The i-Slide 262T's Long Journey En Route to Earning Our Ultimate Award

Total Score: 7.83 - ULTIMATE ENTHUSIAST AWARD

Introduction: For all our testing duties searching for the one, catching the fever, cranking them up, and finally declaring WTF (what the finesse), throwing and fishing big baits is really what gets me excited to hit the water. There are days, in between critical testing trips, where I will throw nothing but big baits while Zander has a deck full of rods rigged with product in all different categories. I may not get bit all day, but when I do, that rush of adrenaline and mystery as to what's at the end of my line is akin to savoring a nice glass of Cabernet with a premium cut rib-eye without the calories and risk of heart disease. Nonetheless, if you're not careful, some baits will cozy up to your heart and ruin you for anything else. Megabass of America has a habit of doing this with their product, and while this bait is no longer new to the scene, it's spot on the pages of TackleTour is long overdue. Here's my story with Megabass's i-Slide 262T.

Sometimes product reviews go quickly. Sometimes it's a journey. The i-Slide 262T's story with us began in 2015

Impressions: The i-Slide 262T made its debut sometime around 2014 or 2015, but I was fortunate enough to set eyes on the prototype back in 2013 during my tour of Megabass HQ and subsequent meeting with Yuki Ito himself. Of course, the company also introduced smaller versions in the i-Slide 135B and i-Slide 185, both featuring their MagHold tech that secures the treble hooks to the bait's belly, but to be quite honest, I feel as though those are different baits and neither has really held any appeal to me even though they are much easier to fish. Maybe that's the problem. The journey with those baits is too easy.

The i-Slide 262T's packaging resembles a smartphone more than a piece of fishing tackle, let alone a lure

The i-Slide 262T is far from an easy bait to get to know. It measures 262 millimeters which equals somewhere around ten and one third inches (10 1/3"). I mean, how do you even measure a third of an inch unless you have an engineering scale? It weighs six full ounces and comes with two, very large hooks. But those stats don't tell the story.

When you order this bait, it doesn't come packaged in some hard plastic, clamshell packaging, or thrown into a some kind of crusty soft plastic bag. No the i-Slide 262T arrives in a custom made cardboard package that makes you think you ordered some super skinny iPad or a new fangled remote from Apple.

The i-Slide 262T's careful packaging is a clear indication of how the bait should be revered

Within that cardboard box, the i-Slide is nestled securely in a custom molded hard plastic channel - one for the bait, the other for the tail. The hooks are also in a separate compartment underneath the bait and tail. Yes, that's right, assembly is actually required with this bait. You'd think for $100, the least Megabass could do is put the tail on for you. Little did I know, it's part of the training on how to care for your new toy.

Colors for this bait, like most Megabass product, vary by month and year. At the time of this writing, there seem to be five core colors, but I've seen many more including some limited edition colors that almost make me want to trade in my Vision OneTen collection in exchange - almost.

Some assembly is required