Saltwater lures for freshwater fish? – Fantastic Bomber Saltwater Grade tackle has me thinking outside of my tackle box.

Saltwater hard baits have always been a weakness for me when it comes to adding lures to my tackle collection. Generally speaking, their colors and patterns are fantastic, looking great on the wall and in the package. With respect to actually wetting a line with one, sometimes as fresh water fisherman we need to think out of the box, as in out of our tackle boxes and into those of our salty peers. 

What I’m saying is that you can’t be afraid to mix it up a bit, as saltwater fishermen have at their disposal some fantastic hardbait and tackle offerings that those of us away from the coast – in my humble opinion - can really take advantage of. To that end, Bomber Saltwater Grade tackle is a line of baits I personally have added to my collection, and plan to soon start throwing. In fact, I wouldn’t hesitate throwing any hard bait in their lineup - in the right freshwater condition – as it’s all about presenting the fish with something they haven’t seen before. You don’t have to worry about the quality and construction of these baits - they are built to withstand the variable extremes of the ocean, as well as the crushing power (teeth) of the quarry found within; heavy duty hooks and terminal hardware abound. Enjoy the eye candy below!

Bomber Saltwater Trout Assortment - Speculizer rigs, Life-Like Shrimp and Floating Long As. Note: I really like the idea of popping cork rigs with soft plastic trailers for Bass. It’s an idea I have been thinking about for a while now.

Two great saltwater top water baits that would make any hungry bass drool. These baits look great as part of my in-package collection too!

Topwater Bottom Line: Bomber has always made great lures - I have many in my freshwater collection - and their Saltwater Grade line is no exception - these baits are built to last and catch fish. Why not show freshwater fish something they haven’t seen before, be it Bomber’s hard or hard/soft saltwater (e.g. Redfish Flasher Curltail) baits. These lures are priced nicely, ranging from between 6 to 11 dollars per unit (approximately). As always, please practice catch and release with these lures.

Topwater Rating:  

5 out of 5 bobbers

It's always a good Idea to try something different when fishing on pressured waters, and these quality baits will fit the bill nicely.

I can’t think of a better animal to name a spincast reel after – Zebco’s Rhino RSC Spincast Series.

I fish with spincast reels. There I said it, and you know what? I’m proud of it. I appreciate their simplicity. I love their relative value for the dollar, and I admire their overall tenacity, quirkiness and pick-up-and-play attitude. For the past three seasons I’ve been giving the honored duty of throwing my top water plugs to spincast reels - and let me tell you I’ve put them through hell (and sometimes back). Sometimes they’ll stall, and sometimes they’ll bark back, but for the most part I’ve received much satisfaction in using closed-face reels for this style of fishing. Truth be told, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a spinning or baitcast set-up for lobbing hard plastic fantastic frogs around the lily pads, reeds and blown down slop.

One of the Spincast reels I used last season (and plan to use again this season) is Zebco’s Rhino RSC3 Spincast Reel. I love this machine for a whole number of reasons, not the least of which is its name – don’t we all want to go into battle with a machine called Rhino? Another reason for my admiration is its rugged good looks, with its black rubber thumb bar and just the right amount of black, red and aluminum accents. Heck, it’s even got some guts in it, what with a 3 bearing drive and something called “Helical-cut worm gears” – that just sounds great when I say it out loud - Helical-cut worm gears – sounds like something under the hood of a custom Chevelle Super Sport. In any event, the reel has performed flawlessly for me the times I have used it, and since my main closed-face reel finally went belly up at the end of last season (I beat her like a rented mule and I kept her handle as a reminder), I will rely on this new brute to do all the heavy lifting for this upcoming season.

