If that doesn’t work I’ll try a double hop or I’ll pause the lure of the bottom for a longer period. The fish will often pick up the worm shape lure off the bottom after a longer pause.

The Turtleback is a great searching lure that will attract plenty of by catch. One of my favourite bycatch species which I often turn into my target is the silver trevally. The trevally has a purpose built mouth for searching and sucking up worms which is probably why the Turtleback is so effective. I enjoy targeting them under moored boats or on bridge pylons which makes for awesome fun and will test your gear and angling skill when the trevally decide to fight dirty.

The new colours, gives the anglers more options to be creative and my favourite, the camo Turtleback is an absolute fish magnet. I recently spent 90% of a bream tournament fishing the camo Turtleback with good success. Fishing both deep and shallow the fish homed in on the worm pattern and on plenty occasions swallow it on the first strike.