Another paddletail field test

[longhorn]

I got some Ghost Phantom Shads from ebay and took them to the duck pond to check out the action. I used the same rig and same 1/16 oz. weighted hook as in my previous test posted here. The action of the Ghost bait was superior to the Basstrix and the Rabbits don't even get a mention except that I'm mad that I paid for them. The swimming action looks so natural and the colors to me are more natural than the painted reflective scales. This is what I was hoping for in a swim bait. Ghost is my winner so far. I've ordered some other brands and will report on how they do.

[wannabefishing]

good to hear.... tho not surprised taht Jim's work perfect!! Keep reporting back on your field tests!!

I'm waiting on a PM return to see if he's got any more going on ebay so i can give 'em a try... bass season closes late Nov and doesn't open until late June, so i wanna see what the hype is all about...

[Mattlures]

Action is relative, just becuse you think one is superior to another doesnt mean the fish will agree. A perfect example is the subtle action of a Huddleston. When they first came out a lot of people complained that they had poor action. THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG!!!!! There are several swimbaits on the market that have exagerated action and just about all of them suck. I wont mention brands but in most cases the fishermans first impressions are that these overactioned baits have GREAT action and they just cant figure out why they dont produce. Now with all that being said I am in no way saying that you are wrong. You may be 100% correct. The fish are the final judge

One more thing to consider is the Basstrix is a proven bait. PROVEN that is a BIG deal. Not to mention they are the originals and the owner invented his process. He didnt steal it from anybody. That says alot. Of course that doesnt mean they cant be improved.

[alsworms]

All good points Matt, but it's always great to hear about a TU dude kickin' bass too!

Jim.......keep up the great work!

[Mattlures]

Not meant to be a slam on Jim at all. Just I have heard "good action" and "bad action" a thousand times from diferent people about the same baits.

[longhorn]

Jeez..can a guy not put his opinion on here without getting yelled at? I said that my opinion was that this bait had superior action...not exagerated action...it has a more natural swimming motion than the other baits I've tested. That's my opinion. I've been fishing for bass for 38 years and designing and making baits for over 33 years and know natural action when I see it. I have also spent more total dollars on your baits, Matt, than on Jim's. Your bluegill baits are awesome. So just get over the sour grapes and don't yell at people who put their opinions on here. I think you owe me an apology.

[alsworms]

Not meant to be a slam on Jim at all. Just I have heard "good action" and "bad action" a thousand times from diferent people about the same baits.

My bad Matt. Didn't mean you were slamming Jim at all. That was selfishness on my part because I read a post about the good action of Jim's baits, and I've got my eye on a few too!

I'm sure most would agree with me when I say I respect your opinion. I've seen your swimbaits.....enough said!

[alsworms]

Jeez..can a guy not put his opinion on here without getting yelled at? I said that my opinion was that this bait had superior action...not exagerated action...it has a more natural swimming motion than the other baits I've tested. That's my opinion. I've been fishing for bass for 38 years and designing and making baits for over 33 years and know natural action when I see it. I have also spent more total dollars on your baits, Matt, than on Jim's. Your bluegill baits are awesome. So just get over the sour grapes and don't yell at people who put their opinions on here. I think you owe me an apology.

Oh geez......now look what I started.

Don't mean to step on any toes here longhorn, but I'm pretty sure Matt wasn't yelling at you. He's just stating his opinion on action. A natural swimming action sounds great to me. That just secures my buying some of Jim's baits. Will they catch fish? I'll bet they do, but who knows? Maybe they won't. I'll find out when they hit the water.

[Mattlures]

Longhorn maybe I should have started a seperate post about action. I meant no disrespect to you and or your opinions about the actions of the baits. I did not mean that you were not qualified either. I sertainly wasnt yelling at you. Like I said you could be 100% correct and very posibly are. Action is a strange thing especialy in swimbaits. Take for example the Triple trout. It is NOT impresive looking but it gets bit. Now look at the R2S wooden slither. It has almost the same action. The diferences are very slight but one is a fish killer and one isnt. I can also look at several swimbaits that are very similar and have a good educated idea on how they will perform and I have done it many times. Usualy I am right but there are always those baits that under achieve(wont mention) and over achieve(triple trout) and in those cases I am dead wrong.

The main reason I mentioned this on your post was you were comparing a new bait to an established proven bait. I see this all the time in the swimbait world and so far only one knockoff has had comparable success to the original out of about 50 copies. The main reason for this was the knock off was $39 instead of $80-$100 so it is possible that the knock off only had similar success because so many more people are fishing them.

