Product Review: Bait Junkie Kikker Curly

By Darren Weda

It’s that time of the year again. Where the weather warms, the insects and cicadas start to come out, and us fishermen start thinking and dreaming of those epic topwater takes from all our favourite species.

For me, summer surface bites are usually from bream, EP’s, whiting and the odd flatty, and while traditionally I have always used small poppers, pencil lures, and cicada’s, I have now landed on the Daiwa Bait Junkie Kikker Curly frogs as my go to estuary edges surface lure. 

I think surface lures are so popular because they add that extra element to your fishing experience. Not only do you feel the bite, but you also get to see and hear it. So, while not always the most effective way of fishing, it certainly is one of the most enjoyable ways.

A caveat to that would be that sometimes it is the most effective technique in the right scenario. I mean if you are actively chasing fish that live in or very close to structure, then a weedless/snagless surface presentation is the most efficient and effective way to go.

My First introduction to the Kikker Curly was when I was traveling Australia in 2022. The Kikkers had just come out and I had a few packets packed ready for action. It wasn’t until we reached north Queensland and we started to get into jungle perch country where I knew I needed a really snag proof surface lure for all the skinny water creeks I started fishing. Needless to say, the Kikker worked amazing. As a bonus it was also the perfect lure for the kids to use, as accuracy wasn’t as crucial, a wayward cast here or there and the lure would be able to be retrieved through the thickest of bushes.

While in north QLD I also caught up with Jack Mitchell, and he was able to show me his use of the Kikker’s in mangrove lined creeks chasing mangrove jack. A technique he had dialled in and was having an extremely fun time using.

Fast forward to now, back in Victoria, and I am now always grabbing the kicker curly first as my go to surface lure for everywhere except flats. The ability to be able to skip cast lures deep into cover, and never have to worry about getting snagged, essentially means you can fish fast and effective, covering ground and making every cast count. I think this alone is one of the reasons why the Kikkers are so effective. Traditional trebled surface lure would probably work, but then your cast need to be cm perfect and then sometimes they still cannot be cast deep into and over timber, rocks and other cover.

Kikkers come in two sizes, a 3.2” and a 4.25”, along with 5 great colours.  The 3.2” is my go-to for all my southern estuary species and I like to rig that on size 1/0 weedless EWG hook, but up to a larger 3/0 also works for bigger species like jacks and small barra.

As for retrieves, personally for down here chasing EP’s and bream I like a slow twitch pause retrieve, you can almost work them as a slow popper, rod tip up also helps keep the front of the lure up and working over obstacles. Fluoro leader sinks, so this can sometimes make the front of the lure dive under after some long pauses. This is sometimes not a bad thing, as frogs do swim underwater, and I’ve had plenty of EP’s inhale my Kikker subsurface. Optionally a nylon leader like J-Thread nylon can be used especially if you are exclusively fishing surface lures on that rod.

Interestingly when we had the recent Daiwa angler summit we were fishing the Hawkesbury River for bass, and most of the anglers were using the Kikkers on the river edges. It was really interesting to see how some of the NSW guys were targeting the bass with a constant retrieve, no pauses, just trying to get that reaction bite. We still caught fish using the twitch pause technique, but it does go to show mixing it up and seeing what the fish prefer on the day can be really important.

Kikkers are a great cost effective surface to lure have in your tackle box ready for those super snaggy summer situations, and I have no doubt they will put a big smile on your face when you start catching fish.