Does it live up to the hype??

Let’s back up here just a second. The MagLip isn’t exactly new to the market, but it suffered from a bit of an identity crisis for several years as the “M2 SP Flatfish” before legendary salmon and steelhead guru Buzz Ramsey joined Yakima’s ranks and decided to give the plug a new name…and a new lease on life.

Features & Specs

For comparison’s sake, the MagLip is roughly the size of a K14 Kwikfish and a tad longer than the original M2 Flatfish (Ramsey says that there’s a larger size…think K15 or T-50…and also a steelhead model in the works and those may be out next year). It’s key feature is it’s bill: Yakima says that the deep cupped design allows the lure to get down as deep as 20 on the troll or flatlined. Once it’s down in the “zone,” the lure is said to have a “skipbeat” action.

The MagLip also comes in just about every color a salmon angler could want…

On the Water Test

I busted out the Mag Lip recently while working for a fishery agency that wanted spring Chinook for tagging purposes. Initially, I only fished the plug on one rod, trusting my job performance to my tried and true K15 Kwikfish on the other sticks. While not yet a believer in the bait’s ability to catch fish, I was immediately impressed with its diving ability…it got down in some really hot water and stayed there…even after the other plugs got overwhelmed and kicked to the surface (we primarily flatlined).

It didn’t take long for the plug to get bit, but bugle-lipped brown trout weren’t on the list of target species. Oh-oh…not a good sign!

I'm a sucker for a MagLip!

Not a sucker...repeat...not a sucker!

Yeaaa baaaaby!

Apparently kings (& suckers) aren't the only fish that like the MagLip!

Conclusion

Okay, so obviously the MagLips catch fish. The spring kings here absolutely mobbed them as you can see by all the chew marks and worn paint on this one…

No paint left in spots...a good sign!

Doesn’t need tuning

The package says the MagLip doesn’t need tuning…something that I’ve never really bought into…But, after running these things for three weeks straight now, I’m pretty pleased with how little I need to tweak ‘em. Wrap ‘em up and throw ‘em in the water and they run!

Of course, you can tell a lot about a plug’s action by checking the wear pattern on the leading edge of the bill. All but one of mine look good and symmetrical like this one:

An evenly-worn bill means the plug's trackling true.

Dives 20 feet

Though Yakima recommends letting out 120 feet of braid to get the lure down to 20 feet on a flatline, we gt bit several times in one particular hole that is 17-20 feet deep using 50-lb. braid (and 25-lb. mono leader) out 85 feet on a Shimano Tekota 300 linecounter reel, so this thing does get down! If using a sardine wrap, the designers recommend that your fillet should measure 1 3/4 inches long by 5/8 inches wide, but I’m here to say that the plug dives just fine with a much larger slab of meat on the belly.

You can really see how well it dives when you reel the MagLip back to the boat. When it gets to the boat, your line angle will be straight down! I’d imagine that its diving capabilities would also make this lure a sweetheart of a plug for trolling northern lakes for big macks in the spring, too.

In one area we fished, the kings were stacked in 8 to 12 feet of water but the current was too slow to backtroll. Instead, we fished ‘em like sardine-wrapped bass plugs — casting and retrieving. The cool thing about the lures is they dive deep without having to crank too quickly — so I could get a nice slow ”thump” while keeping contact with the bottom. Not only was that one hell of a fun way to catch salmon, the MagLips proved to be an extremely deadly tool in that situation, which kinda opens my mind up to several other places where that just may work.

Has a “Skipbeat” action

Call it what you will, our spring kings really, really liked the way the MagLip wiggles. When fished on a slow grind or backtrolled in soft water, it has a nice, wide wobble at slow speeds (for all you fans of the K16 out there, it looks like a smaller version) but it also hangs extremely tough down in fast water. As far as skipbeat action goes, I can see it…the MagLip has a bit of an erratic wander to it now and then, but it always comes back “home.”

As of now, I really can’t find much of a downside to the MagLip. About all I can come up with is maybe the paint jobs, while nice, aren’t quite as durable as other plugs. But, if the thing’s wiggling properly and getting bit, who cares? I’ve now got a few that have very little paint left (from getting bit so frequently) and the lack of color hasn’t stopped the takedowns…

Rigging

The stock No. 1 roundbend treble hooks on the MagLip are actually pretty tacky, but I always change out the hooks on all my plugs. Apparently, you can run double 1/0 or 1/0-2/0 (2/0 on tail) siwash on the thing, but I went with No. 1 Owner 2x Stinger Trebles the first go around and found that the extra stout hooks were a bit heavy and made it ride a little lower in the water. Though pretty flimsy, Gami No. 1 EWG trebles were deadly, but I had to change them out every a fish or two.

