Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
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Quantum Report
Quantum Smoke S3
Bob Bagby and Chris Littau have nearly 50 combined years of service at Quantum. Both are avid anglers with engineering degrees and straight-shooting personalities, and both are calling the new Smoke Series Three “S3” the greatest baiticasting reel platform Quantum has ever built.
That’s a mouthful, especially at a retail price of $169 that won’t choke avid anglers, and frankly, given the 18 Performance Tuned technologies Quantum built into this reel, it’s a very strong value at that price.
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Strike King Report
Strike King Adds Fry-Style Bait to Finesse Lineup
The all-new KVD Supa Fry has been added to the Strike King finesse soft plastics lineup.
“The 4.5-inch, ringed Supa Fry has a floating action, good for wacky rigging or on Carolina rigs and is designed to get bites when times are tough,” says Elite Pro Todd Faircloth.
The 4.5” KVD Supa Fry comes in 17 Open Pour Technology (OPT) colors.
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Strike King Report
Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Flipping Jig
Greg Hackney has made a career as one of the most consistent anglers in the history of the sport of tournament bass fishing.
Most of his success has come by targeting fish in and around shallow cover. Strike King has added a special jig for that application, the Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Flipping Jig.
“Our existing Hack Attack Flipping Jig features a monster hook that basically requires the use of braid,” says Hackney, 14-Time Bassmaster Classic Qualifier. “There are times when I need a flipping jig for use in clearer water where I would prefer fluorocarbon over braided line. This new jig is ideal for that situation.”
Hackney said he and the Strike King team made countless modifications to get this jig to where it needed to be. The compact jig has a zero-degree line tie to increase the hookup percentage. It is extremely weedless, and it’s built around a 4.5/0 custom siwash hook.
The Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Flipping Jig is available in 3/8, ½ and ¾ sizes and 12 Hackney-approved colors.
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Provided by Shimano
Conquest Rods by G. Loomis
Bringing together G. Loomis design expertise and proven rod actions with Shimano’s core blank technology provides bass anglers with Conquest – a premium 12-rod line-up created by a joint collaboration between G. Loomis and Shimano product development staffs.
First shown at the 2017 ICAST Show, the rods have started to shipping to tackle dealers in the U.S. and Canada, and more are on their way. The new Conquest series includes eight casting rods with G. Loomis’ original ‘Mag Bass’ fast action tapers, and four ‘Spin/Jig’ fast action spinning rods.
With blanks rolled to exact G. Loomis specifications by Shimano incorporating its proprietary Spiral X and Hi-Power X processes, and then hand-finished at the G. Loomis facility in Woodland, Wash., G. Loomis’ rod engineer David Brinkerhoff calls Conquest “the most technologically advanced bass rods on the water. Depending on the model, these rods are up to 10-percent lighter than even our NRX rods, and due to the Shimano Spiral X and Hi-Power X blank manufacturing, anglers will experience a whole new set of performance standards in a bass rod.”
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Provided by Daiwa
Daiwa and Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits have teamed up to create exclusive soft plastic baits designed for the Neko-rig technique, a finesse technique that utilizes a wacky-rigged soft plastic bait with a nail weight inserted into just one end to create a unique fall and lively action at the bottom.
The line of baits features the 5” Neko Fat and 5.8” and 6.5” Neko Straight.
The collaboration between leading brands is not new for Daiwa, who also distributes Japanese lure brand Evergreen in the United States. Brand Manager Curt Arakawa feels the project made sense as both brands share several United States pro-staff members including Brent Ehrler, Randy Howell, and Takahiro Omori.
“These baits were designed in part by these Team Daiwa pros,” says Arkawa. “With our new Tatula Elite rods and Tatula SV reels that were designed to cast lightweight lures further, we have the whole package for the Neko-rig.”
Daiwa and Yamamoto Collaboration Neko-Rig PlasticsBrent Ehrler, a noted finesse angler, uses each of the new baits in different situations. “The Fat version is more like a Senko with a bulkier profile that has a unique fall and appeals to big fish,” he says. “The Straight is a true finesse approach, with a slim design and excellent action designed specifically for Neko-rigging, but it also works great on a shaky-head, Carolina-rig, drop-shot or Texas-rig.”
Ehrler’s signature series Daiwa Tatula Elite finesse baitcast rod is ideal for the Neko-rig. The 701MMHXB-AGS is a 7’ medium/medium heavy model that he pairs with the Tatula SV.
Manufactured exclusively for Daiwa by Yamamoto in the United States, they feature the same proven soft plastic formula that Yamamoto is known for. They will retail for the same price as a Yamamoto Senko in a comparable size. They are available in the ten most popular Senko colors and are available now at Daiwa dealers starting at $7.49 per pack. They are available in most popular Senko colors.