Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
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Z-man Report
Finesse-sized 3.5-inch Scented Jerk ShadZ
A cool half mill’ and a bookcase crowded with shiny bass trophies ain’t a bad haul for a single unassuming softbait.
“Over the last six or seven years, the 4-inch Scented Jerk ShadZ has produced some great tournament wins,” notes Z-Man pro Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson, who boated every one of his 2023 Bassmaster Classic winning bass on the same softbait.
But overshadowed by dock-talk surrounding standard versions of Gussy’s “best bait of all time,” whispers of a little secret have gradually leaked out. “During the 2023 Classic, when the bite got tough, I quietly switched to a slightly shortened bait to show bass a smaller, sub-4-inch profile,” he divulged. “This modified Jerk ShadZ tricked several critical smallmouths and certainly helped secure the win. Actually, whenever conditions get tough, we’ve been downsizing our moping baits for years.”
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St. Croix Report
St. Croix SEVIIN GS Series Spinning Reel
In addition to baitcasters, St. Croix’s new SEVIIN reel company has introduced the all-new GS Series spinning reel.
It offers a lightweight, rock-solid, and reliably dependable performance for an attractive and competitive retail price of $140.
“Almost two full years in design, this is a lightweight and extremely durable reel,” says SEVIIN Product Manager, Robert Woods. “Available in five versatile sizes from 750 to 3000, GS Series reels will appeal to a wide range of avid anglers, as well as more-casual anglers who appreciate elevated quality and performance. Our team engineered GS with a carbon body, side plates, and rotor to maximize rigidity and minimize weight, and rounded out the external design with strong and lightweight aluminum handles and spools.”
Woods describes the aesthetics of GS reels: “They’re unique and our own,” he says. “We designed GS to appeal to a wide variety of anglers, and looks are an important part of that. We wanted GS to stand out with a unique look that equals its performance without going to extremes. Overall, the form of GS reels is largely driven by function, but once anglers pick them up, they’ll notice a variety of subtle design details – from logo placement, accent colors and anodizing, to more functional design elements like spool angles, handle bracing, the machined aluminum handle cap, and the geometry of the foot and stem.”
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Gamakatsu Report
Gamakatsu Hybrid Tungsten Swing Head
Swing Head jigs give anglers another way to target bass on an offshore structure.
Gamakatsu's new feature-packed Tungsten Hybrid Swing Head proves that not all swing heads are created equal. With thoughtful design and quality manufacturing, Gamakatsu's hybrid head design combines the snag resistance of a football head and the action of the cobra-style head.
The Tungsten Hybrid Swing Head creates a natural-looking, slithering action that draws significant attention from nearby bass. The head design unites the benefits of both a cobra head for passing through grass and a football head for snag resistance on a hard bottom. Ideal for slow-swimming retrieves, the head increases the action of any plastic bait along the bottom. The Tungsten Hybrid Swing Head features a stealthy smoke-colored finish that blends in with plastics and your lure's surroundings to generate more strikes. The weight size is stamped into the side of each weight, making it easy to identify when it's time to make a change.
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Rapala Report
Rapala Jigging Shadow Rap
How do you follow a legend? Be you an actor re-booting a iconic character, or a new bait launching in a classic lure line, the answer is the same – innovate, don't imitate. Make the part your own. Starring now in such a role is Rapala's new Jigging Shadow Rap.
Stepping onstage after the famed original Jigging Rap became a household name, Rapala's new Jigging Shadow Rap weighs less than its legendary predecessor and glides more slowly on the fall. And the impressive newcomer’s subtle, nuanced performance as a distressed baitfish earns rave reviews from wary and pressured gamefish, inspiring them to bite.
“This is one of the craziest walleye bites I have ever been on in my life!” Minnesota angler Brett McComas exclaims in a video featured in the popular Target Walleye eNewsletter. “They are just going bonkers over it,” he said. “It's just been a feeding frenzy.”
Designed to vertically target multiple freshwater gamefish species – whether they’re suspending high in the water column, or holding tight to bottom – Rapala’s new Jigging Shadow Rap boasts a broader silhouette than its original Jigging Rap. Enhanced with belly-flashing action and modern, realistic baitfish finishes, the Jigging Shadow Rap falls seductively slowly, triggering even the most-finicky of gamefish to bite.
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By Louie Stout
Bait Pop
If you have trouble seeing your lure on forward facing sonar, Bait Pop provides a good fix.
Bait-Pop is a paste that you apply to your lure or jig head that makes the lure more visible on the forward facing screen. You also can apply it to your drop-shot sinker or even the line ahead of the lure to intensify visibility.