Just yesterday, I ran across two magazines with interesting reading worth mentioning. I’m sure there is plenty other great things I missed elsewhere but, these two articles are our focus today. One thing is for sure; when I page through a magazine and find reference to or an article about a bait I use, I’m ecstatic about it. In-Fisherman and Bassin’ both had great issues this month and the two articles that were great to see in print.

Feb. 2009 In-Fisherman article by Gord Pyzer. Giant Gators Galore! page 53

Seeing the Scrounger get referenced to in this article was great. It’s just more proof the Scrounger works, this I have known and talked about for two years now. If the Scrounger can produce so well for Gord Pyzer for these giant Pike on his trip to Kesagami Lake, imagine what it could do in your hands.  Gord has aslo supplied photos of big lake trout caught using the Scrounger months before through the wintertime ice.

The Scrounger Jig makes swimbaits extra special. The action of the jig alone is enough but, when you add your favorite swimbait, it’s magic in the making. These giants and this article are just scratching the surface of what this lure can do.

Quite a few guides report increased crappie and Striper using the scrounger jig. I personally have used a scrounger and caught Lm/Sm bass, crappie, pickerel, perch and sunfish and have seen pictures of catfish caught using scroungers. They even work for saltwater species of fish.  Add your plastic bait and go fish it once, the most interchangeable, universal or versatile jighead on the market by far. The bait can be what ever you make it; skirts, hair and any kind of plastic can be added as a trailer to build a bait that works for you, for any species of fish.

What kind of fish do you catch using a Scrounger?

Feb. 2009 Bassin’ Special Issue “Bass Baits”. 50 Best New Baits page 21

The article references 50 new baits to be on the lookout for this year. There sure is some great new baits listed in this article and I respect their opinion but, I can think of a few other lures that could have been mentioned or substituted. There is only one product listed that I currently use and I only see a handful of lures that look to be a significant improvement over something already available to anglers. The one product listed that stands out for me is the Ragetail Anaconda.

The Rage Tail Anaconda was released last fall and to describe it in a few words, One Excellent Worm!  The Anaconda in either a 7″ & 10″ length is available in enough colors to trigger that bite on a lake near you. The Rage Tail lineup of baits by Strikeking has changed things across the board for plastic baits, and the Anaconda is just one of them. Be sure to give them a look, the Rage Tail lineup may have just what your looking for.

Do any of the baits listed in the article make a difference to you? Do you think they missed something?

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I wrote about “The Stand Up Jig” released in 2008 by Parasite Weights before the fishing season really kicked in. Now, 9 months later, the stand up jig head has proved that it does when others won’t. When I hear or see the term “stand up jig”; I think about all the jigs I have tried in the past that seem to fall over more often than not. That is far from the case when bass fishing with the Parasite Stand Up Jig. I admit, this jig isn’t the same old thing to rig but, once it is rigged, this jig will stand, bounce and stand again and again, each time keeping that hook point in the strike zone. If your looking for a dependable stand up jig for finesse fishing, this jig is worth the look. The cost of these stand up jigs is comparable to other jigs but, the increased effectiveness and hook up ratio is well above other products I have tried.

The “Cradle Weight” also released by Parasite Weights this year is designed for use with swimbaits. It allows bass anglers to use an offset hook of their choice, get a well balanced rig that runs true. Best part of this system is that your swimbait will never slide down the hook into a ball as the bait gets worn from use. Each swimbait can be fished longer, fished harder without the need periodically fix it which means a huge savings to the bass angler. The cradle weight is available from 1/8th to 1/2oz offering bass anglers lots of options for fishing their swimbaits from; burning it across the shallows to  bouncing it across the deeper holes. If you like to fish swimbaits, this may just be what you are looking for.

Also from Parasite Weights are some unique products I use on a regular basis that each save me money every trip to the lake.

The Parasite Clips and weights are worth their weight in gold in my opinion. When I fish a soft plastic weightless, I don’t need glue, I use a Parasite Clip. The clip keeps my bait in place on the hook and allows me to cast repeatedly without the need to fix a bait. The clip also allows me to catch more fish per bait and continue to fish with a seemingly worn out piece of soft plastic. I have saved a ton on soft plastics over the last two years using this product. Simple to rig and worth every penny to those that use them. The clips are great for senkos, flukes, topwater frogs and even while Carolina rigging a lizard.

The Parasite weights have all the same great benifits as the clip but, have weight added to them. The weights make for fast and easy weight pegging and you never need to check or fix a rig. Available in plain lead or painted to 1oz and 3/16 & 1/4oz tungsten sizes. This weight system is not a gimmick, they do just what they claim and will save anglers time wasted and money each time the product is used. Check out the closeup of a tungsten weight rigged to the left, when this weight is rigged, it is vertually imposible for your bait to slide down the hook into a ball.  Also, the clip part of the weight keeps the weight securely against the tip of your bait making for a no-hassle pegging method. These weights are very easy to rig and have become something I use on a regular basis. For more information on any of the Parasite Weights line of products, checkout their website: http://parasiteweights.com/

The “J” Hook by Owner is by far the most dependable offset hook I have found. These may cost a little more than other hooks and aren’t available in bulk packs but, I know when I’m using the “j” hook, I can stick a fish. I haven’t bent one of these yet and this is the only hook I have found that will penetrate fish bone or hard areas of the jaw without bending a point or getting dull. These can be set into rocks and other bottom structures and still maintain a sharp point. If you haven’t tried Owner hooks yet, find your style of hook by them and be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the Owner product line.

