Colossal Ruby

I just need to put this out there for a start. Ole darky is in no position to be “fat shaming” any person (or thing) whatsoever. Trust me when I say that my images projected in these scribblings field their fair share of “more chins than a Chinese phone book” and “fair roof over the old toolshed” type comments. Justified? Sure. A little unkind, well maybe, but it goes with the territory. I view it as water off a duck’s back, a fairly rotund duck at that...... With all that in mind you need to know, there’s a new “larger lady” in town, and I reckon she’s gunna make some waves, some bloody good ones!

Ruby

Those of you out there who regularly read my rantings (and it’s a big hello to you both) will know of my passion for the good old #2 Stumpjumper lure in my Murray cod fishing pursuits. Early in the 2022 season I gave a fair bit of air time (water time?) to shorter, fatter lures, while the post flood affected waters were still quite murky. My thought process was that in the less than ideal clarity, a lure throwing a bigger, fatter profile, would hopefully gain the attention of a roaming cod, more effectively than a slim model. Did it work? Well I caught cod early, no doubting that. Could I have caught the same fish with a slimmer lure? Who knows. The cod just looked at me when I asked them......

Amongst the selection of “tubbies” I assembled in the tackle box in the off season was a popular lure dubbed “Giant Ruby”. The water was typical for the start of the season, closer to white coffee than gin. My experiment was somewhat successful, with early trips to Nagambie commencing New Years Eve proving fruitful trolling Giant Ruby, particularly in the quite obscure “bumblebee” color. I was hoping that a tubby profile, in addition to very contrasting plain colors, would do the trick. And the trick it very did for me!

Nek minit.....

Nek minit, Ruby’s “big sister” hits town, giddy up! It’s a big welcome to “Colossal Ruby”, a similar take on the big profile crankbait, but upsized from Giant Ruby, hopefully to gain the attention of the upsized Murray cod. What do they say, big lures for big fish? I’m not entirely convinced of this but “Colossal Ruby” is a cracking looking Murray cod lure. Lets have a closer look at her shall we....

Colossal....

This Ruby is essentially a very much “upsized” (think large Maccas fries compared to small) crankbait, duplicating the fish attracting profile of the little sister, but beefed up in all areas. The body is the usual durable ABS construction, hollow and 100mm in length. The bib is an additional 60mm and I immediately thought here’s a lure you could visually make even bigger if you painted the bib, or added some heavy duty contact or the like. At a 160mm total size, even the most discerning Murray cod will not be able to refuse this one wiggling past. She carries a very nice rattle which emits to my ear at least, a “deep” knock. It sounds to be in an elongated cavity, sliding to the rear to aid casting, then moving back to the body for the rattling retrieve. At around 60 grams this thing casts like a bullet, but as with any larger lures it needs to be matched to an appropriate weighed outfit to cast accurately and often. It is of course, a fairly buoyant lure, meaning it can easily be walked through the snags on the cast and retrieve, or backed off the snags if on the troll. Either way, you’ll hopefully avoid the gut wrenching situation of leaving her hung up in the depths. Usually....

The hooks are very substantial BKK jobs, very much up to the Murray cod task. They are light enough gauge to allow penetration at hookup, but robust enough to keep you connected to a good fish. Both are essential elements in any Murray cod hook selection. The hook hangers and tow point are molded into the lure body, and will never move!

Colossal Ruby is available in 8 different colors, from your bright and gaudy, to your more subtle scaled fish type patterns. The quality of the paint is exceptional and should hang in for a while. Plenty of Murray cod lures lose their paint fairly quickly in use. Whilst the jury is still out whether the fish give a fat rats or not, it’s still a little disheartening to see a favorite lure losing it’s color before your eyes.

Origins

Colossal Ruby may be new to the shelves, but she was actually in the planning for some time. Wilson Fishing’s Steve Booth tells me the planning commenced with the release of the little sister (Giant Ruby), but was greatly set back by covid, with disruptions to obtaining test prototypes spanning almost 4 years and testing everyone’s patience. It seems she was worth the wait however. Steve (a renowned Murray cod angler himself) is already a big fan, stating “the original Giant Ruby nailed heaps of fish, now it’s gone bigger and deeper making it a trolling weapon that I can also cast the river edges...... “ Nice. How’s it go in (darky) practice?

Fish on!

Darky trolls, this we know. I did have a cast with Colossal Ruby, and I can assure you she rips out like a bullet, cranks down quickly and is very rapidly swimming in the strike zone. But sooner or later (ok, let’s run with sooner) it’s trolling which is where it’s at for me, so troll we did.

In a late season winter Mulwala trip with old mate Adam, it was a fairly tough bite, as we expected. Day 2 saw the lake whipped into white caps, so up to Bundalong we went in an effort to find a little sheltered water to troll. Both the Murray and Ovens were pumping in fairly hard, but for upstream trolls this is ideal to my mind. Any lures can be trolled at snails pace yet still reach depth, trolled upstream. If an undecided cod gets plenty of lure in his face, just maybe he’ll be more inclined to take a swipe at it. Or not, who knows!

It was just this scenario that saw me give Colossal Ruby a run this morning. We were trolling upstream in some fairly rapid water, with the old river bank sloping away very quickly. I was on the deeper, outside of the run, so ideal for a lure that can easily reach 6 or 7 meters on the troll. In a fit of madness (clarity) I defied all the rules for dirty water (dark colored lures or fluro with contrasting bands) and tied on a very natural looking juvenile carp style color. The action on a short string was surprising. I expected a lure of this size to be a wide, violent type action, but it is not! It’s far more subtle, described online as “tight and wobbly”, which I reckon is on the money. Anyway, Mr Cod was more than happy with it. As Adam and I trolled past a run through (great trolling points by the way, in any waterway) my Colossal Ruby was monstered by a very enthusiastic little cod. Success! If I can tempt a winter green fish with them, I can’t wait until the warm weather season!

Finally

Whilst it’s all well and good for the late, great, Kenny Rogers to try and coerce Ruby “don’t take your love to town” (ok, I apologise for that), here’s a Ruby you will want to take to town, cod town that is! There’s a new (big) gal in town and she won’t be taking any prisoners!

Cod anglers love their spinnerbaits (coathangers!) and their soft plastics (rubbers!) but for ole darky, well I’m a hard body man. Nothing gives me that magnificent feedback through the rod tip like a well proportioned Murray cod hard body. If you’re like me and like nothing better than the hard body lure offerings, have a look at the Colossal Ruby range, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with what she has to offer.

As always, drop in and see the friendly and knowledgeable Team at McCreddens Fishing and Outdoors. They’ll see you right for all your Colossal Ruby needs.

darky out...

Footnote: All lures noted and pictured in this piece were paid for with my hard earned, either that or placed on Mrs darky’s credit card for discovery at a later date...