Product Review: Bait Junkie 10” Gar

By Mark Gercovich

Catching Pelagics with the Bait Junkie 10" Gar

Throwing the Bait Junkie 10” Gar soft plastic for kingfish during summer has quickly become one of my favourite things to do. One of the main food sources for our local inshore kingfish is garfish. All the colors looked great, so as summer approached, I was super excited to be able to throw the Bait Junkie Gar at some kings. My anticipation was spot on, and the summer kings absolutely loved them.

Rigging Them

Before I made the first cast with one the question of course was, how was I going to rig them. Even though rigging slots are available on the belly of the gar to enable ease of rigging for stinger hooks, I wanted to rig the gar as simply as possible. When targeting kings things can happen fast and casts often need to be quick, long and often violent. A simply rigged bait that won't get caught or foul up in some way is important in this situation. After a bit of rummaging around ina the fishing garage draws I came across what I hoped would work. A size 9 Lunker City Pro weighted hook was found and carefully inserted into the Bait Junkie Gar. A bit like an over-sized bream hidden weight style set up. It seemed to have a few benefits which have proved correct when translated into practice. 

The grip of the weighted lead section on the hook holds well in the lure. No need for the glueing I would have needed to do if I just placed a normal straight hook in as I had planned. I was worried the extra weight in the hook would make it difficult to keep the lure on the surface, as you want it skipping and splashing like a fleeing gar as you crank it back quickly. However, this hasn't been a problem and the lure set up casts a mile, an important factor when chasing surface feeding fish. Another benefit of the slightly weighted gar is that, opposed to a floating stickbait style gar imitation, the gar can be paused and will drop in front of the fish. This gives that extra second of opportunity for the fish to decide to eat the lure if they follow all the way to the boat, which kings have a habit of doing at times. 

Head First

Kingfish are well known for their propensity to turn on their prey and attempt to demolish it headfirst. Even when casting or trolling big double hooked 12-inch Sluggos, bigger fish in particular always seemed to hook up on the head hook. Therefore, I was happy with the coverage one hook in the head section gave. The shank length sits nicely back in the second half of the first segment of the lure, allowing plenty of unhindered tail wiggle as well. There is enough gape in the hook that once rigged in the gar, enough hook sticks out to allow for solid hookups. With no exposed jighead the lure looks natural and skips well, an important factor with shallow, clear water fish. 

Now if kings seem the perfect fit for the Bait Junkie Gar, summer southern bluefin probably aren't. These fish are well known for their fussiness and propensity to lazily mill on the surface. Casting very small lures or poppers is usually the main way of getting these frustrating fish to eat. So, it was a pleasant surprise recently after targeting kings in the morning, then moving out to the tuna school later (as so often the plan) the tuna this day were more than happy demolishing the Gar. Cast as far across the school and burnt back across the top hookups with a single hook were no issue. 

It is well worth the time and effort targeting surface feeding pelagics with the Bait Junkie Gar as it is spectacular to watch when one gets eaten. I can't wait for the next flat day to get out there and do it again.