To allow the hooks a nearly 360-degree range of motion when fighting a fish, I added an extra split ring between the hook and the lure body, which kept out hooked-to-landed ratio very high.

Bottom Line

I’m buying more, what can I say? And I’m really looking forward to fall Chinook and coho to do a little more “testing!”

More Info

Yakima Bait Company

We’ve been out scouring the West Coast sportsmen’s shows this winter, in search of the coolest new fishing stuff…and let me tell ya, brother, we found plenty! From boats to plastic baits and everything in between — there’s a lot of stuff out there that you just may need.

Here are some of our favorites…

A Fresh Take on Driftboats

We’re always suckers for new boat concepts and Chuck Gross at Pavati Marine is an energizer bunny full of slick new ideas. Okay, so he’s obviously the “drift boat with doors” guy, which makes so much sense, but he’s just introduced his new fully customizable floor layout.

Everything's movable in here...

No more anchors bouncing around in the bottom of the boat on the way home!

Swimbaits for the Rest of Us

For those of us not named Skeet Reese or Kevin Van Dam, amassing a workable collection of swimbaits is an expensive proposition. These days you can spend more on a rubber bait that looks like a trout than you paid for your first truck. Now, however, thanks to Ho Pham, the president of the Real Fish Bait Company, us Regular Joes can actually afford a collection of swimbaits without taking a second out on the house.

Pham has an impressive list of cool baits that cost less than ten bucks, including Crappie, Bluegill, Tilapia and, our fave, the goldfish…

Bet they've never seen one of these before!

A swimbiat for under $10? No kidding!

Real Fish Bait Co. will have trout and shad models out soon too and Pham has plans for all sorts of baits in the near future like spanish mackerel, sardine, bullhead, baby bass, brook trout, balllyhoo, baby pike, brown trout, anchovy, baby tuna and a bunch more.

What’s really cool about this small company is Pham truly wants to know what his customers want. To that end, you can log onto Real Fish Bait Company, and tell him exactly what types of baits you’d like to see him produce — and in what sizes.

Sweet New Bass Sticks

Well, if you’re going to pick up some of those swimbaits, you might as well get a nice rod to throw ‘em on. It just so happens that you’re in luck! Lamiglas has just come out with a new lineup of rods: The Excel Series, which features 10 graphite models and 1 glass version to cover pretty much any bassin’ situation you’ll encounter: froggin’, small swimbaits, crankin’, rip baits, drop shot, etc…they’re all here.

The Excel’s feel really nice & light and have crisp actions.What’s really great about them is they come in at a really user-friendly price-point in the $99-$119 range. These days, to get a sick, American-made rod for a hundred bones is almost unheard of. Check ‘em out at Lamiglas

Back and Better than Ever!

It was a sad day for salmon and steelhead guides across the West when we found out Shur-Cure egg and prawn cure kinda just dropped off the map. For many of us, this stuff was like gold — the easiest cure to use ever created and the fish really, really seemed to like it. Unfortunately, the cure’s creator, Mr. Shur-Cure himeself, Budd Mackey, got tired of making it a while back and all of us diehards had to find a new cure.

That's Ms. Shur-Cure, to you pal!

It's almost like organic fish food!

Finally, Somebody Thought of This!

Let’s face it, the worst part of owning a driftboat is the whole tilt it up so it can drain scenario. You know the story — you go to rinse it out or store it and always seem to be propping it up precariously with a 2×4 or stick or whatever…It’s just a matter of time before the boat comes cashing down on somebody or it hits so hard that you break the trailer tongue.

Well, finally there’s an answer! Ken Smith has come up with a simple yet totally ingenious drift boat stand that allows you to prop up the boat safely.

A little piece of mind, eh?

With 4 bolts, you quickly and easily install this bad boy to your trailer and you’re good to go. Just pull the pin, lift the trailer and the leg drops into place. Put the pin back in and you’re done…And when it’s time to hit the road, the stand easily kicks up and out of the way.

Ready for the road...

Check ‘em out at Ken’s website, www.smitty-tackle.com

The Eel Deal

Being the Delta striper junkies that we are, we were drawn like moths to the flame to the Vision Hooks & Tackle booth when we saw their new line of sexy swimbaits: the Surf Eels and Sand Eels.

