Rad Lures Micro Chatterbait

The Pro's:
If you have ever seen my review on the Original Rad Lures Chatterbait you know that I am not at all impressed with that lure. The Rad Lures Micro Chatterbait is a 1/8oz variation of its older brother the Chatterbait, but this time around I have to give it some credit. This little lure does not look like it could handle much in fact it look extremely fragile. But don't let its looks deceive you, this lure can take on some serious hits. The micro chatterbait retrieves a little more differently then its bigger counterpart, It does not "sweep" side to side. When retrieved the micro chatterbait's blade vibrates through the water like a big blade on a spinnerbait. This lure is extremely light, however it is an excellent caster. The micro chatterbait comes in six different colors and includes one super tough ElaZtech Mini Split-Tail Trailer. The Rad Lures Micro Chatter bait does well as a lake lure but works really good as a river lure for smallmouth bass.

The Con's:
Does a horrible job going through any kind of lake scum or weeds. Any little piece of algae will mess up its swimming motion.

Is it a good buy?
This is a fun lure and I'm certainly enjoying it this summer. It will not only catch bass but other fish as well.

Uncle Josh's Sizmic Toad

The Pro's:

Uncle Josh bring you the Sizmic Toad, Toad fishing at it's finest. This soft plastic bait beats out competition in terms of durability. The Sizmic Toad can be used as a top water and as a jerk bait. It is designed with a recessed hook cavity to make this plastic lure as weedless as possible without compromising hits. The legs on the Sizmic Toad give this lure amazing action and vibration when retrieved through the water. You can also try to use the Sizmic Toad as a trailer for buzzbaits and spinnerbaits, although I have had a good amount of success just hopping this lure over lilly pads as is. Uncle Josh's Sizmic Toad comes in 35 different colors and two sizes, the smaller size is called the Sizmic Toad Jr. It is 3.25"and the bigger one is 4.25". Sizmic Toads are packaged 6 per pack.

The Con's:

As with any lure it will have its good days and it will have its bad days. While using this lure I find that it is really only good in dense cover and through lilly pads. When the bass are laying deep its hard to get a strike out of them using this lure, other fisherman may have different success though.

Is it a good buy?

It is a good buy for people that like to fish toads. I keep a couple on hand just in case they feel like eating toads.

The Original Culprit Worm

The Pro's:

Culprit has always been a name you can trust. The original Culprit worm has been around for as long as I can remember. Aside from its long lasting name the Original Culprit Worm is a great plastic worm when compared to others in its class. Culprit worms can be fished a ton of different ways with a good amount of success. I prefer to fish these worms Texas rigged or Carolina rigged in the dead of summer. The color shown is RedShad and its one of fifty colors in a size 7.5". There are 5 sizes all together, they range from 4.5" to 12" and while only the 7.5" are made in fifty colors the other sizes have a good amount of colors as well. As you can see in the picture the tail is amazing, It has a good amount of movement and with a little finesse can bring out any bass in cover. Culprit worms are very durable which is something of a rarity when compared to "super salted" plastics on today's market.

The Con's:

This is a tough bait to find any flaws on. If there are any flaws its the color selection. There are so many colors available it can be hard to find out which one works for your lake. Sticking to the common colors helps resolve this problem.

Is it a good Buy?

If your an avid plastic worm fisherman these should be a necessity in your tackle box. This Lure is a good buy.

Revenge Lures Tail Spinner

The Pro's:
The Revenge Tail Spinner is a cool little lure, it breaks the mold when you think of lunker fishing. This bait is very effective in the dead of summer when bass are hanging down low and in the early spring. It also works well when fishing it along weedlines. The spinner on the end of the tail really gives a nice flash through the water and mimics a fish's tail. It comes in 8 different colors and two sizes (3/4 oz and a 1 oz). The hook is a Mustad treble hook and the lure is a very solid construction. These lures are incredible when fished through a school of bass or getting bass from out of heavy cover.

The Con's:
The treble spells trouble. This lure is designed to be fished near the bottom and snags will happen. The cost (around $5 per lure) could be cheaper since you will loose a couple of these on a fishing trip.

