Bass season is just around the corner and bait manufactures have been hard at work trying to find new ways of catching anglers, who in turn are looking for new ideas, techniques and lures to catch bass. What goes around comes around and trends from the 70’s are hot again with broken back swim baits leading the parade. The big difference between the classics of the past and these new multi section lures is the incredible life like finishes and natural swim action. The swim bait trend started in California where crystal water reservoirs produce some of the biggest and apparently smartest bass on the continent. South west bait designers are constantly fine tuning the look and action of artificial baits to emulate the real thing. This stride to perfection doesn't’ come without cost as some of these incredible life-like lures can cost as much as $100.00 or more. If they get any more expensive they’ll need homing devices. Rapala, Strike King and others all have new multi section hard and soft body baits for 2009.
New From Bass Magnet
Emerald Shinner
Clown
3.5" Hollow Body Swim Baits
Bass Magnets Simcoe Slammer
Quinte Killer
Both of these products are a compilation of input from local tournament pros.
Rounding out the new offerings from Bass Magnet is a wide selection of creature baits and worms like their very popular "Quiver Sticks".
"Looking for a stick worm that's soft, loaded with sea salt and available in unique colours you can't buy at most stores"? Then check out our line of bass catching Quiver Sticks, once you try them you'll realize hand poured really makes a difference.
The new Eye Catcher series of custom, hollow core, soft plastic baits is taking the fishing world to an unbelievable new level. Every lure is meticulously hand-dipped to create an unparalleled swimming action that can't be duplicated by mass produced injection lures. So, whether you’re a tournament professional or recreational angler, the Eye Catchers will give you the ultimate edge.
Our new 3.5" EC Shad swimbaits have incredible action at any speed. The oversized paddletail combined with the super soft hollow core body creates a natural side-to-side swimming action that cannot be replicated in a solid body bait. The motion is so natural and lifelike that fish will never become conditioned to the baits.
4.25" Golden Shiner
4.25" Fire Tiger
4.25" Daves Mustard
Perch by Northamfishing Tackle Company
Spinner Baits always rank near the top of any tournament pros search bait arsenal and once again lake specific colours and action are a top priority for local manufactures. Blades size and colour, skirt colour and strand count, head weight and even wire gap can all make a huge difference. Almost any spinner bait can get attention but prompting the strike may boil down to something as simple as a few strands of the right colour in the skirt or the way a blade rolls in a certain light condition. There's much more to using a spinner bait effectively than just casting it as far as you can and ripping it across the surface. The ability to work these baits effectively in multiple situations weather your burning the surface or slow rolling a deep weed line requires the right weight, blade size and configuration to get the best results.
Northamfishing Tackle Company makes an extensive line-up of quality application specific spinner baits geared to some of our most popular tournament lakes. "Most lakes in Ontario have perch but some of our bass populations target perch as a more dominant forage. This is certainly true with the southern part of Georgian Bay particularly early in the season".
A Bass is a Bass
Not all Canadian bait manufactures focus on home land lakes or waters south of the boarder exclusively. KJ Monster Baits of Petawawa Ontario designs and produces for a world wide market with a strong following in South Africa. Although some feature tournament lakes in Ontario influence detail in some of this companies lures, the theory that a bass is a bass is a bass has been the major direction in research and design.
Big "M" in Pearl
Baby "M"
The Baby "M" is also a big fish bait, huge smallies and largies devour this little guy! The Baby "M" Swimbait is 3" long and comes packaged with a treble hook. It is great open water bait and for fishing around weed beds. Make no mistake this is a Monster fish bait.
The ideal drop shot minnow out there period!!! The Monster Tube Minnow is a hollow tube minnow with all the advantages and versatility of a tube and at 3" long this is the ultimate drop shot lure. This bait will hold a horizontal state in the water and the tentacles give it that additional action that is irresistible to any fish. When rigged with a 3/0 weighted hook it proves deadly swimming or bottom fishing technique when the fish are suspended on the bottom
The Big "M" is a big fish bait, whether you are fishing for pike or huge largemouth bass! The Big M is 5" long and comes packaged with a treble hook. It is great open water bait and for fishing around weed beds. Make no mistake this is a Monster fish bait.
Monster Shads are a great way to entice active fish - a great search bait, fished fast around docks or through weeds. Shads also excel as a finesse bait and will do great on a mojo or carolina-rig.
