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 The
Bally-Buddy™ Story
The Bally-Buddy™ came about almost by accident, as is so often
the case with great ideas. It all started in January 2003; we were out
in Tobago on a product testing trip with our good friend Captain Frothy
De Silva on the HardPlay. Frothy had been running quite a number of Sekard
Technology lures and was extremely impressed with them (check out the
View from the Bridge section - a Top Captains
Opinion) but he had one criticism of the product range - we did not
produce a small, simple softhead lure.
The waters off Tobago hold a prolific mixed fishery, huge numbers of
Wahoo, Dorado, Yellowfin and Blackfin Tuna as well as excellent seasonal
runs of Blue Marlin and Sailfish. In the peak Blue Marlin season, which
typically runs mid February thro the end of April, the big lures on 80’s
and 130’s come into play but, outside of that period, the hot method
is to run small lures in front of ballyhoo or small flying fish deadbaits.
At that time we did not have a product in the Sekard Technology range
that was quite right for Frothy’s favorite bait/lure combo.
Upon our return back to Sekard HQ we set to work to put together a small
lure that would fill the important gap in our range. We knew the lure
had to be a little smaller than our existing regular sized lures, it HAD
to be based around the Sekard Smoke Tail™ skirts, as we had proven
these to be amazingly successful compared with conventional vinyl skirted
lures, and the lures had to be keenly priced. As Frothy pointed out; most
charter Captains are reluctant to run a spread of $50 lures when the Wahoo
are thick on the ground!
We were in a hurry to get prototypes made and shipped out to Tobago for
testing so we used various existing components we had in our factory and
created what was to become the Bally-Buddy™. The result looked a
little weird but somehow it had a good feel about it so we shipped a few
out to Frothy for testing. A couple days later we received an e-mail from
Frothy; he had received the new lures but on first impression he didn’t
really like the look of them. He too thought they looked a little weird,
but he would try them anyhow. A week or so later we get another e-mail
from Tobago; Frothy had been running the Bally-Buddy™ in a mixed
spread of his old favorite bait/lure combo’s and, sure enough, our
little lure had consistently out-fished the rest. Okay that’s only
after a few days testing but maybe looking a little weird isn’t
such a bad thing after all!
Things were looking very encouraging with the little Bally-Buddy™
but we weren’t about to launch a new product without a little more
field testing. We made up a whole bunch of prototype Bally-Buddy™
lures and went back out to Tobago for the annual Tobago Game Fishing Tournament
(www.tgft.com) where Sekard Technology
were sponsoring prizes for the Billfish Release Division. This is a fantastic
little tournament; beautiful location, highly competitive, nice prizes,
but incredibly friendly. It’s exactly what all tournaments should
be like. We gave every team a sample Bally-Buddy™ in their tournament
pack and asked for them to give it a try. Not every team tried the lure,
understandably some were reluctant to try a new product under tournament
conditions, but those who did were coming back to us with reports of excellent
success. The Bally-Buddy™ was living up to the Sekard reputation
and out-fishing all the other brands of lure.
Our own Sekard Technology team had a little success also (along with
some unfortunate bad luck!). Though this was late March, and right in
the middle of peak Blue Marlin season, we resisted the temptation to run
a dedicated Marlin spread. We mixed things up a little and included a
couple of Bally-Buddy™ lures rigged over ballyhoo and flying fish
baits, including one way out the back on the centre rigger on a 30# test
stand-up outfit. The result; three Blue Marlin hook-ups before lunchtime
on the first day of the tournament, all three on the Bally-Buddy™
and flying fish combo and all three on the 30# test outfit. Sadly that’s
where the good news ended!
The first fish came to the boat for tagging (a nice little blue of about
250lb) to put our first points on the scoreboard, or so we thought. A
problem with the official tournament camera (or was it our photographer?!)
meant that the fish did not show clearly - no points!
The second fish was a little larger, but we got the better of her pretty
quickly and things were looking good for another tag shot. Then suddenly
the 30# test line parted and the fish was gone. Inspection showed that
the line had failed cleanly at the end of the double, right by the swivel
connection, and we suspect a Wahoo hit the swivel and sliced the line.
Third time lucky (or maybe not!). Marlin number three hits the Bally-Buddy™
on the 30# test outfit again. This is a really nice fish, big enough to
have us a little worried in view of the 30# test line! But the fish behaves
itself and stays up on the surface, it probably wasn’t even aware
that it was hooked. If we backed down quick we had a great chance to take
the leader and get a tag in her. What happens next? A mechanical failure
on one of the engines leaves us fighting an estimated 450 - 500lb Blue
Marlin on 30# test from a dead boat. The fish woke up and headed for Jamaica,
end of story!
So, a lot of bad luck but the point was proved with the new Bally-Buddy™.
It worked well and also gave strength to the old adage about “elephants
eating peanuts”. Team Sekard had to fly home the morning after the
tournament ended but the HardPlay crew, with whom we’d been fishing,
continued to have success. On their run back from the tournament base
in Charlotteville down to the HardPlay moorings in the Bon Accord Lagoon
Captain Frothy De Silva hooked up a nice Blue Marlin onboard the HardPlay
using a Sekard Broadsword. At almost the same time Captain Peter Amann
tagged an estimated 450 - 500lb fish on board the HardPlay II using one
of the little Sekard Bally-Buddy™ lures.
Interestingly, since the Tobago tournament, many of those teams who had
received a Bally-Buddy™ in their tournament pack have now rigged
them up and given them a swim. We have received some very complimentary
e-mails from excited anglers who have discovered the little bit of magic
that the Bally-Buddy™ seems to have! The Bally-Buddy™ still
looks a little weird but the fish seem to like it that way!
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