During my fishing trips to Canada, I have fished with and tried many lures that I have never even seen let alone fished with in the UK. However, two lures have stood out as something quite special. The first of these is the world famous but rarely seen in the UK, Suick Thriller.
At Lake of the Woods in Canada, I cast these lures at rocky or weedy shores and jerk them back towards the boat. When this retrieve is about two feet down and across the top of thick weed, I am expecting a follow at the very least on each cast. The water at Lake of the Woods is quite clear and there is nothing like watching your lure being retrieved and then seeing the flash of the flank of a large predator darting so fast out of the weed that it is barely credible and striking at the lure.
At home in the UK, the type of lakes with thousands of islands to fish are non existent. However, I have had success with these lures on both lakes and rivers. On lakes, I have again looked for weedy areas such as around lily pads and jerked the lure past the nose of Pike hidden amongst the underwater foliage. On rivers I have looked for typical Pike hiding places and jerked the lure both up and down stream with success.
The Thriller lures are wooden and come in 29 different patterns and 5 lengths – 4”, 7”, 9”, 10” and 12”. My personal successes have nearly all come with the 9” version although the 7” version has given me some success on UK lakes. I think the 12” version may just be too large for our domestic waters but I would certainly give it a go next time I visit Lake of the Woods. Weighted versions are available to help to get the lure slightly deeper and it is these that I tend to use on domestic waters.
Fishing with these lures is
very like any other jerk bait. Cast out and start reeling
in, give a sharp pull or jerk on the rod for about three
feet (one metre) and keep reeling, following the line with
your rod back to the start of the pull. Repeat this action
until you need to cast again. With each jerk of your rod,
the lure will dive and as you follow back to the start of
the pull, it will rise. The tail can be slightly bent down
to help get the lure to the correct depth.
Red Hot Thrillers are a variation on the normal Thriller
patterns. They represent a fish on its side and come with
blood red coloured hooks and 3D eyes. There are five
patterns available of the Red Hot Thriller and I have had
much of my UK successes using these.
So why are Thrillers not easily available here in the UK?
In the past, I have found a couple of patterns available in
different shops but they have generally been in dark
corners and not prominently on show. I don’t know the
answer to this question and as most of the well known pike
and lure anglers would include these as one to have in the
tackle box it makes it even more intriguing.
So, watch this space. We already import the world renowned
Musky Innovations Bull Dawgs so why
not Suick Thrillers.
The second lure that I have used extensively and had
considerable success with is the Cisco Kid. This is a more
traditional crankbait but is also made by Suick and again
is available in a range of sizes and patterns. However, my
preference is for the 1800 series for trolling and the 600
series for casting. The 1800 series are 9” long, weigh
about 3½oz and have adjustable metal lips to control the
required fishing depth.
The 600 series are 7” long, weigh about 1¼oz and also have
adjustable metal lips. However, this lure comes with three
different lip designs for shallow, medium or deep work.
A Baby Cisco Kid is now available and when I can get my hands on some I am sure they will prove equally effective. They are 3” long and have a 1” long plastic lip that helps this crankbait dive between 3’ and 8’. Each of these Baby Cisco Kids has a body rattle and large reflective eyes to make them particularly attractive to pike.
As with the Suick Thrillers, the Suick Cisco Kids are not easily available in the UK and unjustifiably so given their great potential. Given this, we are hoping to enter negotiations with Suick to bring these two great lures to the UK.
