Reviewed by: CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD
Berkley’s Money Badger crankbait has been a hit (mostly on the bass fishing scene) for the past couple of years at the times and places where a long-casting, quick diving plug banging off rip-rap or digging along sandy bottoms where either large or smallmouths are present. I captured a couple of them to use on my boat as trolling lures for fall walleyes on Lake Erie and cohos on Lake Michigan. There’s just a short window when deep diving cranks are right for early-season cohos. To keep the original Money Badgers from diving under the salmon, I got the best results by letting them out only 25 feet and using 20# leaders to keep them from diving too deep. That’s why, when Berkley perfected a Shallow Money Badger, I was intrigued.
Stock up on these and have them in hand when the early season cohos, and spring brown trout invade the shallows. In early March where I fish,the Shallow Money Badgers quickly joined the other shallow-diver crankbaits in the A-Team of lures I fish with utmost confidence. The 6.25 and the slightly larger 7.25 versions both swim right in the zone when browns and cohos are stacked in warm water outflows or swimming just off the beaches and breakwalls seeking warmth and forage fish.
Like most Berkley lures, I expect them to run true right out of the box and stay that way fish after fish. I also expect them to be salmon tough, unlike some small crankbaits that break or get mangled after catching a few fish.
The action features “an aggressive tail wag and high body roll” according to Berkley, and has a click-like rattle to pull in fish from a distance. High action, ample noise and bright colors are common to all my best-coho cranks. I’m betting the Blaze color (hot red with black squiggles) will be the star on my boat, with the FireTiger a solid option on the days when the fish want something different. I’ll also be including the FireTiger and other, more “walleye” patterns, on late spring trips to Erie to use with Dipsey Divers or downriggers to get them down to the action zone.
Shallow Money Badgers should be in most well-stocked tackle stores . They can be purchased at many online sites or check out or purchase all of Berkley’s lures and other tackle at www.berkley-fishing.com
FISHING TOYS 