Tackle Reviews | Man Versus Fish

Big Bite Baits Shaking Squirrel Worm

April 5, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

Today we’re going to look at another new offering for this season. Big Bite Baits Jeff Kriet – Shaking Squirrel. This is a slender, straight tail worm that was designed with dropshotting in mind. The Squirrel comes in two sizes, 4.5 and 6 inches respectively and are value priced at $2.99 a pack.

While there aren’t a myriad of colors by today’s standards, about a dozen, I like the palette as a whole. Several of the colors use a layered affect while others add chartreuse to the tails which saves the angler the trouble of having to dip them in dye.

You just open the package, get one out, put it on your hook and you’re fishing. No muss, no fuss. So what are they like in the water? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews

Snagproof Guntersville Frog

April 3, 2012 By "The Kid" Leave a Comment

We have already talked about the fact that there were a lot of new entries into the terminal tackle segment at ICAST 2011. Another area that saw an explosion of new products was hollow body frogs. We will be reviewing as many of these as we can as the year progresses but for now let’s take a look at one that caught our eye with its unique take on this venerable and proven lure.

The new Snag Proof Guntersville Frog. What makes this ribbit stand out? Let’s get it on the water and find out! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: Snag Proof

River2Sea Tear Drop Tungsten Sinkers

March 27, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

In the interest of covering all of our bases and making it simple for our newer readers, today we are going to look at our gold standard for dropshot weights. For the past few seasons, we have been and continue to use the River2Sea Tungsten Tear Drop Shot Sinker for all of our dropshot applications.

Now I know that some of you are going to read this and completely disagree with me. That’s fine, but if you’ve never tried the River2Sea, you really don’t know what you’re missing. You may find yourself asking, “Have you guys ever tried brand X?”. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: river2sea, Terminal Tackle

VMC Spinshot Dropshot Hooks

March 20, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

Spinshot In Package

With spring rapidly approaching, there are a lot of techniques that the angler can use to put fish in the boat including but not limited to, finesse fishing. If you’ve never tried drop-shotting, you are missing out on a very productive way to catch finicky bass.

One of the new pieces of terminal tackle that previewed at ICAST is one that will help any angler when it comes to using the drop-shot rig—the VMC Spinshot Dropshot Hooks. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews

Sunline Super Natural Monofilament

March 15, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

Every year I find myself in the position of trying some new lines with the thought that eventually I will find one that will replace my current go to in the various categories that we use. Today we’re going to give you an in depth review of Sunline’s Super Natural Monofilament.

Super Natural is offered in a variety of pound tests and is packaged in a spool of 330 yards as opposed to most other mono’s that come in 300 yard spools. It comes in either Clear or Jungle Green to match different water colors.

One of the things that intrigued us about this product is the fact that it tends to be thinner diameter than most of the competition given the same pound test. We obtained the 12 and 16 pound test for our review and have been fishing them on several occasions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: Sunline

Koppers Live Target Field Mouse

March 14, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

Field Mouse In Package

One of the categories that saw an explosion of new baits at ICAST was soft plastic, topwater baits, frogs in particular. We will be bringing you reviews of a bunch of them in the coming months.

But today is all about the lure that won “Best new soft bait”, the Koppers Live Target Field Mouse. These have been a little hard to come by so we haven’t been able to obtain all the patterns that we wanted but did manage to get hold of the 70T in White. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: Koppers

Owner Jig Rig

February 24, 2012 By Pops 2 Comments

The 2011 ICAST show had dozens of quality offerings in the terminal tackle department, an today we are going to give you our in-depth review of one of those products, the Owner JigRig Tungsten Weighted Hook.

No, it’s not a jig or a football head or anything quite like that. It is a hook, with a welded ring through the eye, with an elongated tear drop shaped weight attached to it.

So why in the world would you want this and what, if any, advantages does it have over other pieces of tackle you already possess? Let’s get it in the water and find out. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: Owner, Terminal Tackle

War Eagle Jigging Spoon

February 16, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

We have talked about the effectiveness of using spoons to target cold weather bass. We have also talked about the differences between casting and jigging spoons. This is important for the angler in terms of choosing which spoon to use for a particular situation. The vast majority of the time, when we begin our day on the water, we are using a casting spoon.

However, when the fish are relating to the bottom and down deep, our choice moves to a jigging style spoon. One of our favorites is the subject of today’s review. The War Eagle Jiggin’ Spoon. These spoons lend themselves by their design, more to a vertical jigging presentation than casting and retrieving. Why is that you’re wondering? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: Spoons, War Eagle

Spro McStick

February 10, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

Packaging

Yes it’s still jerkbait weather around here and we have been fishing the new Spro Mcstick 95 every time we have gone. This bait is 3.75 inches long and weighs just 3/8 of an ounce. It is designed to suspend in the 3 – 5 foot range allowing the angler to target some of those shallow or suspended bass.

I realize that getting out on the water when weather conditions are less than optimal has its own challenges, but there is one advantage you aren’t fighting for space on the water! This is enough incentive for us to get out and get to it!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: hard plastic baits, Jerkbaits, Spro, tackle reviews

Terminator Pirk Minnow

February 7, 2012 By Pops Leave a Comment

Pirk Minnow In Package

This time of year is one that can see changes day to day as far as what the fish are wanting. Of course, with cold water, spoons are always one of the baits that we will start our day with. They allow you to do several things efficiently.

First, this type of bait casts easily on both spinning and casting gear no matter the conditions. Next, you can cover a lot of water quick, fast and in a hurry with spoons. Lastly, as a search tool, they are indispensable. So today, we’re going to look at the Terminator Pirk Minnow Spoon. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tackle Reviews Tagged With: Spoons, Terminator