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Talking
Sebile Baits with Professional Angler Jarrett Edwards
| Date: |
6/12/09 |
| Tackle type: |
Lures |
| Manufacturer: |
Sebile |
| Reviewer: |
Leo |
Introduction: Just a few short weeks ago I was invited by former
BASS Elite series angler Jarrett Edwards of Jarrett Edwards Outdoors (World
Fishing Network on Dish and Direct TV) to head out on Clear Lake and film a
show. During the filming of the show Jarrett and I got to talking about Patrick
Sebile and his line of baits including the Magic Swimmer and plenty more. What
struck me as odd is that even though I spend more than 10 hours a day seven days
a week working in the fishing industry or actually fishing, I have been missing
a lot of information about the Sebile products.
Patrick Sebile is a 27 time IGFA world record holder who has fished in
nearly 60 countries. His insight to lure design may be the most revolutionary or
“new” thinking in baits in a long time. At first look, many of his baits look
like retreads of previous bait but, as Jarrett explained each bait to me I began
to realize how truly innovative these baits really are.
Professional Angler Jarrett
Edwards is on the Sebile Prostaff and takes a moment to talk about both the
company's current lineup and what's right around the corner at ICAST
Being that I only know the features second handedly, I asked Jarrett to
run through the list of Sebile baits and give us the lowdown on each of them.
The following descriptions of the baits are straight from Jarrett and what he
has learned while working with Patrick Sebile on his baits.
The Flatt Shad:
"When I first saw the Flatt Shad in the package I passed it off as “just another
lipless crank”. It wasn’t until last fall that I first tied the bait on and
let’s just say that it hasn’t left that rod yet! As with most baits in the
Sebile line up, the Flatt Shad is available in my favorite “Possessed” series
line up. The Possessed line up is where instead of glass or tungsten beads this
series of baits have fluid mixed with glitter to provide the ultimate look and
sound in the water. The fluid adds a unique aspect to the baits appearance. The
fluid loads up making casting in the wind much easier. The fluid provides a very
low frequency sound in the water unlike any other rattle bait. Its quite which
is the key to not spook many species of fish in the clear water yet still has an
awesome vibration to catch them in the mud as well. The appearance of the fluid
in clear water also makes for unique natural colors that regular paint simply
cannot match."
The Sebile Flatt Shad makes use of
oil and glitter to create both a distinctive appearance and action
"At first
appearance the bait is shaped like many other lipless cranks however once it
hits the water it has an action that I have never seen on any other lipless
bait. In my tests and underwater HD videography I feel safe to say that the
Flatt Shad has the widest wobble of any lipless crank that I have tried. It
wobbles so much that you would think it should have a lip on it! In the past I
think we have been so brainwashed that all lipless baits should have a tight
vibration. The tight vibration is caused by just about every lipless bait having
a flat edge nose. The Flatt Shad has a rounded nose just like a normal baitfish
however the secret to the lures vibration lies in its hydrodynamic shape. The
back of the lure actually cuts the water creating turbulence on both sides of
the bait and under the belly. This unique design allows you to simply fish this
bait much, much slower then other vibrating baits on the market. Don’t get me
wrong you can still burn the bait with great results however its effective in
many more ways then the standard retrieve. My favorite retrieve is simply to
make an extremely long cast and with quick 3 foot rod tip motions and rip the
bait off the bottom or on top of structure. This bait is so balanced that it
very rarely will snag on one of its own hooks meaning proper bait positioning in
the strike zone longer. It falls nearly vertical so the bait doesn’t spiral down
fouling in the cover."
The back of the lure actually cuts
the water creating turbulence on both sides of the bait and under the belly.
This unique design allows you to simply fish this bait much, much slower then
other vibrating baits on the market.
"As far as the
bait sizes I try to keep things simple. If I’m fishing a spinning rod with 6-8
pound test I opt for the Flatt Shad 54. This bait is two inches long and weighs
in at 3/8oz. making for extremely long casts on balanced tackle. This size also
mimics many baitfish sizes and shapes in the water making anything that eats
baitfish a target! If I’m fishing a bait caster with 10-12 pound test then I
will go for the 66 size which weighs in at 1/2oz. This size of bait is a great
all around size for covering water or vertical jigging below the boat. Last but
not least is the Flatt Shad 77 suspending. This bait has all the same
characteristics as its little brothers but this bait suspends perfectly in the
water! Just like a suspending crank bait or jerk bait this bait dives between
1.5 to 3 feet and will suspend directly above or beside the cover. In the old
days of my tournament fishing I have wore my arm out trying to rip rattle baits
out of the grass, especially on super long cast. Those days are over for me, now
when I hit the cover with this bait I simply pop it to shake off the weeds
without fear of the bait sinking back into the grass. Another killer feature of
the suspending model is how slow you can retrieve this bait. In the past rattle
baits on long cast had to be worked fast until now!"
