Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Monday, January 20, 2025
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Z-man Report
Z-Man Drop KickerZ
Finesse is an ongoing experiment. At Z-Man, it’s a perpetual push through the boundaries of what’s possible with soft plastic shapes and the devices that drive bait propulsion and action.
Z-Man Drop KickerZ - different applicationsChecking all these boxes and drawing beyond the bounds of tradition, the new Z-Man Drop KickerZ endows creative anglers with a sneaky little finesse trick—an extra supple baitfish-profile exhibiting equal talents as a soft jerkbait, swimbait or forward-facing sonar minnow.
“First time Z-Man put a pack of Drop KickerZ in my hands, I couldn’t wait to put the bait on a dropshot rig,” says Z-Man pro-staff angler Stephanie Hemphill-Pellerin. “As I quickly discovered, the little finesse minnow shines in dropshot scenarios. And I absolutely love it on a Ned rig, too, threaded onto my favorite finesse jig, the NedlockZ EWG.
Z-Man Drop KickerZ result
“But I also discovered the bait’s talents apply equally to live sonar applications,” adds Hemphill-Pellerin, a Texas based bass pro. “The Drop KickerZ’ buoyancy, slim minnow shape and specialized tail-driven action all combine to perform beautifully on forward-facing sonar— and while hover strolling. Rig the Drop KickerZ on a Finesse EyeZ jighead to optimize bites on Livescope—dropping it just above groups of fish, leaning on the little minnow’s tireless tail-wag to ‘talk’ bass into biting.”
Slender, extra soft and built for subtle, yet continuous tail motion, the Z-Man Drop KickerZ offers bite-inducing benefits in abundance.
Lined with prominent body ribbing, the Drop KickerZ’ belly section produces subtle bubble trails and underwater pulsations, enabling fish to better detect and locate the bait. Topside, concave dorsal grooves support the bait’s crisp action on the lift, while its ribs produce a slightly different motion when it descends.
To enable quick, dead-on rigging with a jighead or EWG-style hook, the Drop KickerZ offers dorsal and ventral hook slots. The bait is also impregnated with 20-percent salt (by weight) for a natural horizontal posture on dropshot or hover-strolling rigs.
The Z-Man Drop KickerZ features two sizes—a diminutive 2.75-incher and a slightly upsized 3.5-inch profile—to cover a broad spectrum of applications, from hover strolling and FFS patterns to Ned and dropshot rigging and beyond. Injected in 10 hand-picked color patterns by Z-Man pros, the Drop KickerZ covers diverse fisheries and an array of conditions. MSRP $4.99 per 6-pack (2.75”) or 5-pack (3.5”)—crafted and packaged in the USA.
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By Louie Stout
New braided line products from Sunline and Seaguar
What’s the next new thing in fishing tackle?
It’s got to be new advancements in braided line. We got to see two new lines that anglers are going to love.
We know braid is small diameter with superb strength. Improvements must come from somewhere else, and Seaguar and Sunline have stepped up.
Seaguar has brought its PE X8 from Japan to the states. It’s even smaller than regular braid. For example, 24 pound PE X8 is of the same diameter as 10 pound Seaguar Smackdown, which is one of its most popular braids among serious anglers.
That means you can increase your breaking strength with a smaller line that enables longer casts. It’s offered in 219-yard spools and metered every 1.09 yards. It comes in high-vis pink and is metered with lime green. Sizes range from 12- to 33-pound breaking strengths.
Not to be outdone, Sunline rolled out its “Almight” braid that – unlike traditional braid – it sinks. One of the issues with standard braid is it more buoyant that fluorocarbon and monofilament, hence your lure falls slower.
Almight is offered in pink and olive colors and sizes 7 through 18 pound. It comes on a 165-yard spool.
Of course, neither of these new braids come cheap and may be hard to find initially. Check with your local retailer to see if they carry them.
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Rapala Report
New VMC® Hover Jig
When walleye are finicky and you need to put a jig right in front of their hungry mouths, turn to the new VMC® Hover Jig.
The Hover Jig by VMC is a premium, precision balanced floating jig head with 3D holographic eyes. Based on the success of its size 1/0, VMC is now introducing a size No. 2 with a size 2 premium, needlepoint, forged, hi carbon steel VMC single hook.
