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Fierce Lures Hawg Whisperer

January 6, 2012 by ·

Fierce Lures In Package

As most of you who have been with us know, we here at MVF like our swimbaits. We almost always have one or more tied on and ready to go when we hit the water because this class of baits catches fish consistently. Today we get to take a relatively new entry into this market out on the water and see whether or not it has what it takes to earn a permanent spot in our tackle box.

The Fierce Lures Hawg Whisperer is a multi-segmented, seven to be precise, swimbait. These lures are 3.5 inches in length, weigh 1/2 ounce, have a medium-slow sink rate and come in some unique color patterns.  [Read more…]

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Netbait BK Swimbait 5 Inch

October 30, 2011 by ·

Bigger Bait, Bigger Bass!

We’re going to take a look at the larger version of a bait that we have reviewed before, the Netbait BK Swimbait in the 5 inch size. We use mostly the 4 inch and it has accounted for a lot of fish this year.

However, this time of year presents a wonderful opportunity to fish the bigger bait because the fish are not only getting more aggressive in preparation for the winter but they will eat larger baits in their haste to take advantage of an easy meal. These are precisely the conditions that allow a bait like this to shine.

I’ll never forget a year ago when “The Kid” and I went fishing on a brutally cold day in November on Lake Lanier. Our guide for the day was arguably the best guide on the lake and because of the conditions, his strategy evolved into using live blue back herring and fishing for Kentucky, or Spotted Bass, as they’re known.

I bring this up because the size of the bait got bigger and bigger as the day wore on. The last area we stopped to fish, he put on herring that were at least 6 inches in length. We ended up getting a double with both fish exceeding 5 pounds.

Here again, the old adage, ”big baits catch big fish”, proved to be the true. I know that there are a lot of folks who just haven’t ever tried throwing a bait like this. It simply is out of their comfort zone. But sometimes you have to be willing to throw caution to the wind to give yourself an opportunity at a new experience.

The 5 inch Netbait has all the same endearing features as its little brother. A good solid head, belly slit that makes rigging easy and of course the same over-sized paddle tail. The action is just as good with the 5 inch and the colors are the same.

I like to throw this bait using the Owner Power Lock Plus swimbait hook in the 6/0, 1/4 ounce size. I prefer the larger hook as I believe it makes for a better hook-set. I’m here to tell you that usually when you get a strike on this bait, the fish aren’t playing with you. They hit the BK  hard with every intention of eating it.

I like to fish this bait, this time of year, by casting it out, letting it sink below the level of the shad and then begin retrieving it at a medium to medium fast pace. I know that a 5 inch bait is often larger than the shad that are being chased but, there are time when I want to have some differentiation in my bait so that the fish can pick it out of the crowd.

If that isn’t working or there are no shad in the area you’re fishing, another way to use the BK is to slow roll it along the bottom adding yo-yo style hops now and again while making sure that after the hop, you once again make some bottom contact. I can’t even begin to count the number of fish that I’ve caught this way, using this lure. Due to its action, the Netbait displaces a lot of water and seems to get the attention of bass.

Just like its little brother, the 5 inch BK comes through structure like a champ. The semi-solid head deflects well off of stumps, lay-downs, stick-ups or just about any other underwater impediment. You will get strikes as the bait is bumping into and deflecting off of these kinds of cover.

Another cool thing about the Netbait product is that the 5 inch is the same price as the 4 inch. We talked about the fact that you can catch several fish on one of these baits. The first one that I used, the final tally for that bait was 22 bass before it was unusable. These swimbaits are truly an exceptional value at about $5 a pack.

Netbait BK 5 Inch Swimbait
Overall Ratingwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Great value, and even better results

See ya’ on the water …

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Optimum Double Diamond Swimmer

October 19, 2011 by ·

If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that we always have a swimbait tied on when we hit the water. The reason is simple, they

Optimum Double Diamond

catch fish and can be used in lots of different conditions. We are always open to trying a new product in this category and today’s review is on one that we have been experimenting with for a while, the Optimum Baits Double Diamond Swimmer.

We chose the 3.75 inch version for our testing because it matches the size of our local forage better than the other options. This version also lends itself to more possibilities for rigging than its larger cousins.

The Double Diamond Shape

It’s called the Double Diamond because of its shape. Both from the side and top or bottom, it is an elongated diamond with a small head and narrow section just in front of the oversized paddle tail. If you’re looking for 3D eyes, you won’t find them on this bait because the design of the head doesn’t allow space for eyes.

