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

Dinner for 4... and 2 halves

Last night me and the misses had some friends over for dinner so I decided to cook something delicious for our guests. I still had some fish left in the freezer so Blackened Fish Tacos was the decision made. I made two batches of meat, one was cobia and the other was a couple fillets of red drum and triggerfish. Both were excellent!

 

 

For fixing we used sour cream, shredded cheese, romaine lettuce, and fresh diced tomatoes but you can add all kinds of stuff to customize them to your specific taste.

 

 

They are very simple to make, super tasty, and guaranteed to please. I've posted the recipe under my recipes section of the blog.

Best of all Jackson and his buddy Trace got to have some playtime time while us parents got to catch up and have a few laughs. In my opinion that is what shared meals are all about... the bringing together of good friends for a great meal.

These two are going to be inseparable in a few years.

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/