A Few Baits from ICAST On The Water
Putting a few of the latest and greatest to the test
For most, ICAST is largely composed of walking miles of showroom floor to ferret out and handle the latest introductions from each company. ICAST On The Water offers a chance to actually make a few casts with some of the goodies before the main show opens. I headed down to the shores of Lake Toho, made a few casts, sweat a lot and came back with a few early impressions.
Bill Lewis Outdoors: StutterStep
The StutterStep came into the show with a lot of buzz, and it’s interesting to see the makers of the legendary Rat-L-Trap build a new topwater. Everyone from Casey Martin to Mark Daniels Jr. is pretty high on the bait, and it looks like it might turn into a winner. The StutterStep can almost walk in place when you twitch it slowly, but it also walks at a pretty usual clip and can wake on a straight retrieve in an interesting manner. In all, it’s certainly worth a look, and just might catch them really good, either as a regular topwater or a different look for when you’re fishing prop baits around bedding bass. The 5-inch StutterStep weighs an ounce. MSRP is $13.99.
The StutterStep in action
Z-Man: two new ChatterBaits
Z-Man is releasing a pretty large number of new products at ICAST, but only two of them are part of the legendary ChatterBait family. The first is the ChatterBait Freedom, which is built from the Project Z blade attached to a Freedom Tackle head. Freedom Tackle has a unique system that lets you essentially use any hook you care to on a weedless jighead, and the idea is that with a trailer on an EWG hook, the ChatterBait Freedom can be almost entirely weedless. Though the blade will still attract some grass, it certainly seems like a good idea. Look for it in six colors in 1/2- and 3/8-ounce sizes for an MSRP of $8.49.
The second new vibrating jig is the Project Z ChatterBait Weedless. Z-Man says that the configuration of the Project Z head and line tie give out the best vibration possible, and it’s joined the weedless trend now with the addition of a brush guard. Though it obviously won’t be immune to grass, the guard should help, particularly around brush or docks where a ChatterBait can be so effective. One nice thing about the brush guard is that it can be thinned or trimmed to your specifications. It’ll be available in six colors in 1/2- and 3/8-ounce sizes for an MSRP of $9.49
River2Sea: Double Plopper
The Whopper Plopper has been as hot as anything going so far, and River2Sea plans to take advantage of that with the new Double Plopper. It’s basically a big floating buzzbait, and it sure makes a lovely sound coming through the water. The noise and commotion are probably somewhere between the small Plopper and the more standard and popular 130 size of the Plopper. The Double casts better than a regular buzzbait, but the addition of a trailer will help out a lot. Because of the design and the nature of the plopping parts, it isn’t an extremely weedless bait, but it should come through lighter stuff pretty decently, and it’ll surely be better at getting through grass than the original Whopper Plopper. The Double Plopper comes in 12 colors, is more than 5 inches long and has an MSRP of $16.99, which is the same as the Whopper Plopper.
Yo-Zuri: a pair of swimmies
New from Yo-Zuri this year are the Duel Hardcore Ninja Swimmer and the Duel Hardcore Ninja Twitch’n Glider. The Twitch’n Glider has been out since the spring with limited availability, and I can say it’s absolutely a sweet glide bait. It’s got a lot of similarities to a Roman Made without the wicked-steep price tag. It’s a slow-sinker, and effectively fishes down maybe 3 or 4 feet, depending on how you fish it.
The Swimmer is essentially built on the same body as the Glider, but it’s a floater with a lip. Yo-Zuri says it’ll run down about 4 feet, but it’s going to get a lot more use in the real world as a big wake bait. On that side of things, it’s definitely got a unique action. Both baits are a manageable 7 inches long (you can toss them on a regular or light flipping stick) and will be available in 10 colors at an MSRP of $37.99.