It must suck to be a shad. Every predator fish you share the lake or river with wants to eat you. That’s why I enjoy being at the top of the food chain when it comes to fishing. I know if I want to catch a fish to eat – and I’m not particularly picky about the fish I eat – I know where ever I’m at and whatever fish I want to catch, a good choice of lure to show to the fish is a shad-imitating lure. That’s what caught my eye when I found the Vexan booth at the ICAST show last summer. Among the rods, reels and other lures on display was a concise collection of shad-shaped diving crankbaits called Rattin’ LIL Super Cisco.
I tried fishing for cisco with them last fall at Grand Traverse Bay with little success, but that’s the only time and place they didn’t score. They did catch a steelhead and a lake trout in the bay. I caught plenty of cohos on them in southern Lake Michigan and using them with the 50 + 2 Method on the Precision Trolling App got them down to Lake Erie’s walleye last spring. The Chrome Perch color scored well early in the day and we did just as well with the Diesel and Kitty Kat patterns when the bright sun started penetrating into the depths.
Check them out at www.vexan.com. They are available at WalMart, Amazon.com and other outlets.
For many, Ford’s F150 is the pick-up to which other such trucks are measured. To many, walleye anglers, Lund boats are the watercraft to which other such boats are measured. To many anglers, from bluegill lovers to wicked tuna catchers, St. Croix rods are the fishing “sticks” that all other brands of fishing rods need to measure up to for quality.
So when St.Croix decided to add a line of fishing reels to match to their rods (or to be used with other rods), I had little doubt they’d measure up with the best reels available. I had little doubt, but seeing (and using) is the way to know for sure. The model I selected to pair with a St. Croix Bass X casting rod I already own is the GF Series with the 7.3:1 gear ratio. It’s also available in 6.6:1 or hi-speed 8:1:1 in left or right hand versions.
I used this combo for an early autumn trip to Minnesota inland lake where it handled baits sized for perch to pike, both casting and jigging. Later in the fall I jigged and trolled for deep water ciscos and lake trout in Grand Traverse Bay. It gave me flawless performance on every cast, every drop and on every fish reeled in.
In talking with Josh Lantz, the media rep for St.Croix, he told me, “SEVIIN Reels aspires to deliver anglers with the most reliable and dependable reels available.” He said, “St. Croix didn’t jump into the reel business, our engineering teams examined and tinkered with every component to ensure the quality would match the reputation St. Croix has established in the fishing industry.
To this end, the SEVIIN team designed and built its very own testing laboratory inside the St. Croix factory in Park Falls, Wisconsin. Here, purpose-engineered, custom testing equipment continuously performs 12 distinct tests on every production run of its GF Series baitcasting reels. Specific individual tests include 1) temperature, 2) humidity/salt spray, 3) chemical resistance, 4) ultraviolet exposure, 5) dunk, 6) trip lifecycle, 7) gear endurance, 8) drop, 9) line guide retention, 10) pinion engagement, 11) gear strength and 12) drag performance.
Number six is most impressive to me. The trip lifecycle test consists of putting GF Series low-profile baitcasting reels through 200,000 cycles on a custom-engineered and precision-constructed instrument within the testing laboratory. A cycle consists of depressing and then releasing the thumb bar, then re-engaging the spool with a partial turn of the handle. I don’t know how many casts I make on an average fishing trip, but I’m sure it will take me several years to get to the 200K cycles number and when it does, I expect it to continue on and on. Seviin Reels are now widely available at a modest price in tackle stores, at online outlets including Amazon.com or at http://www.seviinreels.com..
No doubt you’ve seen the price of crankbaits (and other lures) skyrocketing faster than the price of eggs and bacon during the pandemic. Crankbaits used to seem expensive when priced at five or six bucks. Now, they are often two or three times more, these days. Maybe that’s okay with your budget, but it’s not with mine and that’s what attracted me to the H20X cranks at the Academy Sports store that opened near me in Lafayette, IN last spring – the price.
Often shopping by price alone is a poor choice when it comes to fishing equipment. Cheapskates are setting themselves up for failure. I also have observed that “store-brand” knock-offs of big brand lures isn’t the same as buying a generic equivalent for other products. Far from it.
Often, just looking at the store-brand crankbaits tells the story. The molded bodies are rough, the paint or finish is notably inferior and the hooks and hardware on the lures are noticeably cheap. You know they won’t hold up, you know they won’t have the proper action and you know after a few trips you’ll be wishing you’d never bought them at any price.
I didn’t notice any of the above with the H20X (Academy Sports’ store brand) hanging on the racks. I did notice the retro price tags marked on the boxes.
Academy Sports is a chain of big-box sporting goods stores (think Bass Pro or Dick’s Sporting Goods), born in Texas and now found in states across the southeastern U.S.A. The Lafayette store was the first one opened in a Great Lakes state. Now, they are in Indiana and Illinois. (Academy does offer online shopping, however, so even if you fish Lake Superior, H20X products are just a few clicks and a truck ride from your door.)
Naturally, the H20X cranks were designed with bass fishing in mind and the colors available reflect that. However, many crankbaits used by salmon, steelhead and walleye anglers weren’t designed specifically for those species. They were probably designed for bass guys and us Great Lakes guys learned they were equally effective on salmon or trout.
For the first two or three months of the open water season in southern Lake Michigan, crankbaits are the top producers and some Great Lakes walleye guys use cranks all season long. So I selected an assortment of H20X cranks and tied them on last spring. Plenty of cohos and browns considered them edible and Lake Erie walleyes gave them a “fins-up” as well.
FISHING TOYS 