The Koolie minnow has a unique
rolling action to causing this bait to be very erratic in the water. Jarrett has
found this particular bait to be effective in mid to late spring as the bass
slowly start moving up
Koolie
Minnow: "The Koolie Minnow is really a
piece of perfection in all sizes and shapes. My favorite version of this bait
happens to be the Koolie Minnow 90 FT. This bait weighs 3/8oz. and cast like a
rock thanks to the fluid level transfer on the possessed series. This happens to
be the floating model which has a unique twitch in the water when retrieved with
the right cadence. This jerk bait has a long clear lip that at first impression
you would think would wear you out cast after cast. The truth is that the lip of
the bait has a unique gap which uses 100% of the lips surface area to dive
deeper and have much less fatigue on the angler at the end of the day. The
Koolie minnow has a unique rolling action to causing this bait to be very
erratic in the water. I have found this particular bait to be effective in mid
to late spring as the bass slowly start moving up. We all know that this time of
the year the fish are often spooky and it takes just the right presentation to
get them to strike. This past spring I filmed an awesome show on Lake Powell
with the Koolie Minnow 90 FT. It was exciting as we had water temps in the low
50s and the bass were moving up daily around the newly flooded bushes. I had
found out the week before that if you had used the suspending model of baits
that the bait would get hung up in the trees. The floating model was perfect
because I could hit the top of the bushes and slowly let the bait float back up
triggering reaction strikes. This technique was key triggering over 40 bites per
day! The Koolie series comes in variety of shapes, sizes and colors allowing
anglers to target species in 2 to 58 feet of water!"
The Koolie series comes in variety
of shapes, sizes and colors allowing anglers to target species in 2 to 58 feet
of water
Magic
Swimmer: "In reality this bait doesn’t
need an introduction! Kenyon Hill, Bassmaster Elite Series pro won the
Bassmaster Elite Series at Clarks Hill reservoir a few years ago as Todd
Faircloth another Bassmaster pro rode the Magic Swimmer to a 2nd
place finish in the Angler of the Year race last season. The list goes on and on
in both fresh and salt water. With the growing world of swimbaits this bait has
certainly earned its keep. Although I enjoy throwing the larger models I feel
that few fish have been exposed to the smaller Magic Swimmers. I recently headed
down to Clear Lake California (The swimbait capitol of the world) to see if big
bass would attack the smaller version of this bait. My guest for the day was
none other then Mark Crutcher (swimbait specialist and winner of over $200,000
in Clear Lake tournament winnings). We began filming our show on a Monday after
a 300 boat tournament just finished up. Naturally I’m thinking fishing is going
to be brutal after all of the pressured fish from the weekend. My bait of choice
was the baby Magic Swimmer in the sinking model (model 82 – 3.5 inches long in
the White Lady color). I paired this bait with 5 pound fluorocarbon line and
Mark and I began catching fish like crazy on it. At the end of the day we caught
a 9, 5 and several 3 and 4 pounders on it. It turned out to be a great show and
we are excited for it to air soon! While the standard cast and retrieve will
work with this bait I have found a few unique ways to fish it. One way is to
fish this bait just a like a jerk bait with hard twitches. This really drives
the fish crazy, when you twitch it then normal retrieve, twitch it then stop.
This technique has provided many strikes for us. My second favorite way to
retrieve this bait is with a slow steady retrieve and with a quick 12 inch jerk
of the rod tip allows this bait to do a complete 180 right back into the fishes
face offering a tempting fish a nice snack!"
"One way is to fish this bait just
a like a jerk bait with hard twitches. This really drives the fish crazy, when
you twitch it then normal retrieve, twitch it then stop. This technique has
provided many strikes for us" - Jarrett
The
Crankster: "The Crankster is another
bait that at first look appears to be much like the other thousand crankbaits on
the market. The Possessed series, and its aforementioned fluid filled design,
offers a non-rattle yet big vibration style to a crankbait. The unique shaped
lips also creates a much wider wobble then a typical square billed lip. These
baits are super realistic in the water and their colors, style and shape make
them a must have for any crankbait enthusiast."
The Crankster may look like a
normal crankbait but is also part of the Possessed Series and makes use of a
fluid filled design to offer a no-rattle yet big vibration style action
So What’s
next for Sebile? "I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Sebile USA
office located in Colorado. This place was extremely busy with inventory leaving
the shelves, getting ready for the UPS man! I was able to get a sneak peak of a
few products getting ready to be packaged for the upcoming 2009 I-Cast show in
Orlando. Have you ever just seen a bait that makes you think – no way, this
can’t get any better? Well that was my thought when I saw each and every
prototype cross my hands. Let me tell you hands down that these new products in
my opinion are going to raise the bar for other manufacturers to strive for!
What I saw with my own eyes were all new soft plastics, wire baits and blade
baits!"
"For the plastic
side I saw a killer Magic Swimmer that was made of soft plastic and the
technology built into it is brand new and amazing. I can’t give out too many
details but this one is going to be a major hit. The wire bait I saw marries a
hard body with a rotating blade tail (Actually at closer look the blade is
awesome – an entirely new design!) This will be great compact bait for open
water, schooling fish and definitely a killer for suspending fish as well!
Again, I apologize for not giving off any great details, but Sebile is saving
those for the ICast launch in July. Last but not least is spinner bait that will
refine what a high end spinner bait really is all about. This spinner bait has a
hard body with amazing detail. Just when you thought you have seen it all with
spinner baits this bait has unique blades (a never seen before shape and
design). These blades will start turning immediately when the bait hits the
water!"
"It’s tough to
describe these new products with simple words, and we can’t provide pictures in
this article – you’ll have to stay tuned to Tackle Tour’s coverage from I-Cast
to get the first look at these truly unique and innovative baits. I also know
there are new colors being released and who knows what else the Sebile crew have
up their sleeves for launch day! One thing is for sure bass need to beware as
anglers everywhere soon will have some new weapons to get them in the boat!"
TackleTour would like to thank Jarrett Edwards for taking time out of his busy
schedule to talk tackle and provide an inside scoop about what's coming from
Sebile.
Looking for Sebile Lures?
Check
out
MonsterFishingTackle.com
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