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New Swimbait
Concepts from Castaic and Reaction Strike
| Date: |
8/11/10 |
| Location: |
Las Vegas, NV |
| Admission: |
Buyers & Press Only |
| Manufacturer: |
Reaction
Strike/Castaic |
| Reviewer: |
Team TackleTour |
Introduction:
Reaction Strike is known
for their swimbaits and recently they brought well known brand Castaic Baits
into their fold. This ICAST they displayed a number of prototypes as well as two
new swimbaits nearing production and they are certainly not “me too” offerings.
A few of the prototype bodies that
Reaction Strike and Castaic are working on
When we met up with big
bass hunter Mike Long at ICAST he told us we just had to check out the new
swimbaits that Castaic had in the Reaction Strike booth so we made a bee line to
the booth where we were greeted by Rick Quade. Rick told us that together
Castaic was no moving full speed ahead with a wide range of baits and reached
behind the table to show us some of the still in development prototypes of new
soft bodied baits.
One of the new baits nearing
production is the Castaic Kicker which has no joints
While they were still
working out the details on these prototypes there were two baits that he did
show us that are near mass production. The first was the bait that Mike Long
described as the “Revolver.” When we first looked at this flat sided swimbait it
did indeed have the profile of a gun. The tail arched downwards and while the
head was 3D the body from behind the gills to the tail was flat.
The head isn't quite flat and has
rounded features...
This somewhat odd looking
swimbait is officially called the “Kicker” and the flat body is designed to give
this swimbait a very unique eel-like action when retrieved. We tested the lure
in a fish tank at the booth and while there was not a whole lot of room we found
that the lure exhibited this wave action almost immediately when retrieved.
...but the body is flat which
gives this swimbait a very unique eel like swimming action
The Kicker also has
another unique ability that it can collapse extremely easily in the mouth of
fish, it basically rolls up into a small ball. While it is armed with a top hook
there is also a hook hanger below if anglers want to add a stinger. At the time
of launch in the next few weeks there will be 10 patterns available and all will
be 7 ½” in length, a smaller 5 ½” version will be released later. Each Kicker
will retail for a very reasonable $12.99.
Because the bait is so flat it can
collapse easily in a fish's mouth
Also coming soon is an
extremely long multi-segmented swimbait that was made out of a mold of an actual
American eel. This long bait is designed to closely mimic the eels side to side
movement when swimming in the water and will come armed with a fluorocarbon
stinger.
Also coming is a new swimbait made
from an actual mold of an American Eel
This bait is designed for
anglers in the East Coast to match the hatch. Pricing has not yet been
finalized.
Rick shows us a massive version of
the Reaction Strike Revolution swimbait
Conclusion:
Reaction Strike’s popular
Revolution Swimbaits are well known among anglers and we were excited to see
that development of Castaic baits will continue under the new company, and it
seems the team has wasted no time in beefing up their offerings. The Kicker was
probably the most unique swimbait at ICAST and the hybrid round and flat design
of this new bait gives it a unique look and feel that translates into a very
different swimbait action in the water. This is not your usual tail wagging
swimbait, the entire body slinks as a wave travels from head to tail much like a
live eel. It isn’t hard to imagine a bass absolutely mashing this flat sided
bait.
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