CRASH TEST FOCUS: Early summer bass tackle
UPDATED July, 2009
Don't look now, but the Pacific Northwest has become one of the up-and-coming minor-league systems for the big-dollar bass tours of the U.S. Small wonder: Washington and Oregon share some of the most diverse, technically challenging bass waters in the country.
Whether you're flipping a jig on a shallow pond in the Willamette Valley, retreiving a lipless crankbait over the rip-rap of the Columbia River or dragging a reaper over the rocky flats of Lake Washington, you KNOW there's never a shortage of trick new baits and gear to make you a better basser.
Here are some cool new pieces of bass gear to add to your arsenal:
 8BOOYAH A-Jig & Pigskin Jig
Following his win in the 2008 Bassmaster Classic, Alton Jones credited two baits for catching 90 percent of his fish: a ½-ounce A-Jig and a ¾-ounce Pigskin Jig, two then- baits from BOOYAH Baits that hit have been on retail shelves for just over a year now. They've been a little slow to make it to the Pacific Northwest, but, get your hands on some and you'll figure out pretty quickly that they're both essential gear for largemouth anglers.
 The Pigskin is a football-head jig tied with a long living-rubber/silicone skirt that produces an enticing pulsating action when it’s fished slowly. It's a great jig for open cover like the pad fields at the north end of Lake Sammamish.
The A-Jig is designed for classic heavy-cover flippin’, with a weedguard and head configuration that penetrates heavy cover like the stuff you'll find on Lake Couer d'Alene, and the green-glop-covered largemouth lakes of the Willamette Valley.
The A-Jig is available in 3/8 to 3/4 ounces, in six colors. The Pigskin Jig comes in six colors, from 1/4 to 3/4 ounce (tied on 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu jig hooks).
www.booyahbaits.com
CRASH CREW COMMENTS ...
Fisherpersons were no doubt wondering what all of the excitement was as we made our way around the Washington lowland lakes this spring. Here and now, we are sharing the secret to enticing trophy bass to bite.
 BOOYAH gear offers an outstanding, wide variety of the finest quality gear for the bass enthusiast.
Love that heavy cover? Pitching and flipping the BOOYAH Boo Jig and BOOYAH Swim'n Jig is the ticket! These jigs are particularly known for their heavy-gauge hook and rattler design, and the features contributed to one of our personal best catch and release record: the 8.5-pound largemouth out of Long Lake pictured at right!
Ready for some summer topwater action? Not to be outdone by its jig cousins, the BOOYAH Bi-You Buzz boasts two design qualities significant to its success: a patented flexible hook system -which prevents fish from throwing the bait - and a twin counter rotating blade system that keeps the lure on the surface, whether it'sreeled at a snail’s pace or burned across the pads.
Have a question that burns? Check out the BOOYAH website,
or throw a line to Glen & Cami, Team F24.
-Glen & Cami Bayer
NW Wild Country Crash Crew
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8ABU-GARCIA Revo
Abu-Garcia hit one out of the park with its Revo low-profile baitcaster, the lightest, fastest low-profile reels the company has ever designed. The SX and STX are available in two gear ratios – fast (6.4:1) and super fast (a scorching 7.1:1) – and feature Abu’s powerful Carbon Matrix Drag system, which provides exceptional cranking power and smoothness across the reel’s range of drag settings. The STX features the Infini Spool II, which minimizes friction and allows for cannon-shot casts, even with light baits.
www.abu-garcia.com
8GAMAKATSU Weighted Superline EWG
Gamakatsu’s ultra-popular EWG hook got “braid-friendly” with the Weighted Superline EWG, which was designed with the braided-line bass angler in mind. The Weighted Superline EWG is constructed out of a heavier wire to withstand the demands of flippin’ or pitchin’ into heavy cover, and weighted at the shank for a slower presentation of tubes or soft stickbaits. It’s available in sizes 3/0 and 5/0 and in 1/16- and 1/8-ounce weights.
www.gamakatsu.com
8BERKLEY Hollow Belly Powerbait Swimbait
Berkley’s 5-Inch Hollow Belly Powerbait swimbait made its debut at the Classic in 2007, and, believe me, it’s become a fixture in a bazillion tackle boxes across the country since then. The Hollow Belly bait comes in six colors, and with a hollow body that collapses around the hook when it’s bit, to guarantee a solid hookup. The bait features a large, action-inducing paddle tail and soft texture that perfectly mimic baitfish including shad, herring and small trout. And, of course, it’s infused with the powerful Powerbait attractant, so it has the bass-attracting stank of Berkley science all over it.
www.berkley-fishing.com
8SHAKESPEARE Dimension
Shakespeare’s 10-ball-bearing Dimension spinning reel is perfect for drop-shotting, light shaking and various other finesse techniques. A graphite body and machined, anodized aluminum spool with a titanium lip provide a light, comfortable feel on the rod, and it’s backed up by a smooth, multi-disc drag, a machine-cut brass pinion gear and an anti-twist titanium line roller and Shakespeare’s exclusive Sure-Click Bail. The Dimension 5030 holds 115 yards of 6-pound test.
