The Koolie Minnow - My Travel Companion ~ Story by Patrick Sebile
Fishing all over the world is my life. I have done that for a long time now, and I will keep on going this way. So far it has been so good. I just got back from a five week tour of Australia. For the first two weeks, I lived on the Coral Sea aboard the Odyssey, a legendary long-range mother ship managed by Nomad Sportfishing. You can think of the Odyssey as an ocean-going fishing lodge. It's not only mother to its guests but also to the smaller sportfishing boats that Nomad uses to ply the reefs and drop-offs of the Coral Sea for huge and powerful gamefish like giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, wahoo and red bass which tested our tackle and skill. One of the most effective lures was the deep diving Koolie Minnow 190 Long Lip, trolled or cast, easily reaching fish in depths where no other hard bait is able to dive.
From there, I made a mix of freshwater and inshore saltwater trips for various species around Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns. I'd say the highlight was fishing on fabled Lake Tinaroo where 15 IGFA world records have come from. Guys, imagine you are fishing around grass, trees, thick cover and structure like you do for largemouth, except going for barramundi, an Australian fish that looks like a giant silver bass. The thrill is that you never know if the next bite will be a "small" 6 pounder or a massive 50lb+ monster! At Tinaroo, the winner was the Koolie Minnow Big Round Lip in 118 and 145mm sizes with its ultra-wide, rolling action. We hooked six barramundi, landing a 40 pounder and had a 50 pounder jump sky-high three times only to land on the leader and cut the line with its sharp gillplates!
Monster barramundi on Koolie Long Lip 90 caught by Alex Holme (Nomad Team / Sebile pro-staff Australia).
In Australia, in between fishing trips, I exhibited my range of lures for the first time in this country, at one of the largest tackle trade shows in the world - at AFTA's Australian Fishing Tackle Trade show.
Because the Koolie Minnow (and all SEBILE products) are new to Australia this year, we entered them into the show's new product competition. Retailers and the outdoor media members present at the AFTA show were able to vote for and judge the Koolie Minnow on its performances and possibilities, and it was a proud moment when the results were in and the Koolie Minnow had won the Best Hard Lure at AFTA!
We had our full length casting demonstration tank there, so I was able to show and tell everyone there how the Koolie Minnow has a very specific body design to help penetrate the water with lower resistance. The body shape I modeled after the sucker, a fish species that's highly hydrodynamic in shape. It's one of very few fish species that can swim and thrive in powerful river currents all its life if it has to, yet its shape lets the sucker move around easily and that gave me the idea for the Koolie Minnow shape to also move easily through the water. Then I applied the principle of the underside of a plane's wing for underneath the Koolie Minnow, of course not to fly, but to get through the water with little resistance and to react or respond the way I would want, enabling the lure to be ultra-reactive to any kind of action.
The more a lure is able to react and work the way the angler wants to work it, the more useful it will be - and because of the hydrodynamic body shape to start with, that's why I was able to design four different lip models, each having a unique lip providing for different swimming actions and depths. Four lips means four actions, four possibilities to cover the range of needs while fishing any spot for any predator species; this was the reason why I designed the Koolie Minnow with so many lips, and I was especially happy to have the Koolie Minnow win the Best Hard Lure award.
SEBILE won four awards at AFTA in Australia, including Best Hard Lure for the Koolie Minnow!
The Koolie Minnow is definitely a family of lures that is always in my tackle box because of the multiple uses it offers. So when I left Australia, it was to go fishing with a friend, Mike Stiles, who had invited me to join him for largemouth on Lake Isabella in the California Sierras in late August. I packed my rods for the flight out of Sydney, Australia, and it seemed like it was no time before I was restringing line in the guides and tying my trusty Koolie Minnows back on the end in California!
We talked a lot during the drive to the lake, telling each other what our expectations could be for fishing in the heat of the summer. Mike said that the fishing had been slow the last few days if not weeks, but our trip had been planned for a couple of months already, so it's no time now to reschedule or refuse it! Soon, we're on the water, it's time to fish and my host ties a hefty swimbait on the end of a nicely-designed rod by his sponsor, Gary Dobyns Rods.
Size-wise and in terms of strength, the Koolie Minnow LL 160 (left) and BRL 145 (right) are on par with big swimbait sizes used for California trophy bass.
I start with a Koolie BRL 145 which is equal in size to a swimbait. The difference is the swaying action that the BRL 145 has even when I reel it as slow as possible, no swimbait has that action. From time to time, I just give a little twitch or speed up the retrieve to get an instant response out of my bait, giving it an unpredictable as opposed to steady movement. I have caught so many fish so many times because of that instant reaction the Koolie Minnow has to any variation in the retrieve. I cast my Koolie BRL again, retrieve it slowly to make it dive to hit the bottom in 8 feet of water, then reeling a bit faster to make the bait run up and away, then slow down again to have it swim back for deep water - a move that tempts a nice 8 1/2 lb bass to come aboard! A few casts later, I have a 3-1/2 pounder too!
Patrick Sebile's summer trophy bass, an 8.5 pounder on Lake Isabella couldn't resist the Koolie Minnow Big Round Lip (BRL) 145mm in #IS03 Golden Green Shiner color.
