– A JAPANESE/AUSSIE FUSION

One name that caught my eye was Vexed, an innovative brand originating in Western Australia designed by angler and fishing industry stalwart Paul Willis of Red Mullet Distributors. The brand is focused on slow-pitch jigs and unique and original designs that blend jig-heads used for soft plastics with deadbait applications, bringing the best of those two worlds together.

Developed to target Aussie species, Vexed products have many applications for New Zealand fishers.

While the Vexed Dhu Bomb, Dhu Head, and Dhu Drop jigs are a slightly new take on familiar themes – softbait jig-heads and slow-pitch lures – the same cannot be said about the Vexed Bottom Meat and Bottom Meat Deluxe offerings.

The Vexed Bottom Meat is the first hybrid jig/bait assist of its kind in the world, its creator claims.

It is a play on the ‘baited lure’ practice many Kiwi anglers use – putting a small slice of squid on their lure hooks – to entice a reluctant fish to bite.

A more serious attempt to develop this concept saw the birth of the Vexed Bottom Meat which is in its third incarnation – the Deluxe model – where a circle hook is tied to the top of the rig, followed by two standard hooks. A glow/UV skirt adds to the rig’s attraction, the three hooks effectively covering a jack mackerel, pilchard, whole squid or a nice slab of kahawai or skipjack tuna. The bait is streamlined and effective, making this concept a great way to drop baits deep with thinner PE and lighter, more modern slow-pitch outfits. Vexed says they designed the Bottom Meat options for bait fishers wanting to gently lever themselves into the world of artificial lures. The Vexed Dhu Bomb is an articulated jig-head – known this side of the Tasman as an ‘elevator’ rig – using the same-shaped head as the Dhu Head, where the hook is fixed in place. The Dhu Bomb is made using a forged stainless Harbor hook, laced with a high-intensity glow/UV paint finish. These heads have been designed with flat sides to give the soft bait more action on lift and drop. Dhu Bombs can be used with jerk shads, paddle tails, and the XOS-sized Vexed Cray Lord softbaits, the latter a story in their own right.

The product is available in eight colour options and in 20gm, 40gm, 60gm, 80gm, 110gm, 150gm, 200gm, 250gm, 300gm, 500gm, 750gm and 1000gm weights.

The Vexed Dhu Head comes in slightly fewer weights – 20gm, 40gm, 60gm, 80gm, 110gm, 150gm and 200gm and in 10 colour options.

Included in the lineup are the Vexed Dhu Drop Jigs which are rigged with a flashy octopus assist. These slow-pitch jigs have been designed to attract a range of species including snapper. All the options are laced with glow and UV to add to their effectiveness, especially when fished deep.

Vexed products give anglers the choice of thinking outside the square, trying something a little different which makes angling more interesting. They look like they will do the business, so how did they fish?

Our Bay of Islands www.fishing. net.nz area report contributor and owner/operator of Screaming Reels tackle store in Russell, Garry Townley, had been threatening to take me for a fish for some time. The arrival of the Vexed product was a perfect excuse, and with the Bay ‘going off’ snapper-wise at the time, it was a great testing ground for any new product.

Making an early morning start we launched Merrin – Garry’s 2050 Stabicraft – from Russell and headed to the ‘middle ground’ where immediately there was good snapper sign showing.

We set up for a drift, Garry fishing his ‘secret weapon’, a Nomad lure which had been, in his own words, slaying ‘em over the past few weeks. He set a hot pace, with his first fish of the day – a snapper in the mid-teens – gracing the bin. I was fishing the Vexed Dhu Bomb armed with another of Conaghans NZ’s key products – the Halco Mad Eye softbait tails.

I produced several nice pannies with this combo, and then it was nailed on the drop by a substantial fish which made an impressive first run. Bringing it under control, I was hopeful it was going to claim the top spot on the leaderboard and it would have, had not the tax collectors dealt to it not far from the boat – bugger! All that remained was a head, severed from the body in one chomp just behind the pectoral fins. The head was bigger than the one on Garry’s fish so I could claim a moral victory – but as we all know, if you don’t weigh it, don’t say it!

Next up was the Dhu Drop jigs. The first drop was taken on the bottom by a gurnard, always a welcome bycatch, but on this occasion was put back. The jigs went on to claim several nice snapper to 50cm, but nothing huge.

More were taken on a conventional 7” shad tail rigged on a Dhu Bomb head, and that also produced the goods.

Perhaps the gear I was most interested in was the Vexed Bottom Meat Deluxe. It was a novel way to present large cut or whole baits, whether straylining or drifting. The primary top hook is a circle, followed by two conventional hooks, providing plenty of covering in a big bait. Vexed uses supersharp Harbor stainless hooks along with top-quality braid and rings to complete the rig. I fished this with whole squid and although the snapper had gone off the chew, it more than stood its ground against the artificials.

The Bottom Meats will take a fair bit of punishment, making them ideal for deep dropping where you might reasonably expect not only snapper and kingfish, but other cellar dwellers – ‘puka, bass, bluenose and gemfish.

We have a trip planned in mid-February to the Three Kings where the heavier options in the Vexed range should come to the fore. Everything about the products spells quality that will not let the angler down and what better proving ground than the worldfamous Three Kings banks!

The only downside to the gear that I encountered was when rigging softbait tails; the solid hooks are a little more difficult to set up than the finer conventional options. The plus is once they have penetrated, these hooks stay put.

As mentioned above, the terminal tackle is designed to take on big, tough fish, and I look forward to seeing it deliver on that front.

Garry Townley is a forestry manager by profession who, along with wife Merrin, purchased Screaming Reels tackle store in 2022.

A keen angler, Garry has fished extensively overseas on NZ Fishing News and Offshore Adventure hosted trips. His forestry work has seen him working throughout the Pacific which has presented him with further angling opportunities.

Screaming Reels is a ‘big little tackle store’ which is located at the back of the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club, accessed from the Russell township’s main street.

Every bit of wall space is accounted for with tried and tested product, along with a good range of bait and berley.

“If we haven’t got it, we will get it,” Garry says, “and we are not averse to helping people out after hours.”