Perhaps you have seen the ads and banners online for Castaila Outdoor's newest creation, a soft-plastic turtle lure? Or maybe you have watched the impressive YouTube advertisement for the Bombshell Turtle, complete with a turtle in a glass, tempting hungry bass? I was skeptical but interested in this new lure and recently received a few, in two different colors.
It's recommended to fish the Bombshell Texas-Rigged and I did so as you can see in the abovevideo. You'll notice the lure doesn't have a whole lot of action, except perhaps on a quick retrieve or on a fast jerk. This is also an observation noted by Field and Stream, in their ICAST Pool video test. The lure looks great, feels very solid and durable to the touch, but seems to lack significant action in the water. Bombshell Turtle does have a nice hook slot in the bottom, allowing for easy rigging and hopefully easy hookups. I think the best application of this lure is in the spawning time, when anglers infuriate bass by dropping various predator-style lures on their beds. Artificial crayfish, frogs, bluegill, and now even turtle lures can be utilized thanks to Bombshell. I have no doubts that it should catch fish in this environment, but I tried it out over the summer, well past the spawn, without much luck for largemouth. Still, there are quite a few videos on YouTube showing anglers nailing the bass on the Bombshell Turtle, so I wouldn't rule it out too fast.
This lure comes in a great selection of different colors, several in varied hues or mixed blends for better variation. There are 8 colors total, from Black/Silver to Softshell and Snapper. Each pack comes with 6 turtles, in a very nicely-designed bag (see above). The marketing behind this little lure is quite intense and I feel their website is worth a look, even if you aren't going to buy any lures. Castaila also makes an interesting saltwater crab lure, called the Bombshell Crab.
The Bombshell Turtle is not a terrible lure. In fact, I actually like it-I love seeing a new, unique and interesting lure design. It's quite durable, comes in nice array of colors, and has received some decent marketing online. However, I can't say I entirely recommend this lure to my readers. This is chiefly due to the limited action it has in the water. On a quick retrieve, the back fins get moving, but on a slow falls it really seems lifeless. It might work better had the paddles been more thin or angled differently. Overall, The Bombshell Turtle by Castaila Outdoors is a unique lure that may need a little more refining before I would feel very confident using it on a regular basis. Check it out today at Castaila Outdoors website!
ThinkTankLure’s announcement of a “steerable lure” back in 2011 at iCast was met with a great deal of enthusiasm and press coverage. Tackle Tour, InFisherman, Field and Stream, plus several other websites covered this unique topwater bait. However, since then, I haven’t heard much about the Triggerfish. Fortunately, I was able to get in touch with the folks at ThinkTankLures and I have a brand new review on this exciting topwater lure.
Design ThinkTankLures has basically taken the Walk-the-Dog concept to a new level with the Triggerfish. The head swings from side to side, acting as a weight to change directions of the lure as needed. Line tie is on top of the lure, not by the lip, unlike many other hardbaits. The Triggerfish features two sets of treble hooks, like most poppers and topwaters, along with a prop at the rear for greater topwater action. Finally, the Triggerfish comes in a huge selection of excellent colors. One I prefer is the Ayu Shad color, but there are many others (20 total!) for anglers to choose from.
Action Here’s where the real fun with the Triggerfish lies-in its unique, steerable action. I’m not going to go into super detail on how to best retrieve this lure (ThinkTankLures does a fine job on their website complete with instructional video), but I will assure you that it isn’t too hard to figure out. Don’t expect this to be a straight cast and crank lure. Rather, you’ll actually take near complete control of the various directions the lure heads, using short snaps of the line to change the weighted, swinging head direction. It may sound similar to the concept behind a Zara Spook and walking the dog, but it’s taking this to a whole new level. I thoroughly enjoyed the steerable aspect of the Triggerfish. As you can see in my YouTube video below, you can easily change directions and get the lure into some pretty tight spots, or just around various bits of interesting cover. There have been a few reviews online where people discussed having a hard time using the lure-this is simply not the case if you follow the instructions on the website! It’s important to note that this is definitely not a lure to fish in weedy, the duel treble hooks will make your life miserable fast! The lure doesn’t respond like a normal hardbait, instead, it lays on its side in the water, churning up a wake with its rear prop on retrieve.
