Product Review
Written By: Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides .com

Company History
The Luhr-Jensen Company was created in 1932 by Mr. Luhr Jensen Sr. which produced spinnerbaits out of a backyard chicken coop in Hood River Oregon. Currently the company produces a variety of artificial baits and has a 60,000 square foot distribution center in Hood River and employ’s more than 250 people. In this review we will discuss one of these products the “Speed Trap”.

Opening Thoughts
Being a full time bass guide here in Tennessee I make my living on the water. If I don’t produce, if I don’t catch fish eventually there will be no income-no guide service. There are many elements that go into making sure that your clients have the opportunity to catch good quality fish. Most importantly you have to know where the fish are. But after that, you have to know what will trigger them into striking, you have to know what the fish want. What type of lure-what type of action-what depth-what color will produce the best for your clients that day. Any long term guide will tell you that this information only comes by spending hundreds of hours on the water learning.

In a recent monthly article that I wrote on “CrankBait Fishing For The Beginner” (see Tip’s Archive Tab www.tennesseebassguides.com) I confessed that I have been a “CrankBait Junkie” from a very early age. There is something about putting the right cranbait on the right rod with the right line and making the right presentation and feeling the bass slam the bait that still gives me a rush. Much was the case on April 21-2004 when I met Jeff Glowacki at Old Hickory Lake here in the Nashville area. Jeff is the area representative for the Luhr-Jensen Bait Company and we had agreed to meet and perform a product review on the new Luhr-Jensen “Speed Trap” crankbait. Prior to our meeting I had fished the Speed Trap only briefly, so I was able to go into this day of fishing with a completely open mind and with no predetermined opinions.

Beginning The Review
First order of business for Jeff and I was to take a look at the variety of lures that Jeff brought with him. We separated these baits (Speed Traps-Radars-Hot Lips) by running depth and color. I then showed Jeff different crankbaits that I had been using to catch fish and the colors that seemed to be working best at that time. Most of the good fish that I had been catching were in very shallow water (2ft-3ft) so that helped us our depth selection. Next was color. Naturally all crankbait manufactures have their own version of particular colors, but we were able to match up a Speed Trap with a shad pattern that had been producing for me. With our Speed Traps tied on we proceeded to the creeks in search of some big largemouth.

Shallow Water
Example One of the first things I noticed when I began using the Speed Trap was it’s ability to run true or stay straight even when you are “Burning” the bait. This is not always true with some other crankbaits that I have used in the past. Many other baits can be “Over Reeled” and they tend to loose their track. This isn’t the case with the Speed Trap. The body action and vibration remained true even at these higher speeds. Many times these big fish even when they are in super shallow water on Old Hickory want a bait that is moving Fast-Very Fast! Up until now I could only achieve this by using a lipless rattling bait. Another great feature of the Speed Trap is that they float. This feature will pay off in big dividends on lakes where the bass hold in the 3 feet of water or less. The 4 fish that Jeff is holding (we caught over 40) were all caught in the 1 1/2ft to 3ft depth range. We would cast the 1/16oz Speed Trap up into a foot of water then ease it out slightly over the weed growth then burn it back. The buoyancy of the bait allowed us the fish the entire length of the strike zone correctly. It is very difficult to achieve this with a conventional lipless crankbait because of their body weight and lack of buoyancy.

Mid Depth Example
The pictures in this section is of a different fishing trip 5 days later on the same lake. We were in a different creek and fishing different structure. These fish (and 18 more) were caught on the 1/8oz Speed trap fishing the sloping side of a long creek point. These fish were holding in approximately 5 feet of water. The young man in the picture is Austin Qualkinbush. Austin's mom gave him a full day guided trip as his birthday present. Austin is holding a 7lb lagemouth in the first picture which is the largest bass he has ever caught. This big fish inhaled the 1/8oz Speed Trap. The 2nd picture is a 5 1/2lb largemouth I caught off this same point break on the same bait. Another feature of the Speed Traps is their ability to make a sharp dive on your first few cranks. I truly believe that these baits get to their running depths quicker than any crankbait I have ever fished. This is perfect for fishing sloping points, tapered banks and deeper weedlines.

I also like the way that the Speed Trap will “Float” themselves back off of snags. Much of this is possible because of the wide lip that is attached to their intermediate sized body. (see picture below) There's one area in a favorite creek of mine that is “Hang City” with a crankbait. Many times it is also full of good quality fish that will hammer a fast moving bait which is beating and banging off the structure. I fished this area with one of my favorite crankbaits on one rod and a Speed Trap on another. The Speed trap out performed the other bait hands down with it’s ability to float back off the snags and allow you to fish the entire length back to the boat instead of disturbing the fish by going in to get free from the snag. Also several times as the Speed Trap floated back off the snag it created a reaction strike from a bass that was near by. We have covered the 1/16oz and 1/8oz Speed Trap but the lure also come in a 1/4oz size which will dive to 10 feet easily on 10lb test line. I haven't fished this bait yet since the fish are very shallow, but I have tossed it a couple times and can tell you that it digs straight down and has a deal of vibration and resistance. As fish move out to the mid-range drops I can see where this bait will be very effective.

Final Thoughts
Each of us have our favorite type lures that we depend on more than any other. Mine to no surprise is a crankbait. Since the early 1960’s I have fished with many different crankbaits under many different circumstances. I have a whole wall of them in my boat building that I no longer use because of some flaw in them. Maybe they wouldn’t track right or the action just wasn’t there. But every now a then a crankbait comes along that I know from the beginning that it’s going to be a winner-something that will work for me on a consistent basis. The Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap is a winner. If you haven’t tried them they are available locally in a variety of colors here in the Nashville area in the larger tackle stores. Buy one of each size and see how they work for you-I know you won’t be disappointed.