Introduction: Tired of your plastic worms sliding down the shank of the hook in the weeds and spoiling your perfect pitch? How often have you cursed your Senko's for being too soft and not lasting through more than a couple of fish? Leave it to a company like Reaction Innovations to come up with one of the most simple yet at the same time somewhat bizarre answers to a problem that plagues many a plastic bait fisherman. What's that you say? Premature wear of their plastic bait tips or heads. Introducing the Reaction Innovations ScrewedUp Bullet.
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Reaction Innovations ScrewedUp Bullet Specifications
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| Function |
Plastic Bait Protector |
| Material |
Hard Plastic |
| MSRP |
$4.50 / 6 pack |
Impressions: When I first saw the Screwed Up Bullet online I did not know what to make of it. I figured it was simply a variation of the screw-in bullet weights. I didn't take the time to put two and two together and question how a manufacturer could make a clear bullet weight. Either way, at the time it did not interest me. Then a buddy of mine, who is a Reaction Innovations devout handed me a pack to try out. The second I held one in my hand it all came together.
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A look at the
retail packaging
of this simple
yet innovative
product |
The Field Tests: The Screwed Up Bullet head is intended to hold your weightless plastics up at the top of the hook shank over your knot and virtually never let go. To test its effectiveness, we fished it with a variety of plastic baits some of which are pictured in this article.
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The ScrewedUp Bullet is about the same size as an 1/8 or 1/4 ounce bullet weight
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Shown here rigged on a Yamamoto Kut Tail worm
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Rigging: Using the ScrewedUp Head is just as easy as using a bullet weight. Simply thread one of the devices onto your line, tie your hook to the end of the line, slide your plastic bait onto the hook, slide the ScrewedUp Head down to the head of the bait and screw it on. For best results, you may want to let the hook travel further into the head of your plastic bait before having it come back out again. This gives the ScrewedUp Head some room before meeting the top of the hook within the bait.
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When you hook up with a fish, the worm will often slide up your line instead of fly off the hook
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Then, just slide it back down, re-rig the hook point, and you're ready to go again
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Rigging Difficulties: For most all plastic baits, the ScrewedUp Bullet works just fine. However, we did run into some difficulty trying to rig the ScrewedUp Bullet with an Imakatsu Javallon. The Javallon has a pre-determined penetration point for the tip of the hook and in order to meet this spot perfectly, and have the bait sit straight, you can't run the hook into the tip of the bait much further than say, a quarter of an inch. This makes it difficult, at best, to use the ScrewedUp Bullet because there is not enough room for the plastic shank of the device to ride into the bait before coming in contact with the hook. The end result is an unnatural face lift for your Javallon and what will probably result in the bait wearing prematurely at the head not to mention the potential to disrupt the baits swimming motion. Simple solution? Don't use it with baits like this.
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Note how, on the Javallon, there is only a set distance within the head section of the bait where the hook can comfortably sit. As a result, the hook does not travel very far within the very tip of the bait, otherwise, it will extend too far out the back end where the hook is supposed to come back through the bait.
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The ScrewedUp Bullet interferes with this distance at the head and pushes the hook back further. You can still rig it properly, but then, the result, at the head of the bait, is a stretched face and probably a pre-maturely worn plastic bait.
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Effectiveness: Used properly and with baits that have some
flexibility with hook placement, the ScrewedUp Bullet is a very rewarding piece of terminal tackle to use. When Texas-Rigging plastic worms, I always skin hook the baits on the side to facilitate hook sets. Unfortunately, when using really soft plastics like the Yamamoto Senko, it doesn't take long for the bait to become so worn at the head that it flies off your line while
battling a fish. With the ScrewedUp Bullet, instead of flying off your line, plastic worms have the tendency to slide up your line relatively intact and ready to be re-rigged very quickly after each battle.
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A
close-up of the ScrewedUp Bullet showing just how far the metal screws extend into the device's body
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Shown here rigged with a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper
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Shown here rigged on a 3:16 Lure Company Mighty Minnow
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Durability: The only minor thing I've found in fishing the ScrewedUp Bullet is its tendency to become discolored. The material of this device is, reportedly, a special blend of plastic that can be dyed to match the color of your baits if you choose to perform this type of customization. As a result, it seems color from your worms can leach into the heads. Otherwise the function of this device is to actually help extend the life and durability of your plastic baits, and it performs this task very well.
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The plastic is formulated to accept worm dyes if you so choose, as such, it is subject to some discoloration (right)
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A
close-up of our slightly discolored ScrewedUp Head
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Effectiveness: Indeed the ScrewedUp Bullet allows you to pull your weightless plastic baits through weed patches much cleaner than with out it. What's more, it keeps your baits coiling up around the bottom of the hook when the begin to get a little worn. This not only increases the life of your plastic baits but allows them to stay properly rigged longer giving you more effective fishing time. It works equally well under the water when using weighted hooks or when weighing your baits down with nail weights or via other means.
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The screw in back is similar to that of the bullet weights that come so rigged
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Another look at the business end of the ScrewedUp Bullet
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The ScrewedUp Bullet gives you more time with your bait properly rigged in weeds such as this to increase your effective fishing time...
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Ratings (We've re-calibrated our ratings standard for 2008 and have included a key at the bottom of the following matrix as a guide):
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Reaction Innovations ScrewedUp Bullet Ratings (?/10)
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| Construction/Quality |
Put together well |
8 |
| Performance |
Simple and effective though I wish I could use it with my Javallons a bit more easily |
7 |
| Price |
Affordable |
6.5 |
| Features |
Simplicity is the key here |
6 |
| Design (Ergonomics) |
A proven design borrowed from bullet weights |
7 |
| Application |
Great for making plastics last longer |
8 |
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Total Score
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7.08 |
| Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! |
Pluses and Minuses:
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Plus Minus
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| J Maximizes life of plastic baits |
L Not compatible with ALL weightless plastics |
| J Keeps baits rigged properly while in the strike zone |
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| J Easy to use |
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...and the longer you fish with your bait properly rigged, the better your chances are of catching fish!
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Conclusion: The utility of Reaction Innovation's ScrewedUp Bullet is so obvious, it's a wonder no-one had thought of it before. It helps keep soft plastic baits like the Yamamoto Senko from wearing too fast, and it keeps big plastic worms on the hook and in proper alignment to trigger
strikes. Rig it on a plastic toad and throw them in even heavier cover than you ever dared before. The ScrewedUp Bullet is so useful, so indispensable, and so obvious for those who fish weightless plastics, the fact that Reaction Innovations is the first to market with something of this type causes us to give it our Innovation Award! Thanks for another fine product RI, and keep them coming!
Interested in trying the
Reaction Innovation
ScrewedUp Bullet?
Check out
Tackle Warehouse