Durability With sharp VMC hooks a solid paint job, the Triggerfish is definitely not one lure that I was worried about in the durability department. Errant casts on my part occasionally sent the lure bouncing off hard cover, but with no noticeable effect on the lure’s performance or finish.
Price At $12.99, it’s not the cheapest topwater bait on the market. However, the high quality components and unique design really make this price look like a bargain.
Summary I can’t recall having as much control and fun while fishing a bass lure as with the Triggerfish. The ability to control a lures direction on a topwater bait is awesome. It may not be the best topwater bait for every condition, but when you need a topwater bait to work its way around cover, or in a style rarely seen by fish, the Triggerfish is a must-have. I hope other anglers out there will have as much fun as I’ve had with the Triggerfish. Next stop? Silverwood, for early morning striper boils with ThinkTankLure’s Triggerfish-photos to come soon hopefully!
Dynamic Lures is a new company on the proverbial fishing lure block. They offer an impressive range of affordable jerkbaits and swimbaits. Based in Colorado, their products have been heavily advertised online and recently picked up by several large fishing tackle retailers, namely Bass Pro Shops, Sportsman's Wharehouse, and Cabelas. I was particularly interested in their HD Trout series of hardbait lures. After getting in touch with the company, I have several of these fine jerkbaits to show you along with them in action on video.
Design
These HD Trout jerkbaits are 2.25'' long and weigh in at 0.10 oz. I was most impressed with the unique patterns these lures come in. With 12 different patterns, ranging from Glimmer Trout to Fire Craw, you can be sure they have something for every water type. One of my favorite patterns they offer is the Ghost Perch, a semi-translucent brown baitfish pattern. Bass readily hit this and the Trout patterns that I threw while fishing.
Action HD Trout jerkbaits feature a tantalizing wobble in the water on medium retrieve. I was still able to coax decent action out of them on slow retrieves, and a fast "burner" retrieve also worked to draw strikes. However, most of my hits came on a medium retrieve, often near weedlines with the HD Trout. These lures look great in the water, with a slow-sinking fall when not reeling.
Durability Of the four jerkbaits from Dynamic Lures, one did lose an eye after a particularly bumpy retrieve near rocks. However, on the whole, I found these lures to be fairly durable. The finish held up great, even after repeated catches and some rough snags. None of the hooks bent out or left me with any problems. Retrieves continued to be consistently good even after multiple hookups (no re-alignment was needed during my use). Lures ran great out of the box too!
Price Dynamic Lures HD Trout jerkbaits are priced fairly reasonably. They sell for $4.95 each online, although the Gold Natural pattern is listed as $2.95 at the time of this review. I think most people will be comparing these to Rapala's and the $4.95 price of t he Dynanmic Lures definitely gives them an edge on the market. I haven't spotted the prices on them at Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas, it'll be interesting to see what they sell for at those stores.
Great packaging too!
Summary I'm really happy with the Dynamic Lures range of HD Trout jerkbaits. It's tough to come out with a solid line of new lures in the cutthroat fishing lure industry, but I think these guys have a winner on their hands with this set of jerkbaits. While the company has received rave reviews on their lures for trout fishing (a must in Colorada), I found the HD Trout to work great on bass at my urban creek and pond locations. They are the perfect size to throw on the light tackle that I use. Plus, the great lure patterns and decent prices will keep me throwing the HD Trout jerkbaits in my hunt for urban largemouth for sure!
Other Lures from Dynamic Lures
Also, I'd like to note that Dynamic Lures carries several other interesting lures. The Dynamo series is a set of unique big swimbaits for big fish. Coming in 7'' and 2oz, the slow sinking Dynamo LP looked great when I threw it at Lake Perris. I haven't' been able to fish it extensively, but I'll definitely be posting more shots of it when I do. It's a jointed hardbait swimbait with a nice array of patterns available. One of the really neat unique features of it is the sweet "embedded" hook on the front treble, helping prevent tangles on casting
Also from Dynamic is the Travado DP, a 4'' deep-diving jerkbait. Lots of great colors available for this hardbait too (seeign a pattern here?) I'm hoping to throw this when fishing the salt at the local jetties this summer, look for more reports on this soon!
