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Venom Crankbait - Why we used them

At the final round of The Australian Freshwater Masters it was very interesting to find out that the top three teams all used Venom Crankbait rods for Round 3 at Lake Mulwala chasing Murray cod. The only other rods to sneak into the boats (keeping in mind you're only allowed two rigged rods each in NSW waters) were the Bone Combat Beast, Bone Black River 62XH and Bone Drago 72H

Two Venom rods were used by the teams: The Crankbait PE 2-4 and the Crankbait PE 3-5. Both rods are 6'3" long and are PE line rated. This, very loosely, means that the 2-4 is rated at 20-40lb line and the 3-5 is rated at 30-50lb line.

We asked the teams why they chose the Crankbaits when so many other rods were available to them and their reasons give you a very good insight into why Venom rods are rated so highly and why fishing is not always about a longer rod.

Let's start with the winning team, our own Team Venom.

Both Shane and Boothy said that the Crankbait offers a lightweight rod that you can cast all day without overly fatiguing yourself. The Mulwala round of The Australian Freshwater Masters sees anglers fishing for 7 1/2 hours on day one and 10 hours on day 2, so there are a lot of casts made.

While this lightness is important, Shane pointed out that he loves the fact he can rely on the Crankbait (in his case a 2-4) to control fish when needed. He said "The strength of this rod means I can control a fish in the snags and I know I have the right gear to get that measuring fish to the boat".

Boothy said he liked the 2-4 in the windy conditions because he could cast low and accurate, getting his lures where they needed to be. He said "The cod were really tight to structure so you needed to be super accurate and the longer rods made it just that little more difficult. The shorter Crankbait allowed me to punch a flat cast to the target meaning less air time and more fishing time in the right zones".

Jigheads, which consisted of Brad Gardiner and Mitchell Skeers, came second place overall for the comp, caught the most legal cod of any team and Mitch took out Overall Champion Angler - quite a resume from one comp! They found the Crankbait 3-5 to be the perfect tool for delivering their spinnerbaits to the fish.

Mitch said "I needed control over the lure during the cast and control over the fish during the fight and the Crankbait gave me all that.

"It's hard to explain how windy it was and line control was a big problem and this is where the shorter rod allowed me to still cast well and get full control of the fish from the start of the fight".

Brad, who spent most of his time on the electric motor control trying desperately to put Mitch in the right spot without destroying his boat and electric said "I got fewer casts in so I had to make them count.

"The shorter Crankbait allowed me to quickly flip a lure into a snag either underhanded or overhanded with minimal air time".

Mine's Bigger, consisting of Aaron Graham and Corey Hohnberg, came hurtling up the leader board and managed to land in third place and if it wasn't for a disaster with their electric motor snapping in half, they would have been a real chance to take the win.

We talked to them about their rod choice and discovered that accurate casting was the most important ingredient in their game plan. They knew they needed to get the lure very tight to structure and with short accurate casts being paramount to success, the shorter Crankbait was the best choice in the 30 knot winds.

Mine's Bigger also caught the most fish over 70cm, so having the extra confidence of the much-loved Venom strength behind them meant they were confident that when they hooked a fish, they would land that fish!

It was surprising and exciting news to hear that the Venom Crankbait rods were used by the top three teams. It's not that often that you can claim the Champion Team, Runner-Up and Third Champion Team, Overall Champion Angler and Runner-Up Champion Angler were all using Venom rods!