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Lure Review


Putting the Screws to Pressured Fish : GanCraft's Screw Bait (continued)

Design: Both the 110 and 130 millimeter Screw Baits come with three treble hooks per bait with two along the belly and one behind the rear prop. I didn't experience any fouling of the rear hook in the back prop during limited testing and usually those issues present themselves pretty quickly if at all.


Each bait features three hooks with the very last hook attached to the rear eyelet behind the rotating prop.

The props are presented on the bait along the front and rear screw eyes very similar in fashion to the large wood choppers we used recently down in the Amazon for Peacock Bass. In fact, the ScrewBait looks like a miniaturized version of a wood chopper only with a hard plastic, jerkbait profiled body, all the hardware is the same.


The underbelly of the Screwbait

Effectiveness: With baits that are of a familiar design and application, you can pretty much tell within the first couple of casts whether or not the bait is going to work for your purposes. With something that's new, you really have to throw and fish a bait a lot in order to evaluate its effectiveness.


The top of the bait

I lucked out with the ScrewBait. On this trip to Lake Sonoma with Zander, I tied the bait to the end of my line more just to see what the bait was all about rather than with the intent of really fishing it extensively. This is why it ended up on my 852C NRX instead of a more stout stick. The NRX was the only rod I had that did not require me to cut a bait off and retie.


There's actually a third size. This 70mm ScrewBait only has two hooks.

After a couple of casts and retrieves to observe the bait in the water and how slow I could really retrieve it to get the props turning, I re-cast the bait parallel to a fallen tree. It was really out of habit more than anything else. I was thinking to myself, after I brought the bait back, that I should throw a crank bait under that tree to see if I can coax a fish into coming out. Afterall, I had a cranking stick from Evergreen International that I needed to put through the paces.


Still trying to figure out the best places and times to throw this bait, but one thing is for sure - it tempts fish into biting!

To my surprise, as I was retrieving the ScrewBait in the water, I'm not even sure what depth I had let it sink to before beginning my retrieve because I was so distracted, my line went tight and my rod buckled over! I half heartedly swung back to set the hook and a few moments later, we had modest little Lake Sonoma smallmouth in the boat!


GanCraft's ScrewBait has sufficiently screwed with my head, but even with this confusion, I remained intrigued.

Availability: If our reports on this bait intrigue you, there is one slight disappointment with this bait. It is not a domestically available product in North America. Fortunately, in this global economy, sourcing something like a bait is not necessarily difficult, but of course, when ordering online from overseas, we are limited in terms of selection and prices are naturally tied to current exchange rates and exchange fees.

Ratings:

GanCraft ScrewBait 110 & 130 Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality Typical JDM Quality - superb 9
Performance It's built to swim straight and true and they do just that 8
Price JDM comes at a price! 6
Features Quality hooks and finishes 8
Design (Ergonomics) GanCraft detailing is very good 8
Application Best probably in pressured waters 8

Total Score

7.83
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ Does what it is designed to do and does so very well - Can be difficult to source
+ Quality of construction is top notch  
+ Hooks are a little light, but very sharp  

 

Conclusion: I'm not certain we're on the cusp of a screw bait revolution or rebirth, but based on my limited experience with this bait, it's obvious they do work. However, even after spending half a day with this bait, I have a hard time getting my head around its application. That lucky hit I received was never repeated the entire day despite efforts to recreate the circumstance at other laydowns in different coves on the lake. In those situations, I think I'd still rather have a crankbait or spinnerbait, but then again, I cannot fish a crank or spinner at the all together agonizing and tantalizingly slow pace that the ScrewBait can be retrieved. Suffice it to say GanCraft's ScrewBait sufficiently screwed with my head that day, but even with this confusion, I remained intrigued.


 

   

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