22nd Century Swimbait Company TripleTrout Stubby Product Review

Lure Review

What the Stubby?!? : 22nd Century's Bulkier TripleTrout (continued)

Where this bait has an advantage, obviously, is in its extra stout construction. It’s a stocky (or stubby) bait for certain and probably displaces more water than the original TripleTrout when retrieving in the water. Whether this is good or bad will depend on what mood the fish are in but if you have one rod tied with a Stubby and another with the original TripleTrout, then you’ll be more prepared than most.

Another look at the rotating hook eyes and a look at the stock, bronze hooks.

Our 8” TripleTrout Stubby weighed in at 3.6 ounces while a standard TripleTrout of the same size weighs roughly 2.8 ounces. A gram by gram comparison reveals a difference of 24 grams. This all translates into a lure that casts further and with more authority in the TripleTrout Stubby when compared to the original but not quite enough of a difference to where you necessarily need a different rod and reel to handle it.

One feature we really like are the large eyeballs.

In the water, the Stubby descends at a rate of roughly one foot per second with a slightly head down position. Its buoyancy is enough to where, when it reaches the bottom, it can rest upright but half the time it seems to roll over to lay on its side, so it’s a little tough to rely on this bait as a deadstick presentation on the bottom.

And yes, it catches fish.

The swimming motion of this bait is classic TripleTrout. It swims in a snake like fashion, with a very slight top to bottom wobble. It very much resembles a fish that is laboring to swim which is probably why it gets hit!

Matched with a Z200 and Phenix Recon swimbait stick, the Stubby is a fun bait to fish - just like the original.

If you prefer a bait that does tricks when you vary your retrieve and mix in snaps of your rod tip, the TripleTrout Stubby knows how to dance as well. It will perform the classic 360 degree turn on the snap of your rod if you give it enough slack. On standard jerks and pauses, it moves about somewhat erratically, but still pretty standard for a three-piece bait.

The TripleTrout Stubby was a recommended buys in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide.

The hardware the comes with the Stubby is pretty typical of TripleTrout. The stock, bronze hooks are sharp, but pretty thin by today’s standards. Most will want to swap these out with the usual Owner ST36 replacement hooks (size 1 should do it). Otherwise, the Stubby also features rotating hook rings like the standard TripleTrout, stainless steel hinges, and a replaceable tail.

Ratings:

22nd Century TripleTrout Stubby Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	Solidly crafted and constructed	8
Performance	A sturdier TripleTrout	8
Price	Really good for a hand made bait	8
Features	Stock hooks could use an upgrade	6
Design (Ergonomics)	The big eyes make this lure look like a scared bait fish	7
Application	A very versatile bait	7.5
Total Score		7.42
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ A sturdier version of the original	- Can be difficult to source
+ Same as the original, but different

Conclusion: In the final analysis, 22nd Century Swimbait Company's Stubby is pretty much exactly as it appears, a sturdier, heftier, bulkier version of the original TripleTrout. Detailing on this bait, with the big eyes, updated finishes is good, but the real difference is, while it behaves similarly to the original, water displacement is different because this is a bulkier bait, and we all know how effective presenting something just a little bit different than the fish are accustomed to seeing can be, right?