River2Sea JSJ Trigger Trout Swimbait Product Review

Lure Review

River 2 Sea and JSJ Team Up to Trigger Those Bass

Date:	6/10/20
Tackle Type:	Lures
Manufacturer:	River2Sea & JSJ Baits
Reviewer:	Cal

Total Score: 8.08 - GREAT

Introduction: The term "joint venture" is not something often heard in fishing industry circles - especially bass fishing circles. It happens, but it's a mixed bag as far as success stories go. Often, it is the efforts of a larger entity attempting to gain a foothold in a market where they are deficient by leveraging the talents of one that's smaller, more flexible. Throw in the category of "swimbaits" and this opens up a completely different realm of cautionary tales. So when we caught wind of a collaboration between bait manufacturer River2Sea and bait maker Josh St. Johns from JSJ Baits, two companies with roots right here in Northern California, and both of whom we're very familiar, we were cautiously optimistic. Here's a look at their joint venture product, the River2Sea JSJ Trigger Trout.

River2Sea JSJ Trigger Trout Swimbait Specifications
Type	Swimbait
Length	7.5"
Weight	3oz
Colors/Patterns	8
Material	Soft Plastic
Hooks	Custom #9/0 Weighted Swimbait Hook
MSRP	$27.99

Introducing River2Sea's JSJ Trigger Trout

Impressions: River2Sea produces and distributes this bait as the JSJ Trigger Trout. On the packaging, there's a logo for "JSJ Series". Hopefully that means the Trigger Trout is one of many more baits to come from this collaboration. For now, this bait is a seven and a half inch soft plastic bait that looks, pardon the pun, like a perfect sized snack for any hungry bass. It features a slit down the belly for rigging a custom, 9/0 swimbait hook (included), and another channel at the top of the bait to conceal the hook point.

There's a slit in the belly like a paddletail bait

The plastic that constitutes the bait has a good, firm, yet soft consistency and has a strangely sweet smell. The scent is a bi-product of the process, but serves as a convenient mask against human oils and scents. Detailing on the Trigger Trout is very good and there's even a scale patter molded into the plastic above what would be the fish's lateral line.

This channel in the top is a nice touch and allows you to conceal the hook point for weedless presentations

Real World Tests: I fished the Trigger Trout on board my modified Kistler KLX7107XXH. During the shelter in place orders here in Northern California, needing something to keep me occupied, I stripped the guides off this stick and re-wrapped them in spiral configuration just for fun. Liking how the rod performed with my Abu Garcia's Beast X, I decided to keep that combo together, but I did tie a leader of 20lb Sunline Super Natural to the end of the�Seaguar Smackdown 50lb braid for a stealthier presentation with this soft plastic swimbait.

The centering pin is so easy to install without the hook attached

Ease of Rigging : That custom hook that comes with the JSJ Trigger Trout has a centering pin that easily snaps on and off the hook. This makes it really easy to install the pin in the bait's nose without the awkward annoyance of the actual hook interfering with your efforts to achieve true alignment of the pin in the bait's head. Once installed, simply snap the pin back onto the hook and align your bait with the hook. If you need to adjust the pin in or out, just unsnap, adjust, then snap it back on. I didn't realize how much I needed this feature until I had it!

Rigged and ready to fish

Speaking of aligning the hook, one thing I did not notice about this bait until it was time to put it together so I could fish it, not only is there a slit in the belly for rigging, but there is an actual pre formed channel to guide the hook point through the bait and back out the top. No more guessing where to penetrate that hook point, or worrying about how difficult it will be for the hook point to come through the dense plastic of the bait. This preformed channel makes it all super easy and ensures perfect, true rigging each time.

You can see the hook channel in the bait's belly extends vertically to the hook point channel at top taking the guessing game out of where to penetrate the bait's body to complete rigging

Next Section: Easy to rig, easy to fish...