Is it a good Buy?
It certainly could not hurt to have a few of these handy when other lures are not biting.

Terminator Hybrid

The Pro's:
The Terminator Hybrid is a mix of a spinnerbait and a buzzbait. The Terminator name was acquired by Rapala in 2007 and was a good bait to use, now that Rapala is involved in the company they are making even better baits. The Terminator Hybrid in the package looks like it wouldn't work, the blade is somewhat of a triangle with a little metal piece that sticks out. The wire is made of titanium making this an expensive lure but it also gives this bass lure more strength and less bending then you would find on other buzz/spinner baits. When used as a buzzbait the Terminator Hybrid shoots water nearly six inches away from it while creating a VERY loud popping sound. When the Terminator Hybrid is used as a spinnerbait its big blade slows it down making it a great choice for summer bass fishing.


The Con's:
Unfortunatly there is a lot to be desired with the design of the Terminator Hybrid. When casting or sinking it in the water the barrel swivel catches around the wire form, it then wobbles ineffectively through the water. Fixing this problem every other cast is tedious and may cause a lot of missed fish. To swim it as a buzzbait it needs to be retrieved fast (similar to that of an uncle bucks bucktail), this can be good on some lakes at various times but its not a very good quality for a buzzbait to have.

Is it a good buy?
I fished one of these the other day, mixing my casts up as a buzzbait/spinnerbait and I had very good luck with it. If they fixed the barrel swivel situation then I would buy another one. If they don't then I would just pass it up.

Yum Money Minnow

The Pro's:

There is a lot of hype about swimbaits these days and Yum decided to jump on the bandwagon and make there own swimbait, the Yum Money Minnow. The Yum Money Minnow is a very light weight salt impregnated plastic lure. It has very nice holographic eyes and has great tail action when retrieved. When hooked up correctly it is a far and accurate caster.

The Con's:

The Yum Money Minnow does not catch you money, In fact it takes your money. At a very steep $8-$10 range you can have five of these. They rip and tear easily, the shank weighted hooks that you need to use cannot be found easily, unless they are purchased online. They are so light weight that if you don't use an additional bullet or tungsten weight you will never cast it anywhere and you will be stuck with a topwater swimbait.

Is it a good buy?

Put your money away, I wish I did. This is a horrible buy and I firmly believe that once the swimbait hype is over with you will find these laying at the bottom of a bargain bin.

Zoom Lizard

The Pro's:
Zoom has done a really good job mimicking a salamander with this soft plastic bait. The Zoom Lizard is 5" but comes in a magnum sized 8". They comes in a variety of different colors, the one shown is pumpkin chartreuse. These plastic bait are bass dynamite for these hot summer months. I have been fishing these on a Texas rig, banging docks, weedlines and shorelines with great success. They are salt impregnated but unlike the Yamamoto lizards, can last a few fish. The tail and the arms have great action and I prefer to have the tail a different color then the rest of the body for a little flash. These Zoom Lizards/Salamanders come 9 in a pack and are very affordable (around $2.50-$3.50).


The Con's:
When I say that they last a few fish, I mean a few fish. They last longer then some other companies but the lures (salamanders in general) design allows for missing limbs and tails after a fierce hit.

Is it a good Buy?
These Zoom Lizards are producing bass for me on a nightly basis this July. I have used them in past years and I will continue to use them. They are a good buy.

Gary Yamamoto Swimming Senko

The Pro's:
The new Gary Yamamoto Swimming Senko combines the falling action of a senko and the swimming action of a swimbait all in one lure. I have been impressed with this lure this summer and I'm confident that it will continue to win big fish for me until the fall. I have found that this is best cast along docks either weightless or on a Texas rig depending on water clarity. The tail gives off a nice thumping motion when retrieved slowly. It is salt infused and pliable like most of Gary Yamamoto's Custom Baits. It comes in 19 different colors, the color shown is Junebug and is the color I have been using


The Con's:
A nasty pickerel will make quick work of this lure. Like most Gary Yamamoto baits they rip and tear easily. The tail quickly comes off after a couple of bass because of its design.

