New Lures In The Line-Up - SALTWATER TAKEOVER

So this lure making stuff is addictive. With parts not running a whole lot considering you get them in lots of 100,  I have started expanding here and there. This week I starting making my own classic style DucknBuck Classic Spinnerbaits, Saltwater Spinners, and Spinning Jigs. These are much heavier weight wire, larger blades, and stouter hooks. The jig heads are 1/4oz weight and tipped with a 3/0 sickle hook that really locks on a fish, and the wide gap hooks on the spinners are 3/0. All of this equals up to one heck of a fish catching piece of hardware! They are going to tear up the specks, redfish, striped bass, largemouth, and probably Pike as well.

Check'em out and if you like them, I have some for sale on EBAY or on Etsy. You can click on either of these to go directly to my listings.

DucknBuck Saltwater Spinner

DucknBuck Classic Saltwater Spinnerbait

DucknBuck Saltwater Spinning Jig

Matrix Jigheads and Swimbaits - Product Review

I was able to be lucky enough to demo some new soft plastic baits and jigheads from Matrix Shad/ Dockside Tackle. I have to say they really do perform very well and outfished the Saltwater Assassins I normally use.  Here are the colors I received to try out and share with some of my local tackle shop owners. Upon inspection the first thing i noticed was the attention to detail in the molds they use.  Each bait has raised gill plates which doesn't sound like a big deal but adds extra displacement and turbulence to your bait as it paddles through the water.

Due to our water currently being slightly stained, I chose to try out the "Pink Champagne" and the "Lemon Head" color patterns. Both Caught fish equally well but I tried to conserve the Lemon Heads because I know for a fact they will crush Stripers this fall under the lights. 

Dockside Bait and Tackle were also generous enough to send some of their custom jigheads along with their swimbaits. This in my opinion is one of their best products. At first glance I noticed a few key features that will really have me putting in an order the next time I order some jigheads.

 

• First off, A STOUT, SHARP, HOOK with a wider than average gap which allowed for more frequent solid hook ups. I am confident that you would break off before bending this hook on a big fish. Big plus + in my book
• Every one in the two packs I received were poured straight with the hook, eye and lead uniforn and true. This is important to create a straight swimming jig and prevent twisting/spinning on the retrieve.
• The bait holder truly locks the bait on even when being tail tugged by small pesky croaker saving from having to constantly change plastics.
• The reflect eye is nothing more than a sticker but does add some serious flash and a nice finishing touch on detail.

ALL and all I would recommend the Matrix Swimbaits and ESPECIALLY the jigheads to anyone looking to catch flounder, speckled trout, redfish, or stripers. They offer some great discount pricing if you buy in bulk and have all varieties of sizes to suite your need. Give them a look at : http://matrixshad.com/

Fourth of July Fishing Fun - Spadefish, Triggerfish, and Red Drum

Went out early yesterday morning to try and beat all the boat traffic that is always present on 4th of July.  Me and my friend Buddy met our girlfriends ,Ashley and Nancy, at the ramp and were on the water and heading to our destination by 6:30am. Upon arriving we were surprised to see we were the only boat at YSL. We dropped a bag of clam chum over the side and gave a little coaching on what kind of rigs to tie and how to fish them. While i was still cutting clams into bait strips i hear drag screaming and look up just in time to see my girlfriend's line snap from rubbing on one of the pilings. That insighted urgency in everyone to get a line down and almost immediately we were all hooking into nice 3 to 5 lb spadefish.

 After about an hour I decided to cut a piece of bait off of a live spot that Buddy was about to throw back and dropped it down on a ball jig. a couple minutes later it was fish on with a nice keeper red drum. This continued for a couple hours and then we decided to go sight fishing for cobia. We pulled lines up and slow boated across the bay to the eastern shore, made a tack and headed back to our port. One the way back we threw a few eels at the floating channel markers for the York River channel and i managed to hook up on a just under keeper cobia. I passed the rod down to Ashley and she did get the fish all the way to the boat only to lose it at the last second. Still produced a smile so mission accomplished. Then we sotted a few more swimming together but just as we headed their way the cloud cover picked up and shut the sight fishing down. Headed back in, treaded a couple dozen clams and went in to have fish grilled spadefish and clams casino. Great day on the water with everyone catching and some good food to finish off the evening. Not much more you can ask for.