Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Jerry Rago Bait Ball




The Jerry Rago Bait Ball is Jerry Rago’s (famous swimbait designer) take on the Alabama or Umbrella rig phenomenon which has swept the nation.  The bait made the splash in California in mid-2011 and appears to have worn out its welcome as it appears to be discontinued (no longer on Ragobaits.com).

Product Details:
Colors – Currently available in Shad
Weight – 25 grams (FLL’s weight)
Price – Around $19.99

FLL’s Take

The Rago Bait ball is a unique take on the umbrella rig and has its differences than many other brands in the market.  The first identifying factor of the Rago Bait Ball is the enormous head on the bait.  The head is close to 2” long and 1” in height.  While most other rigs the head is made of lead, this is a composite/epoxy type material making it exceptionally light for the size of the bait.  But with the larger head, the Rago Bait Ball probably has one of the better paint jobs than other umbrella rigs on the market.  Unfortunately we have not fished the bait enough to comment on the durability of the paint on the Bait Ball.  The other unique factor of the Bait Ball is that the wires are fixed in an open position (unlike many others where you can bend out to the preferred area).  This allows the individual baits to be kept separate and not interfere with each other.  In addition the center wire is considerably shorter than the 4 outside wires which is a great place to put a blade of some sort to provide some flash to the bait.

We took the Bait Ball to the California Delta looking for stripers and largemouth bass.  The bait was successful in catching a number of short/schoolie sized stripers and a few largemouth to 2 lbs.  The one thing which we immediately noticed with the Rago Bait Ball is that it swam in the upper water column than the typical umbrella rigs.  We had started with 3/16oz jig heads but with the large head on the Bait Ball and relatively no weight to it, this naturally pulled the bait towards the surface.  To compensate for this, we upped the size to 1/2oz on the jig heads and this allowed us to get the bait to some deeper depths.  What this basically means if you are trying to fish shallow with an umbrella rig, this is a great option.  If you are trying to fish down 10 ft or deeper, we would recommend an umbrella rig with a lead head.

As for the wire locations we really didn’t have an issue with the fixed locations.  In California one can only have three hooks on the umbrella rig.  This forced us to choose on where to put the baits.  We opted for the hooked baits on the two side wires and the lower wire.  On the upper wire we put a dummy bait (no hook).  Surprisingly enough, probably 90% of the fish caught was on the bottom wire.  We also upped the size of the bottom wire’s jig head and had lighter jig heads on the sides and no weight on top for the bait to rig to swim properly.

The one area which we did not like on the Rago Bait Ball rig was the swivels used to attach the jig heads to the umbrella rig.  The swivels are probably strong enough to withstand some decent sized fish, but they are simply too small.  The size of the swivels made it extremely difficult to clip on to our existing jig heads.  I find it surprising that they would put such small coast-lock swivels on the bait.


FLL’s Rig
Reel: Abu Garica C3 5500
Rod:  7’6” H Original Carrot Stix
Line: 25lb Berkley Big Game





Monday, February 18, 2013

Big Hammer Swimbaits



If you fish the Southern California Inshore saltwater scene, you are familiar with Big Hammer Swimbaits.  They have become a staple when targeting Calico Bass, Sand Bass, Spotted Bay Bass, Bonito, Yellowtail, Halibut and more.  In addition it’s made some huge catches of Largemouth and Striped Bass throughout the rest of the state.  It seems that its finally/slowly spreading across the nation as the swim jig/Alabama rig has swept the nation.

Product Details:
Colors – Too many to Count
Size – 3” to 9”
Price – Starting at $3.59

FLL’s Take

You know you are fishing a Big Hammer Swimbait when you see the square tail (in photos below).  According to the website it is trademarked to insure that if you see the square tail you are getting a Big Hammer.  The Big Hammer swimbaits come in a variety of sizes and a plethora of colors.  If you can’t find a color that suits your needs, you must have a problem as they cover the spectrum.  In our tests and actual fishing, you could see the rhythmic wag of the square tail as you are winding in the bait.  Its almost mesmerizing watching the action of the tail.  Besides being square vs other sizes of the competitor, the Big Hammer tails seem to perform better than the competitors at lower speeds.  This  is key when you aren’t fishing for a fast fish like a Bonito and need to present the bait in a slower more natural setting.  You factor in the nice tail wagging of the bait with the slim fish shaped body profile and when fished with a jighead creates a nice wobble which fish seem to eat up.

