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When the Bait You Throw Must Do Something More Somehow, Let It Be Lowen-Craw
It's been decades since I knew where my original Rebel Wee-Craws vanished to and while that bait touches upon my nostalgic soul, PH Custom Lures's Lowen's
Cyber Craw brushes up against my enthusiast side... |
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Let's Get Real! - Sly Guy Lures
Replica Gill Swimbaits
With a name like "Replica" the Sly Guy Gills better be
realistic looking, but it doesn't stop with a genuine looking paint finish. This
year we are going to dive deep into swimbaits, including a closer look at many
custom handmade offerings, and the Sly Guy Lures Replica Gills are a perfect
example of what makes custom baits so desirable to anglers, and especially
swimbait fans.
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Built to Vanquish the Competition, but Equal to Stella?
As Shimano continues to make that transition to a global lineup for their bass fishing reels, more and more traditional JDM models are becoming easily available stateside.
For those who actually prefer their
prize reels remain more difficult to acquire, there remain a few gems still
under JDM-only control. The Shimano Vanquish is one such reel... |
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Picking Apart Rapala's BX Big Brat Squarebill
It has been a while since we have looked at one of Rapala's
hardbaits. While the brand continues to offer some of the most popular
crankbaits on the market for multiple species, including bass and trout fishing.
Rather than rest on their laurels Rapala continues to try and find ways to blend
their proven lures with new design and manufacturing techniques. |
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SpiderWire's
4-Strand Braid Offers a Stealthy Option for Fishing Through Vegetation
SpiderWire's braid
comes from the Pure Fishing portfolio and is available in more colors than any
just about any other braid I've seen. They range from the standard moss green and hi-vis yellow to a pink camo and even an American camo.
SpiderWire Stealth is a 4 carrier braid made from Dyneema
polyethylene fibers. |
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Great for Finesse, but Capable of So Much More. Shimano's Vanford Spinning Reel
Shimano's newest spinning reel, the Vanford, picks up where the Stradic
CI4+ left off and makes use of new features, including a Long Stroke Spool
design and Micro Module II gearing, all with the goal of delivering not just a
better casting reel, but a smoother retrieving one as well. |
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Daiwa Drops the 2021 Limited Edition Steez SV TW Ahead of Schedule
In April and May, we begin to see these items hit
our favorite JDM tackle store shelves. Daiwa Japan is about five to six months ahead of schedule already shipping their new introductions, and today we take a look at the newly released Limited Edition Steez SV TW 1000.
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Does Power Tackle Deliver with "The One"
Rod?
Power Tackle Rods out of
Richland Springs, Texas has been building fishing rods with serious minded
anglers in mind since 2007. They have a relatively new series that caught our
attention for the name they chose to dub the lineup. Time to meet the "One." |
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A Brawler Ready to Battle, the
Pike Team Six B52 Wake Swimbait
Pike Team Six is a custom swimbait manufacturer that
has created a handmade wakebait called the B52 which is designed to take on the
biggest and baddest freshwater fish out there. This swimbait features a unique
profile, swimming action, and can be ordered in just about any configuration and
pattern that anglers can dream up. |
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Don't Let the Elevator Break You Down, Going Crazy with Abu's Revo4 IKE
If you'd rather we cut to the chase and just give you the real down low on the Abu Garcia Revo IKE Casting reel, this is essentially the Revo4 STX with a fancy, color shifting finish and swept carbon handle. Is that enough to warrant the $50 uptick in price? That's what we're here to find out.
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Getting Straight to the Point Blank...
Creating a Custom Rod Build
Every now and then we learn of
a new blank manufacturer making noise in the custom rod circles. Usually, we can
find a manufacturer who is not afraid to divulge they are using these blanks so
that we can fish, test, and write up the finished product... |
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TackleTour's Editors Picks for
Favorite Reels, Rods, Lures, Swimbaits, and Line in 2020
There's is always much out there to explore, acquire, and
fish, and while each angler's local water and application is unique, we decided
it was time to ask our Editors to lay down their favorite picks for which reels,
rods, lure, swimbaits, and lines that they are personally fishing this season.