Monster Shad
If dropshotting is your game then the Hellbender is the name. This 4" dropshot design bait has a thick goby style head and puts out a super vibration with a ribbed body. This bait is neutrally buoyant and the tail can be split for more action. It is great for Carolina rigging too. It's coffee scent will have the smallies and largies lining up at your drive-through
Hellbender in Erie Craw
Here in Canada lure manufactures are also fine tuning as the trend turns to lake specific baits. Constant feedback from tournament pros about what’s working and what’s not on various bodies of water in variable conditions is a valuable asset to our home grown local manufactures. They in turn can react and supply lures tailored to local knowledge much faster than some of the larger international suppliers. Many of these local craftsmen also supply customize baits to further fine tune current requirements.
The invasion of the Goby resulted in baits emulating these invasive species. Fake goby baits are already the hottest bait on Erie for the second straight year. Lake Simcoe’s large population of native sculpins – the goby look-a-like, combined with a growing number of invasive gobies has meant plastic baits resembling either are becoming a mainstay for tournament anglers.
Tubes are not new but fine tuning colors to match forage ensures not only lake specific baits but in many cases an almost seasonal approach to feeding patterns. One good example of this would be Bass Magnets Simcoe Slammer or Quinte Killer tubes.
The Goby is a great drop shot bait, for finesse fishing! Gobies were released into the Great Lakes through ship ballasts and have fast become the go to smallmouth bass bait on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The Monster Goby also imitates bait fish, it is therefore a great bait on any lake.
The zipper is a great shad/grub imitator and a great drop shot bait, for finesse fishing! It is a multi-species bait and a great bait on any lake. Available in two sizes The Fat Monster Zipper has a wider and bulkier profile, it can be fished as Texas Rig or on a drop shot. The Monster Zipper is thinner than the Fat Monster Zipper and is an excellent spinnerbait trailer or fished on a drop shot.
New Product Review 2009
The Live Target Craw is a blend of an effective crankin tool with an appetizing hatch that will easily fool pre and post spawn feeding gamefish.
Approaching predators fall victim to the life-like profile and detail of the fleeing craw. The lip design and intricate internal structure are designed to travel through thick cover and softly deflect of objects with an accurate recovery. The combination of it's wide wobble action and smooth roll offers incredible performance and generates explosive strikes.
Koppers has combined a life-like Golden Shiner into the fuselage of a vibration tool to create the ultimate lipless rattle bait. The internal composition of the Live Target Golden Shiner is perfectly balanced for a "retrieve and drop" style application. Through its powerful harmonic rattles, the vibration calls fish from a distance like a dinner bell and will tantalize gamefish even in the toughest conditions.
Many of the best producing baits through the years have been lures that have little resemblance to any actual forage when holding the bait in hand. These baits create a silhouette and action that causes a reaction. A simple grub like a Mister Twister might be the best example. The success of these baits maybe a result of many factors including technique, how aggressive fish are on a given day, and several other environmental issues. Faced with non perfect situations and forced to deal with varying conditions including light penetration, water color and clarity, optimum retrieve speed, and fishing pressure, nothing beats live bait. For tournament anglers "live" is not an option so the next best thing is perfection in emulation.
When it comes to detail Kopper Fishing and Tackle of Grand Island NY is the leader in anatomic accuracy. Grant Koppers, the company’s founder is a seasoned professional guide from the world class waters of the Niagara River Region. Through 20,000 hours of on-the-water experience, Koppers has developed a revolutionary line of "life like" artificial lures. The incredible attention to detail in both coloration and body outline make you wonder if the bait was simply coated in plastic.
Mustard/ Brown
Natural/ Transparent
Red/ Black
One of the hottest baits in the Southern Bass market right now is the Smelt Jerkbait. Bassmaster Elite pros Jeremy Starks and Stephen Browning have had great success with this new lure and it shouldn't be long until we see more of it north of the 49.
Success Could Be In The Detail....
Drop-Shot Specialist
The drop-shot is not new but the refining of techniques and baits has increased its effectives and few have capitalized on this technique more than Mark Kulik, founder of Strike Zone Tournament Baits. Mark has certainly collected his share of tournament prize cheque's in Ontario and this is in no small part due to his drop-shot knowledge and a bait specifically design for the application. Strike Zones "Slammer" is quickly become part of many tournament pros arsenal and news of it's success is quickly travelling south of the border with the same success we see at home.
DROP SHOTTING
This is the preferred rigging for our slammer baits.
This rig is quite simple and consists of a single light wire hook like the octopus or circle hook with a clip on weight on bottom. The slammer it's usually nose hooked, but can be Texas rigged for weedless fishing. The slammer has a unique bite- triggering action, this bait needs very little action and works best with a slight rod twitch on a slack line.
Our baits are also effective when used on a Carolina rig, shaky head and jig head like a football or ball head.