www.shakespeare-fishing.com
8SUFIX Elite
Sufix Elite supplies all the characteristics that you demand from a superior-quality monofilament line: exceptional tensile and knot strength, unmatched durability, and smooth, supple handling characteristics that allow it to cast like a whisper. Elite goes on the spool using Sufix’s exclusive G2 Precision Winding process, which it lays on the spool in cocentric circles and flows onto your reel with near-zero memory. Elite is also available in a stealthy Camo color.
www.sufix.com
8RAPALA DT Fat
If you’re a bass hanging in shallow structure, good luck resisting the hard-wobbling displacement of the Rapala DT Fat, a wide-bodied, large-profile crankbait that’s picture-perfect for shallow brush piles, rip rap and shallow submerged roadbeds. The DT Fat’s snowplow lips protects against hang-ups when you bang it into structure, and its buoyancy gives it a subtle kick of action immediately after it rattles off a stump or log. The DT Fat is perfect for cranking in the 3-foot range.
www.rapala.com
8DAIWA Megaforce
Daiwa’s Megaforce baitcaster borrows some of the characteristics of its hyper-successful Viento, but with a smaller price tag. The exclusive Twitchin’ Bar allows you to automatically pick up 7 inches of line with the press of your thumb (perfect for finessing soft plastics), and a blazing-fast 7.1:1 gear ratio allows you to turn on the speed when fish are more active. The Megaforce is built with a lightweight, free-floating, drilled-aluminum spool, with a rugged six-point drive train, MegaForce magnetic anti-backlash control and Infinite Anti Reverse.
www.daiwa.com
8QUANTUM Tour Edition PTi
Here’s how Quantum defines “performance” in its Tour Edition PTi spinning reel: 12 hybrid polymer/stainless steel ball bearings, lightweight titanium skeletal handle, scratch-resistant titanium vacuum deposition coating, multi-stack ceramic drag system, exclusive MAGLOK magnetic continuous anti reverse and a nickel titanium TiMAG magnetic bail that provides better trip reliability, a quicker point and 30 percent greater bail opening for decreased line slap.
www.quantumfishing.com
8COSTA DEL MAR Blackfin
Half the battle in sight-fishing is actually seeing the fish, and the 100 percent polarized lens of Costa Del Mar’s new Blackfin cuts through the glare and murk to provide crystal-clear visibility in all light situations. Costa’s 580 polarized technology infuses an advanced yellow-light-filtering compound directly into the lens for enhanced color and visual acuity. The Blackfin is comfortable, too: a lightweight, co-injected Hydrolite compound lines the glasses from temple to temple and along the nosepad, providing superior fit and non-slip grip properties (no matter how much you sweat!).
www.costadelmar.com
8LUHR-JENSEN Hot Lips Express
The deep-diving tri-lobe power lip on Luhr-Jensen’s Hot Lips Express guarantees that you won’t have any problems getting this bait down to where the big hawgs lie. The dramatic scoop of the bill makes the Hot Lips Express dive quickly to maximum depth, and the computer-designed thin wall body projects a ton of vibration from the inner rattle. It’s available in ½- and ¾-ounce sizes, in killer colors ranging from Tennessee shad to Crystal Hot Texas Red.
www.luhrjensen.com
8POWER PRO
Power Pro’s hyper-strong braided Spectra fiber and Enhanced Body Technology produce an incredible round, smooth and sensitive line that thoroughly thumps regular mono if you’re crankin’ and yankin’ in heavy cover. Power Pro’s microfilament line ties easily, has no reel memory, resists abrasion, spools and packs onto reels beautifully, and has the kind of strength-to-diameter ratio that longtime users of the product swear by. It’s available in standard moss green and new phantom red for situations that call for a little stealth.
www.powerpro.com
8LAZER SHARP Magworm EWG
Lazer Sharp gave its popular Magworm EWG family a kick-start recently with a Platinum Black finish. The Magworm EWG’s heavier wire and unique Z-bend design do three things: they allow you to utilized heavier braided lines to pitch into the gnarliest vegetation around, they provide improved bait retention, and they allow an enhanced presentation. The hook is available in 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 5/0 and a beefy 6/0, and the new Platinum Black finish perfectly compliment the bite-inducing red finish that’s already available on Magworm EWG hooks.
www.fishlazer.com
8WORDEN'S Timber Tiger "Deflector"
Worden’s DC-8 Timber Tiger “Deflector” is the kind of medium-depth crankbait you simply have to include in your arsenal. With a diving depth of 8 feet, the DC-8 throws off an irresistible vibration/wobble, and produces an enticing “skip beat” body action when it’s retrieved at an average crankbait speed. If you need to speed it up, though, you can: the DC-8 transitions from a slow crank to a high-speed burn without a hitch.
www.yakimabait.com
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