By Rodney Hsu

When Wigston's Lures sent me a package of their uniquely deisgned Tasmanian Devils and wanted me to try it out on Western Canada species, I was both excited and nervous. I was excited because based on my trout and estuary fishing experience in Australia, I know these lures are extremely effective. On the other hand, I was not too sure whether they can entice the pacific salmon species.

This unique design does not even resemble any of the conventional spoons or spinners. A worm-like hollow body, is attached to two transparent flaps. The bend of these flaps creates a side-swinging action when the lure is retrieved. This allows the lure to cover more water, thus more fish will be able to spot it. It is originally designed for spincasting and trolling for large lake resident trout species. This year I have decided to put them to the test at coastal streams for pink salmon. The result was beyond my expectation.

August during odd years is fantastic at the Squamish. Pink salmon return by the thousands each day when the tide floods the lower river. These ocean fresh fish are aggressive and eager to bite, but with the slightly wrong presentation, anglers can often end up empty handed. Traditionally, driftfishers prefer to entice these fish with pink wool, pink worm and pink marabou jigs, but with the water being so silty at times, it can be hard to spot a small piece of drifting yarn.

After hooking only a couple of fish in a few hours one afternoon, I decided it was time to bring out the Devil. I looked through the box, and pulled out one that was brightly pink. Because the lure is already heavily weighed, I simply attached it at the end of the line with my foam float three feet above it. This allowed the lure to drift down the river at least two feet above the river bed. The first few casts produced nothing, the float bounced up and down as the lure swung side to side under the water as it drifts downstream. After some adjustment to the float, I could see a school of pinks starting to rise below where I stood. I casted out, watched as it slowly drifted down, and within seconds the float instantly shot down. What's more surprising was the fish pulled it down so much that my rod tip was already bend before I struck. It was that easy! The next one hour or so, I managed to hook up half a dozen fish.

Because the lure was suspended way above the riverbed and the fish, it prevented foulhooking. My explanation of why the fish strike so hard is they are swimming up, grabbing the lure and diving down immediately. It's an effective presentation in coloured water, as it is big and active.

Rigging up a Tasmanian Devil is easy. The lure is hollow, so thread the line through it, this is followed by a small bead. At the end of the line, tie a swivel on. Attach a split ring onto the swivel. To complete the rig, simply attach a long shanked hook onto the split ring.

For more information on Tasmanian Devils, visit Wigston's Lures Australia.