There is a belly slit in the bottom that isn’t as deep as one that is found on a split belly swimbait for aligning your hook whether you are rigging it weightless or using it as a jig trailer. However, because it is relatively shallow, you have more plastic to go through on the hook set than with more traditional swimbaits.

Rigging The Double Diamond

We started by rigging the Optimum on a 4/0 weighted EWG to see how it would cast and what the action would be like. The paddle tail does a good job of moving water but does have a sweet spot in terms of achieving the most kicking action. This bait will stay fairly horizontal on the retrieve without rising in the water column as fast as some of its competitors.

Note the diamond profile

On the fall, the tail stops kicking but it does have a moderate nose down descent with no rolling to the side. We found in fishing the DD that a lot of our strikes occurred as we would snap the bait off the bottom and re-start our retrieve. As far as fishing it by itself, this proved to generate more strikes than any other retrieve we tried.

We also fished it as a trailer on both swim-jigs and chatter-baits. The design of this lure really lends itself to this rigging. Because of the shallow belly slit and fairly solid back, it seems to be more at home when threaded onto one of these baits so that your hook point can be exposed. We also found that it enhances the action of both of these products versus a craw style trailer in terms of the side to side kicking action.

When used like this, we only got strikes as the bait was moving. Not one occurred as the bait was sitting on the bottom. We had our best results by swimming this through stalks and lily pads. When we matched the colors of the Double Diamond to the colors of our jig skirts, we were hit more often than using either a complementary color or opposing colors.

There are a number of patterns available in the Optimum bait. They range from the subtle, more natural, to very dark as well as very bright giving you something that can be fished in almost any color water. Again, knowing the local forage should dictate which patterns you might want to try.

As far as cost goes, the Double Diamond will run about $4 bucks for three. While this isn’t cheap, it isn’t close to the most expensive soft plastic swimbait out there either. The durability of the DD is a little less than average mostly due to the narrow section of plastic just in front of the tail. It can be torn and was the weak link in our testing. However, it is also fairly versatile which comes in handy when you have to make adjustments while you’re on the water.

Optimum Double Diamond Swimmer
Overall Ratingwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Unique design deserves a place in your tackle box

See ya’ on the water …

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Basstrix Fat Minnow

July 5, 2011 by ·

Today we’re going to look at the Basstrix Fat Minnow. This lure is 4 inches in length with a hollow body and split tail design. Some folks may not recall, but Basstrix was responsible for the whole hollow-body, paddle-tail swimbait craze. In fact, I still know a few folks who simply will not try any other bait in this class.

I remember when they were first introduced and it seems as though they were virtually impossible to get. Outlets would sell out seemingly the same day they got them in. Man was that frustrating! [Read more…]

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Reaction Innovations Little Dipper Swimbait

June 27, 2011 by ·

The Little Dipper Package

Let’s look at another offering in the swimbait category. When the situation calls for something on the smallish side, what are you going to use? We decided to give the Reaction Innovations Little Dipper a go. We fished the Little Dipper as a swimbait with a weighted hook on Lake Lanier so let’s take a look at the action that you can expect from this pint-sized lure. [Read more…]

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River2Sea S Waver

June 14, 2011 by ·

S-Waver

Tonight let’s take a look at a hard bodied swimbait from River2Sea that we picked up recently – the S-Waver. We obtained the 168S in Rainbow trout. This bait is 6 ¾ inches in length and weighs in at 15/8 oz. The S-Waver comes stock with Daichi hooks that are sharp out of the package and ready to fish. [Read more…]

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Netbait BK Swimbait Review

April 13, 2011 by ·

I don’t know about the rest of ya’ll but one of the baits that I really enjoy fishing is a soft plastic swim-bait. We have reviewed the Strike King Shadilicious, which incidentally has been my favorite lure in this category. Today, we are going to look at a new offering in this genre called the Netbait BK Swimbait. [Read more…]

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Strike King Shadalicious

September 22, 2010 by ·

Today’s product review is on one of my favorite night time baits, the Strike King Shadilicious. I have reviewed the Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft Pro and do use it, however the Shadilicious while not a brand new bait as I have been using it for now three seasons, is still the swim-bait that I have the most confidence in.  [Read more…]

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Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft Pro Review

September 14, 2010 by ·

Today, we are going to take a look at the Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft Pro. I like to use soft plastic swimbaits around this time of year and have had good success with them. With that in mind and having seen the video of these particular baits, I couldn’t wait to get them. I chose the four inch version and got three different patterns. The bluegill, holo greenie and blue back herring, which to me very much resembles some of our local sunfish. [Read more…]

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