For the FLL testing we fished it two ways.  First was as the tail of a swim jig and the second way was the more traditional way behind a shad shaped lead head.  Initially we matched our swimjigs up with a 4” Big Hammer.  You will find that the 4” Big Hammer has a fatter profile than say a 5” Big Hammer, the reason is that the 4” bait is roughly the same width of the 5” but the 5” is a little taller….( I know this is tough to imagine but look at the photos.)  We fished this and the bait does give a nice kick but almost seemed a little anemic in the swimming fashion.  We did make the change to a 5” Big Hammer and preferred the action a lot more.  The 5” bait gives a nice tail wag and works well with the swim jig.  Finally we opted to try the 5.5” bait as this has a larger tail and more wag.  Initially we had been using a ½ oz swimjig but opted to upsize to a 5/8” jig which seemed to handle the larger tail.  All three sizes provided great tail action for our jigs and certainly find a place in any serious swim jig fisherman’s tackle box.

The second way we fished Big Hammer baits was the more traditional way on the back of a shad shaped lead head.  We used both the 5” and 5.5” baits fishing for Striped Bass as well as some shallow water rockfish.  In the freshwater, we matched up the 5” Big Hammer with a 3/4oz lead head with a 5/0 hook.  While we weren’t able to connect on any monster stripers we were able to do the damage to the schoolies we were catching.  Even with a 5” bait the schoolies had no problem sucking down the bait and putting on a show.  While the water was slightly off color, the fish seemed to have no troubles locating the bait minus the flash/rattle which a hard bait may have.  In the end after 12+ schoolies we were still on the same bait.  This helps speak to the durability of the bait and whether it was a burning speed retrieve to a bouncing the bottom, the bait performed admirably.

The next challenge resulted in some shallow water rockfish.  We were fishing some structure in about 40-60 ft of water.  Matched up with the 5.5” bait was a 1 oz lead head with a 5/0 hook.  Instead of the usual cast and retrieve, we were fishing these more vertically.  We would drop the bait to the bottom, do a few cranks to get it off the bottom and just jig it up and down.  The fish today absolutely annihilated the baits.  We caught numerous rockfish, cabezons, lings, and calicos.  What was interesting and probably promotes the tail action of the baits is that on occasion the tail would be bitten off.  I would still try to catch fish jigging and would still manage fish but at a slower rate than a bait with the tail.  Once I rig a new bait and drop it down, I’d be on again.  No doubt the ocean fish have more teeth than freshwater fish and this certainly showed in the number of fish we would get before having to change out the bait.

The one downside with Big Hammer baits we found through fishing was the occasional splitting of the bait.  This happened only in the baits which had different layers of plastic in them.  We found a few baits where once the jig head was inserted in the bait, the bait would delaminate or split at the colors.  Also on one other occasion we had a bait rigged and used it throughout the day with no issues but left it sitting out and it eventually split.    While we don’t feel this is a big or pressing issue, it is something to be aware of.  Note:  1 of the baits we tested split, but we also have previous experience with the baits and have seen other baits split previously.


FLL’s Rig

Freshwater:
Reel: Shimano Curado 200E
Rod:  Dobyns Champion 705CB
Line: 15lb Berkley Big Game

Saltwater
Reel: Shimano Cardiff 400
Rod:  Shimano Terramar WC 7’11” MH
Line: 20lb Berkley Big Game


Friday, February 15, 2013

River2Sea Bully Wa Frog



 The Bully Wa Frog is again capitalizing on the recent successes of the “new and improved” Frogs.  As you can see from the photos, River2Sea did provide some great detail with the bait and matched it up with a Gamakatsu EWG Frog hook.  The one unique thing about the River2Sea Bully Wa frog vs many other competitors is that the Bully Wa probably has the softest plastic around.  In addition the Bully Wa claims a unique keel for better walking the dog as well.

