Opening my tackle box had become a monotonous, redundant search
for my old favorite lure. The long, slender bodied topwater
had battle scars from one end to the other. Just last month I
had to replace the once razor sharp, counter rotating hooks that had
long passed the point of ever retaining their original shape and sharpness.
Now it was a sad looking lure which was once my prize possession,
proudly showing it off to other anglers, knowing how jealous they would
be. I had nicknamed the lure Fish Trap because any fish that got close
would get caught.
All
that is history now. Almost every lure company has released new baits
for this year. I believe there's a new Fish Trap coming to my tackle
box. Unless you have been under a rock, or out golfing, the latest
craze in soft plastic baits is a 
swimbait. YUM Lures has come out
with a swimbait with a realistic profile, natural swimming action,
and super soft body. The YUM Money Minnow has a unique feature for
a swimbait, a hook slot in the belly of the bait. This allows for
better hook sets and makes it easier to properly rig so the bait
will run true. This eliminated a number of problems that soft swimbaits
have encountered in the past. To fish a Money Minnow, an angler can
just simply cast it out and retrieve it back in slowly, or cast around
boat docks. Even I can do that! The YUM Fat Money Minnow (www.yumlures.com)
is another lure added to their swimbait line. It comes packaged with
four nail weights, two 7/0-hooks, and in comes in eleven natural
color patterns. Another new product from YUM is the Money Craw which
has been hand painted for an extremely realistic look. Finally, YUM
has also made a smaller size, same action in their Baby Dancin' Eel,
Dooze, and two new colors in their TroutKrilla.
Next up is BOOYAH Bait Company (www.booyahbaits.com), who is
making the one and only Jimmy Houston's Vibra-FLX Spinnerbait. The
spinnerbait frame is built on Vibra-FLX wire causing an incredible
amount of vibration. It comes in 2 sizes and if Jimmy kisses
all the bass he catches on it, he will need some Chap-Stick for his
lips. Not wanting to miss out on the action, Zell Rowland, designed
the Zell's Pip-Zqueek with a flat head, a Leverage Flexible Hook
System, and comes in 2 sizes.
If having 2 legendary professional anglers was not enough,
BOOYAH Bait Company united with Bassmaster Classic Champion and Bassmaster
Elite angler, Alton Jones to duplicate his Classic winning prototype
jigs that were a major part of his winning lure arsenal. The
Pigskin Jig and A-Jig is available in various sizes and colors. Along
with the jigs, Jones also used a spoon to catch a limit of bass on
during the tournament, so a 1/2-ounce, 2 1/8-inch C.C. Spoon
in both sliver and gold has been added.
Knowing big fish like big baits, XCalibur Lures (www.xcaliburlures.com)
has brought back the One Knocker and introduced a 1-ounce rattle bait. Both
lures are designed to be ripped through the grass or yo-yoed off the
bottom. Anglers will be expecting some big bites on these lures.
Of course, I saved the best new for last, some of my favorite
crankbaits will come in a new color, Foxy Shad, a natural looking shad
with a streak of chartreuse color pattern has been added to a select
group of popular crankbaits: 3 models of Bomber Model A crankbaits,
all 4 Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbaits, as well as all XCalibur Xr Series
lipless crankbaits.
After
adding in all the new baits, I can now go fishing. I'm no longer
hiding my tackle box from my friends; in fact, look at these new
colors of crankbaits I have. Oh, and that old beat up lure? I only
keep it in my tackle box for sentimental reasons!
Brad
Wiegmann is a full time fishing guide on Beaver lake and Lake SWEPCO
in Northwest Arkansas. Brad guides for Largemouth,
Spotted, Smallmouth, Stripers and White Bass. He is also a free-lance
writer who's weekly column "Speaking of Fishing" appears
weekly in several local newspapers. You may also see him doing
seminars, working outdoor shows or featured in outdoor magazines such
as BASSMASTER Magazine, Outdoor life and Arkansas Sportsman. He
also fishes the FLW Tour, Stren and local open tournaments. He
is currently on the Pro staff, promotional staff and guide programs
of numerous tackle manufactures, lure companies, and fishing related
companies. You can contact him at (479)756-5279, at bwiegmann@cox.net or
visit his website at www.bradwiegmann.com for
more information.