The Scrounger Jig might be better being talked about as a lure but, because it is a unique jig head, I’ll just talk about it now. The Scrounger is in my opinion, one of the most versitile jig heads on the market for anglers. It’s uses are for more than just bass; a scrounger can be used for any panfish, perch, LM bass, SM bass, pike, pickerel, musky, walleye, catfish, striper as well as many saltwater species. It’s unique design allows the fisherman to add a wobble action to any soft plastic used as a trailer. Scroungers can also be tied with hair to become a hair jig or even be used with a skirt much like a spinnerbait. If you are looking for one lure that you can target just about any fish species, this has to be one of them. They are available in a multitude of weights and sizes. You can find out more about the Scrounger at: http://thescrounger.com

Feel free to add your comments or to add anything you feel I have missed and should be mentioned in this article. You can make a comment below or talk about this article in the forums.

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2008 has been a great year for new soft plastics for bass fisherman. It seems that every where we turn or search, there is a new soft plastic bait for bass that gets our attention. So many baits to choose from and so little time to use them, which do we try?

With the selection of so many soft plastics on the market these days, it pays to find a few companies with products we can each depend on. I have found that I only need a few different products to catch fish on a semi-regular basis even though, the “baitmonkey” is always lurking on my shoulder waiting for something new to appear. I took a little time to reflect on this past year and put together a list of the soft plastics I used this year for LM & SM Bass that really hit the spot, caught plenty of fish and basically did what they are supposed to do, CATCH FISH! The products listed below are in no particular order; each of them works equally well under advertised applications and deserve consideration in my list. When I head out fishing; you will always find a selection of the baits below in my back pack.

Case Plastics: www.caseplastics.com

• Case Plastics has an amazing amount of soft plastic baits to choose from that are affordable, durable and catch both smallmouth and largemouth bass. The Case Magic Stick, Jacks Worm & my wife’s favorite the Hellgrammite have landed more than their share of fish this year. Each of these baits will land LM and SM bass on a regular basis and save you plenty of funds for your next outing with the baitmonkey. I never leave home without my supply of Case Plastics.

Picture Description: Jacks Worm on a jig head – wacky rigged Magic Stick – Case Hellgrammite on a Parasite Stand-Up Jig

JDC Baits: www.jdcbaits.com

• JDC Baits offers bass anglers a great selection of affordable and durable soft plastics also.  The JDC line up of soft plastics are very unique in that most will only be found under the JDC name. The RockCraw is one of the most realistic craws on the market for bass and responsible for most of my early season LM Bass. It is available in multiple sizes, casts like a bullet and flat-out catches fish. JDC Baits “Creek Chub” is a simple bait that worked extremely well for me this season for smallmouth when rigged on a jig head. This same bait will make a great drop shot bait for those that like drop shotting. JDC’s most recent release is the BLR Bomber; a 10″ soft plastic “senko” type bait which I just love throwing. The BLR Bomber landed my new personal best LM bass this season and always seems to get a bigger bass in my hands. Let us not forget the JDC Skip n Pop, the only soft plastic topwater popper that I know of. The ability to fish a T/Rigged popper through pads without hanging up with a load of treble hooks is something many of us are just not accustomed too, and it’s great! Each of these baits landed plenty of fish this season and have become a staple in my ever growing selection of soft plastic tackle. I never leave home without a selection of these JDC Baits products.

Picture Description: Creek Chub on a Parasite Stand-Up Jig – Texas rigged Skip n Pop – Rock Craw rigged on a Title Shot jig head

Rage Tail Baits: www.ragetail.com

• What more can I say, this company took me buy surprise! Every one of their patented Rage Tail baits are unique and has landed loads of fish for my wife and I. The patented tail design has a way about it that just plain works and works well. The rage shad, rage toad, rage craw and rage chunk were my first exploration with this companies baits and each falls into the “amazing” category for me. The Rage Tail line of soft plastics have re-defined action, vibration and the movement with each of their soft plastic baits. The topwater fun to be had with the rage tail shad and toad can’t be duplicated and far exceeds my origianl expectations. The rage chunk is a great jig trailer and also makes a great finesse bait when rigged on a jighead while the craw steps it up on a T/rig. With the recent release of the all new Rage Tail Anaconda (7″ & 10″ worm), Rage Lobster (6″ craw), Rage Lizard and the Rage Spacemonkey (creature bait), the ragetail lineup of baits almost seems complete. We have been lucky enough to aquire many of these new baits and have great luck with them over the last couple months. Rage Tail baits are a steady producer and will always have a place in my pack on every outing to fish.

Picture Description: (Above) Rage Tail Shad, Rage Craw, Rage Chunk & Rage Toad
(Below) Rage Tail Anaconda, Rage Lizard, Rage Lobster & Rage Tail Spacemonkey

Reaction Strike Swimbaits: www.reactionstrike.com

• I had to jump on this band wagon this year and see what the swimbait craze is all about. Finding a paddletail swimbait these days isn’t very hard. Finding just the right swimbait in the size and color your after is a different story. A friend suggested Reaction Strike swimbaits to me and let me tell you, they have just what I was looking for. Reaction Strike has plenty of colors and sizes to suit all the paddletail applications I have considered. This is still a new area of soft plastic exploration for me but, if you look in my bag, you will find a decent selection of these baits for when the need arises.

Picture Description: The Fathead, Jr. shown in 3″, 3.5″, 4″…. also available in 5″, 6″ and 8″ lengths

I hope you enjoyed my list of proven soft plastic baits. Feel free to comment or add a few of your new favorite soft plastic baits used this past year. You can add a comment below or visit the forum to dicuss it more here: Top Soft Plastic Tackle 2008

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