This year I did an incredible amount of fishing and most of it involved trying out new tackle. From rods to reels to lines to lures, I literally had my hands on hundreds of products in 2010.
The following are five of my favorites of the year. Some of these are new to the market, some are simply new to me but they all performed well for my favorite kinds of fishing.
Gulp! Swimming Mullet
(Photo by Phillip Samuels)
I have been using Gulp! products since they first hit the market and have been catching flounder on them since shortly thereafter. I had been using the shrimp which does the job on flatfish but not like the Swimming Mullet. I used other lures more frequently on flatfish this year but when I was after really BIG flounder, this one was the key. The smoke color is what did the trick for me and my circle of angling buddies. It not only got the flounder to hit but hit hard and produced lots of good fish for us this year including the beauty I am holding in the photo above.
Bomber Saltwater Grade Badonkadonk SS
(Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.)
I had the pleasure of getting sent two of the prototypes of the Badonkadonk SS which I took out the next morning to the Sabine Jetties. The very first cast produced a nice speckled trout. And so did the next one. Then I caught a Spanish mackerel, then a trout and then got cut off by a mackerel. This lure works. It is a slow-sinker that imitates a finger mullet and comes in a a variety of killer Texas colors. I am about to switch over from flounder to trout fishing for the winter and this will be my go-to lure.
Stren Fluorocast
(Courtesy Photo)
This is one of those products that has been out awhile but I just tried out in 2010. I used it mainly for bass fishing but also on a casting reel for flounder fishing an area with super clear water. I found the line to be invisible in the water and provide great sensitivity. The private lake I do much of my freshwater product testing in is super clear and I found using this line while working worms got me far more bites than other more visible lines. On the flounder front the sensitivity was key along with low visibility as the fish in the area I was fishing were big but also super finicky. I had few problems with line memory as compared to some other fluorocarbons I have tried which is a nice bonus.
Sebile Soft Weight System
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(Courtesy Photo)
Sebile continues to impress and this year they won “Best Terminal Tackle” at ICAST with their soft weight systems. These easy to install weights can slide up and down a hook to help anglers sink their plastics in many different fashions. I have used it quite a bit since ICAST and found it very effective at getting lures to fall in different fashions. It works great for swim baits that you want to get different kinds of retrieves and falls out
of.
US Reel Hibdon Supercaster SLC 800SX
(Courtesy Photo)
I got hold of this reel back in October and it has been on most fishing trips since then. The Angled Bar Levelwind replaces the line guide and allows for longer, more accurate casts. I have been able to literally cast at the mouth of redfish out past 50 yards with topwaters and spoons this year. Super accurate, smooth drag system and also has worked great for pitching and flipping close to tight structure.
I’ll be doing another blog here shortly with a few other killer fishing products from 2010. In keeping with my full disclosure ethic I was provided this tackle for purposes of testing but I give you my word this has all worked greatly for me.
I wouldn’t waste your time writing about junk. And by the way thank you for stopping by to read my blogs. I would not be able to do all of this if it weren’t for all of you and I appreciate that more than you know.