Our return policy will allow an exchanging of sizes within 30 days of the purchase. The item will need to be sent back to us at Halco with return paid with the tags still on and the item put back in the plastic bag. If the tags are removed or packaging destroyed we will not be able to exchange your item.

We will provide a refund if the item is faulty or not as described. We will not provide a refund for a change of mind.

We understand that competitive angling is expensive, and serious tournament anglers can sometimes require some assistance along the way. We receive hundreds of sponsorship requests and while we’d love to be able to take everyone, due to time and resources, we simply cannot.

Please note: At present we are not accepting applications. We have no sponsorship opportunities available.

Guidelines 
When submitting a sponsorship application, you must include personal bio information, angling highlights, photos, videos and tournaments. It should also include a cover letter stating why you believe Halco Tackle will benefit from a sponsorship with you. Please note that at certain times of the year, we may focus on particular tournaments and only consider applications in those areas.

Helpful hints: think of this as a job application. We are looking for polite and respectful people to rep our brand. Sure, we are a fun company run by laid-back fisho’s, but we are still a global company. Keep that in mind!

You must already be familiar using or owning our products (include picture) as it demonstrates a pre-existing appreciation of our brand.

Any sponsorship applications that do not include all of the items in these guidelines will not be considered. All applications must be emailed directly to enquiries@halcotackle.com.au.

We are a manufacturer only, so all our gear is available through the major tackle shops throughout Australia and 70 other countries around the world.

We do not sell direct to the public and we understand the importance of supporting local tackle stores. If you want free lures, keep your eyes out for competitions running on Facebook, and have a chat with your local tackle store about any comps or promotions they may have.

We do not give away free lures as we are simply the tackle manufacturer.

We design lures with certain hooks in mind. The weight and resistance of these hooks affects how a lure swims, it can also affect the buoyancy of the lure. So, if you want to replace the hooks with the same hooks, it should be fine. If you change to a different style of hooks (i.e. Singles) or to a different size or gauge hook of the same type it may adversely affect the action and effectiveness of the lure. If you want further information on particular lures, we may be able to provide further advice (enquiries@halcotackle.com.au). Some anglers even use this to their advantage by using (predominantly heavier) hooks to make a lure suspend or even slow sink – particularly when twitching a lure around snags and rocks.

We paint our lures with the highest quality paints and top coats. However they are designed to be used in a harsh environment. There are three main reasons for scratching; Banging the lure on rocks and snags, the hooks rubbing on the side of the lure and the extra sharp teeth of fish. It is expected that in normal use of the lure that it will experience scratching from all these factors. Your aim is to get the lure in a fish’s mouth – so scratches are good! And often we are asked why it is the battered and scratched lure that catches more fish? We’re not sure of the answer but we’ve seen it happen plenty of times.

That being said, some finishes are stronger than others. Plain painting is strongest, followed by our holographic foils. The highly effective vacuum metalised (VM) finishes will scratch slightly easier than the above mentioned finishes. To help a scratched VM finish look even better we designed a new concept called “designed to bleed”. This involves using a blood red extra hard base coat. So when it is scratched, it looks like a wounded fish. It looks great and we reckon is really works. Gun anglers often pre scratch their VM lures to get the bleeding effect!

If in the unlikely event that the coating comes off in more that scratches and chips, drop us a line and we’ll take a look.

All Halco and RMG lures are plastic and are not through wired and never have been. The through wiring came from the days of wooden lures where through wiring was essential. (Our Tilsan Timber Lures are through wired – in fact we have gone a step further and use a pressed stainless steel frame – which makes it one very strong timber lure!). However, our plastic lures are engineered in such a way that the plastic is super strong and weak points are minimized or eliminated. Further to this we ultrasonically weld all our lures, rather than solvent glueing that many other lure makers use. Oh, and of course we only use virgin plastic – no second hand weaker plastic are used in our factory.

We test the strength of all out hook hangers and tow points and only release a lure onto the market when we are satisfied it’s super strong.

We pride ourselves in making really strong durable products. All our bibs are made from virgin polycarbonate (sometimes known as Lexan) which is super strong. In fact it’s used in aviation and bullet proof glass applications. The one problem with polycarbonate is that it hates solvents – including glue. For this reason never put glue on the bib or paint it with solvent based paint. It’s also the reason why we invented the patented keylock bib securing system. This ingenious system uses keys and keyways to lock the bib in tight with no need for any glue. On our larger lures, this attachment system is good for around 40kg on a straight pull and that’s far stronger than any hooks we use!

Some lures particularly lures without a bib can twist fishing line. This can happen with metal lures and tuna jigs. Our recommendation is to always use a swivel if you intend to troll any of these type lures. The best type to use is a Ball bearing swivel. Halco has a range of these. They can be attached to the front of the lure or a metre or so up the line. Our snap traces and supa snap traces have a swivel attached. rolling swivels or crane swivels are also good but the friction is greater so are not quite as effective as ball bearing swivels.

If you get in the situation that a lure has twisted your line, simply remove the lure, leader and or trace and run the line out of the back of the boat (whilst you are travelling or trolling) until it un twists itself. Let it back until you get to line that is not twisted, then stop letting the line out. Usually the twist will be gone after a few minutes. The easiest way to see if your line is twisted, is to grab the line with both hands spaced about 1 metre apart. Then bring your hands together to create slack line. If it curls up on itself it’s still twisted.