Though we have yet to get any into our hot little hands, these babies have that holographic paint job and skinnier profile that look a lot like small smelt, baby steelhead and salmon that stripers seem to really enjoy eating. See more colors at the website.

Cut it Up!

Finally, this one comes to you from our “we’re not really sure why we need this, but it sure looks fun,” file. Allow us to present Motion Marine’s Lil’ Mo Jet. These micro jet sleds come in three different sizes (12′, 12′ and 16′) but the little guy somehow looks the coolest.

Big Fred and Lil' Mo

See it a Motion Marine

RoboWorm’s new 5″ and 6″ Ocean Swimbait tails look to be just the ticket for anglers looking for a quality bait with which to tackle stripers, halibut, calicos and all sorts of other rough and tumble saltwater and inshore critters….without having to break the bank.

But that’s in the package, how do they fish?? We found out…

FEATURES & SPECS

• Soft & Durable
• Realistic scale pattern
• Life-like fins
• Bell-Shaped Tail
• Available in 5″ & 6″
• Current Colors: Purple Blue Flash, Brown Green Neon, Brown Orange Flash, Lime Flash, Red Orange Flash, Peacock Flash
• MSRP: About $1.50

Ocean Swimbaits come in 5-inch and 6-inch sizes

The Robo Ocean Swimbaits are pretty sexy looking, with a nice scale finish and anatomically correct fins. Most swimbait tails on the market today are simply bodies with tails, no extra stuff like that, so it’s a nice touch. Does it really matter? Good question…when I think of a wolf pack of stripers attacking, it’s hard to imagine them noticing the dorsal fin on one of these babies, but then again, I’ve seen them also get oddly finicky at times too…

ON THE WATER TEST

Okay, so I’m gonna make this pretty short. I got my hands on these things when we had a big lull in the fishing here in the Central Valley. The stripers had been on a major blitz the week prior, but the action had all but dried up in a few days. In fact, I hadn’t caught a fish in the previous couple days (down from 100 a day the week before), so I guess it wasn’t totally a fair test. On the other hand, maybe it was the best possible time to try out a new bait.

Put me in coach!

I rigged up a 5-inch model on a 1/2-ounce Strike King head and went to work. In the water, next to the boat, the bait looked good, the bell-shaped tail kicking frantically. I prefer my swimbaits to have a fairly stiff body section with a good tail kick and that’s what the Robo has…a good sign!

Again, I’m going to keep this short. We had a couple hours to try ‘em out. On my second cast…

Then, not long thereafter:

I love the taste of plastic in the morning!

In our short outing, the Robo produced 5 bites from stripers and one super aggressive smallie.

The non-striped bass also liked the Ocean Swimbait

CONCLUSION

We didn’t have a ton of time to test the RoboWorm Ocean Swimbait out, but the early returns suggest that these things definitely work. Unfortunately, we didn’t have wide-open fishing to test out the lure’s durability, but I’ve spent a lot of time throwing swimbaits in my day and the bait sure seems like it would hold up — especially if you used a little Super Glue on the hook collar. I don;t think you can go too wrong with these babies if you’re into fishing the California Delta, bay halibut, rockfish, So Cal inshore, etc.

Obviously, they’ll be of use to freshwater anglers, too. Heck, I may even take some pike fishing with me this summer in Alaska!

When the the crappies and brownies ain’t biting, bust out “The Floater,” the self-proclaimed “No. 2 Lure that is No. 1″

Features

Produced by Sewer Lure (who else?), The Floater has some extremely impressive features. According to the packaging, The Floater:

• Imitates browns & crappies

• It’s body showcases the exquisite look of fine brown imitation Corinthian leather (with a very rich and healthy glow)

• Hooks that have so much “bling” that fish would close their eyelids…if they had ‘em.

Celebrity Endorsements

But don’t just take it from the manufacturer, listen to what some of the top industry pros have to say about The Floater:

“When I get in a pinch, I always tie on my Floater.” — Fishing Pro, Chuck N. Feecies

“I smell a winner!” — Doug Septiques, author, Drainfield of Dreams

The Test

After extensive testing in the waters downstream of the Sacramento sewer treatment outflow, I can say for certain that the lure floats extremely well…just like the real thing. It also has a very realistic finish, though maybe could use a splash of color (a kernel or two of corn, perhaps?) for the days when the bite goes into the toilet.

Overall, The Floater is a Total Piece of Crap!!

