The body of the Banshee is very narrow there are four-sections designed to help the lure “swim” in the water as it is retrieved. There are three sizes available, a 4 ½-inch long Banshee Swimbait, as well as a 6-inch and 8-inch model, and all are available in a wide range of patterns that mimic popular baitfish including blueback herring, threadfin shad, golden shiner, perch, rainbow trout, and other species that bass prey upon. Additional aesthetics include 3-D eyes and detailed scale patterns within the image transfer.

From just a few feet away the baits look extremely lifelike, and only under close inspection can you see the pixels on the actual transfer. The baits look very polished, maybe too polished, as they exhibit a mass produced feel in contrast to a handmade swimbait. This is by design however as they are intended to hit an aggressive price point, unlike many other competing swimbaits that are so expensive that anglers really have to think twice before tying them on, simply out of fear of losing their costly handmade collectible.

Real World Tests:  We ordered a handful of ABT Banshee swimbaits from Tackle Warehouse and have been fishing them for just over four months to get both warm and cold weather fishing in with these new lures. We primarily targeted largemouth bass in the California Delta but I also worked in some Striped Bass fishing as well both at the Delta and the O’Neil Forebay closer to Central California.

Casting: The first thing that I did was tie the Banshee onto my normal swimbait rods, big mistake. The Banshee may have the length of regular swimbaits but because it is so thin the smaller two sizes actually weighs very little. The 8” model weighs 3oz. and can be cast on traditional swimbait sticks but the 6” weighs in at 1.5oz. and the 4.5” weighs only 1/2oz., and while it is possible to cast these lures with a swimbait rod they are better suited for a traditional casting rod with a decent, but not too heavy, action.

Some anglers have reported difficulty casting this bait for this very reason, but by matching up a lighter rod with a respectable baitcaster this lure really is pretty easy to cast, and the smaller baits can also be easily fished with a spinning setup. Anglers may also notice on some casts that the lure flips around a bit in the air, this is because the lure is front heavy and the tail is so light and large enough in profile to be affected by wind resistance when cast.  Some baits have internal cast control systems to shift the weight towards the tail when cast but such an implementation is difficult with a multi-segmented swimbait such as the Banshee. 

Next Section: Screaming for attention during retrieve