Is it a good Buy?
Yes, This bait is has proven itself even though it has a slight design flaw. It catches bass almost consistently.

Wave Worms Tiki-Shadick

The Pro's:

I caught my brother using this bait on a Carolina rig the other night when we were fishing a small local pond. We had a tough couple of days of not catching a lot of fish and he tied on this crazy looking Carolina rig with a Wave Worms Tiki-Shadick, needless to say he started catching fish, even a catfish. The one he was using that night was colored "Sweet Potato Pie", like the one shown. Now I'm not a real big fan of plastic shad baits but for some reason this one was the "Lure of the day". The Wave Worms Tiki-Shadick, like other Wave Worms, are infused with molopo and salt. I found out that these type of baits are designed to go through the water like an injured fish. The Wave Worms Tiki-Shadick are available in 15 different colors and two sizes. It also has a slit in the bottom for your hook to set it. They come in ten per pack and are relatively inexpensive.

The Con's:

By design the retrieve and movement is short of spectacular.

Is it a good Buy?

I would have never have thought about this plastic bait if my brother hadn't been using it. I will give it a chance for the rest of the summer.

Rapala Skitter Pop

The Pro's:
The Rapala Skitter Pop is slightly different then other top water poppers I have used. when jerked through the water the cupped plastic lip lets out loud pops and the lure dives in the water a little bit (maybe 2inches max). I have launched this lure into a school of crappies and they went nuts over this. I can just imagine when the bass are hitting top water really hard what this lure will do. The one pictured is the color lime frog but I have been using shad color in stained water with good results. Its a very good long caster and comes with two sets of treble hooks as shown in the picture. This lure could be the lure to use this summer on hot July and august nights when the bass are feeding near the top.


The Con's:
The balsa wood body gets damaged easy when miss-cast and hits a hard object as does the plastic lip. Once you break the plastic lip the lure does not work right.


Is It a good Buy?
I am starting to like these lures more and more. The Rapala Skitter Pop offers a change when fishing top water. I prefer to have a Storm Rattlin' Chug Bug and a Rapala Skitter Pop for variety in action, movement and sound.

Gary Yamamoto Lizards (13 series)

The Pro's:

The Yamamoto Lizard is a great bait for spawning bass in the spring. They view it as a predator attacking it's nest and it works well in the summer season as well. I prefer to hook lizards up on a Texas rig in the spring for more accurate casting into nests. In the summer I will give the Carolina rig a go for a little bit around dense cover and in deep water. The Yamamoto lizard series comes in many different colors, even two tone. Yamamoto has these lizards in 4.5" and 7" and just like his senkos there really soft and pliable. The arms and tail give off a decent motion when retrieving.

The Con's:

Yamamoto really needs to jump on the band wagon and should start making hard nose baits. These things tear and rip like theres no tomorrow making your fishing trip an expensive one if its a good fishing day. I hate slow fishing in the summer, therefore I don't Carolina rig all to often. There is faster ways to catch big bass in the summer.

Is it a good Buy?

It's ok. I have used better lizards before in fact if you can find any the FLW walmart lizards are just as good.

Zoom Trick Worm

The Pro's:

First off let me just say that the Zoom Trick Worm is the most versatile soft plastic bait on the market today. The 6inch Trick worm comes in a variety of colors, comes 20 per package and is rather inexpensive (around $3-$4 a bag). This worm can be fished weightless, Texas rigged, Carolina rigged, T rigged, wacky rigged or whatever your fishing preference is. I prefer to tie this bait up Carolina style to go for huge low laying bass. The worm is slightly salt impregnated but is considered a floating worm. One of the best things about this worm is that even if you twitch your rod tip it will move the worm, making this deadly for bass hiding in cover.

The Con's:

It comes packaged with a fair amount of oil, It does not say on the package whether or not the bait is scented.

Is it a good Buy?

The Zoom trick Worm is a great bait to have with you when all other baits fail or you just feel like finessing a bait. The cheap cost and large quantity makes these an even better buy.