Three tail options, four sink rates – more details at the Bass Jam Live Blog>
Category: Tackle Tips & Reviews
Bass Jam: Jerry Rago’s new “Smoothy” 4-joint swimbait
This and three more baits from Jerry Rago on the Bass Jam Live Blog>
Bass Jam: First Peek at Tylure’s Buzz Bomber buzzbait
New Soft Swimbait From Jerry Rago
I just got my hands on a couple of Jerry Rago's new soft plastic swimbaits today. These baits will be released at the Bass Jam Tackle Show in November. One is a 7" bait with a standard boot tail while the other 6" has a wedge type tail.
I think both will be available in different hook configurations although I am not 100% sure on that.
The 7" bait I got has a through harness with a loop for the treble hook, while the 6" is set up for a Pro Rig type set up. They both appear that they are going to be versatile baits and will be available at Monster Tackle Online and Outdoor pro shop in Rhonert Park.
I'll be going out and sticking some fish on them this weekend hopefully.
Past vs. Present Pt. 3 – A Midnight Delta Duel: Vintage Pike-Oreno vs. MS Slammer
Part three of this series brings us to the first battle of old verses new. I have taken two lures – one vintage, one modern, and given them a fresh coat of paint to even the playing field.
I painted both lures last week in Kokanee trout color so they would be sort of a generic color to cover the different bodies of water I have planned for the fish-off.
For those of you that did not see part one and two here are the links
Battle Round #1: California Delta
The first battle begins on the Ca Delta – but this will not be just any normal trip. It started with a call to my friend Matt Allen yesterday. He had known about the lure duel and wanted to be part of it.
We decided to go night fishing. Those of you who know and fish the delta probably think were fucking crazy at this point, and well you may just be right.
For those of you who don't fish the delta, it can be a crazy place to fish even during the day. To make it even better Matt's Lowrance GPS crapped out on us half way back to the launch ramp on the way home.
Back to the story:
We got to our area to be fished a little after 9:00 pm and started to fish. We really had no idea what lure was going to out-perform the other. Matt got the vintage 50's Pike-Oreno and I fished the modern MS Slammer.
Not more than a half hour went by when Matt got the first bass on the Pike-Oreno, it was about a 2 pounder and the game was on.
The next couple hours went on – I got hit a couple times on the MS Slammer with no hook ups.
Matt on the other hand had two more 2 pounders and sealed the deal with an 8.2 pounder!
We were both pretty impressed by this time and traded out the lures.
Another hour in and Matt got the fifth fish of the night on the Slammer. Another cookie cutter 2 pounder.
This left the final score at 4 to 1
South Bend Pike-Oreno: 16 plus pounds for 4 fish
MS Slammer: a measly 2 pounds give or take for 1
We have two more lakes to fish before I call this one, but things are looking grim for the Slammer. I guess sometimes new does not mean better.
To be continued on Clear Lake. . .
First Crack At The New Mini Shell Cracker From Black Dog
I have known about this bait for quite a while now and have been fiending to get my hands on it, so when Jeremy from Black Dog Bait Co. told me he finally had his first small batch of prototypes, I made the hour and a half drive out to Livermoore to go fish the Delta.
Jeremy had been up half the night painting these little gems. I had talked to him the day before when he told me they had shown up just in time for Grant to bring them to ICAST Tackle Show coming up in Florida from July 15th-17th.
I love swimbaits but have been fishing crankbaits as a go-to technique for many years now, so this bait combines the two into one uniqe hybrid.
Unlike its older brother that is made of wood the new Mini Cracker is an injected plastic bait like its new Punker counterpart.
The advantage to this is durability and price. Like the new 6" inject Punker the new mini Shell Craker is going to sell in the $20.00 price range. (Holly shit, I say) This just means you can buy 5 at a time!
Down to the basics:
So how does it work? Well…..I must say very well.
I opted to throw it on 65# braid with a small moderate 7' 9"swimbait rod made by Rogue Rods. This bait could also be thrown on a heavy crankbait rod as well, but it would need to be pretty heavy.
It cranks down anywhere from 2 to 3 feet and is pretty boyant which will be very beneficial in bouncing off cover, and can also be slowly waked, very effectively.
I have not been this exited about a bait in a long time. Oh and did I mention it catches the hell out of bass yet?
The new Mini Cracker will come in all the traditional Black Dog colors such as Delta Craw, but also be looking for some new outfits with its release.
Here's some more photos of the bait.
Coming to a store near you soon.
Fishin With The Revenge Viberator
I started fishing chatter bait style baits a couple years back and have had some pretty good days on them. I love fishing them around heavy cover and large grassy areas where a lot of water needs to be covered.
The first thing that sold me on the Revenge Baits is the attention to detail in the design. It is pretty amazing how much detail is put into the painting of each bait. All of the heads are original designs, intricately hand carved during the design process. Add in the custom Viberator stainless blade and long front wire design and this is one well thought out bait, not just a jig with a blade thrown on the front.
Secondly, I really like the fact that these baits are available up to 1 oz in size. I don't like fishing light tackle or light baits if I can avoid it. The more practical reasons for this have a lot more to do with the fact that I like fishing in current and wind as well.
Where and when to fish these baits I'm still finding out myself. I have had luck shallow in and near cover, deep on rocky bottom and near bluffs, around docks and pretty much all over the frigging place. Pretty much anywhere you would throw a spinnerbait or a crank bait.
The thing I find pretty fasinating about the Viberator baits is the ability to match so many different types of forage just by changing the color and type of trailer you fish with it. Here are some of my favorite combos here.
Nate’s Baits New 8″ Trout Sneak Peek – UPDATED
I recently got a hold of one of Nate's Baits new 8" Trout swimbaits and gave it a go.
Upon receiving the bait I knew it was going to find its way into my rod compartment and not just in my endless pile of shit.
The bait comes in at just under 8". . . but I won't hold it against him.
Shown here next to his 11" trout bait to show the size difference, as well as the design similarities.
I first got a chance to throw the bait up at Clear Lake last weekend and was very impressed, to say the least. The action and consistency of the bait is actually better than his 11" version. The 8" trout has a great tail action with little to no roll and can be fished fast or slow with no variation.
Here is a custom painted one I just finished
This thing is going to be a spotted bass killer in my book (not that it won't be a good largemouth bait as well). I got the floater which will actually crank down and fish about a foot below the surface. As usual, the bait comes with Owner hooks and construction quality is top notch.
You can check out Nate's site at Nates Baits
I am not sure when it will be readily available, however it will be worth the wait.
Past vs. Present Part Deux: Vintage Pike-Oreno vs the MS Slammer
The two baits that will fish in a head to head battle have been stripped to their birthday suits.
The craftmanship on the old plug is crazy. It has a full wire-through loom and the hooks had to be cut off. I honestly don't even know if split rings existed when this bait was made. I will have to add split rings as a result but will try to match the original hooks as best I can when re assembling the bait.
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Now the baits have a thick coat of rock hard epoxy primer
I will get them sanded and painted next week and ready them for the face off. Stay tuned