Some more of the 2012 baits are starting to trickle into retail and e-tail outlets so we picked up several to see what the new offerings are like. The first one that I wanted to use was the Tightlines UV Flook. I got these in pearl-black back to match any number of baitfish. I really enjoy fishing soft plastic jerk baits this time of year and was anxious to see how these would perform against my current favorites so let’s get um’ on the water.
The premise of the UV series of baits is that bass don’t have the same filters as the human eye, therefore they respond differently to colors that we simply can’t see. These are built into the UV series with the idea that bass will be more aggressive toward a lure that features these colors over traditional baits without the UV enhancer. I really had no idea whether or not this would translate to more bites, but I had to find out for myself.
You’ll notice from the pics of the packaging that inside the outer shell, each of the baits is individually inserted into an inner envelope of clear plastic. Whether this is to prevent the enhancer from coming off or another reason, I don’t know. However, it does make it easy to get at individual baits without fumbling around inside the bag.
One of the things that is different about this bait as opposed to other plastic jerk baits is that the belly slit on the Flook is shorter than others because the nose is longer. I usually like to throw the 5 inch versions of these lures on a 5/0 EWG but had to make a small adjustment to a 4/0 to accommodate this characteristic and not get to far into the tail section and kill the action. That proved to be a non-issue in the end but you should be aware of it.
The other factor that we ran across immediately is the fact that the Flook is more petite than most of its competitors for the same size bait. It is both somewhat thinner and weighs less than our current favorites in this genre. Due to this, we went with 8 pound versus our usual 10 pound line. Making these two adjustments, we were able to attain the same distance on our casts as with other plastic jerk baits.
The action of the UV Flook is more subdued and less frantic than most of the current crop of jerks. It still provides the side-to-side
darting action but doesn’t travel quite as far or as crisply as we’re used to. The fall is angled in a moderate nose down position that is almost graceful to watch but it wants to ride up in the water column when being worked fast. This bait seems to be most competent on a moderately slow retrieve.
So how did the UV Flook do when it comes to catching fish? To begin with, almost every strike that we got we converted to fish on our thumbs. They were typical plastic jerk bait bites with most of them coming as the lure was moving, not at rest or being dead-sticked. Did it outshine our current first string? No, it hasn’t to the point that I would replace my old reliables with the Flook.
They are a little pricey for this segment considering you are getting 5 for about $5.00. They are moderately durable but not so far superior to others as to out catch them 3 or 4 to one. Does that mean that they are a bust? No, I can actually think of instances that would lend themselves to using the UV Flook over my other go-to baits such as stained water or where the bait is smaller than what I am used to. In these instances, the Tightlines product stands a good chance of outshining most of its competitors and provides a tool for those specific conditions that take advantage of it’s strengths.
| Tightlines UV Flook | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |    |
| Decent bait in a narrow set of conditions | |
See ya’ on the water …