FABULOUS PFLUEGER By Kim Bain

Enjoying a huge following in the US, Pflueger’s profile in Australia is really starting to soar…

The President spin reel and Pflueger Trion rod has copped a flogging — from Sydney’s salmon to Queensland’s tuna — and it’s yet to see a screwdriver or even a drop of oil. When you do as much fishing as the author, that’s a pretty good long-term test.

I’ve had a really fun year testing and aiding in the development of Pflueger’s fishing tackle range for Australian conditions. Of interest to all of us is that, where appropriate, Pflueger Australia upgrades the models from the international catalogue to meet Aussie requirements. Pflueger offers rods and reels that are fantastic value for money at very affordable prices. The following gives a brief introduction to the bream, bass and barra models that I recommend. For further details, check them out at your local tackle shop or go to www.pflueger.com.au

SPIN RODS

With their top grade cork grips plus Fuji reel seats and Fuji Alconite guides, the guys at the factory tell me the Trion rods have been designed/chosen for Australian conditions. We fished them like an Aussie would; surface fishing for bream with them on Saturday and muscling pocket rocket tuna in fully loaded fighting curves all day Sunday. With Trion rods, Monday-itis might well be back in vogue!

When fishing with treble-hooked metal slugs, hard-bodied lures, surface lures, even single hook lures like soft plastic swim shads and spinnerbaits, Pflueger’s range of Trion rods gives you all the performance qualities needed at an affordable price. You’ll find that each Trion rod is extremely versatile, yet so affordably priced that you can justify having two or three!

My Pflueger Trion 2.1 m PTSP 4770-1MFT surface bream spin rod which I use for braided lines rated 2-3 kg and lures up to 10 g has caught cod, barra and tuna to 10 kg with lures up to 20 g. It’s also a great spin rod for bass and shallow water snapper.

On the freshwater stage this Pflueger Trion baitcaster rod and reel combo took saratoga in its stride.

BAITCASTER RODS

With its extra fast taper, the PTCA4768-1MXFT is the spinnerbait rod of the range for lures up to 30 g. Its extra fast action makes it great for surface lure casters who punch fizzers and poppers into the breeze. For surface lures some anglers like the extra fast action of this MXFT, while others will go for the PTCA 4766-1M’s moderate action, as mentioned below.

The PTCA4760-1M and PTCA4766-1M baitcasters are superb for jerkbaits and surface lures like walkbaits up to 20 g while targeting bass, barra and cod.

The PTCA4770-1M overhead is great for soft plastic swim shads up to 15 g as well as lipless vibration crankbaits up to 23 g. When you bend it in the store you’d think the rod mightn’t tame a 10 kg barra, but it does. The power curve is working for you, not against you.

For a bit more barra or cod muscle, try the PTCA4760-1MH rated for 5-10 kg line.

Kim the tester with Pflueger’s Trion 7’ baitcaster rod, President reel and an Aussie barramundi.

REELS

Some of the top of the range reel models for bream, bass and barra anglers are the President LP baitcasters and the President and Medalist ranges of spin reels.

The President LP (available in left-hand wind wide spool or right-hand wind in either wide or standard spool) is the reel I use for tournament fishing in the US. I brought it back to Australia where some quality barramundi to 12 kg put it through its paces with 15 kg braid. With the money you save on this reel, spend it on a new rod — this baitcaster does it all!

In spin reels, the new Medalist is the top of the range, with its metal body making it ideal for those anglers who want to screw the drag up a little and get white knuckled about it all. Well built, with 10 quality bearings, these Medalists are awesome reels for the price. The 030 size is ideal for bream and the 035 perfect for freshwater spinning applications. There’s a new high-speed 040HS model for anglers who spin for tuna with braided line. At the larger end of the range, for bluewater muscle there’s a 050 and a 060. If you’re old enough to recall the old Shakespeare Blue series, you’ll be impressed to find that these reels are even better.

For bream and bass anglers, the President spin series is right on the money. With these 8 bearing reels you can roll up at the tournament looking like a pro with a full quiver of outfits (one for each type of lure), but without the need to see the bank manager. You’ll even have money left over to put fuel in the boat! The 025 and 030 are great little bream reels and the 035 and 040 balance nicely on bass spin rods. We pushed them a bit far in testing one day. After the reels had already seen their share of bream and bass, we ran them smack bang into a few tuna schools — with one ‘bream’ reel landing 3 yellowfin to 10 kg and half a dozen skipjack. Next day they were back chasing bream and bass like they’d never been to hell and back — and they still haven’t seen a screwdriver or a drop of oil.

The Pflueger President spin reel and 2.1m Presdient Trion spin rod marry up for a great bass/snapper/bream combination.

What I’m trying to say is that the next time you open your wallet in the tackle store, have a good look at the Trion rods and President and Medalist reels. By buying Pflueger you can either spend less money or instead of buying just a new reel you can also afford a new rod… and some lures… and some line... and some…

Pflueger products are exclusively distributed by Shakespeare Australia.

Multi-species Milestone: Using Pflueger tackle, Kim Bain is the first angler in the history of American sportfishing competition to win prize money in the 3 major freshwater and inshore saltwater fishery tournament disciplines in the US — bass, walleye and redfish.