So, what is a cicada? Chances are, you have heard them singing in the trees during the summer, yet not seen them up close. They are basically a large, buzzing insect with prominent wings. Upon falling in the water, they put up a tremendous disturbance, making them easy prey for largemouth bass and oversized bluegill. An obvious example of this may been here, in a YouTube clip depicting the cicada's action in the water and subsequent demise.
Jet Tackle's Crazy Bug
Cicada lures for bass are nothing new, but few topwaters on the market today really imitate a true cicada very well, in my opinion. Today I'll cover three topwater cicada lures I have; two affordable models (Jet Tackle Crazy Bug and wLure T4) with one well-known and very expensive lure, the Megabass Grand Siglett. For a comparison of the action of each of these bass lures in the water, check out the above YouTube video, shot at tiny Ford Park, in Redlands, California.
MegaBass Grand Siglett
MegaBass Grand Siglett
Design All three lures look great out the outside, with nice finishes and a variety of colors available. However, the Megabass Siglett really takes the cake when it comes to amazing design. The internal rattles create a sound supposedly tuned to match the cicada's buzzing sound, seen in this YouTube clip. The semi-translucent finish of the Siglett scores high marks with me as well, it's incredibly realistic and almost too good looking to use as a lure. It feels more at home in an insect collection! It's certainly the most photogenic of the three lures, as you can see in many of the photos. That being said, the other two from wLure and Jet Tackle both look great as well. Unless you are fishing for the most extreme, picky eaters, the different in external appearance probably won't matter much and will do more to catch anglers than fish.Interestingly, the Crazy Bug and Grand Siglett use a similar, soft, flexible plastic for the wings. The wLure T4 uses a hard plastic, different from the other two.
MegaBass Grand Siglett
wLure's T4 with Siglett in background
Action On retrieve, these lures aim to imitate the struggling, floundering and often crazy buzzing action of a cicada landing in the water. As you can see from the above video I put together, they do a very good job of this (note: first lure shown in video is Megabass, second wLure, third Jet Tackle Crazy Bug). You can twitch the lures, pop 'em, or just do a nice, slow, steady retrieve, resulting in a crazy wobble, tantalizing wobble. The Megabass Grand Siglett is certainly the loudest in the water. The internal rattles work together to really create a cacophony on the surface. The wLure lure and Jet Tackle cicada's are considerably more quiet, but still create a ruckus with their wings. One important note. To get the best performance from the Crazy Bug from Jet Tackle, you'll need to do some modifications, namely, remove the center hook and screen, and also switch the wing positions so they are facing forwards. Sounds confusing? It's really quite simple, you'll just need a small screwdriver to do this. Flipping the wings around forwards, to resemble the wLure T4 and the Megabass wings position will create the right wobble in the water; the out of box position really doesn't do enough. Do they catch fish? Sure, just wander over to YouTube and find the myriad of videos of people catching fish on the Megabass or the Tiemco Soft Shell (Australian version of the Crazy Bug/wLure T4). Unfortunately, the cooler weather over here hasn't resulted in a quality topwater bite yet, but I have had several missed strikes on these lures already. Here's the bottom line: All three lures have basically the same action. The Megabass Grand Siglett and wLure T4 are virtually identical on retrieve in the water. The Jet Tackle Crazy Bug is very closely similar, you'll just need to tweak it a little more to get the best retrieve (definitely doable).
Jet Tackle's Crazy Bug Shown with wing swapped for proper forward-facing, be sure to also unscrew the first hook eye and remove it
Price Here's where the three lures really differ. The Megabass Grand Siglett Cicada lure is incredibly expensive, selling online for roughly $20. It's also rather difficult to locate, as few US retailors carry it, even in their online inventory. eBay has been one of the best places to find the Megabass Grand Siglett. Both the wLure and the Jet Tackle cicadas are far more affordable. The wLure T4 cicada sells for $2.99 ($1.99 if you buy in bulk), with free shipping. The Jet Tackle Online Crazy Bug cicada is the best priced lure of the bunch, at only $1.59, not including shipping. You can also find Jet Tackle's lure through their eBay page.
