Hi Peter I’m that guy in the Canary Islands that ordered lures from you last May and thought it was about time I gave you a catch-up on what went on with your lures in our marlin season here in the Atlantic. Yes they worked, which I had no doubt about from previous experience from the one lure I begged from an American skipper here, but we had some interesting days and about half way through the season only ran Pakula’s. The results were impressive with a fair number of blues up to about 700lb and topped out with a fish we called over a thousand, I will have to check your catalogue again for our next season order as in the general order of our business we lost a couple of lures at the boat including what we called the grander, we have fished marlin for over 20 years and have a good idea of the size of fish we release and had weighed in a fish of 1065lbs 6 years ago when it died down deep after a long battle; 3 on the boat that day and the guy who angled the fish was only 15, but handlined up from 200mts so no junior record. You very kindly threw in a few extra lures with the order + shirts & visors and it was one of these that took the big one, it was the largest lure I got from you as a gift and we called it ‘The Big Blue’ and ran it on the short right (third wave back), unfortunately we were only 2 handed that day and I messed up on wiring the fish at the boat, I had the leader 2 times but this fish had come in green and I couldnt hang onto it, third time the brute went under the boat which was effectively dead in the water as I was also captain & wireman and broke off on our stern gear, OK so we should have given the fish more time but my mate and I are both in our 60’s and he had had enough in the chair by that time. I run a Carolina Classic 35 specifically on the basis that we are often shorthanded and I can then get to the leader relatively easy from the lower helm position while my mate is in the chair doing the hard work, so definite re-order on this. But the real news was the effectiveness of the Softease Fang in green, it simply outfished all the rest, ran short again on the left and it always appeared to be the first lure to raise fish and not only blues but we had a fair number of those pesky whites in the season and they all basically ignored whatever else we were running and at some stages we would have maybe 2 or 3 whites all attacking what is now known on my boat as The Magic Green, last blue on this at the backend of our season in November. Fotos of any of these fish with a Pakula in their gobs, sorry no – when your are running shorthanded there is no one on camera duty and the day of the big-un the GoPro battery had run out, its a shame but we know what we caught and thats the best memory. Anyway all the fish have now gone and we wait for the tuna which normally show up after Christmas, fist the albacore, then bigeye and bluefin, and this year I am certain that the Magic Green will be in the spread. Best wishes, Bill – CC 35 Hey Jude

