Is Basstrix Worth the Hype?

[Stonewall2002]

As many of you know the Basstrix Paddle Tail Tube swimbait is one of the hottest baits on the market right now. Ive been trying to get my hands on some for a while now, but dont feel like dishing out 20.00 for three baits on e-bay. Have any of you folks out ther tried any of these baits and if so are they worth the cash? Does any one know of any cheeper but still high quality knockoffs? I have seen other similar baits but they have poor quality paint jobs and very few have the hollow bellies. Would love to hear your opinions on the effectiveness of swimbaits in general throughout the region. Thanks in advance...

Keep on chuckin'

[Col Forbin]

I have used one and it is pretty good. However, I don't know if I would call them a cheap knock off - but Money Minnow makes one that performs just as good. They are not knock off because the retail on them is about the same. They have a somewhat hollow belly, they are made with a slit in them that has been sealed - they will eventually split back open, but the performance doesn't change when they do. Basstrix started the paddle tail craze, and they aren't as abundant (supply and demand) that is why the high price. I would look for other ones and I think you will be just as happy. Luck- E - Strike makes one that is supposed to be too, but I haven't used it. So far I like the Money Minnow the best (four packs for 10.00 @ Gander Mountain - but they sell pretty quick too). Setting these up is probably just as important as the lure itself - they will roll over if not set up perfectly straight or weighted correctly or fished too fast. It took me a bit to find the perfect set up. I still haven't caught much to brag about on them. I have a club tournament today, so hopefully that will change.

[LarryG]

Another magic bait? Do we ever learn? I was thinking of getting a few of those, except, I have some new guaranteed baits that ihave to use first.

[mattplapp]

We were 1 of the first dealers selling Basstrix 4 years ago. The bait's never stayed on the shelve's long. Everyone I know that has been using them love em. The Money Minnow is also doing well. From what I've seen when a bait does well over a long period, like Basstrix has for us, then it's the real deal. Another key sign was that no one was talking about the bait. The people who were using it were so pumped with it that they told no one. The talk was low, which also tells me how much it worked. Our tournament angler's up here keep things like that a secret.

The only bad thing is now we can't get them at all.

Matt

[bassin_101]

Lucky-E-Strike Bassmagic is about the same thing...hollow belly paddle tail...cant say im too impressed with it though..but i guess their worth a try the water has been to cold for anything to really work. I think their 7.99 for 6 at bps

[Southwind]

Lucky-E-Strike Bassmagic is about the same thing...hollow belly paddle tail...cant say im too impressed with it though..but i guess their worth a try the water has been to cold for anything to really work. I think their 7.99 for 6 at bps

Just bought some at Bass-Pro ...I hope they work they sure feel and look good, but again I and we are not fish lol... you are wright on the price.

[stoner]

Hows this bait rigged and fished? I've seen the big west coast swimbaits fished is this same with out trebles?
Stoner

[bassin_101]

# 5 vertical drop hook is what i rigged it with.

[UYKY]

they are the best i have used. have used several of the other knock offs. they have alot more action than the others = softer plastic and hence don't last through very many bites. the money minnows are ok but the paddle is smaller and therefore does not "shimmy as much". the colors on the basstrix are phenomenal. as far as rigging, here on cland and dale -> 1/4 oz ball jig head with long shank hook for the 4in version. catches EVERYTHING that swims. they are hard to come by for sure.

[Stonewall2002]

Has anyone given the Berkley paddle-tail swimbait a try. They are pretty new and was wondering if anyone has even seen them as of yet?

Thanks for all of you input... im gonna try to get my hands on a pack of the Basstrix just to give them a try. Ordered some of the Berkley's and they shouldbe here soon... Ill let you know hat I think.

Keep on chuckin'

[smljaw]

I just ordered some Poor Boy's swimbaits from Landbigfish.com... See there swimbaits at...

http://landbigfish.com/tacklestore/swimbaits.cfm?start=1&page=1&ID=90&show=image&sort =name&sort2=asc

The Poor Boy's baits look really good in person! The Reaction Strike baits look as good as any as well. I bought some of the Bassmagics from BPS do not look all that great to me. I bought some recently and look forward to using them, that's for sure. I'm more excited about using Poor Boy's and Big Hammer though.

I know I'm looking forward to hearing stories from everyone this year! I believe these new baits are going to take some good fish!!!

[Moose1am]

I have dozens of sassy shad plastic baits that all have a paddle tail. And the Charlie Brewer Crappie Slider plastic baits have a paddle tail as well.

I will say this about paddle tail baits. The Largemouth Bass love them. I have caught a few crappie on them but I have caught more 1 lb and 2 lb Large Mouth Bass on them than anything else.

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When Patoka Lake first opened I used Sassy Shads with 1/4 to 3/8 oz jig heads to catch bass and Northern Pike in deep water. Actually I went out to the two islands and fished near on of these islands. I was near the old river channel and the Northern Most Island. The East side of this Island is where the old Patoka River makes a loop and the outside of the horseshoe bend points to the island. Bill Dance caught about 100 LMB in this location when he did a fishing show about Patoka Lake. He did the entire show in just one day. Normally it would take him a few days to catch enough fish to put on a good show. My god father sent me an article about this that he clipped out of the Indianapolis Star News Paper. Now this was back in 1978/79/80 somewhere.