Jet Tackle's Crazy Bug
wLure's T4
Jet Tackle's Crazy Bug
Jet Tackle's Crazy Bug
Company Info Both Jet Tackle Online and wLure have been very professional in all my inquiries and responded promptly to emails. I've been very impressed with the lure selection offered by both these fishing lure websites. They both offer incredibly good prices, great customer service and a huge selection of lures to choose from. I've received a lot of interest from anglers inquiring as to my opinion on both wLure and Jet Tackle Online's lures and hopefully, if all goes well, I'll be doing more reviews on my favorite lures from them in the near future. The key difference between these websites is product location: Jet Tackle's lures are shipped from a US location to the buyer, while wLure ships directly from China. I really like wLure's free shipping, but keep in mind that you will wait at least 3 weeks, sometimes more, to receive these lures, so order well in advance. On the other hand, Jet Tackle has a small shipping fee, but their lures arrive very quickly, roughly one week or so, standard USA shipping times, which is always appreciated.
wLure's T4 with Siglett in background
Summary While some anglers will undoubtedly only buy the most expensive Japanese lures and only settle for the Megabass Grand Siglett, I would encourage those of us who are looking for a more budget-friendly option to try out the other options for topwater cicada lures. All three of these lures will certainly catch fish, just at considerably different prices. For me, I feel much more comfortable casting a $1-$2 lure than holding my breath every time I cast a $20 lure near thick cover. If you want a lure quickly, and aren't afraid to do a little tweaking of it, go with the Jet Tackle Online cicada. If you don't mind waiting and want to save on shipping, check out the wLure T4 cicada. Finally, if you just simply must have the photogenic (and arguably still impressive in the water as well) Megabass Grand Siglett, load up eBay and start hunting!
There's currently a vast array of swimbaits being produced in Asia. Some of these are sold through major brands like Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas, while others may be found through more specialized fishing tackle distributors, with some very unique and interesting lures available. Such is the case with Real Fish Bait, based out of Modesto, California. Tackle Tour has featured Real Fish Bait on their website several times, mostly for their large selection of affordable swimbaits, both hard and soft. Most recently, Tackle Tour showed off some of the new offerings from Real Fish Bait at this year's ISE. I was fortunate enough to get to try some of the latest swimbait offerings from Real Fish Bait, including their impressive Hardbait Shad lures. (More after the jump with video)
The Hard Shad comes in 4 different patterns: threadfin, pumpkinseed, crappie and largemouth. They are done in a photo realistic finish-style, similar to the ABT swimbaits. Colors are sharp and the photo transfer process seems fairly seamless. Further setting apart the Hard Shad lures from many other swimbaits is the nifty "broomtails" feature. I haven't seen too many swimbaits that go for the bristle approach to create a realistic fin appearance, and the tails on the Real Fish Baits look great. It's a smaller swimbait, at 4'', built with six jointed sections, connected by metal pins/wires.
The Hardbait Shad lures are advertised at sinking at roughly 6'' ROF. They have a very natural, lifelike action in the water, even on slower retrieves. Being able to slowly work a hard swimbait through an area is definitely a something I look for in swimbaits; as too many hardbait versions (including the Spro Baby BBZ) seem to lose almost all their action at slow speeds. The Hardbait Shads maintained a tantalizing "S" wobble at both slow and fast speeds.
Do bass like the Hardbait Shad? Indeed! I had a lot of followers and strikes on one short urban creek fishing trip with this small swimbait, and managed to get a fish striking it on film with my Kodak HD cam. You can actually see the fish come after the lure on the first cast, in the top left side of the screen, if you look closely (watch it on 720p HD quality for best shots).
Durability is one point I am concerned about in regards to the Hardbait Shad. In the above video, you'll see a bass hit the lure twice, hooking up and getting landed on the second toss.
After catching this bass, I've gone on to use this same swimbait lure on several more California fishing trips. It's landed me some of my biggest urban creek bass and I've very happy with it. After getting hit by a particularly tough bass, you may find that the joints get a bit stiffer at the 2nd section. A few quick wiggles should fix the problem.
The 4'' Hardbait Shad looks great, swims great and definitely catches bass. It's a smaller swimbait with a whole lot of potential, at a fairly reasonable price. I'll be updating this post as I fish with this offering from Real Fish Bait in the future. Until then, if you are intrigued by this smaller swimbait, check it out at their website, available online for $11.99. Tight lines!
[Update March 12, 2012: I've since used the Hardbait Shad on several other fishing trips and have been impressed with its performance. It's definitely a keeper of a lure for me on my urban creek and lake bass trips!]