Anytime ANYBODY says a new bait is better than a PROVEN bait I am a little sceptical. SOO If I upset you I do apologize. It was in now way meant to be a slam of you or your opinion whatsoever.

[GB GONE]

Hey guys.... Good chatter and the point Matt brings up is true! How many baits do we have in our boats and boxes that we never use just because we saw it and said "If I was a fish, I would eat that".. Only to never get bit on it!!! I have 20+ swim baits and have only caught fish on 1. I doubt that the others aren't good or don't have good action, it is just that I probably did not put them in the right situation to catch a fish.

Gary is right that the action on my baits are more life like than the Basstrix as mine are made differently all together. Different plastic, different design and no scale painting (less stiff). I have had many other comments on the first ones going out that are similar when comparing the like baits. I do put a fair amount of work into testing and refining these before they hit the hands of the anglers as well. So do field staff that I have..

Do they catch fish? You bet and if I could send them out like Basstrix is and have 10,000 (exaggeration) of them fished every weekend, you would see some serious results. If more people are fishing a bait, the chances are higher more will catch fish. But as a small business, I have only shipped out 30 of the baits total. 3 of the 4 anglers that have them wanted more after seeing them and using them on the lake themselves and saw the results. All were very experienced anglers and would have told me the truth on these baits. More will come and the bait will prove itself or not. We all have seen the good and bad baits from every company out there.

Be sure that I am not offended as I love to hear from an experienced angler that is delighted with what they are seeing in the water.

I always stand ready to accept input or ideas on improvement and to send out samples to those who would like to try baits like these or others.

On a side note, I still think the pricing is stupid and outrageous for these type of baits. My local tackle store sells them for $11.99 so many more will consider this type of bait and other swim baits on the whole.

I'll try to get some photos on my site soon with fish from these baits as they are deadly on 3-7lb fish.

Jim

[GB GONE]

PS Remember who has "proven" these baits so far....mostly professional anglers. Many casual anglers may not catch fish on these as there are "secret" ways to rig them and your tackle needs to be proper. The bait also needs to be put in the right fish catching conditions as well. Most are looking for that majic bait again (can you say chatterbait) that will just majically catch fish.

Sad to say but my last outing pre-fishing for a tournament on Lake Seminole produced 29 pounds... all on a ZOOM SUPER SPEED CRAW!!! I couldn't get bit on anything I made.

Jim

[longhorn]

Thanks, Matt. My comments are only about the action of the different baits. I didn't mean that the Ghost baits are better fish catchers than the Basstrix because I've yet to fish any them in a lake where they'll be exposed to decent fish. I'm fishing on a decent lake Monday and Tuesday and will report on the results. I know the Basstrix has won tons of money and is proven. The lakes I fish don't have populations that average 3 to 7 lbs so all the paddletails may be a little big for the average fish. I readily agree that there are no magic baits...I'm always looking for another tool for the toolbox..I'm thinking more of spring when the big girls are up shallow. Y'all have a good weekend.

[BassnRandy]

Come on guys lets not turn this in to another of those bad threads. Each bait stands on it's own merits. Swim baits is a big catagory. I think it is being looked at in to broad a picture. Some baits have little to no action others have more. Keep this all in mind please.

[Mattlures]

Jim I cant say you are wrong because you are not.

BUT......LONGHORN IS AND NOW I AM GOING TO YELL AT HIM!!!!!!!!

I have caught several 1.5 lb bass on full bodied 8inch trout baits. the biggest misconception is that the waters your(not you specificaly)dont have big enough bass for swimbaits to be efective. First off that is just plain wrong as a 3 lber has no problem eating a swimbait, especialy smaller baits. 2nd you are talking about basstrix or any other swimtube. Those things are tiny. Even a 6inch bait is small. They are thin and lean and a 1/2 could,would, and will eat them easily!!!!!! My advise to anybody is to get over the size issue, especialy on small swimbaits. Beleive me those little swimbaits look little to the bass too. You may think they look big but they dont. As far as these little tube baits go. they are definatley not a big fish bait, sure they catch a few but so does a dropshot worm. When kennedy won that tournament, all his big fish came off Huddlestons not the little basstrix. he used the basstrix to get a limmit the Hudd was the big fish catcher. Now dont get upset I wasnt realy yelling just trying to help anybody get over thier fear of giant 5inch swimbaits:)

[braveviper]

What exactly did basstrix "invent"?

