Real World Tests: Regardless the recipe for Ito and Imae's collaboration, what I wanted to find out is how tasty the tiny morsel of the IxI Blowly is to those green fish we all like to pursue so much. To that end, I relied once again on my shallow cranking combo for the year, one of my self wrapped Point Blank PB731HXF sticks paired with my Shimano Conquest 31HG spooled with #3 Varivas Monster PE Si-X and a leader of ten pound (10lb) Sunline Shooter.

The IxI Blowly is rated at 3/8oz (0.375oz)

It tipped our scale at 9.5grams or 0.335oz

Castability: Holding the bait's hooks tight to the body and shaking it in hand reveals a very subtle rattling sound almost to the point you could classify the IxI Blowly as being a silent runner - almost. More important, though, is the fact, this test reveals there are no moving bearings inside the bait to aid in casting performance. Yet, despite the lack of such momentum assisting technology, this little 9.5 gram crank is easy to present on a medium heavy powered casting rod. Especially when paired with the likes of a reel similar to the Conquest 31HG.

Water exits underneath the flared gills

Dive Time: The IxI Blowly is a very shallow runner getting down, by my estimation, no more than two or three feet. The interesting thing about this bait is, it does not come back to you in a straight line but rather kicks off to the side every now and then like some vibrating jigs tend to do.

A look at the IxI Blowly's diving bill

I don't know if this is caused by the water channel in the head responding to micro-currents or what, but it's a very interesting behavior and one that inspires confidence when it comes to triggering strikes. Casting up close to shore in shallow water situations, most of my hits came within a few cranks of the handle.

Wild Craw

I couldn't find a specification for the bait's brand of hooks, but typical of most JDM baits, the IxI Blowly's hooks are thin wire with a good bite and holding power. Of course, I was only using a ten pound leader, so angler beware if you're the type to use straight, fifty pound braid or something similar in these situations.

Conclusion: Maybe I'm falling out of touch with the brand, but I feel like the IxI Blowly kind of snuck into virtual store shelves under the radar. Perhaps, with all this attention to BFS and Big Bait tackle and techniques, conventional baits like a crank, simply aren't exciting enough to garner attention in the anti-social, social world of bass fishing groups, discussion forums, and the gram. Well, I'm here to say that if you've been overlooking this bait because it's not trendy, you're missing out on some fish catching fun. If you've hadn't heard about it up until this article, well, now's our chance.