Not that we had noted it but 2014 signalled 20years since my brother Craig who was 16 and myself at 11 had fished our first Interclub tournament back in 1994. Back then the fishing was very different to the way people fish today. Most trolled lures and wandered the ocean looking for surface signs of fish and activity. Our only goal in 1994 was to land a fish and preferably our first marlin from our family’s boat Murrifin a slow 30ft Plywood Hartley that my father built from scratch. We saw one Marlin but did not succeed in landing it. Fast forward to the 2004 Interclub Tournament and we were now in our 3rd year of running our new faster 39ft Murrifin. We had gained a lot of experience in the 10years of fishing and competing with members from Broken Bay game fishing club, add to this Craig and I were at an age where we fished every weekend the weather was good. We finished that tournament 3rd overall on a count back to 2nd and 1st with us all finishing on 8 Marlin. All fish were caught live baiting bait schools with the prominent fish finding device being the Simrad sounder. Fast forward to the start of the 2014 Interclub where after a few absent years while we refitted the boat we were entering with minimal fishing on the Port Stephens grounds prior to the tournament commencing. Most of the top boats are run very professionally at this point of the season and are now fishing a huge amount of time, with the top boats having already released 20-40 Marlin prior to the tournament season starting and all are in good form. All of these boats run a bait program of skip baits and live baits locating areas with their sounders to fish on the grounds off Port Stephens known as the car park. These boats are extremely hard to beat in this style of fishing and competing against them with minimal fishing prior really feels like you are playing in a grand final without having played the season. The first day started with us following the pack out to the car park grounds and we started fishing the Skip bait program. The current was pushing hard on the shelf spreading the fish and bait over a large area. By days end we had released one Black Marlin with the lead boat on three. One thing we noted was the number of good boats that did not get a bite and the number of boats lure fishing over the general area that were right up there at the top of the field. The second day after looking at the sea surface charts we made a decision to fish a totally different area to most. The area of slow water inside the raging current that was offshore also had a nice hard temperature break to concentrate our fishing on. We decided to pull lures and missed two marlin for the day and encountered all sorts of by catch from Wahoo to Dolphin Fish and small Yellow fin Tuna. The lead boat had only increased to four marlin total as the fishing on the standard grounds spread even further. At days end we were frustrated. We as a boat had not done a lot of straight lure fishing for a long time and felt we had missed a golden opportunity to put ourselves right up there on the leader board. On Monday I rang Peter Pakula to replace a lure we had lost to a Wahoo and told him of our scenario and how we were currently planning to fish the second weekend should the conditions stay the same. Peter offered a huge amount of clarity to what was wrong with our current hook rigs and why we should try his new range of hooks and skirt colours. Peter kindly offered to replace our one lost lure with a fully rigged spread that he personally put together. We agreed as long as we got some extra rigs to test and destroy as rigging is something normally only left for Craig and I to stuff up. After testing we were impressed with the strength of the light leader. The hooks were so sharp they felt dangerous to handle. The lures and skirts colours were very bright and vivid compared to our old washed out versions we had been trolling previously. Friday before the second weekend dawned and we put to sea on Murrifin with the idea of checking the conditions on the shelf to see if they were still the same as the previous weekend. The weather was foul but with our fishing time limited these days we persisted and went with our original plan for the next day as the current was strong and the bait was spread out. The third day of the tournament are what dreams are made of for us fishing an inshore area all by ourselves away from the 130 boat fleet we went 3 from 3 for the day and with two great 60kg and 80kg Striped Marlin on 10kg along with a small Black Marlin. All on lures and all clean bites and hook ups. This propelled us into the lead as the fishing on the shelf got even tougher. The final day dawned and from the outset it was apparent we would not have the area to ourselves as some of the sport’s biggest names followed us to our fishing spot and we went about trolling our spread of Pakula’s. We only managed the one bite on the final day for the tag and release of 70kg Striped Marlin on 10kg line. We ended up finishing the Interclub in second place narrowly to local charter boat Freedom run by Captain Scott Thornington. Scott spends more days on the water than any other in this area and thoroughly deserves his victory also helps he is an all-round top bloke. Our crew was a little disappointed coming so close to winning what is one of the hardest competed tournaments in the world, but the way we fished and the results we got made it one of the most enjoyable results I have been involved with and Peter Pakula played a huge part in that result. From the start of our game fishing career to the present day Peter keeps asking the questions or giving you the answers that keep you thinking and evolving as a fisherman and for that I have to thank him and will keep endorsing his product and advice for years to come. Rod Findlay Murrifin.

Hi Peter I would like to thank you for your fantastic lures. I had a mate of mine who works in Australia get me 4 size 15 3D Shredder's from you last year. I fished off Durban in December and I caught lots of Tuna and Dorrado with them. The highlight was on the 29th of December, I was coming back from the deep and decided to pull them over a area close in shore for some Tuna. I set the spread and put my Lumo Uvaten in the shotgun passion. The shotgun rod bent and the reel started sing the best tune in the world. We cleared the lines and I settled down for the fight, as I put on the pressure a stunning marlin broke the surface. To cut a long story short after 2h55 I had it next to the boat (It was released to fight another day). I was totally out gunned, I was fishing with a TLD 25 with 15kg line and a 16kg Fluorocarbon leader just tied to the main line. By the end of the fight I could hardly turn the reel handle and had to use my thumbs for the drag, the reel was toast LOL. It was my first marlin ever and it was on my own boat, a experience that I will never forget. Kind regards Mike.

I'm new to fishing the Gulf of Mexico, been a bay fisherman. A friend of mine asked a friend of his, who has won tournaments all over the world, what kind of lures I should use. He said the only lure I need is the Lumo Sprockethead. Sure enough the first time I went out, I muddled around trying to figure out what I was doing and they worked great. Thanks again, Kevin

Bula to the Pakula team. I think you have done a great job with the new web site. I have just made another on line order and it is a much improved experience. Again well done and keep up the great tackle and service.