You know that old saying that “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it?” Well, I kinda figured that was going to be the case with Luhr Jensen’s new K15x Kwikfish. More to the point…if it’s not broken, don’t break it.

After all, why take the world’s greatest salmon plug and change it? I just don’t get it, but then again, the company was recently purchased by Rapala, who, if you’ll recall, also bought out STORM Lures and took the perfectly good Wiggle Wart lineup and completely re-tooled it to the point that no steelhead angler worth his salt would ever buy one. But I digress…

Features

While the old school K15 and it’s new punk brother the K15x may be approximately the same size, that’s about where the similarities end. The new ones feature holographic finishes, VMC SureSet hooks and supposedly never need to be tuned.

The Test

I have to admit I’ve not been impressed with the K15x’s big brother, the K16x after putting it through some extensive testing in Alaska and it was hard to shake that bias. But, I got over myself and gave the new K15x an honest look.
The K15x comes in some fancy new holographic paint schemes with catchy names like Vitamin C, Mardi Gras, Rainbow Sherbert, Limetreuse, Lemon-Lime and Sour Apple. Unbelievably, however, there’s not a single chartreuse bill/silver body model among them. That’s a serious problem!! Maybe the company has plans to add one later but I couldn’t find it.

So, I opted for a “Vitamin C,” which looks kinda cool from a catching fishermen standpoint, but sorta lackluster when you’ve got kings on the the brain. However, in the water the lure looked surprisingly good.

A major drawback to the lure is the fact that you can’t open the hook attachment eyes. This is a major issue if you like to run single siwash hooks or trebles with barrel swivels between the lure and hook. This was obviously designed by someone who’s not spent a whole lot of time fishing plugs for salmon!

The packaging of the new Kwikfish proudly proclaims “No Tuning Required,” which is probably the single biggest mistake Luhr Jensen made from a marketing standpoint. There’s not an experienced salmon angler out there who didn’t go “yea, right” when they initially saw that. Never needs tuning if you don’t mind a lure that doesn’t run properly…

After wrapping my Vitamin C up with a fresh sardine, I dropped it over the side on the Trinity River and it started pulling hard right instantly. And therein lies another big problem…I can live with a plug that needs tuning (they all do), but with the fixed heavy wire line attachment eye instead of the old screw eye, it takes a serious set of pliers to get the thing to move at all. No quick, easy tuning here!

Once I did get her running straight, however, the K15x tracked true and actually had a pretty nice wiggle to it. It also dove down extremely well. To be perfectly honest, the fishing has been horrible this year and the lure didn’t get as long a test as I would have liked. However, in the first hole I fished it, one of the client rods got a takedown…
…on a year when 0-3 bites per day were the norm, that’s fairly significant. Once we had a fish hooked up, I was curious to see how the VMC SurSet hooks held.

They’re kinda odd-looking contraptions, with one tine quite a bit larger than the other two. The fish, a 25 pounder, was hooked extremely solidly, so I can’t complain there…

Conclusion

Well, again it was a test limited to the last day of the season for me on the Trinity and the K15x ended up getting one of our two fish — and I only dropped it into the final hole of the drift. So, it obviously works. I’m not totally sold on a few aspects like the fixed line eye and hook attachment points and lack of a chartreuse bill/chrome body model (tell me again why you wouldn’t make a salmon lure in the most popular salmon color of all time??).

I guess the bottom line is the K15x is a plug you shouldn’t ignore and is worthy of more testing. I’m just not sure what the advantage of it is over the original. It may dive a bit deeper in a flatline situation, but not much. I’m still a bit confused..seems like a nice lure, but what’s the point? I mean, the original K15 is still the best salmon lure ever. Unless, don’t tell me, they’re going to discontinue the old school model. Noooooooo!!!

It’s no secret that pink plastic worms are deadly on steelhead, but we’ve pretty much been flogged endlessly with every possible way to use them a hundered times over, right?

Well, not exactly…Take a look at the possibilities that Mad River Manufacturing’s new Worm Jigs offer and you may see pink worms in a totally new light.

Overview

Mad River Mfg., already the industry leader in pink worm technology, recently introduced it’s slick new Worm Jigs in 3- and 4-inch sizes. They come in several “anadramous” colors — Glo Pink, Pink Pearl, Methiolite, Bubble Gum and Pink/Chartreuse tail — and three different lead head sizes: 1/16, 1/8 and 1/4. In other words, there’s probably a worm in the lineup that will cover most situations you’ll encounter.

