We’re always on the lookout for a new piece of terminal tackle that has the makings to up our game in some unique way. The Rockport Rattler LunkerMAX weighted swimbait hook is just such a find.
When we spoke to the folks from Rockport Rattler, they said that for the time being, the LunkerMAX will be offered in three hook sizes – 3/0, 5/0, and 7/0 with three weights – 1/16, 1/8, and 1/4.
We love tossing soft plastic swimbaits for the simple reason that they catch fish, lots of fish. One of the most effective ways to rig these baits is with a belly weighted hook. These specialized pieces of terminal tackle complement swimbaits very well while at the same time making them a more versatile offering.
So many companies are producing them, it seems as though there hasn’t been that much real, “thinking outside the box” applied to this product for some time.
While most of them are functional, you probably have your favorite just as we do.
Key Features for a Belly Weighted Swimbait Hook
We look for several features when it comes to choosing a belly weighted hook.
The first thing is how it attaches to our lure. There are some with pegs, some with a simple bent piece of wire, some with plastic barbs, some with other components and the ones that we prefer, a wire screw lock keeper.
We use the latter because generally, they hold your plastic in place fairly well, make it easy to rig your bait on the hook, make it easy to skin hook your bait and some allow you to slide the weight up and down the hook shank to change the running angle of your offering. Not only that but they also tend to enhance the durability of whatever bait your using.
One feature that doesn’t get talked about much but is very important is the angle and length of the hook point. While some swimbait hooks have the proper angle, some have the hook point protruding past perpendicular to the hook eye. That means that it sticks up beyond the plastic which exposes the hook point, lets it pick up glop on the retrieve and makes it much easier to snag. None of these outcomes are desirable.
So the field for us is narrowed and we have a couple of products that are our go to hooks. However, none have until now, incorporated a two ball rattle in the belly weight while maintaining all the best features that we look for. That is the single feature that got our attention when we saw this at ICAST in the Rockport Rattler booth.
How Does the LunkerMAX Rate?
The LunkerMAX uses a thin wire screw lock keeper on a Mustad, black nickel hook as the base for their swimbait hook. Then they add a unique weight with a small, two ball glass rattle encased in the lead.
This tiny rattle produces a sound that is audible when held in hand and shaken by your ear. It isn’t like shaking a lipless crank filled with BB’s but you can hear it without having to strain.
You might think that the rattle gets in the way of a solid hook set but that hasn’t been our experience.
We’ve been fishing the LunkerMAX since we got back from ICAST with not only our swimbaits but other soft plastics too.
Using this kind of hook with worms, creature baits, craw imitations and other plastics that you usually wouldn’t associate with a swimbait hook is fairly commonplace for clear water presentations in this part of the country. If you’ve never tried it, don’t knock it. You may be pleasantly surprised by how effective it can be.
The Rockport Rattler handles all these bait choices and provides an excellent platform for fishing them in a more horizontal fashion than you normally would.
Our Favorite Retrieve
One of the most productive retrieves we have found using the Rattler is a yo-yo type presentation. Casting your bait out, allowing it to sink, gently jerking it off the bottom or at a desired depth in the water column and letting it settle back down seems to get that little rattle making enough noise to get the fish curious. They appear to come from a greater distance to check out what’s going on than with conventional, rattle-less hooks.
We have done our testing using our current favorite weighted swimbait hook and the LunkerMAX on the same rig with the same line, same bait in the same color just to see if we could increase our strikes given the same conditions.
It’s been interesting to say the least. Using swimbaits in fairly clear water, we really haven’t noticed any increase. Maybe we get this result because, on a steady retrieve, without pronounced starts and stops, the rattles aren’t generating much sound.
Or it could be that the bait itself, with its action, is more than enough of an attractant that sound just doesn’t add much to it. This has been true no matter the time of day or night that we’ve fished this combination.
However, in stained to dirty water or in low light, even dark conditions, when we were throwing a soft plastic including a swimbait, we have gotten more strikes on the rod with the Rockport Rattler than on the other.
Yes, we continued to use identical set-ups with the only difference being the LunkerMAX as opposed to another swimbait hook.
In these conditons, the presence of that little extra sound seems to attract more fish which has resulted in more bites.
So yeah, we would say that the LunkerMAX will out produce other swimbait hooks in conditions other than gin clear water.
We aren’t sure what the retail price will be at this moment but it should be in line with other offerings that don’t have the rattle built into the weight.
If you’re looking to add a little different spin to your swimbait, give the Rockport Rattler LunkerMAX swimbait hook a try. We think that you’ll be as happy with it as we have been.
| Rockport Rattler LunkerMAX swimbait hook | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |   |
| A solid, noisy twist on belly weighted hooks | |
See ya’ on the water …