I just know that I had to fish parallel with the winds so that I could detect the bites in that deeper water. I had to use heavier jig heads to help maintain contact with the bait. Had to keep the line tight. The wind would put a bow in my line and I would loose contact with the bait on the way down so I had to make sure that the line was parallel to the winds so as not to get a wind bow in the line. I also tried to keep the rod tip low near the water to prevent a wind blow in the line.

Think of the old telephone systems that we made as kids. Two tin can's a string and a couple of buttons. If you didn't keep the string taught between the two tin cans the vibrations would not travel along the string. Well our fishing lines act the same way. The vibrations created when a bass flairs his gills and inhales a bait but does not move are not that strong. But with a sensitive rod, good line and a tight line and heavy jig you can detect the lighter bits like these and set the hook before the bass spits the jig out of it's mouth.

I'll bet that I have had many such bites like this and never even knew the fish had taken the jig and then spit it out. Sometimes I would get lucky and the hook would stick inside the fish's mouth and I would know I had a bite and set the hook.

When fishing in deeper waters with lines that can stretch it's very important to have very sharp hooks and to have a long rod so that you can make a good sweep of the rod (several times in a row) to set the hook in the fish. Might as well loose the fish down at 30ft than to bring it up to the surface and have it jump and get off. I have learned to set the hook hard and multiple times. And guess what. I lose less fish this way. The top of a LMB's mouth is hard as a rock and sometimes you really have to drive the hook into that bony area to get the barb to stick.

I don't have to set the hook as hard in shallow water or when I have very little fishing line out. Line stretch is more pronounced when you have a lot more fishing line out between you and the fish.

Some mono lines stretch a lot. Braided lines like Fireline won't stretch much at all. So adjust you hook setting accordingly.

While fishing in shallow water at Lynville Lake in Northern Warrick County In just East of Lynville, IN on State Highway 64 I have seen many smaller bass following my crappie slider bait. The last time I fished Lynville was two years ago in the summer and I caught a lot of smaller 1 lb bass and hooked and caught one 2 lb bass in another sections of the lake.

I like to downsize my equipment when fishing strip pits because of the ultra clear waters. The smaller baits and lighter lines help me get more hits.

I also trolled some crank baits behind the boat at around 10 ft depths and caught one nice one pound LMB while going about 2 mph. That was as slow as I could get my boat to go with the gas engine. I need a trolling brake system to put on the motor to slow me down some more. Or I could just pull a bucket behind the boat with a ski harness. I would pull a parachute drag but I am afraid it would get torn on a underwater obstruction. I will use that when I am drifting with the wind out in open water on big bodies of water.

The Charlie Brewers Crappie Sliders in Purple or Watermelon color were my favorites.

And it doesn't hurt to spray or dip some DR JUICE on the plastic to help it attract the fish. I don't get nearly as many bites without the Dr Juice or a Crappie Nibble on my bait. Scents are extremely important.

Would drink a glass of milk before smelling it to see if it was sour? Fish smell first then bite second. They won't bite if the baits don't smell right.

Put some gasoline on your baits or soak them in gas overnight and then use them to fish. You may wonder why some days you get no bites. Maybe you forgot to wash your hands before touching the baits?

I keep several kinds of soap in my boat at all times and wash my hands before fishing.

When you head out to the lake do you fill the boat up at the gas station and then fill the truck up too? Do you ever spill any gasoline onto your hands? Even a little bit may turn the fish off. Why take a chance that a artificial smell could ruin your fishing day. And if you pack a lunch for the boat why not have some soap in the boat to wash your hands with before you eat your lunch later that day?

I have a plastic container with a locking lid and I keep a lot of the supplies that I need though out the day in this box. From extra fishing line, insect repellent, spare boat plugs, Fishing Scents (several types) and Several jars of crappie nibbles, extra dip nets for the minnow bucket and a few other items which I can't think of right now. Have not been fishing since last Dec. LOL

What were we talking about? Oh yea. Paddle tail baits. I think that any bait that has a paddle tail will catch fish. Fish just can't seem to resist that tail going up and down. I believe that it sends sound waves out that the fish like and that's what attracts them to the bait. It makes the bait look alive.

OK I have shared some secrets with you guys that took me 20 years to figure out. LOL. The best kept secret is the Dr. Juice. These days you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for a 1/2 oz plastic bottle of this stuff. You can get it in a large 6 oz plastic bottle now for much less money. This stuff works. I have caught Walleye's, Northerns, Largemouth Bass, Small Mouth Bass, Catfish, Bluegills, Crappie and Sauger with the Dr Juice on my crank baits, plastic worms, Sassy shads and other baits.

When I don't put Dr. Juice on my baits I don't catch as many fish. It's a truly amazing story about how this guy developed Dr. Juice's ingredients. I read about this stuff back in the 1980's in an article in I think Outdoor life. I still have that magazine article around my house somewhere. I was going to scan it into my computer and post it but my OCR software will not format it property. Those old articles use three columns per page with pictures and the OCR just didn't handle that format well. I could just scan the pages as a picture and post it but I better not do that. It's probably copy righted. There are a lot of old articles in my collection that I thought about scanning and posting so as to start some discussions. I did that a while back on another web site and it was fun.