The beauty of a wind on leader is that you can wind a leader straight onto a reel without any worry of it getting caught on rod guides or the rod guides totally preventing the leader threading onto the reel. They are primarily used in Gamefishing applications, where highly active fish are being targeted. The connection from the mono to the spectra is an area that needs to be treated with care. Although the connection is bound and glued it is the action of the braid tightening on the monofilament that creates the strength, anglers must not grab this connection as it can make it slip apart.

Lures are often used in extreme environments. Before use, check the connection points all look good and the hooks are sharp. After use, wash your lures with fresh water, and store in a dry cool place. Freshwater washing is also recommended for all terminal tackle.

Our plastic lures are perfectly sealed – this is so they won’t leak when submerged! However this means that if it gets hotter than around 60 degrees celsius it will swell up like balloon. The two main places this occurs is on the dash board of your car or in a clear tackle box in direct sun on a really hot day. This is not a warranty item. So try your best to keep them out of theses situations. The same temperature warning applies to Madeye Soft plastics. Over 60 degrees celsius, they can soften, bond together or even melt. (See how to store soft plastics)

This is really unlikely due to the quality of the plastic we use and the wall thickness. However, in very occasional situations it can happen. It is part of normal wear and tear and is not warrantable. Remember lure weight can seriously impact the swimming ability of a lure so it is a balance between being super strong and not too heavy that it affects the fish attracting and swimming ability of the lure – it’s a fine balance.

Two Halco models (Laser Po 160 and 120) use both body and bib towing points in differing depths of the same model. The towing point with the fish ring attached is the one that should always be used. Using the other towing point will result in poor performance.

We do not sell the bibs for the lures as separate items.

We do, however, offer (for domestic consumers) a free broken bib replacement service, where lures that are considered to be in good condition will be rebibbed at no cost.  If using the service please ensure you include a return postal address and a daytime telephone number we can contact you if needed.

You should also be aware that other lures of the same model have bibs that can be swapped between lures.  For example if you have a Scorpion 150 DD in one colour and a Scorpion 150 STD in another colour, the bibs can be swapped between them.
Please note that Laser Pro 190XDD Crazy Deep models will have only DD Deep Diver bibs inserted as replacements.
Lures can be returned to:
Halco Tackle
PO Box 1205
Fremantle, WA
6959

There are a number of factors that can effect the swimming action of a lure.
If a lure tow point or hook hanger is slightly off centre this could be enough to cause the lure to swim to one side. The best way to check is to look down the long axis of the lure to see if either the hook hangers or tow point look bent out of alignment. If they are, they should be carefully bent back into alignment.

If no obvious alignment issue is noted and the lure is swimming consistently in one direction then you may need to consider tuning the lure. Tuning is where very small bending adjustments are made to the towing point to help the lure track.  If looking from the back of a boat out at the lure and it is pulling to your right, retrieve the lure and carefully bend the towing point (as you look at it head on) to the left by only a fraction of a millimetre and retest.  You should see some improvement in the tracking of the lure. Another way to think of it is to bend the tow point in the direction you want it to swim.

If not enough, simply bend the tow point a little more and retest until you achieve the required result. The need for tuning a new lure is something reasonably uncommon.

There are a number of ways to attach your lure to the line. The simplest way is to use a small crosslock snap to clip onto the towing point.

When targeting toothy species like mackerel, a Halco Supa Snap Trace is a great option. Another appropriate method is to attach via a loop knot in monofilament.  You will find plenty of diagrams showing how to tie a loop knot on the internet.

Just remember that tying a heavy leader to a small lure will seriously impede the action. Also never tie a knot hard up to the towing point or fish ring. Lures require space to move and impart action.

When setting up a trolling pattern, it is important to have lures of different depths, sizes and colours.  In the same breath, it is always a good idea not to get too carried away and try and run too many lures initially. Depending on the size of boat, two or possibly three lures in the pattern is a good place to start.

We always place our longest length lure out first and add lures getting progressively shorter.
Different lures can also handle different trolling speeds and it is important to match the lure to the speed you intend to troll.

A typical Mackerel trolling pattern may include a Max 130 set quite long on one corner, then a Laser Pro 190DD on the opposite corner somewhat shorter so the two lures don’t tangle when turning the boat. Finally something like a Laser Pro 160XDD short in the pattern under the prop wash will attract bigger and more aggressive predators that come into the spread. Remember when trolling for mackerel or other toothy species a wire trace such as a Supa Snap Trace is essential. (Watch video here)

Trolling for barramundi on the Daly River for example is quite different in terms of lures used and speeds trolled but also similar in terms of differing depths, actions and colours used.
Try using a Scorpion 125STD (3m diver) or Laser Pro 120DD (2m diver) on the inside closest to the bank but running long.

The outer side in the deep you could try a Scorpion 150DD or XDD (5m or 8m) run slightly shorter while in the middle the small 80mm profile of the Poltergeist 80 (dives to 5m) will give you a good chance of tempting any fish lurking around a rock bar or mid river snag.

A good selection of different colours depths and models, allows you to find the best working combination on a particular day.  Remember to mix things up until you find something that works for you.  No two days are the same and what worked yesterday may not work today and vice versa.

Madeye soft plastics use materials that include our RST stretch technology. They are not compatible with many other soft plastic lures and are best left in the original packaging until use.
If you do need to take them out of the packaging, please keep the individual colours separate from each other to avoid colour bleeding issues and away from other brands as chemical compatibility can not be guaranteed.

The packs should also be kept in a relatively cool, dark location until use for best results. If left in direct sunlight and heat above 60c the product may start to degrade.