They also come stock with No. 1 or 1/0 Owner X-Strong hooks to ensure you keep a hold of any big bruisers you may happen to hook.

A New Twist

As I mentioned earlier, we’ve all heard and read about drifting pink worms and backtrolling them behind divers…yada, yada, yada…but with Worm Jigs, you have some new options. The obvious method involves suspending them under a float for steelhead, but I’ve also found them very effective when fished on the swing through tailouts.

Worm Jigs also can be just the ticket for moody coho when fished with a hopping motion just above the bottom. I’ve also done well on them dead drifted under floats for chum — and of course, trout and dollies will gobble them up.

In short, Mad River Mfg.’s really onto something wit these babies and I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to use them that have yet to be discovered…

Okay, so big bass and stripers often get that way…big…by eating a ton of threadfin shad, right? So why not throw something at ‘em that imitates one of their favorite menu items? In a nutshell, that’s pretty much the idea behind SPRO’s new 4-inch BBZ-1 Shad.

BBZ-1 Shad in Sexy Lavendar

Overview

Designed by swimbait guru, Bill Siemantel, the BBZ-1 shad is, indeed, a pretty sexy bait. Just sitting there in the package, it struck me as one of the better-looking shad baits around. According to the fine folks at SPRO, the BBZ-1 is “one of the best lures ever to hit the market — in terms of looks, actions, durability, versatility and a price point that everyone can afford (they retail around $20).”

It comes in 4 colors — Dirty Shad, Natural Shad, Sexy Lavender Shad and Blue Back Herring and in three weights: Fast Sink, Slow and Floater. The fast sinker falls one foot per second while the slow sinker drops at a rate of 1 foot every 4 seconds.

The Test…sorta

I got a chance to throw one at Clear Lake the other day. Even if you’ve been living on Mars for the past decade,  you know that this Northern California lake is one of the best producers of big bass anywhere — and is a particularly a good swimbait lake. So, it seemed to be the perfect spot for a test run == especially when you consider I was on FLW Touring pro Big Fred Contaoi’s boat for the day…who, by the way, had just won a tournament there the day before while using swimbaits.

The BBZ-1 out of the box and ready to fish!

Thanks to its four joints, the BBZ-1 Shad has some great action to it. Just wiggle in in your hand and you can see the thing comes alive…

The BBZ-1 in motion

In the water, the bait really shined. I fished the slow sink model and it had a seductive, snaky motion that Big Fred called “dopy.” He also said that “dopy” is exactly what the biggest bass key in on. Okay, so it’s got that going for it,  too. 

I found the best retrieve was a molasses-slow  and steady grind with an occasional twitch and pause, which cased the bait to flash and then turn to the left, it’s body broadside to the angle of the line. I also tried burning it and it swam pretty nicely that way as well. 

Well, the short version of the story was we had a tough day of fishing. The lake had been pretty torn up from all the tourney traffic the day before — plus we had some very unsettled weather. Bottom line: the fishing was slow and we only caught a couple bass that day, both on plastics. 

After watching the BBZ-1 Shad in the water, however, I am convinced that it is a very fishy bait and look forward to busting it out on some Delta stripers this fall. I’m sure it would work on pike, musky, snook, tarpon, etc. too.

I almost cried the day I heard that STORM Pee Wee Warts were going to be discontinued. Though small, those little babies packed a mean punch when it came to pulling plugs for steelhead.

Since then, my supply has dwindled to almost nothing — snags, kicker props and some rampaging kings have all done their part to relieve me of my stash of Pee Wees. On eBay, they’re going for more than $20 a pop — when you can even find ‘em.

So, when I found out that Brad’s Killer Fishing Gear was producing an almost carbon copy of the Pee Wee, I ordered a bunch. My troubles were over…or were they?

The Good

At first glance, Brad’s Lil Wiggler and an original Pee Wee look pretty much identical. In the photo below, you can see that the plugs look like twins separated at birth. The red one is a Brad’s and the other is a Pee Wee.

And same goes for the underside…again, pretty much the same lure:

Brad’s offers most of the classic “Pirate” and “Raider” paint jobs that have been favorites of steelheaders for decades. They also offer some extremely unique and sexy looking color schemes that are sure to get anglers excited.

