Noeby Tackle Takes on The King of the Jungle

Firstly a massive thanks to the crew of Sport Fishing PNG. You guys made a dream of mine a reality. Your professionalism the way the crew and guides worked so hard for us, and to Alex the chef, the food my friend, was bloody amazing.

A special shout out to Moli and Billy you two fellas are brilliant. Thank you.

It is a massive decision to travel to such remote places to fish, and even more to take gear that has not been seen in use on such a brutal heavy weight such as the PNG Black Bass.

A year ago I was approached to do such a trip and take Noeby equipment to see just how tough it is. Greg Wright of Wright's Fishing Tackle has backed myself and Peter Nicholls to take 7 different outfits and many lures for the world title fight. Expectations of the gear initially was good and it looked and felt perfect for this tussle. It's beautifully crafted Infinite Snakehead, slow jigging and Seabass rods made from Japanese toray cabon would be matched up with Nonsuch 1200 Baitcaster reels offering an impressive 12 kgs of beautiful smooth carbon assisted drag. This was spooled with 80lb Noeby Infinite II braid which is an 8 strand braid with abrasive coating. Super braid that Noeby themselves designed and manufactured. All Lures used were Noebys NBL 9046 in 120mm and 140mm , with a depth range to 5 meters. These hard bodies have a rattle and wire through construction. The rattle is very distinctive and only have I heard such a rattle in these lures. Colors that worked well for us was the Swamp Tiger (green and orange) the rainbow trout got hammered and the olive also were smashed.

Noeby Infinite Sea Bass Spin gear

I never though I would be jigging or using spin gear for black bass but I am glad I did. The Nobey Sea bass was up to the challenge and gave me a bit of a break to the baitcaster. It stood tough against the Bass and at one point I was jigging and I had enough power to open heavy splits without breaking the line. Lesson here is if they say a lure can be fished out of the packet UPGRADE IT so bass got my vibe on that occasion! The Sea Bass rod has a heap of power and its length allows for big casts. The reel I had was the 6000 and spits 20 kgs of drag which near brought me a date with the water a couple times. Again a tough reel with beautiful drag. I felt very comfortable casting for Black bass with this outfit.

Noeby Infinite SnakeHead

Now this is the rod of rods that accounted for the majority our fish, and Peter and myself got our fair share -198 fish to be exact plus the great wipe outs etc. It is as tough and as light weight and easy to use as any you will find. I first though that it was too long but after a few casts and using such heavy gear you see just why this rod comes into play. The power transfer through the cast is superb and delivery is pin point once you settle in. We hooked so many fish that it was hard to describe how hard these things pull but at one stage I was hooked up and every run I was sucking in the big ones with a PE 4 to 8 rod bent at the reel seat. I am 100 kg and if I wanted to lift under pressure i could without hesitation. I know this rod could do it. Peter even got the record fish on cast for Sport fishing PNG on this outfit at 35 lb.

Noeby Slow Jigging

This is the toughest light weight rod we had in our quiver, punching way above its weight class. Super light to hold and bends with power to spare, this rod would be an awesome bit of gear in the estuaries, rivers and reef fish we have in Australia. It even came to the aid of another member of our group as his gear didn't hold up. So he used it from day 2 and it saw his trip out without hassle.

Noeby Nonsuch 1200

The reel is the thing that these fish normally blow out but we abused the crap out of these reels and they came home ready to go again! The drags held and held at its peak setting and they cast beautifully even in frantic situations like we had. They got kicked, trad on and tossed outta the road and not one drama, I would recommend this reel without question.