Event Article:
2005 ICAST Lure & Storage Coverage |
ICAST Coverage Day 3 - Lures and the boxes and bags to put them all in
(continued)
Megabait
(Mr. Bill):
Megabait is yet another
company that has made a big splash in the lure market with outstanding products.
This year at ICAST Nick Nakao, President of Megabait, along with Brian Hawkins
of Megabait showed us a totally new and innovative swimbait, Mr. Bill. Mr. Bill
is a sinking crankbait that gives anglers the advantage and ease of changing the
bait from one color to another, without ever having to retie your line. In
additional to this mechanism to change swimbait bodies, Mr. Bill also has a
really neat feature that all anglers will be keen on. When fish strike and are
hooked, the treble hook will separate from the swimbait body.
|
The MegaBait
Mr. Bill is an innovative swimbait that everyone will like especially Muskie
and Pike fisherman |
The treble hook is tied directly onto the eye on the lip via a strong and
durable wire leader that’s connected to the eye where you tie your fishing line
to. Now anglers that fish for toothy critters such as Muskie, Pike, Sharks… can
have the action of a soft-plastic body swimbait and not cause damage the lure
after a single fish. The Megabait Mr. Bill comes in three sizes, nine different
patterns, and has a diving rate of one feet per second. This awesome swimbait
will soon be available to everyone in combo packs with a retail price ranging
from 6 to 15 dollars.
|
Changing
colors/patterns with Mr. Bill is done quickly without ever having to re-tie |
Panther Martin
(Double Trouble):
The new Panther Martin Double
Trouble has features that set it apart from the common swimbait. With the Double
Trouble you can tie your line to two different eyelets. The front eyelet for the
standard swimming action or tie it to the second eyelet for jigging this large
swimbait. This soft-plastic swimbait has two Mustad hooks along the back for a
sure hookup and to keep the lure tracking true it has two large dorsal fins. The
Panther Martin Double Trouble is nine inches in length and comes in multiple
patterns. Suggested retail price will be around 6 dollars per copy.
The Panther Martin Double Trouble
can be swam, trolled, or jigged vertically
Doc Waters (Salt Lick Lizard, Shark Shank hooks):
George Ghilarducci inventor and owner at Doc Waters has certainly been busy in
the past year, and was on
hand to show us his recently updated signature bubble-trapping helix bodied
lures. These lures hold onto air bubbles to generate a exclusive action, and the patterns
actually refract light making the lures more detectable than standard plastics
under water.
George shows Zander a number of
products that make use of helix body patterns
We had an opportunity to rig a Doc Waters
Salt-Lick Lizard which has a strategically salt infused spine to give the bait
more backbone and still increase the action of the legs and tail. The shark
shank hook is like a extra wide gap hook with two small barbs under the hook eye
to better secure the head of your lure in a fixed spot. When we dropped the lure
into the test tank we noticed right away unlike other lizards that seemed to
flop around the Salt-Lick Lizard held its posture thanks to the salt backbone
while the arms and legs flailed about in the water. The salt also helps add more
weight in the center of the lure so that it sinks more aggressively. It was nice
to see this level of detail in design in plastics.
|
The Salt
Lick Lizard now features salt infused along the spine giving the lure much
more backbone than common lizards. The lure's head was held firmly in place
with the Shark Shank hooks |
Catmando
(Gourmet Catfish Baits):
Ron Kovach calls the new
Catmando baits, scents, and attractants the "Rolex of Catfish bait." The secret
formula was designed by legendary Ronson "Catmando" Smothers, arguably the
West's most respected trophy catfish hunter.
|
Catfish
anglers can add Catmando's secret weapon into their arsenal as they pursue
monster cat |
Ronson Smothers has caught some record cats,
including a recent 89lbr, with these very baits. These potent catfish baits are
designed to generate record catches of blue and channel cats and are made with
all real meat, yet require no refrigeration. This "designer bait" lineup
consists of Catmando mackerel, beef liver, and chicken liver varieties. To
further increase the effectiveness of the bait Catmando scents and dips are also
available. This is not just another catfish bait, and after talking to Ronson we
got so pumped that we vowed to put down our bass and saltwater tackle down long
enough to seriously give catfishing a shot.
|
How serious
is Ronson Smothers about catching record cats? His Catmando tattoo says it
all |
Next
Section: Storage Solutions for all your lures