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Lure Review


Mattlures Does It Again, This Time For Tournament Anglers

 

Date: 3/14/11
Tackle type: Lures
Manufacturer: Mattlures
Reviewer: Cal






Total Score: 8.17 - GREAT

Introduction:
Realism in big baits is nothing new. From the much heralded Huddleston Deluxe Trout baits to the intricate carvings of 3:16 Lure Company if a realistic fish profile is what you're after, you don't have to look far, as long as what you're looking for is a trout, bluegill, bass, or shad. These are the mainstays in big bait fish bodies with variations in color patterns to make up the difference in species like herring, perch, hitch, carp, etcetera. Afterall, it's a bit much to expect a manufacturer, especially the one or two person shop swimbait manufacturers, to produce baits with both realistic finishes AND bait profiles, isn't it? Even so, have you often wondered what size bass you could fool with a catfish bait complete with whiskers and everything?

 


Blue Back Herring

 

It's no secret the popularity of tournament, or really finesse sized, swimbaits is on the rise but up until now, if you wanted to change species with your bait, you had to rely on a handful of body styles simply painted in a different color pattern to match the forage hatch. Matt Servant of Mattlures fame is looking to change all that with his new, Tournament Series of baits featuring  almost twenty different species painted on six different bodies designed to help you match the forage in any given lake all that much closer.

 

Mattlures Tournament Series Swimbaits Specifications

Type Soft Bodied Swimbait
Depth Any
Class Top Hook Bait
Size (Approx Weight) Six inches / 2 - 2.25 ounces
Supplied Hook unknown brand
Colors / Patterns 20 colors, 6 bait profiles
No. per pack 1
MSRP $15

 

Impressions: It's also no secret that Matt Servant is a trained taxidermist. We've shared his background with you on countless product reviews. This is further evidenced by the fact his hard bodied bluegill and bass baits are unrivaled in detailing, a feature that breeds the utmost confidence in anglers tossing his products.

 


Bullhead

 

Soft baits, it seems, have always held a special place with Servant since this is where he started with his original Bluegill and Six Inch Trout baits. He's now eclipsed those baits with his new Tournament Series. It's difficult to do justice to these baits in words, so instead, we will show you each of these patterns through the body of this review.


Channel Cat

Field Tests: It's been a while since a soft bodied swimbait has inspired this much excitement amongst the TT crew. Thanks to the realism of these baits, we were anxious to get them out on the water to see how easily we could fool a bass.


Dark Hitch

The baits each measure roughly six inches in length and weigh in at about two ounces. There are slight variations in weight depending upon the species being imitated, but not enough to cause your tackle to overload. Though still not super light weight, two ounces is easily within the specifications of any competent big bait stick.


Largemouth Bass

We were at Clear Lake for some early What the Finesse activities when I decided to pull out my Megbass F7-72DG Destruction paired with a Daiwa Zillion Type-R just to see how well these new Tournament Series baits swam. Just in case there were any willing bass around, I tied on a hitch patterned bait and had at it.


Striper

The Tail: The business end of Mattlures Tournament Series baits is a modified paddle tail. Servant ads a little fin for stability and a more realistic profile at the top of the bait's paddletail. Movement of the tail is good at all speeds and of course, exceptionally frantic at high speed retrieves. But even slow rolled the tail moves with good action.


Trout

Rate of Fall: Unlike some of the competition, Mattlures offers their soft baits with pretty much one rate of fall – fast sink. You can count on a foot to foot and a half per second on these baits as they waist little time getting down. However, you can cast out, count down, and begin your retrieve at any point and the bait will stay at that depth at a medium retrieve.


Carp

Next Section: Achieving the best action

 

   

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