The
“Prologue” to this Worm’s Story Starts with Choices

Date: |
9/23/12 |
Tackle type: |
Lure |
Manufacturer: |
Roman Made |
Reviewer: |
Zander |
Total Score: 8.00 -
GREAT
Introduction: Roman Made is not just about swimbaits alone and the
company’s aggressive looking Prologue worms are designed with a similar
attention to detail and share the same goal, to catch big fish. Once only
available in Japan these baits are now coming to the U.S. and offer anglers a
new weapon to toss when targeting lunkers that desire something substantial, yet
subtle.
Roman
Made
Prologue
Worm
Specifications |
Type |
Plastic worm |
Material |
Plastic |
Depth |
0 ft
weighted,
floating
class |
Size |
5.5", 8",
14" |
Colors/Patterns |
3 (Cola,
Green
Pumpkin,
Watermelon) |
MSRP |
$9.99
(5.5" size) |

Plastics from Roman Made?
Impressions:
Thanks
to increased distribution Roman Made is starting to make a name for itself in
the U.S. market, and while these baits are already the stuff of legend in Japan
the arrival of the hard bodied swimbaits has been met with praise from big bass
hunters. Anglers are finding the company’s wooden swimbaits to be among the most
consistent swimmers, capable of enticing lunker bass to strike when they are
aggressive. But what about those times when the fish prefer more subtle prey?
Roman Made also offers a single line of plastics called the Prologue worms.
These stickbaits feature a distinctive profile, which from certain angles looks
more like a weapon than it does a traditional worm.

The Roman Made Prologue is
available in a range of sizes
With heads on
both ends that resemble a bullet or the tip of a spear the Prologue is designed
to vibrate in the current enticingly or come to life with even the slightest
twitch of the rod tip. The Prologue is available in three sizes, a 5.5”, 8”, and
an absolutely massive 14” version that definitely qualifies as a “big bait.” The
lure comes in three colors Smoke, Scuppernong, and Watermelon and all three
patterns are actually quite similar and range from green to brown in
coloration.

The lure is buoyant so when
weighted down the tail floats upwards
Real World
Tests:
Fishing plastic baits is just about the easiest type of testing that we do.
Unlike many products where we have to log a certain amount of hours to test for
durability it doesn’t take too long to formulate an opinion of just how
effective these baits are in a wide range of situations. One thing we really
like to do is to fish the plastics side by side with other proven lures to
compare effectiveness in similar situations as well as make sure to toss the
lures across a wide range of temperatures to see just how they perform in both
warmer and cooler applications. To test the Prologue worms we purchased a number
of these baits directly from Tackle Warehouse and also procured the larger baits
through the company’s U.S. representative. We targeted largemouth bass with
these baits at the California Delta, Clear Lake, and Lake El Salto in Mexico.

Without weight the lure can even
be used as a twitchbait as it floats to the surface
Casting:
Though new to domestic anglers this lure has been used in Japan for years and
was initially developed to target big bass at famed Lake Biwa. Designed to be
both easy and effective to fish the Prologue is among the easier plastics to
cast. The lure is relatively substantial in weight and even the smaller sizes
can be cast weightless when reels that are properly dialed in. Anglers that want
more casting distance can use a small tungsten weight and fish Texas or
Carolina, but need to make sure not to overburden this lure as they do not want
to inhibit the action once the bait hits the bottom.

The largest 14" size is more like
a snake than a worm
Retrieving:
Versatility really is the name of the game with the Prologue. When you first
look at this somewhat oddly shaped worm it seems like this would be a difficult
work to properly rig, yet this is far from reality as this bait can be
effectively fished so many different ways. I preferred to rig the worm through
the bullet shaped head when fishing Texas or Carolina and also found this a
great bait for wacky and Neko rigging.

The Prologue gets introduced to El
Salto, Mexico
Interestingly
the company also recommends fishing the Prologue with a small jighead and I can
understand the presentation but found that unless I was using a very small
jighead I would often snag up if fishing too close to structure. In certain
conditions I can definitely see this technique working but still prefer some of
the other methods which allow me to get right alongside or into the snaggy fish
holding structure.

The bait resembles a centipede
Next Section: A variety of techniques 