[GB GONE]

I have caught several 1.5 lb bass on full bodied 8inch trout baits. the

You are money on that Matt!! I think that is a BIG misconception that the baits are just to big for the bass. Many have told me already that the smallmouth won't eat these under 5" baits. Can't wait until next summer to bust that theory!!

Bottom line is, we have no clue what a fish is thinking when it is 10" long and the bait is also. Something triggers that strike but unless we find some talking fish, we will never know.

Not speaking for Longhorn but I think he was implying that there was a small population of larger fish where he was and the lake he was heading to had more quality fish. We all know there are big fish where there are smaller fish but they don't get to be big by eating everything that strolls by.

A good FLW/Stren series friend of mine keeps notes on his fish caught on swims and told me that fish over 5lbs are few and far between (unless out in CA on certain lakes) most of the time on the swims because they don't throw them all day long. They find the right water and the right time to give the baits their shot. My opinion is the pros are using these smaller versions for their limits, as Kennedy did, but get out the Mattlures Series baits when hunting a kicker!!!!

Jim

[longhorn]

Matt, I'm done being upset and I'm glad to see your post. It gives me more confidence to fish these baits in average lakes that have average fish. I read in a couple different places that they were primarily for 3 to 7 lb fish and that's all I was going by. I'll readily admit that the average fish I catch is not in this range but I do get some good ones now and then. Hopefully I'll have a good fishing report next week if this cold front lets us fish. Thanks for the insight.

[nova]

I can't begin to tell you guys how many times we've pulled 10" fish out of a 16" smallmouth's throat over the years. Smallies don't know their own size. They will take on almost any fish that is smaller than they are.

www.novalures.com

[earthworm77]

Giggity, Giggity- BraveViper- I'm not sure that BassTrix invented anything. I do think they put a nice package together to make those baits. I've used their products before. In fact I have a boatload of their Fat Minnow Sunfish which is a killer bait. It doesn't have a paddle tail but it is the same tube type bait only in an oblong sunfish shape. This bait is several yearsw old. I've always wanted to throw a paddle tail on it and even had a friend make me a CNC mold of it with the tail but of course it is solid when poured through the mold.

[braveviper]

Action is relative, just becuse you think one is superior to another doesnt mean the fish will agree. A perfect example is the subtle action of a Huddleston. When they first came out a lot of people complained that they had poor action. THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG!!!!! There are several swimbaits on the market that have exagerated action and just about all of them suck. I wont mention brands but in most cases the fishermans first impressions are that these overactioned baits have GREAT action and they just cant figure out why they dont produce. Now with all that being said I am in no way saying that you are wrong. You may be 100% correct. The fish are the final judge

One more thing to consider is the Basstrix is a proven bait. PROVEN that is a BIG deal. Not to mention they are the originals and the owner invented his process. He didnt steal it from anybody. That says alot. Of course that doesnt mean they cant be improved.

What process did he "invent"?

[braveviper]

Giggity, Giggity- BraveViper- I'm not sure that BassTrix invented anything. I do think they put a nice package together to make those baits. I've used their products before. In fact I have a boatload of their Fat Minnow Sunfish which is a killer bait. It doesn't have a paddle tail but it is the same tube type bait only in an oblong sunfish shape. This bait is several yearsw old. I've always wanted to throw a paddle tail on it and even had a friend make me a CNC mold of it with the tail but of course it is solid when poured through the mold.

Giggity, giggity, to you my friend......

[Mattlures]

He envented a tube with a paddletail. He also was the first to use his process inwhich the bait is dipped after it has been painted. He has been doing this for at least 15 years and probably much longer. He was the originator of this process.

[Tubeman]

Wow, 15 years and then wammo success on a global scale ! Nice too see, hopefully he can increase production to keep up with his backorders.

[GB GONE]

Funny, I still have some Basstrix baits in my boat from about 3 years ago.. Maybe they are antiques now and I can get a premium on eBay...LOL

Jim

[Mattlures]

Bruce Porter has been around forever! I remember his big swimbaits from 15 years ago. Thats when I first heard of Basstrix. I dont know how long before then he has been doing it. I have only talked to him once. He is a good guy and I am glad he is getting the recognition that he deserves. Just becuase the nation now knows who he is doesnt mean he was a tiny little buisiness before they blew up. His baits hade a big following. Its just been the last few years that the nation is discovering swimbaits that we have been fishing for the last 20 years. Its not that they didnt work outside of CA, its that guys didnt know how to use them and info on how to use them was very dificult to get. I had to learn the hard way. I got a few tips but even then I rely didnt know what I was doing.