Lucky Craft's Redemption Spinnerbait

Lucky Craft has introduced a new spinnerbait called Redemption designed by Skeet Reese, which helped him win the 2008 Angler of the Year award. The premium-quality Redemption Spinnerbaits with a Colorado and Willow blade combination are extremely well-balanced and feature Lucky Craft's lifelike paint schemes, tungsten components, and thick, durable, pulsating skirts with rattles incorporated into the head of the bait for added noise, vibration and volume. As with all Lucky Craft products, this lure is a little pricier than that of other brands, but when you see the quality and the fish catching effectiveness of this bait, it is well worth the price.

Buy it now: 

Lucky Craft Redemption Spinnerbaits - Colorado/Willow Blades

Gary Yamamoto Fat Ika!

The Fat Ika from Gary Yamamoto is a very effective lure for many bass anglers. Though it’s been used by many of the top tournament anglers for sometime, the Fat Ika is still a bait unknown to many. Because the Fat Ika looks like a tube bait, many anglers start off rigging it as such. However, it is only when rigged backward that the Fat Ika discovers it’s greatest potential - as a penetrating target bait.

When rigged on a Gamakatsu 5/0 EWG hook, the Fat Ika does it’s magic. Rigged without a weight, the bait should be cast out and let to  sink on a slack line. The Fat Ika falls away from the angler when rigged as such, so significant slack should be allowed on the sink. The bait falls at an angle because of the salt in the plastic creating weight to the back end of the bait.

Most strikes occur on the initial fall, but if the bait settles to the bottom, twitch the  bait upwards with a sharp lift of the rod tip. One or two lifts, then let the bait settle back to the bottom on a controlled slack line. Always watch your line for indications of a strike. As you lift the bait, the skirt flares, and then folds back as the bait falls again to the bottom. A very realistic crawfish action is created by the Fat Ika’s lift and drop. Most often used in shallow areas with targets such as docks, brush, weeds, etc., the Fat Ika can really penetrate deep into such areas with it’s backwards decent. This is a technique where you’ll need to use a medium heavy rod with at least 12 lb test line. Much like the Senko worm, this bait should be fish slow.

Gary Yamamoto Senko

A few years ago, I went out fishing at a local lake with a friend who urged me to try out this new lure, it was a soft plastic cigar shaped worm by Gary Yamamoto called a Senko. It immediately became one of my go to lures and it still remains to this day.

There are many ways to fish the Senko: Texas rig, Carolina rig, Wacky, Dropshot, etc. But my favorite way to fish the Senko is on a Texas rig weightless on a 3/0 or 4/0 offset worm hook in red. This worm is heavy enough to fish with a baitcaster, but I usually fish it on spinning outfit with 6 lb. flourocarbon.

Presentation: Cast the bait out and let it fall, keep a loose line but keep contact with the lure because this is when most strikes occur. Once it hits bottom, raise your rod tip slightly to raise the worm then let it drop again, keep doing this and you will get bit. The lure doesn’t just stay in one place, instead of falling straight down the bait will actually back up for you. If you’ll just feed it a little line, the bait will actually float back towards the bass, creating a strike for you. That’s a fish catchin’ action I’ve never seen in a worm before. The Senko has another plus that bears mentioning. This bait has a natural action to it that absolutely anyone can fish effectively. The Senko will walk perfectly with very little rod-tip needed, by just barely twitching it. The best tip that I can give you when fishing the Senko this ways is that you can never fish it too slow, the slower the retrieve, the better. Keep an eye on your line because sometimes the strike will be so subtle, so set the hook when you see that line move.

The Senko comes in many great fish catching colors and I’ve tried most of them, but my favorite would probably be the watermelon w/black flakes. So go out there and give this lure a try, you will not be disappointed.

Buy it now: 

Gary Yamamoto Senko - 5''

Strike King's Rage Tail Toad

I first purchased the Rage Tail Toad earlier this year and used it for the first time at a local lake here in southern California. 

Tied it on a 5/0 EWG hook on braided line. I could not believe what I saw on the first cast, I never thought that a soft plastic could be so much like a buzz bait, this made all kinds of noises and splashes. I could not believe how much water movement and noise this bait produces....blurp! blurp! blurp! blurp! blurp! blurp!

I got a couple of blowups that morning, but was not patient enough, setting the hook too soon. So, I ended up leaving and then returning late that afternoon for a couple of hours and that's when it got crazy. First cast was next to the weeds, a couple of cranks on the reel and bam a 3.5 lbr was all over it. Fished that lake for a couple of hours just before dark and caught about 6 fish all on the Rage Tail Toad. I would love to see what this lure does at night in the dark, but the lake was closing, so I had to leave. 

If the Rage Tail Toad can give this heart stopping surface action, I sure would like to see what the Rage Shad can do. If you are looking to try out a new lure, I highly recommend the Strike King's Rage Tail Toad...I'm sure that you will love it just as I did. 

Buy it now: 

Strike King Rage Tail Toad (5/pk)

RoboWorm

Roboworm has been making the best hand-poured worms for bass on the West Coast for several years. They can be found in the boats and tackle bags of some of the biggest names in bass fishing's pro circuit.

Roboworm's straight tail worms are proven fish catchers and available in fantastics colors. All the colors are clear and well defined in each worm and they are able to achieve almost near-perfect consistency worm after worm. My personal favorite colors are the Margarita Mutilators and the Oxbloods, these colors have worked well for many of us anglers in southern California. But don't get me wrong, these worms come in many colors that would work just as well in lakes elsewhere. Other characteristics that separates the Roboworm from other worms are that Roboworm embeds salt deeply into the head of the worm as it is being poured, which makes the salt dissolve slowly. Most plastic worms have salt on the outside, which makes the salt dissapate quickly.

You've read about these worms in bass fishing magazines and publications. They've been big money winners all over the country, and when you see how perfectly each worm is poured you'll know why. The 4 1/2" straight tail worm is great for dropshotting and along with the 6", is great for any finesse technique you care to try. For a larger presentation and Texas-rigging try the beefy 7" worm. No matter what your favorite worm technique is or where you fish, there's a Roboworm Straight Tail worm that will catch you fish.