I love this kind of welcome in sunny California! As we are working along the shoreline, casting several times into every possible spot, we reach an area where the Sierra mountains seem to dip their toes into the warm water; the drop-off is faster and steeper here. This is one of those times to use the multiple options with the different lips that fit different depths, actions and needs. I choose to go with a bigger model, a 160mm but in the Long Lip (LL) version this time. This is my deep diving bait. It's one I worked on to reduce as much as possible the water resistance against the long lip so that every iota of energy given to the bait while cranking the reel handle or trolling goes to activating the lure, not fighting the rod. The proof is that there's no big vibration in the rod tip and there's surprising low resistance of the lure when you reel it, making a very deep, very easy to use but also very big bait. This lure goes deep very quickly, which is why I love to fish the edges of drop-offs with it. When I cast to the shoreline of a steep drop like where we are now, the Koolie LL is able to immediately hit the bottom and keep contact with the bottom at any speed I then choose to maneuver it. Well, this was the trick for this deeper area of the lake. In a matter of no time, I have a third bass, this one a 6 pounder!
Patrick Sebile lifts 6-lb largemouth landed with deep diving Koolie Minnow Long Lip (LL) 160mm in Electric Rainbow Color #IS08
I told you before, I live to fish, and I travel for fish. So yes, I love being able to one day catch barramundis in a lake in Australia, and less than 24 hours later being on the other side of the Pacific, catching brawny California largemouth this time. And surely, the Koolie Minnow, thanks to the range of options it offers in eight lengths from 3 to 9 1/2 inches (76 to 190mm), each with four different lips, depths and swimming actions, they are going to catch bass even in heavily-pressured waters, even in the middle of August or all year round!
Another 9-lber on the Koolie Minnow LL 160!
Now you know why the Koolie Minnow is my constant and favorite travel companion!
Technical Specifications
| Model | Size | Weight | Type | Casting | Trolling | Casting/Trolling | Line Test |
| Koolie Minnow SL 90 SU | 3-1/2" / 90mm | 5/16 oz / 9.8g | Suspending | 1 to 2 ft | 2 ft | 4 to 16 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow SL 118 SU | 4-5/8" / 118mm | 3/4 oz / 22.3g | Suspending | 1-1/2 to 3 ft | 3 ft | 8 to 25 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow ML 76 FL | 3" / 76mm | 1/4 oz / 7g | Floating | 1 to 1-1/2 ft | 1-1/2 ft | 1 to 6 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow ML 90 FL | 3-1/2" / 90mm | 5/16 oz / 8.8g | Floating | 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 ft | 2-1/2 ft | 4 to 16 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow ML 102 SK | 4" / 102mm | 1/2 oz / 15.3g | Sinking | 2 to 6 ft | 6 ft | 6 to 20 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow ML 118 FL | 4-5/8" / 118mm | 3/4 oz / 21.5g | Floating | 2 to 5 ft | 5 ft | 8 to 25 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow ML 136 FL FW | 5-1/4" / 136mm | 1-1/4 oz / 35g | Floating | 3 to 8 ft | 8 ft | 12 to 40 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow ML 160 FL FW | 6-1/4" / 160mm | 1-7/8 oz / 53g | Floating | 4 to 10 ft | 10 ft | 20 to 40 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow ML 160 SK FW | 6-1/4" / 160mm | 2-1/4 oz / 64g | Sinking | 5 to 12 ft | 12 ft | 20 to 40 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow BRL 118 | 4-5/8" / 118mm | 3/4 oz / 22g | Floating | Top to 5 ft | 8 to 25 lb | ||
| Koolie Minnow BRL 145 FW | 5-3/4" / 145mm | 1-1/2 oz / 42g | Floating | Top to 8 ft | 16 to 30 lb | ||
| Koolie Minnow BRL 190 FW | 7-1/2" / 190mm | 2-3/4 oz / 78g | Floating | Top to 10 ft | 20 to 50 lb | ||
| Koolie Minnow LL 76 | 3" / 76mm | 5/16 oz / 8.6g | Floating | ≤6 ft | ≤12 ft | 1 to 6 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow LL 90 | 3-1/2" / 90mm | 3/8 oz / 11g | Floating | ≤8 ft | ≤20 ft | 4 to 16 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow LL 102 | 4" / 102mm | 5/8 oz / 16.5g | Floating | ≤12 ft | ≤30 ft | 6 to 20 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow LL 118 | 4-5/8" / 118mm | 1 oz / 27.6g | Floating | ≤18 ft | ≤43 ft | 8 to 25 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow LL 136 FW | 5-1/4" / 136mm | 1-1/2 oz / 42.5g | Floating | ≤22 ft | ≤46 ft | 12 to 30 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow LL 160 FW | 6-1/4" / 160mm | 2-1/4 oz / 63g | Floating | ≤28 ft | ≤50 ft | 20 to 40 lb | |
| Koolie Minnow LL 190 FW | 7-1/2" / 190mm | 3 oz / 88g | Floating | ≤30 ft | ≤64 ft | 20 to 50 lb |
FW : Full Wire Reinforced.
For pricing and availability of SEBILE Koolie Minnows, please visit http://www.BassdozerStore.com.
Thank you for your business. May your next fishing trip be your best ever!
Regards,
Russ