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MagDraft Part II : We Know It Was
You, Freestyle
The MagDraft Freestyle is a six inch (6")
paddletail style bait based off the companies popular MagDraft swimbait. The
difference here is while the original MagDraft is pre-rigged with a hook and
internal harness, the Freestyle is, well, free of all of that. |
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Cold Water Cranking Weapon -
River2Sea's Tactical Bassin' DD Crankbait
As the air and water temperature drops in Fall and Winter the reaction
bite also cools. Fishing slower and breaking out the finesse gear is often par
for the course, but River2Sea and Tactical Bassin' have created a crankbait that
is designed to unlock the feeding response in elusive deep holding fish. |
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Catch Outdoors's Take On the Ubiquitous Bladed Jig
Leveraging the technology they used to develop
thier Zero Gravity Jig and combining it with one of the hottest bait trends
going, bladed jigs, they've come up with another bait product they hope
"catches" on. Here's our look at their relatively new, Zero Gravity Hybrid Airquake bladed jig. |
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Megabass's Latest Lure of Unusual Size. - the Big M7.5
It's been a little bit since we've had a bait product worthy of our Lures of Unusual Size (L.O.U.S.) designation. Megabass enters the fray with their new Big M7.5 crankbait. A four and a half inch (4.5") plug designed to hit depths of up to twenty four feet (24') and swim there without tearing out your rotator cuff. Is it as effective as claimed? Let's find out.
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Tough and Strong, Sufix's Advance Fluorocarbon Fishing Line
More naturally suited as a
material for leaders, fluorocarbon needs extra processing when extruded for use
as a main line. Each manufacturer has their own strategy to achieve this goal
and at a previous ICAST, Sufix debuted their latest strategy. Here's our look at Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon.
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Built for Finesse. Shimano's
Curado MGL 70 K Baitcasters
The newest addition
to the Shimano Curado line is the smaller 70 MGL K, and the biggest upgrade is
not only the more compact form factor but the addition of a lightweight MGL
spool. Designed to help anglers make pinpoint casts with lighter baits, this new
reel looks to carry on the Curado Series tradition of being a benchmark
baitcaster. Let's see how it stacks up to today's tough competition, and
history. |
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Evergreen International Defines "IT" Again : The Orion OCSC-71H+ Black Rose
The Black Rose, specifically, is designed for
versatility allowing you to fish in everything from tight cover situations to
open water environments. It is designed to do everything to flipping and
punching soft plastics to casting and retrieving big swimbaits. |
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PB Rat Lights It Up With a
Little Slosh and a Lot of Boils
What the hollow body frog is to
fishermen who prefer conventional sized bait and tackle, the waking rat bait is
to those anglers who make throwing big, oversized baits their purview. It is an
obsession not easily overcome and haunts your every waking dream like an
infestation of your subconscious realm. |
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Cal Coast Fishing's New Twerk Minnow Swimbait
Cal Coast Fishing's Twerk Minnow is available in two sizes, five and a half and seven and a half inches (5.5" & 7.5"). It is a full body, split belly type of paddletail
made from a soft plastic material. |
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Buongiorno! An
Aggressively Priced Glide Bait from Molix
From their Supernato hollow
body baits to imaginative soft plastics like their SC Bug and Vincex Craw, to
their triple armed spinnerbait, the Lover, Molix brings a fun spirit to their
bait products. Up until now, what had been missing from the company's catalog
was a contender in the increasingly competitive big bait market. |
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Wake 'Em Up With Spro's Wameku Shad 70
I was fortunate to spend some time on the water with the designer behind this bait, Shin Fukae recently where he
walked me through the Wameku Shad 70 design. While the bait is made with a different sound than other Spro lipless cranks, what he was most excited to show me was his strategy behind the line tie - the Wameku Shad 70 has two positions. |
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The Wrap to Get.
Swimbait Underground's Union
As your swimbait arsenal
grows the need to be able to safely store, organize, and transport them also
increases. I've been searching for a quality wrap solution for years, and
most of the ones that I have tried have required a number of sacrifices. This
year Swimbait Underground released their own branded wrap, the Union 9", designed
for protecting swimbaits, and easy access to them in the field.
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ARK Rods's New Graphite Cranking Stick : Invoker Pro IVP74MHRC
Riding on the coat tails of the Reinforcer success is a refresh of one of their original series, Invoker. They've elevated these rods to "Pro" status but kept the price point the same. Let's take a look a the IVP74MHRC to see how they've done.
