Predatek Fishing Lures
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Australia's World Class Fishing Lures
Project Jabberwok
After a research and development period of three years, we're excited to announce that our Maximum eFISHency™ surface fishing lure for large Murray cod is available now. It has taken far too long to get to this point (many prototype variations, field testing, extra ideas implemented, IP registrations, tooling challenges!). Happily, though, the final product exceeds the design brief we set for it at the outset.
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Here's a link to the basic product page for the Jabberwok. The page you are on now is about the nitty gritty behind the design and development of this innovative fishing lure.
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The Design Brief
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1.
Develop a large paddling surface lure (at least 90mm body length) for Murray cod. Make it a 'Predatek': innovative & original design, quality build, reliable performance...not a copy of other manufacturers' lures.
2.
Make the paddling bib tool-lessly replaceable and interchangeable. Keep it simple—no complicated methods of securing the bib to the lure body, and no small parts that can be lost.
3.
Make it look big to fish looking up to the surface, but without it being too big and bulky for fatigue-free, extended, one-handed casting sessions by dedicated Murray cod fishers.
4.
Think outside the square—it doesn't have to be a traditional hard-bodied lure construction consisting of left-side and right-side halves. Include multiple hardware attachment points and ensure that treble hooks hang *symmetrically on either side of the lure's vertical axis.
5.
Give it enhanced hook exposure—many surface lure strikes result in no hook-up because the lure is knocked away by the fish.
6.
VERY IMPORTANT: Ensure that it's quick off the mark. A surface lure that takes several cranks of a reel-handle to get into stride is frustrating. Make it work vigorously and audibly at slow retrieve speeds.
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SYMMETRICAL HARDWARE
So what's the go with 'symmetrical hardware'? Does it really matter? Well, we think it does, particularly on a surface lure where we want the hook-barb exposure to be equal on both sides. After all, we don't know which side the fish will strike from. :-)
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Traditional hard-bodied lures (this includes all of our diving lures and our Spaddler and MicroSpaddler surface paddlers) have a LEFT-SIDE | RIGHT-SIDE construction. This means that the hardware hanging eyelets are oriented in a vertical plane on the join between the halves. Traditional treble hooks don't have the symmetry 'love' when attached to such eyelets with split-rings. Two barbs will be on one side of the lure and one on the other. :-(
A TOP HALF/BOTTOM HALF construction—like the Jabberwok's—orients the hardware hanging eyelets in the horizontal plane and makes the hooks and swing-blade hang symmetrically. That's what we want—good design. :-)
SYMMETRICAL HARDWARE
So what's the go with 'symmetrical hardware'? Does it really matter? Well, we think it does, particularly on a surface lure where we want the hook-barb exposure to be equal on both sides. After all, we don't know which side the fish will strike from. :-)
​
Traditional hard-bodied lures (this includes all of our diving lures and our Spaddler and MicroSpaddler surface paddlers) have a LEFT-SIDE | RIGHT-SIDE construction. This means that the hardware hanging eyelets are oriented in a vertical plane on the join between the halves. Traditional treble hooks don't have the symmetry 'love' when attached to such eyelets with split-rings. Two barbs will be on one side of the lure and one on the other. :-(
A TOP HALF/BOTTOM HALF construction—like the Jabberwok's—orients the hardware hanging eyelets in the horizontal plane and makes the hooks and swing-blade hang symmetrically. That's what we want—good design. :-)
TWO BIB OPTIONS FOR EVERY JABBERWOK
This is yet another Predatek innovation. You can purchase the Jabberwok with either a clear or black bib. Purchase tow Jabberwoks with different bibs and you can mix and match them. Use the clear bib when you want the Jabberwok to look smaller to the predator lurking underneath. Conversely, if you want Jabberwok to have a bulkier silhouette, and its paddling movement appearing more obvious to a fish that swims up to check it out, fit a black paddling bib.
TOOL-LESS INTERCHANGEABILITY
Although we supply the Jabberwok with the bib attached to the towing eyelet with a split ring, the split-ring is not necessary. So why do we supply Jabberwok with one bib attached by a split-ring? The answer is that we don't believe that the average lure buyer is ready (yet) to purchase a lure that needs to be put together before it can be used—regardless of how easy it is to put it together. Jabberwok works straight out of the pack.
HOWEVER, we've designed the bibs to be conveniently and tool-lessly interchangeable. It makes sense that anglers are more likely to embrace the innovative interchangeability feature if it's quick and easy to do. So a split-ring is not a part of that feature.
Yes, you'll need a pair of split-ring pliers (every serious lure fisho should carry a pair) to remove the split-ring from the Jabberwok (as-supplied) so that you can change the bib. But you don't need to re-attach the split ring when you've fitted the other bib. Simply clip Jabberwok to your line with a wire snap through the towing eyelet and the snap will keep the bib in place. That's the way we designed it to work. Easy is better, right?.
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The bib is a loose fit on the head of Jabberwok. That's also intentional in our design. The Jabberwok's action is better with the loose-fitting, articulating bib.
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TACKLE-BOX-FRIENDLY JABBERWOK
Another advantage of our interchangeable bib idea is that the Jabberwok can be stored in a dis-assembled state in your tackle box to save space...or make room for more Jabberwoks! This is handy if you backpack into remote country.
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As you can probably appreciate now, we've put a lot of thought into the design of the Jabberwok. We fish too.
