If they aren't biting, throw a uniquely lifelike new spinner, the Tantrum!
 

Total Score: 8.66

Introduction: Tantrum Lures produces an exciting new spinner bait that utilizes unique materials and an exciting new shape to give anglers a new way to fool fish. The Tantrum's Zinc Alloy body is environmentally friendly, and the unique shape does an excellent job of mimicking baitfish.
 

About Tantrum Lures: The Tantrum story is actually the Tony Gunderson story. Tony Gunderson has been developing the Tantrum for 47 years, and it was actually a stroke of bad luck that led to the Tantrum's completion. When a back problem took Tony out of the plumbing business he suddenly had a lot of free time to develop this exciting new product. After 19 months and 150 prototypes the Tantrum was born....and has been making headline news ever since.

Impressions: The first we heard of the Tantrum was when we heard that a company had developed a new shaped spinner bait completely fabricated from non polluting materials. The Tantrum is a very environmentally friendly lure thanks to it's 100% lead free construction. The lure is made of Zinc alloy, which is not only good for the environment but gives the Tantrum some really unique capabilities.

When I first received these exciting lures from Tony I immediately noticed that this spinner bait had the most lifelike profile I have ever seen. First the head of the spinner is angled like a bluegill, and the skirt is attached to a protruding nub on the spinner's back, rather then just inline. This gives the Tantrum a unique profile that very closely resembles a real life baitfish.  The design looked fantastic, but how well would this radical new shape perform in real situations?

Real World Test: To put the Tantrum through the paces we hit three local lakes (Anderson, Coyote, and Lexington) and put the Tantrum in water that ranged from clear to murky. What we found surprised us.

The Shape & Design: The Tantrum's shape is by no means conventional. It is designed to be nearly identical to a 1/2 inch bluegill. The Tantrum's head actually lends to the profile of the spinner by connecting seamlessly to the profile of the uniquely mounted skirt. This combination gives the Tantrum its realistic elliptical shape. The powdered painted body not only protects the Zinc but gives the Tantrum a realistic texture. To top it off the head the Tantrum features 1/4 prism molded eyes. The Tantrum's skirt has 60 strands of thin strands that are small and have a rippled texture. This also cause the Tantrum's skirt to look larger in volume as well as more realistic in the water then normal round or flat stranded skirt designs.

The Cast & Retrieve: The Tantrum weighs 1/2oz but has a much bigger volume then traditional spinner baits of the same weight because of its unique shape and use of Zinc Alloy. The Tantrum can be larger because Zinc is less dense then lead. It is this reason that Tony was able to design a new shape...and ultimately a new type of movement. casting the Tantrum is easy and it sails through the air effortlessly. On the retrieve anglers will feel a unique movement that feels slower...and looks more lifelike. The larger Zinc head is a larger flat surface in which the water must "plane" across making the Tantrum's movement eerily lifelike. In addition I noticed that it sinks 10-15% slower then traditional spinners because of the increased water resistance. Because of this slower drop the Tantrum is easier to keep in the desired strike zone. The Tantrum's blades rotate smoothly and quickly through the water thanks to high quality "Worth" swivels.

One thing the Tantrum does exceptionally well is pull through structure. The triangular head bumps up and over structure like stumps and submerged branches unlike pointed spinners that often get lodged. In addition, in weeds the thin head pulls through easily as well.

The Colors: The Tantrum comes in 9 colors that all mimic a different type of fish, and can be used in multiple conditions. For example Tantrum explains that their white/chartreuse resembles a sunfish while the white/red looks like a bleeding shad. The 9 colors available are enough for anglers to use the Tantrum in any condition of water. In the tests we had the most success with the white Tantrum in clear to slightly stained water, and the Chartreuse and red did best in cloudy to muddy water. The Tantrum uses two blade shapes and a combination of blade colors (gold and silver) that added an increased amount of flash.

The Action: In our tests we went out on the TT bass boat and the other editors and myself would fish the same zones at the same time, with the same colors, with traditional spinners versus the Tantrum. What we found was the Tantrum got just as many hits as the standard spinner baits in good conditions. But where the tantrum really shone was in poor conditions when bass totally ignored the more conventional spinner baits. It is in these conditions that throwing the Tantrum proved very successful. Whether it is the more realistic look and movement or the fact that the Tantrum is different then anything the Bass have ever seen before, the Tantrum proved to be a real winner at scaring up those otherwise reluctant fish.

Overall the Tantrum was an exciting lure to fish and did exceptionally well landing bass. Another interesting thing to note was that the Tantrum tended to land larger bass in all our tests then traditional spinners. This may be because the larger presentation is more appealing to larger predatory bass.

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Conclusion: Tony Gunderson has succeeded in producing a unique new lure that attracts fish when other blades simply are not producing. With the combination of the Zinc alloy and a new head and skirt design the Tantrum is a exciting new bait that big bass identify as prey. While the Tantrum may be hard to find in local stores right now anglers can get the hand made lures direct from Tony at TantrumLures.com. Here at TackleTour we test a lot of new lures every week, and the Tantrum is among the most exciting lures based on its many unique features, and the impressive action the lure received in various conditions. The Tantrum is definitely a lure that belongs in the serious bass angler's arsenal.

Until next time...Tight Lines!