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Rapala Report
Rapala Jigging Shadow Rap
How do you follow a legend? Be you an actor re-booting a iconic character, or a new bait launching in a classic lure line, the answer is the same – innovate, don't imitate. Make the part your own. Starring now in such a role is Rapala's new Jigging Shadow Rap.
Stepping onstage after the famed original Jigging Rap became a household name, Rapala's new Jigging Shadow Rap weighs less than its legendary predecessor and glides more slowly on the fall. And the impressive newcomer’s subtle, nuanced performance as a distressed baitfish earns rave reviews from wary and pressured gamefish, inspiring them to bite.
“This is one of the craziest walleye bites I have ever been on in my life!” Minnesota angler Brett McComas exclaims in a video featured in the popular Target Walleye eNewsletter. “They are just going bonkers over it,” he said. “It's just been a feeding frenzy.”
Designed to vertically target multiple freshwater gamefish species – whether they’re suspending high in the water column, or holding tight to bottom – Rapala’s new Jigging Shadow Rap boasts a broader silhouette than its original Jigging Rap. Enhanced with belly-flashing action and modern, realistic baitfish finishes, the Jigging Shadow Rap falls seductively slowly, triggering even the most-finicky of gamefish to bite.
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By Louie Stout
Bait Pop
If you have trouble seeing your lure on forward facing sonar, Bait Pop provides a good fix.
Bait-Pop is a paste that you apply to your lure or jig head that makes the lure more visible on the forward facing screen. You also can apply it to your drop-shot sinker or even the line ahead of the lure to intensify visibility.
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Ever Green Report
Ever Green ZR-4 Crankbait
Ever Green has introduced the ZR-4 crankbait, engineered by Japan’s most advanced lure makers.
Outwardly, you’ll first notice the bait’s profile emulates the shape of baitfish and edible juvenile fish worldwide. To that, Ever Green sculpted the body with detailed eyeballs, scale patterns, and gills.
The ZR-4 features a hybrid square and concave bill. The squaring elicits a tight action that also deflects off structure like timber and rocks. The curvature displaces more water than a traditional bill, causing more disruption in the water and a faster dive to its prescribed 4-to-5-foot range.
The ZR-4’s unique bumped head and tapered tail were also orchestrated for an exclusive and precise action.
ZR-4’s color patterns are equally sophisticated. On the Green Pumpkin Gill, for example, airbrushed colors layer into one another, precisely as they’d appear on the real thing. Ever Green’s ten-color palette includes classic bass-catching hues as well as novel combinations. Patterns include Olive Crawdad, Glow Shad Dazzler, Flash Wakasagi, Magic Gill, Green Pumpkin Gill, Citrus Chart, Cold Shad and Olive Copper Shad.
Ever Green also includes fixed weights inside the ZR-4’s body to lower the center of gravity. The result is a longer-and-straighter-casting crankbait that tracks in perfect position on the retrieve. Finally, the ZR-4 includes an offset hook on the front treble to prevent snags.
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Ego Fishing Report
EGO Weigh-in Bag/Cooler
You’ve heard the stories over the years. So-and-so would have won the big-money tournament if it hadn’t been for a dead fish at weigh-in.
A solution to similar sad stories, EGO is proud to offer the affordable and easy-to-carry FISH/WEIGH-IN COOLER, designed from the ground up to provide a safe and friendly way for the tournament angler to transport fish to tournament weigh-ins, as well as ice fish for dinner, even chill beverages.
Large enough to contain a limit of bass—even kickers—EGO’s FISH/WEIGH-IN COOLER spans 21” (L) x 4” (W) x 22” (H) and weighs a mere two pounds.
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St. Croix Report
St. Croix Legend Tournament Pike Series
Furthering its mission to provide all anglers with the Best Rods in any situation, St. Croix Rod announces the all-new Legend Tournament Pike Series.
It consists of six technique-specific casting rods purpose-engineered and handcrafted in the USA to give uncompromising performance in the pursuit of pike.
The new Legend Tournament Pike Series rods are built with proprietary materials, technologies and uncompromising workmanship, as well as the company’s significant experience and capabilities in the design and manufacture of powerful, high-performance rods for large, freshwater predators.
They feature next-generation hybrid SCIV+ carbon fiber blanks and incorporate St. Croix’s top technologies and premium components. Retail prices range from $340 to $430 USD with a 15-year warranty.