 

Rhino RSC Spincast Features:

> 4-Bearing drive
> Helical-cut worm gears
> Rugged composite body
> Roller-adjustable Rhino drag
> Machine-forged aircraft aluminum cover
> Die-cast aluminum crank handle
> TPE sealed thumb button
> Dual ceramic line pickup pins
> Changeable Right or Left retrieve

Topwater Bottom Line: Most anglers view closed-face or spincast reels as beginner reels or the reels they give to their kids, wives or little cousins when they accompany them on a fishing excursion. I don’t view them quite the same way. I’ve found spincast reels to be quite reliable when it comes to tossing my top water plugs, but most importantly for me, they hark back to a simpler age, when fishing was fun and was something you did with your little dog Spike at your feet, a tin pail of worms under your stool, the sun beating down on your face and your mother hollering at you because you were late for lunch. Call me nostalgic if you must, but I still get a big thrill reeling in a big bass on a closed-face reel. While they may not be as technologically advanced as their spinning and baitcasting brethren, reels like the Rhino RSC scratch me right where I itch, and for me that’s all that matters. The Rhino RSC Series of reels can be purchased for about 23.99 per unit. As always, please practice catch and release with this reel.

 

Topwater Rating: 

 

 

5 out of 5 bobbers

 While closed-face or spincast reels may not be everyone's first choice, fishing is more than just catching fish in my opinion - it’s about the experience. And the type of reels I choose to use can only add value and ambiance therein. The Rhino series of reels do very well in that regard. 

A Monster book & a small lure – Strike King’s Baby King Shad is on deck.

This is not only my first blog post for 2011, but my first blog post in nearly a year (with a new look as well!). Why the delay you ask? Well, I took the better part of 2010 putting the finishing touches on my first self published book, Monsters in Absinthe. If you like old-timey science fiction and love monsters, this is the book for you. It’s available traditionally bound, and in a more environmentally friendly (and cheaper) downloadable e-book format. Click the title of the book above or here to check it out. Another note for 2011, I encourage you to practice catch and release for the game fish you seek this year. Let’s ensure our children and their children have a chance to enjoy the sport as much as we do! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Each and every winter, I try to add a few pieces to my on deck line-up - I.e. a couple of new lures I can throw that the fish haven’t seen before. Today I’ll discuss one of those lures, the diminutive Strike King Baby King Shad Swimbait. This lure is a smaller take on its larger cousin, the Top Water Wake Shad. Now you must understand that I’m a bit of a sucker for shallow running hard swimbaits, and I’m also a bit of a small lure maniac (they simply catch more fish – big ones too in my opinion and experience), so when I laid eyes on this little beauty I was instantly hooked. What really caught my eye was the finish; that life-like, oh-so edible wet quality that certain baits have. Heck, I half-expected these tiny gems to start squirming in their plastic clam shells, their little gills furiously pumping. I realized that this bait, worked/twitched slowly on, or just underneath the surface of the water, may be quite good at getting big bass to bite early in the morning and on towards evening. Plus, the lure collector in me had to have at least one for my collection. From the myriad of colors, I settled finally on the attractive Blue Gizzard Shad version, and took my prized possession home. One I got it out of its fantastic tiny clam shell packaging, I realized that the hooks, though very good in quality, are a bit too big for my personal taste. In fact, I like to replace most of the hooks on the factory lures I actually throw with smaller prongs. I do this to minimize the damage I do fishes mouths and, though you will lose more fish, I find that smaller hooks work wonders for pressured fish – it’s all about maintaining realism right? To that end, I replaced both hooks, adding a Rapala feathered rear treble. I plan to through this lure on a medium action spincasting set-up, tied to 10 pound test mono.

A feast for the eyes, and potentially for Largemouth Bass, Strike King’s Baby King Shad is a jointed 3", 1/2 oz detailed and molded swimbait with realistic finish and eyes – diving to a maximum depth of 5 feet. 

Topwater Bottom Line: I have read some reviews online which have questioned the joint in this swimbait. I haven’t thrown it yet, so I don’t know how it will hold up. However, the lure looks and feels like it is well made, so time will tell I would guess (tip: as with any segmented bait you need to have your drag set up properly). Visually it is stunning, and I am glad to have it in my collection and tackle box, something that may not be important to most fishermen. What can I say, I appreciate visual design. The Strike King Baby King Shad Swimbait can be purchased for about 14.99 per unit. As always, please practice catch and release with this lure.  

Topwater Rating:

4 out of 5 bobbers

 Available in a whole bunch of attractive colors, this segmented and diminutive lure should be quite effective wiggling just under or at the surface. I plan to find out this season.