The jig is available in 10 colors, including Ultra Glow and UV Bright, a finish that reflects more light energy, which increases the lure’s visibility in the water.
The VMC Hover Jig is available in an assortment of packages – 4 per pack, 10 assorted colors, 10 assorted glow colors, and 10 assorted UV Bright colors. It has a suggested retail price of US $6.49 for 4 per pack, and US $16.49 for 10 per pack.
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Northland Tackle Report
Northland Minnesota Mullet
Hair jigs have been a bass secret for years, with some companies even offering their own commercial versions of what top-finishers secretly tie on when it’s time for a kicker fish.
The problem? Most largemouth-intended bass hair jigs are too stiff, with more feathers than fluff. Northland took the opposite approach, creating a jig that has all the best attributes of a tiny marabou jig for rod-whipping giant bronzebacks (which Northland also makes) and combined it with a classic bucktail hair jig design.
Yes, the new Northland Minnesota Mullet has loft – and lots of it, for fishing everything from shallow water, over summer weed tops, to open water where largemouths go crazy eating young-of-the-year and even larger panfish. The Minnesota Mullet is a big, flowing, hovering, water pushing machine. The big hair features a synthetic fiber material that creates a breathing, lifelike appearance in the water while also providing flotation to the jig. This will allow you to hover the bait over flats, weed beds, and suspended fish while pulsing the hair, and its tantalizing back feathers tease big bass and other predator fish to absolutely annihilate the bait.
Northland lure designer, Sam Larsen, offers: “Most of the best fish-catching baits are simple in design. We took that direction with the Minnesota Mullet, which is made of three materials on a premium Northland Elite Series Mimic Jighead with 60-degree upward hookbend and heavy wire for solid hooksets. We utilized a unique, synthetic fiber with a lot of loft, buoyancy, and flow; a couple chicken feathers off the back that undulate like a trailer; and just the right amount of tinsel. Then you have the thread tied farther back on the jig hook shank so it’s really streamlined.”
“Especially in the upper Midwest, tournament bass anglers are going to town fishing big hair jigs for bigger bass. We knew we could create a better jig to use in the same manner in-the-know anglers have been doing for the past several years. There’s really nothing like it, especially given that we added an entire extra step to the jig production process by applying vertical lines to the material to give it an even greater forage-matching appeal. These baits look like the real thing that big bass eat,” continues Larsen.
“There is no other bass hair jig that hangs, pauses, breathes, and sheds water so easily, while remaining easy to fish. It gives the right suspending action while having a lot of material to push water—notify big bass of its presence—and really stimulate their lateral lines.”
Currently available in ½- and ¾ ounce with other weights to follow soon. Right now, there are four forage-mimicking colors include Perch, Crappie, White, and Green Bluegill, with a bunch of additional patterns coming down the pipeline. MSRP: $14.99.
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New smaller outboards from Mercury Marine
Mercury Marine has introduced 8 and 9.9hp EFI FourStroke and 9.9hp EFI ProKicker™ outboard engines.
These new outboards feature an advanced Mercury electronic fuel injection system designed to provide boaters, fishing enthusiasts and pro anglers with easy starts and efficient performance.
“In recent years, Mercury Marine has pushed the envelope at the top of the outboard performance range with our 350-400 and 600hp Verado engines, but at the same time, we have focused on developing the next generation of outboards in our lower portable range,” said John Buelow, Mercury Marine president. “Redesigning the 8 and 9.9hp family to include EFI delivers a host of consumer benefits such as faster starting and better fuel economy, which builds on our commitment to continuous improvement and delivering high quality products.”
Lightweight and efficient
Thanks to EFI technology and other enhancements, these engines deliver up to 27% better fuel economy than earlier carbureted models in the same horsepower range. They are light enough to be portable, making them ideal for powering spontaneous adventures on the water in trailerable fishing boats and other small craft, including inflatable tenders. Pound for pound, these outboards produce more top-end horsepower than prior-generation carbureted engines, at a substantial weight savings compared to most EFI outboards in their class.