The Bad & the Ugly

Unfortunately, general appearance is where the similarities end. In the water, the two lures are completely different animals. My first two Lil Wigglers wouldn’t run at all — they’d spin and then immediately pop to the surface. I tried changing hooks, first adding heavier trebles because it seemed like the lures were too light (kinda like a Hot Shot 70) and getting overwhelmed by the current. When that didn’t work, I tried the rigging that was my favorite on Pee Wees — a single #4 Gami siwash:

When that didn’t work, I called the factory and they were surprised I was having trouble. I decided to try the non-rattle model to see if it had better performance. Nope…

In fact, of the 15 Lil Wigglers I purchased, I have only found two that I can kinda get to run — and they both have a “wandering” style of action…they dive and then start to track off to the left and then come back to center and then they’ll pull off the other direction for a while. I’m not against some wandering, but the problem with it is they won’t stay down in anything but the slowest of steelie water. And probably for that reason, I’ve yet to get bit on one.

Now, to be honest, all Pee Wees weren’t perfect, either. Some of them just wouldn’t run no matter what I did to them. But, the ratio was better. Out of 10 lures, I usually could get 7 of them to become starters in my rotation.

So, what’s the problem? A good question. I’m no engineer, and with little lures like these that are so influenced by subtle factors, you almost have to be one to figure out what’s going wrong. I did notice, however, something that could be a clue. When dropped into the water side-by-side, Pee Wees ride much higher than do Lil Wigglers.

In these next couple photos, check out where the waterline is on the lures. The black one (Brad’s), rides with its bill way underwater and the waterline sits at the middle of the eyes; while the Pee Wee’s head and bill floats higher.

Again, I’m not sure if that has anything to do with anything, but there is clearly a difference there…

Conclusion

While I’ve had many good experiences with the larger models of Brad’s Wigglers, I just can’t seem to get the Lil Wiggler to run — and, with my Pee Wee collection about gone, lord knows nobody wants them to work more than me. Maybe there’s a quick fix and Bard’s can get these babies tuned up in the future. Here’s hoping!

Lucky Craft’s line of Pointer ripbaits have gained quite a reputation in bass fishing circles over the past several years. They’re handsome baits with nice finishes, but at nearly $20 a pop, are they worth the cash?

The details

According to the fine folks at Lucky Craft, the Pointer was designed with a very low center of gravity through the use of special brass weights. The low center of balance causes the lure to wobble and vibrate whenever the retrieving motion is stopped. The bait will suspend 4 -5 feet deep and will emit an intriguing fish-calling vibration while in the suspended state. A short twitch of the fishing rod will generate the “Walk the Dog” action under the water.

Some lofty claims to be sure…but is it just the company line or does the Pointer deliver? Well, this test has been about 5 years in the making as I’ve run them on charter trips for largemouth, smallmouth and, primarily, striped bass in the California Delta and Sacramento River system. Here’s what I’ve found…

The Good

While the pointer comes in several different shapes, styles and color schemes, I’ve stuck pretty much to the American Shad finish in the 78, 100 and 128 sizes. The paint job on that bait is extremely pretty and, like a black Porsche 911, it looks great just sitting still.

Make a cast with one, however, and you’ll see that the bait’s not just a pretty face. The brass weights inside the lure really make it cast like a dream. I can throw a Pointer 128 on a 7-foot stick with a Curado levelwind and 30-pound braid a solid 100+ feet (longer than I need to in most cases). Not like the windmill action of a balsa bait!

When cranked on a steady slow, grind, the lure looks extremely tasty — and rip it with a jerk and pause retrieve and the Pointer comes alive. My charter customers often comment on how good these things look in the water. And oh yea, anything with the word “bass” in its name seem to love ‘em even more. But rather than me gushing about them, here’s some photographic evidence:

And check out the teeth marks in this baby:

The Bad & The Ugly

Well, I really don’t have much to say about the Pointer series except that they are deadly. As a guide, I’m not going to put $20 lures in the hands of rookie casters if I don’t think they’re worth it. That being said, the price tag is really my biggest complaint. They are, however, durable baits and will last quite a while if you don’t lose them on a snag…maybe Lucky Craft should include a mask & snorkel with each lure for that price.

The only wear and tear I’ve experienced comes from the hooks rubbing the bait when it’s swimming. Over time, I get these marks on all my baits, which seem purley cosmetic and don’t hurt the effectiveness or action of the bait:

Also, the stock hooks are pretty flimsy — though extremely sharp. They’re okay for smaller sized bass, but stripers really tear ‘em up. Of course, if you’re going to fish exclusively for jumbo gamefish, you can get pointers with saltwater hooks.

Conclusion

Almost the perfect bait…4.5 stars! And oh yea, by the way, guys are catching big brown trout with these things, too!