Roman Made's Trick to Get Our Enthusiast Meter Moving

Total Score: 8.16 - EDITOR'S CHOICE!

Introduction: Going Native and fishing the hot bite is great in theory, but when you're a TackleTour editor, it's a challenging proposition. The amount of gear that piles up with each passing week can be quite daunting and the responsibility we bear to write about these products is real. Like with anything, too much of a good thing can dull your sense of excitement and enthusiasm. There used to be several key aspects of a product that would get that enthusiast meter boiling like hand made or even better, hand carved, wooden baits; naturally, high quality products from Japan; and with our headquarters in California, how can we resist the big bait craze?

Going Native and fishing the hot bite is great in theory, but when you're a TackleTour editor, it's a challenging proposition.

We visited a manufacturer recently who wanted some private opinions about their product; it's a service we frequently provide and a good way to build relationships. It's how we get you the inside story on a product and are set to go when the manufacturer is ready to go public. During one of our on the water testing days, our contact with this company was taking notes on our comments and remarked something to the effect of, "How do I tell if you really like something? You never seem to get excited?" My response? "I very rarely get excited anymore, but if I tell you I like something, I mean it."

Is the Roman Made Trick enough to re-ignite our enthusiasm for big baits?

So what's it take to move that enthusiasm meter anyway? Well, how about if we combine some of those key aspects mentioned above, plus one? Say we found a hand carved, wooden bait from Japan that just so happened to be a big bait, AND it actually looks, feels, and swims like a big bait should? That'd be a neat trick, wouldn't it? Well, as it turns out, Roman Made has this very bait up their sleeve and it's called, appropriately enough, the Trick!

Background: Ever since the introduction of 22nd Century's Triple Trout, the popularity of three-piece big baits has been unyielding. There's been a recent bump on the popularity meter with two-piece baits, and four piece baits were all the craze just a couple of years ago, but three piece baits kind of hold steady. Each configuration offers their own action with the general premise being the fewer joints on a bait, the wider it moves horizontally in the water.

Ever since the introduction of 22nd Century's Triple Trout, the popularity of three-piece big baits has been unyielding.

Up until the recent introduction of the Roman Made product in the North American Market, to find a quality big bait, more often than not, you had to stick to domestic manufacturers. Sure, some of the larger companies offer them, but it's tough to escape proven credibility of baits from manufacturers like Rago Baits, 22nd Century, Mattlures, 316 Lure Company, Black Dog, JSJ Baits, Tye Lures, Bucca Shad, and so on. I'm sure I missed a few and I'm sure I'll hear about it.

You want lore and mystique? It doesn't get any better than a quality product from Japan.

See, that's the thing, we love fishing products from all these companies, and many more, but it's no secret in the big bait market that there's a certain pride and arrogance associated not only with and between the manufacturers, but with all their loyal customers as well. Anytime you get a bunch of anglers together talking about who can catch the biggest fish with what bait on an oh so secret spot, you open the door to the ugly side of fishing – not just bass fishing but any fishing.

Each Roman Made bait is supposedly hand made and hand tuned right on Lake Biwa.

We do our best to divorce ourselves from the bickering, but every now and then it catches up with us and the only thing all that drama serves to do is sap the excitement and enthusiasm from our efforts to bring you the latest and greatest news about the hottest tackle. We're not referring to all the big bait manufacturers, of course, but it only takes a few sour apples to spoil the taste in our mouth; it makes it easy to divert our attention to other segments of the market.

It is said each bait takes up to twelve hours to complete.

Enter Roman Made, the manufacturer behind some record making catches in Lake Biwa, Japan, but up until recently, impossible to acquire unless you lived in that country. You want lore and mystique? It doesn't get any better than a quality product from Japan. Adding to that lore, each Roman Made bait is supposedly hand made and hand tuned right on Lake Biwa; it is said each bait takes up to twelve hours to complete. Add to all of that the fact, the bait they chose to introduce to the States first. The Mother, is a plus four hundred dollar (+$400) monster of a bait, and there's no better way to re-inspire our love for throwing big baits.

The Trick is Roman Made's answer to the traditional three piece bait.

Field Tests: Of course, the Trick is a much smaller, and reasonably priced bait. Has Roman Made trickled down the magic they inspire in their Mother series to this bait? I've been fishing this bait on and off for a few months now and have thrown it on a variety rods including Phenix's Recon C796H, iRod's IRA704C-H, Evergreen's Super Stalion Valiant, and my Megabass F6-72X4 Destruction. The bait weighs two and a half ounces (2.5oz) and is a lightweight when it comes to big baits, so as long as you're careful with your cast, just about any rod rated up to an ounce and a quarter in lure weight can handle this bait, but naturally if you're concerned about your rod warranty, stick within the manufacturer's ratings.

In this video short, you can see the underwater action of Roman Made's Trick