Fishing the Perfect Storm? Don't Forget Your Umbrella - Rig We'll admit right up front. When we first heard
of this Alabama Rig storm, we dismissed it. After all, spreader or umbrella rigs
have been in the fishing industry for years and were originally employed in the
commercial industry fishing for tuna...
Cute and Deadly,
the BBZ-1 Baby Shad Imitates Baitfish So often the word “swimbait”
is used interchangeably with “bigbait” and while the BBZ-1 was originally
designed to be a large hard-bodied swimbait over time smaller and smaller
versions were introduced to address a wider range of applications and
conditions.
Creature Fever:
The Death Spiral of the Power Tackle Lateral Perch
We kick off our “Creature Feature” coverage with the
intriguing Lateral Perch from Power Tackle and while this bait may look like a
swimbait it is actually a “jig,” that blurs the lines in between bait classes
and is designed to be deliver a unique “death spiral” action...
The ABT Banshee Screams for Attention
The Banshee is the latest creation from Allen Borden, of King Shad fame,
and is a multi-jointed hard bodied swimbait that features both an extremely aggressive
action and a more realistic appearance than many other swimbaits costing twice
as much.
Advantage
Spinnerbaits offers a “flashy” alternative One of the most unique
aspects of Advantage spinnerbaits are the blades themselves. In what the
company calls Extreme Flash Technology or “EFT”, the blades are etched in a
precise pattern which gives them small grooves on the surface.
"A-Wadda" New Colors and Configurations from TnT Baits
Our introduction to TnT Baits came over five years ago when we fished and reviewed their Wadda Jig. It was our long overdue introduction to a hand made, hand tied jig and we've never looked back. When it comes to skirted bait products, the first thing we now look for is
if that skirt is hand tied.
Dad, Jr., +1 ... New Baits from Megabass
Just as we were wrapping our heads around the still new to us Vision 110 Magnum, we received word from Megabass USA of several new baits making their way through the production pipeline including yet another interpretation of the vaunted ONETEN.
What the..
Finessing Peacocks? Yes, with the Caribe Jig No, it’s not glamorous, and
yes, as with any “finesse” tactic, it can be a little mundane, but the best way
to ensure you get bit on your peacock bass fishing adventure is to fish the
bottom part of the water column with that universal bait, a jig.
Fortifying the Arsenal : Bass Patrol's New Color Options
Relatively speaking, losing a jig is not as big of
an impact as losing say, a hand made and painted big bait, but still, if you
fish jigs a lot, losing them to underwater snares can add up. This is why one of
our favorite jig brands is Bass Patrol.
What the... Finesse Jigs? : Damiki's TG Tungsten Micro Jig When I think of
jigs for bass, I’m pulling out half ounce football heads or arkie heads and the
like and tossing them on a stout stick with 12lb test fluorocarbon and up. But
then I got a load of the Damiki TG Tungsten Micro Jig and the finesse fishing
light bulb lit up!
Man It's a Hot One, Like Nine Inches : Rago Bait's Smoothie Unlike the Baby Tool which has a soft plastic tail section, the Smoothie is 95% hard body. The very tail itself is the only portion of this bait made of soft plastic. It is a four jointed bait with a skinny profile described by Jerry Rago
as the best swimming bait he's ever produced.
The
CL8 Bluegill & Crappie are More than Just a Swimbait for the Spawn CL8 released a
number of new lures this 2011 season including their first bluegill. The CL8
Bluegill and Crappie makes use of a lot of what we like about the company’s
lures including protruding fins and a quality finish, but what makes this bait
so interesting is that it is easy to fish in a wide range of conditions.
Jig, Wobble, and Roll with the Jigwobbler The Jigwobbler is an interesting product. It
comes with a line tie that is offset in front of the bait rather than as an
integral part of the head. The joint connecting the two pieces of the bait
allows freedom of movement in all directions...
The Elusive 22nd Century Bluegill Bait In 2009, we brought you our
feature on the mythical Nezumma Rat and of course, back in 2007 we reviewed the
renowned Triple Trout. The calendar has turned over to another odd year, so it
must be that time again to pull another 22nd Century product out of our tackle
box and show you what it's all about. Introducing our review of 22nd Century's
Bluegill.
Kickin' It With Tylure's Sunfish It's been much too long since we looked at a bait from the following manufacturer. Yet when there are so many big bait companies out on the market, it's hard to keep things straight. Today we return to the product by Tylure out of California and take a look at their Kicker Sunfish bait.