Product Details:
Colors – Currently comes in 214 Colors (Per R2S’s Website)
Size – 2.5” or 65mm (reviewed)
Weight – 5/8oz
Hooks – Double 4/0 Gamakatsu Frog Hooks
Price – Starting at $6.99

FLL’s Take

The Bully Wa Frog comes in four different sizes.  For this review, we were throwing the 65 size of Frog.  As with many of the newer Frogs, the Bully Wa feature some great detail in the overall design of the frog in addition to the paint job.  The Bully Wa features a unique keel design on the underside (can be seen in the photos) which the manufacture claims it helps with walking the dog in open water.  FLL will have to agree with the manufacture here in that walking the dog in the open water was pretty easy to accomplish.  The other unique feature with the Bully Wa is the plastic material of the frog’s body.  The bait probably has one of the softest bodies on the market.  What does this mean?  Well we found that when fishing, the frog maintained a good bite to hook up ratio without having to open up the hooks (as done on most of our other Frogs).  It seems that with the softer plastic, the body can collapse better exposing the hooks to a hungry bass better.  The one upside about this is that the bait still maintains its weedless profile as we didn’t half to open up the hooks.  In addition as with most other frogs, all our casts landed right side up and ready to go.  Another potential upside to the bait is that it felt like it took less rod movement to get the bait to perform, on the flip side too much rod action caused the bait to roll.
Two downsides we experienced with the Frog.  One is that it took on water at a faster rate than some of our other baits.  Yes this is a known problem with all Frog baits but I’m wondering if it is again due to the softer bait?  I’m not sure.  The other downside was durability.  This bait did do its number to the bass on the CA Delta but it also took a beating.  One of the baits started to tear at the bottom where the hooks exited the body.  This was temporarily fixed with some glue before continuing to tear.  The second bait is in the picture and you can see some of the round rubber of the legs started tearing/falling off.

FLL’s Rig
Reel: Abu Garcia Revo S
Rod:  7’6” H Original Carrot Stix
Line: 65lb Spiderwire Spectra Stealth Braid





Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog



This was probably one of the first “Generation 2” frogs which came on the market.  I would use the term “Generation 2” to really describe the increase in attention to detail and design which had been going into frogs.  Per most generic descriptions of the frog, its designed for long casts and to always land belly down.  The design employs double 3/0 Gamakatsu frog hooks with minimal water entering the body of the frog.

Product Details:
Colors – Currently comes in 25+ Colors (Per Spro’s Website)
Size – 2.5” or 65mm
Weight – 5/8oz
Hooks – Double 3/0 Gamakatsu Frog Hooks
Price - Starting around $8.99

FLL’s Take

To date this has probably been one of the better Frog’s on the market.  Besides a wide array of colors and now sizes (King Daddy and Jr) it flat out entices fish to bite.  Notice I said it entices fish to bite…not hook up or catch them.  As with any frog the fisherman has to be sure they feel the fish before setting the hook (I know this is difficult especially when you see the bite).  I find that the Spro Body feels a little thicker or stiffer than some other frogs on the market.  While this certainly helps in durability, it also can impact the hook up ratio of the fish.  I would recommend to improve this, take a pair of pliers and slightly bend the hooks outwards.  This certainly makes the Frog less weedless but will improve the hook up ratio.  Another recommendation in fishing the Frog is to trim the legs.  It really becomes up to personal opinion but depending on conditions, I prefer to trim various amounts of the legs off depending on conditions.  I will trim all my Frogs usually ½”-3/4” and I find that I can walk the dog better in open water (one area where the Spro Frogs excel).  In thicker cover I prefer an even shorter legs (some even have no legs) and I get the bites.    
             A couple of the downsides I’ve seen with the Spro Frogs is the paint durability and filling up with water.  In terms of durability I’ve had a few of the Frogs a few years ago where the paint started flaking off.  While this really didn’t concern me that much, its something to watch out for.  I found that a Sharpe can help correct this a bit.  The other issue is water.  All hollow body Frogs take on some water.  Side Note: You do not want to seal the holes in the frogs as this allows the air to escape and the bait to compress when the bass hits it.  In the fair number of Spro Frogs I’ve fished, some take on more water than others and I’m guessing it has something to do with the mold.  Periodically I would have to squeeze the water out but not at an excessive rate.

FLL’s Rig Used
Reel: Abu Garcia Revo S
Rod:  7’6” H Original Carrot Stix
Line: 65lb Spiderwire Spectra Stealth Braid

Photos:





 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Coming Soon

Coming Soon.  The blog will be focusing on the ever expanding number of fishing lures coming on the market.  The idea is to create a library with photos and some dialogue on how to fish each lure.