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Shimano Cranks Up the BOOST with Their New World Minnow and
Diver Jerkbaits (continued)
  Real
World Tests: I have been fishing the World Minnow and
World Diver jerkbaits since just prior to the last ICAST. This has allowed us to
put a few months into seeing just how fish in Northern California react to the
baits in a variety of conditions and during both warm and cold months throughout
the year. In addition to fishing these two baits in our local waters I also
traveled to Bienville Plantation in Florida to fish with Pro Anglers Jeff
“Gussy” Gustafson, Josh Douglas and David Mullins to learn firsthand how they
personally fish these baits.
Josh Douglas spools up his
Metanium and NRX+ combo with some fresh fluorocarbon
Operation: It all starts with a cast and both the
World Minnow and Diver cast easily and a good distance effortlessly. The
JETBOOST system engages quietly, without a loud thud or clack, as the system is
spring loaded and automatically resets at the end of the cast. Casting distance
is especially important with jerkbaits as these lures are excellent fish
searching tools and the ability to cover large amounts of water during retrieves
is an advantage for not only locating fish but also drawing strikes. Shimano
claims that the World Minnow casts up to 22% longer than lures of comparable
size and weight, and while there are other jerkbaits, including those from
Jackall that cast very well, these are among the easiest to cast.
Pro Angler Josh Douglas
talked about the importance of casting distance when fishing jerkbaits and how
covering large sections of crystal-clear water with jerkbaits is crucial to
attract fish, and that the World Minnow is the best casting jerkbait in his
arsenal.
Josh Douglas works the World
Minnow over a shallow flat
Once in the
water the essential elements of a quality jerkbait include how well it moves
when retrieved and whether it suspends convincingly at rest. I personally like
jerkbaits that exhibit an erratic darting action that stops instantly the second
that I complete rod sweeps. This enables me to move the bait in a series of
pauses and position the bait in the strike zone to allow it to soak as long as
the bite requires. The World Minnow does this well and adds two extra flash
elements that brings additional life to the bait, even when at complete rest.
Gussy shows us the Chart Head
World Minnow. The World Minnow is armed with three Owner hooks while the World
Diver has two
The spring
loaded FLASHBOOST foil vibrates after each jerk creating a pulsing shimmy
effect. It was easier to see how bass reacted to the bait with the World Minnow
than the Diver as I could fish it in clear and shallow water and observe the
bait during retrieves. When the jerkbait bite was hot, the bass would eagerly
chase and strike the bait either when it was moving or a split second after the
pause. It is during these times the World Minnow is just as effective as some of
the popular proven competitors. It is also a case of when the action of the bait
is more important than the pattern.
The scale pattern transitions and
reflects light from different angles
Where I observed
unique behavior is during the cooler months when the fishing was slower and yet
a jerkbait remains a very viable and effective tool. It is during periods like
this that long casts and lengthy pauses, up to 20-30 seconds, is when bass would
come up behind the bait for a closer look. The FLASHBOOST effect does not last
the full 30 seconds at rest, but it does pulse long enough that it did seem to
draw attention where some more subtle jerkbaits did not. Even when the
FLASHBOOST is not active the World Lures are among the flashiest jerkbaits on
the market with the hologram based embedded SCALEBOOST.
Fishing the World Minnow with the
Curado 150 and GCX 843C. One of the great things about these baits is the
ability to fish them with just about any traditional mag bass setup
I also found the
FLASHBOOST equipped lures to be surprisingly effective for a jerkbait when the
water was stained, and the added flash seemed to enable fish to more easily
locate the bait. Perhaps it was simply a case of presenting fish with something
new, but when fishing is tough is when these lures helped deliver strikes that I
am not sure I would have gotten from other jerkbaits in my existing arsenal.
Josh Douglas explained how
holographic images on the World Minnow and Diver change and evolve just like how
light scatters off a fleeing minnow as it desperately tries to escape. He
believes that as bass pursue the bait the combination of the FLASHBOOST and
SCALEBOOST effects helps to convert lookers into biters.
Looking for something more
refined? In Florida we fished these baits on a lot of NRX+ and Conquest rods.
This particular setup belongs to Gussy
The World Minnow
features three hooks that enable the bait to suspend evenly and during retrieves
achieves a depth between 4 to 6 feet. Fished with fluorocarbon we were able to
observe 5-6 feet dives on live sonar regularly. The longer lipped World Minnow
features two hooks and operates between 6-8 feet, making it the right choice for
targeting suspended fish.
Gussy prepares to send the World
Minnow after locating fish on live sonar Humminbird MEGA Live Imaging
In Florida we
faced some of the coldest conditions I’ve ever experienced in the Sunshine State
and while many of our fish came from jigs and deep cranking we did find numerous
flats where we could test these jerkbaits. We marked suspended fish on live
sonar and proceeded to cast behind them and work the World Minnow back to the
boat. As you might expect all these Pro Anglers are very adept at using live
sonar to not just locate fish but see how they react to baits and then quickly
adjust to turn fish they see on the finder into fish we see in the boat.
Gussy lands a nice Florida Bass on
the World Minnow
It was
interesting watching them work baits and change the cadence of the retrieve
based on how fish were reacting. In one instance Gussy found fish forty feet
ahead of the boat and casted to them and saw the fish show some interest by
coming up only to turn away and go back to the bottom. He started to vary his
retrieves, and it was a brisk retrieve with short pauses that started getting
the fish to come up and compete for the bait and resulted in us being able to
catch multiple fish in the same location on the World Minnow.
When the weather continued to
turn on us and the headwind picked up Gussy demonstrated that the JETBOOST
system wasn’t just about maximizing distance but also improving casting control
in various conditions. He explained how he regularly fishes in adverse
conditions like this up north and being able to throw a jerkbait into the wind
and still cover a lot of water is a key part of his smallmouth game during the
spring and fall.
Once we found the fish and got the
cadence down the World Minnow really delivered
Next:
A Look at the New World Crank and World Pop... |