"It's a Beautiful ..." Bait : Mattlure's U2 Instead of creating monster
sized baits the last year or two, Matt Servant has been focusing on creating
smaller, tournament sized baits that are easier to fish in both concept and
reality. His latest creation? A revision of arguably his most famous bait, the
soft plastic bluegill. Introducing Mattlure's Ultimate Gill 2 (U2 Gill).
Snack Time Anyone? JSJ's Snack Size Gill JSJ followed up their Snack
Sized Trout success shortly thereafter with the introduction of a new bait patterned after the sunfish family. We've been fishing this bait on and off since late in 2009 and finally, here now is our review on this Snack Sized Trout's cousin, the Snack Sized Gill.
Let the Revolution Begin : An Upgraded, Rebranded Spinnerbait by RMD
A little over three years ago, we brought you the story of the brand new Kevkel Double Louvered Leaf Spinnerbait, a spinnerbait featuring two willow leaf blades modified with one louver-like cross slit each. The louvers allowed you to slow roll the spinnerbaits
and still get the willow leafs to turn.
Fish Quietly and Throw a Big Stik We've known about the Big Stik for a couple of years now and have seen it's progression through sneak peaks provided at ICAST. We were excited to learn in 2009, that the product was finally ready and would be debuted in Ima's 2010 product line.
River2Sea's
Dahlberg Diver Frog Kicks Bass The Dahlberg Diver Frog is one of Larry’s special creations and is
designed to entice big bass to strike with a special leg kicking action.
Featuring a distinctive diving collar design this frog is quite unlike the
hollow bodied lures most frog fishermen are used to walking.
Putting the Screws to Pressured Fish : GanCraft's Screw Bait GanCraft is a company very familiar to our audience and popular for their uniquely designed fishing rods as well as aggressively styled baits. They are also one of the first companies in Japan to make a subsurface prop bait with a product Hideki showed us in his article, the Screw Bait.
One Fisherman's Trash is Another's Hot New Bait Little Creeper's All American Trash Fish is actually modeled after a hitch, but it reminds us more of a fancy tail goldfish. It is a solid bodied bait made of plastic with two different densities targeted at delivering a product with both good swimming action and excellent durability.
ABT Introduces
“Next Generation” Banshee Swimbait ABT is
branching out and in advance of ICAST and has unveiled a new series of lures
under the “Next Generation” line. Included in the new series is a brand new hard
bodied swimbait called the Banshee which features multiple joints and a highly
realistic finish.
Never Judge a Book
by its Cover, the unassuming Jackall Crosstail Shad Jackall makes some very exciting plastics, some of which are
extremely realistic and others that are designed for very specific techniques,
like the Flick Shake Worm. The Crosstail Shad is one of the most modest looking
baits out there, but take a closer look and these small plastic lures just might surprise you.
TackleTrends from Japan : Subsurface Prop Baits Hideki Maeda is a native of
Japan where he has worked as an editor for a Japanese fishing publication
and authored articles for US fishing magazines. His involvement in the
Japanese fishing industry stretches far beyond the written word witnessed by
his biggest obsession - designing lures.
WTF!! A Big Bait Side Dish : BaitSmith's 5" Shad BaitSmith’s Five Inch Shad bait debuted early in 2009 and I remember
being very excited to see this bait. It was a smaller bait alternative to
their very popular six-inch baits, but at the time, it was one of only a
handful of shad profile alternatives.
Huddleston Continues to Innovate : The Weedless Trout Just
like its larger sibling, the original Eight-Inch Trout, detailing on the
Six-Inch Trout is so simple yet right, it's amazing. The fact that
Huddleston was able to find a way to conceal the hook just makes this bait
look unfair.
Mattlures Does It Again, This Time For Tournament Anglers Soft baits, it seems, have always held a special place with Servant since this is where he started with his original Bluegill and Six Inch Trout baits.
He's now eclipsed those baits with his new Tournament Series. It's difficult to do justice to these baits in words...
Decoy Swimbait's HydraTail : Size Just Right - To Be Eaten! Decoy Swimbaits
is a brand new company founded by father and son team Bob and Jason Scott.
Yes this is the same Jason Scott of Castaic Soft Bait Company fame and he is back designing baits and working with his father on their new venture.