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Savage Value, the Pulse Tail RTF
Bluegill Swimbaits
The Pulse Tail RTF Bluegill is the most realistic
looking bluegill swimbait that Savage has introduced to date, and is designed to be easy for anglers to
simply tie on and start fishing effectively right out of the package. |
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The Omega Swimbait 8' Heavy by Leviathan Rods
To be honest, it didn't really take much to convince me to reach out to Leviathan rods once I found out they're relying on Gary Loomis's company, North Fork Composites (NFC), to supply their blanks. Their Omega Swimbait 8' Heavy is built on an NFC, custom specified LMX-PSI
blank... |
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Missile Baits Adds a Convenient Quiver to their Arsenal of Baits
The technique we're discussing today involves sticking a specialized weight into the head of the worm, and rigging your hook somewhere along the body of that worm so it dangles, head down and tail up. That's right, it's the Neko rig and Missile Baits has a new worm to increase your chances of getting bit while fishing this technique. Here's our look at their Quiver Worm. |
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Easy Handling FINS WindTamer Braided Line
Fishing with superlines has become a huge market
segment with many manufacturers
developing lines for both fresh and saltwater applications, and even some more
niche situational ones. One such company, FINS, out of Erlanger, Kentucky,
specializes in braided line products and has continued to introduce new braids
specifically targeting bass anglers, including situational braids like the new Windtamer Pitch
Black Braid. |
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My Favorite Topwater Custom
Swimbait - The Illude Rad Rat
Illude's Rad Rat is a
hand carved wakebait that is designed to generate explosive strikes both day and
night. How good is this bait? I must warn you in advance, the second you see,
and hear, a Rad Rat being fished you are probably going to want one for your
arsenal, and the biggest challenge with this swimbait might just be trying to
land one. |
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What Are We Going to do About RI's Man Bear Pig?
If there's one bait manufacturer that's not
afraid to have a little fun in the naming of their baits, it's Reaction
Innovations. If you're not careful about staring too long at that Tramp Stamp
while Vixen is Twerking, you're likely to get Donkey Punched with a Machete or
at least get a two handed Shiver... |
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The Search for One : Megabass of America's F5.5-75XX Braillist
Megabass of America's F5.5-75XX Braillist is a seven foot, five
inch (7'-5") casting rod rated with a fast taper rated and medium heavy in
power. The stick's name is derived from the fact it excels at bottom contact
applications. |
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Tuned for Big Baits - Abu Garcia's REVO Beast X Casting Reel
The Beast X shares the same size, shape, spool
capacity as its pricier siblings, but in a slightly toned down package mimicking
the look and feel the REVO X, all for a price $100 below that of the standard
Beast. |
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Evergreen International's Chaotic EsFlat Glide Bait
The ES Flat is a
two piece bait measuring five and three quarters inches (5.75") in length and
weighing a hair under two ounces (2oz). It's rated as a slow sink bait and comes
in a variety of colors though many are difficult to find in the US. |
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Serving Aces with PowerPro's Hollow Braid
PowerPro entered the market a
few years ago not only making the product more accessible, but offering it in
strengths that are more in line with what bass fishermen would use. In an effort
to perfect my leader connection game, I finally dove back into the hollow braid
game and PowerPro's Hollow Ace was the impetus. |
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The Potent Sting of Shimano Japan's Scorpion MGL
Once the gateway reel to many an enthusiasts' addiction, most
anglers now know Shimano Japan's Scorpion is simply their version of the Shimano
America Corp Curado. The reels are identical in just about every way save for
the color and finish treatments. Yet something about fishing a Scorpion versus a
Curado just feels more enthusiast. |
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Going Big with Phenix's M1 : The MX-UR80H
Phenix's refreshed and revamped M1 series made a big splash here at TackleTour when we published our thoughts on the Search For One contender, MX72MH. In fact, it is still among my favorites so far this year. Of course, when we published that article, we received quite a few messages from our
West Coast readers asking about the swimbait stick.
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Shimano's Twin Power FD is a Solid Choice
Fresh off the heels of my positive experience with the
Stradic FL, I was hungry for a new spinning reel to
fish. Turns out, Stradic wasn't the only
spinning reel platform from Shimano to be updated for 2020. Twin Power, the
former JDM only but now global platform sitting somewhere between Sustain and
Stella, also received some new initials. |
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An Enthusiast Level Rod For Anglers Of All Levels, Legit Design's Big Bait Special
Arundel Tackle out of
Chicago, Illinois is in partnership with Legit Design for exclusive North
American distribution rights. That's how we got our hands on the subject of
today's review. Introducing the Legit Design Wild Side WSC75XH Big Bait Special.
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Just Tie It On, Toss It Out, and Crank It UP! Megabass's Deep-X LBO II
Megabass of America recently refreshed the
Deep X along with its smaller sibling, the 100 giving the series a new shape, updated paint schemes, and a brand new internal balancing system. Here's our look at Megabass of America's latest Deep-X LBO series of cranks.
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Taking the Time to Appreciate the
Unique Personality of the Dobyns Xtasy Series
Priced well into the enthusiast range these rods are described by Dobyns
as a "feel" series, and are designed to provide an advantage in applications
where quick bite detection is key. |
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Bigfoot or Finesse? Nishine Lure Work's New Football Jig
The idea of a finesse football jig is intriguing. I've fished smaller football head jigs before, and generally speaking, finesse often just equates to small or smaller. So what makes the Nishine
Lure Works Finesse Football Jig "finesse?" It's not very obvious at first... |
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