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Rapala Report
Rapala Rippin’ Blade
Building on the success of the Rippin Rap, Rapala is introducing the Rippin’ Blade.
This slender, lipless, bladebait lure produces a tight, instant vibration on the lift or retrieve and because it is perfectly balanced, it falls upright, reducing line twists and fouling. The Rippin’ Blade comes in 10 premium colors that give a fresh look to the blade bait market.
The Rippin’ Blade is a hi-tech blade bait designed to be cast, pitched, or vertically jigged. Blade baits excel in cooler water and the Rippin’ Blade is no different, proving it’s place as a cousin to the Rippin’ Rap. Whether its early springtime walleyes, late fall smallmouth or anything in between, the Rippin’ Blade is going to earn a place in every angler’s tacklebox.
What’s more, with three-line tie positions on the top blade, it’s easy to customize the action to fish any situation or time of the year. And with its tungsten weighted belly, it gets to the bottom fast and is easy to fish in deep water, heavy current or strong wind.
The lure features a durable, metal frame-plastic body construction, a VMC® crankbait snap, and two, super sharp No. 6 VMC® black nickel round bend treble hooks.
The new Rippin’ Blade comes in ten eye-catching colors: chrome blue, clown, chrome tiger, firetiger, gold, gold chrome tiger, glow, purpledescent, silver, and wonderbread. The new lure is being introduced in size no. 7. It has a body length of 2-3/4-inches and weighs 9/16 oz. It has a suggested retail price of $9.99.
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Curado 200 M
Shimano North America Fishing has introduced the newest technically refined addition to the acclaimed Curado line of low-profile baitcasting reels.
The Curado 200 M inherits the latest Shimano reel technologies to provide ultimate castability in any power fishing situation.
The Curado 200 M boasts expanded line capacity without compromise as Shimano leverages MagnumLite (MGL) Spool III to reduce start-up inertia, which comes in handy when throwing large swimbaits, heavy jigs, deep-diving cranks, and oversized frogs.
The addition of SilentTune technology improves spool quietness during casts. SVS Infinity braking technology provides precision casting performance with easy-to-manage and consistent spool control and brake force adjustments when faced with demanding conditions or switching between baits.
The Curado 200 M features an aluminum HAGANE Body for added rigidity to increase cranking power and overall reeling efficiency. MicroModule Gear, Cross Carbon Drag, and X-Ship deliver the tournament-tested smoothness, durability, and versatility for which the Curado family is known.
To learn more about the Curado reel lineup visit fish.shimano.com.
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GLX WALLEYE Rods
G. Loomis has unveiled the latest addition to the legendary GLX series, the G. Loomis GLX WALLEYE.
Harsh weather, big water, and finicky bites are just a sampling of the challenges faced by walleye enthusiasts. Anglers will never have to worry about missing “the tick,” as the GLX WALLEYE lineup is designed to be lightweight, responsive, and impact resistant with actions that provide ultimate sensitivity when tossing hair jigs on a weed edge, or bouncing grubs on shoal bottoms. Composed of six spinning models, the GLX WALLEYE series is poised to become the benchmark for walleye anglers.
Handcrafted in Woodland, Washington, the GLX WALLEYE series leverages G. Loomis’ proprietary Multi-Taper Design technology to remove material where a blank is unlikely to fail and add material where it might. Combined with a proven high-modulus blank construction using a beefed-up resin system for superior impact resistance, this rod series is primed for unsurpassed durability and performance. With premium componentry chosen to provide exceptional sensitivity, GLX WALLEYE features a REC guide train and a lightweight CI4+ reel seat to provide the ultimate reel-to-rod connection. Full-cork handles complement the GLX WALLEYE lineup and the classic rod-blank color juxtaposes beautifully with the logo.
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Rapala Report
CrushCity™ Cleanup Craw™ from Rapala
For champion professional bass angler Jacob Wheeler, a soft plastic crawfish imitation is the life blood of any serious angler’s arsenal.
So, when Wheeler teamed up with Rapala to create a craw that could be pitched and flipped and used as a trailer on all sorts of jigs, he didn’t want it to be like everyone else’s craw. It had to be a craw that he could personally use to win America’s biggest bass tournaments.
Welcome to the new CrushCity™ Cleanup Craw™, a craw unlike any other, where every subtle feature adds up to a big-time, crushing difference.
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Northland Report
Northland Eye-Candy Paddle Shad
Fall is in full swing, and for anglers willing to step down from the tree stand our out of the duck blind, the walleye bite is heating up.
While there are a lot of ways to catch fall ‘eyes, one favorites is covering water with a simple soft plastic and jighead combo. Enter the new Eye-Candy Paddle Shad.
A Marvel on Mille Lacs
“The Paddle Shad’s got a subtle action that walleyes key in on,” says Mille Lacs Lake guide and Northland pro, Brad Hawthorne.
“It doesn’t have a hard ‘thump’ like other paddletails I’ve fished. The Eye-Candy Paddle Shad has the action of a real minnow swimming, not an exaggeration of a minnow swimming, which is what most paddletails do. And when other swimbaits’ action stops—typically at half-a-mile-an-hour—this bait still has tail action, so you can jig it with subtle motions or snap jig it two or three inches forward at a time and the tail still kicks. That’s why it’s catching so many fish.”