Startin’ off shallow cuz there ain’t a bass-head in the free world that don’t like to catch ’em up shallow — except maybe some Left Coasters. Plus there’s ALWAYS bass up shallow. So:
I love Japanese bass-heads. (I love all bass-heads but you know what I mean….) They’re always coming up with something, and even though I have no idea how a bait like this gets thought up, you know there’s only one mission with all new baits: catch the basses!
Bobby Lane swore to me this bait is the real deal. Said he was outfished with it from the back of his boat while he was fishing baits the bass should’ve been on that time of year. I gave him the “you’re not BSing me are you” stare and he gave me the “you better not be thinking I’m BSing you” stare back so I believe him.
Here’s the vid again. It’s on Tackle Warehouse. Gitcha at least one to check it for yourself.
Seems I was mistaken when I said foam baits were new. Some Lazy Ikes — which I had in my tackle box as a kid and never caught a dang thing with! — apparently were made of foam when dressing like this was cool:
So no RECENT uses of foam in baits, and think it’s safe to say never this type of foam bait for diehard bassin’ designed by diehard bass-heads. Chad Warner, BOOYAH’s main man, is a serious bassin’ nut as you can tell from him talkin’ the Flex here. He’s got that bass-head look in his eye — you know what I mean!
Deal with both these baits is crazy durability (you can bounce the Flex squarebill off riprap, sea walls, etc. — within normal limits! — and you won’t break or crack it), different action and different sound — and maybe another thing or two you’ll discover.
Here’s the Flex and the Streak on TW — try ’em out and let BOOYAH know what you think. What you need to know about the Streak IV — casts a mile and dives fast:
Rapala’s been tearin’ up the jerkbait world with the Shadow Rap, then the Shadow Rap Shad and now the way different-sounding RipStop:
> “…stops on a dime, with a subtle shimmy before coming to a rest, then ever so slightly lifts its head with a super slow rise.”
Less forward travel after each twitch — has anyone ever tried to do that before? Can’t recall anyone which is why it’s up top here.
Couple things I’ve realized about baits in general is that we (I) often move baits way farther than they should move with jerks and reeling and such, and that slack or slack-ish line is super-important for baits to do their thing — from jigs to jerkbaits. So make sure you bear that in mind on this one too.
Like many Rapala baits, there’s basically no wrong way to fish it. Wind it, burn and stop it, jerk it, rip it, pause it, whatever. And beware of those fine-wire VMC hooks — it’s almost like they reach out and grab stuff. Good vid on it here, bunch o’ Elitists in it:
Love how Ott talks about “the Rapala roll” (top-bottom roll = flash) being key. So true.
4. Lew’s Mach Crush rod/reel combo
Who buys a combo anymore? As a kid I saved up for this little Daiwa spinning combo and treated that thing like it was made of gold, but don’t think I’ve bought a combo since. I know a bunch are sold, but…not to serious bass-heads.
And yet here comes Lew’s with a higher-end combo. When they told me I was sort of:
But then I was like: What a cool idea. Don’t think a higher-end combo has been done before, and either way it’s gotta help younger bass-heads afford decent stuff. Plus it looks cool so that’s at LEAST 50% of everything right there — and I’m only half kidding mang!
Also has loads of the good stuff, like a 10-bearing low-pro reel, Winn grips, Airwave guides, etc. Full meal deal is supposed to retail at $199.99, which is cool and reasonable for a higher-end combo. Reels are on TW now (casting, spinning) if you want to check ’em out, combos I think are available elsewhere.
