http://www.tackletour.com/reviewbassjam09pt1.html

I can kind of tell that there are some loyal followers of Mr. Ragos baits here on Calfishing. What are your thoughts to see Jerry bring out some nice looking baits?

I hope he will be at Bassathon. Jerry will you be there with some of these baits? I have cash for you!

:-)

I dropped by the show briefly yesterday morning. I was in at about 9:20am and a lot of Rago's new stuff was already gone. I picked up a couple old-style live trout softbaits as well as a few other big soft plastic billed baits from him. I'm not really a fan of hard baits so I can't speak for them, but all of the soft stuff Rago had looked great and swam great in the pool. Wish I had bought more :)

I also picked up 4 of the new Mattlures true trouts. Two flat tails one boot tail and one tri-tail. Pool tested them all yesterday. The flat tail baits were nice. The slow sink version will almost suspend, which looks awesome. I can't wait to see what fish will think of that thing next spring. The tri tail bait looked good. Nice subtle action. I'll be giving it a try as a hudd alternative this year. The boot tail bait swam crooked :(


http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7885-lures.jpg

Being it was my swimming pool that was used to test lures, I must weigh in :) The Rago soft tool with the lip on it is a dope bait. It's big, it moves like a trout, it dives a good fishy depth. I like!

The Mattlures True Trout with the tri tail was respectable and worth owning. Fast sink looked to me like ROF10 or so. It's something different enough to give a try.

The suspending 7 inch Matt trout was also interesting. It has positively no swimming action but at rest it looks a lot like a pathetic little trout that would be sitting up in 3 feet of water trying to hide after getting stocked.

The floating 7 inch True Trout was not as interesting to me as the suspender. The boot tail with the fin coming out the back True Trout was too much Reaction Strike / Megabait Charlie for me. I'd go for the tri tail instead. Much more fish like.

Nico - You mentioned a lot of Jerry's new stuff was gone when you arrived. Did you get a chance to see either the Smoothie or the large Dirty Rat. If you did, do you have any thoughts on either?

I was interested in the Dirty Rat when Jerry said it had a rolling motion which is a little different than other jointed wake baits.

**I noticed outdoorproshop.com has Matt's new trout in-stock. They also have a couple of new Rago baits and the 4-inch Triple Trout. They are grouped under the "Bass Jam" category which was the top entry in the vertical menu bar on the left of the webpage.**

Thanks!
Tim

Like I said, I'm not much into hardbaits, so I didn't really look at them. Two hooks on the rat seems nice, other than that, no idea...

Nicco, may I ask why you are not a fan of hardbaits? Well, you probably like some but not all, I'm guessing.

I like topwater hard baits.

Subsurface hardbaits don't suit my style of fishing very well, and honestly when I read reports and look at pictures, it feels like the hype outweighs the results. When people catch fish on hardbaits, it's usually a wakebait, not the latest $200 double jointed oddity.

Obviously there are a few people out there reading this who have made them work. Also, I did net a 15 lber Rob caught on a triple trout one day, but it was in SoCal, where the bass aren't as smart :)

are you saying the socal bass are not as smart as the nocal bass?:+

about how much would you say that soft live trout weighs?

and where about about in the water column does that bait swim the best? or what type of rof is it..

thanks

http://calfishing.com/reviews/swimbaits/generic_live_trout_softbait/index.html

Haha, I've had the the pleasant discussion of dumb Norcal bass vs the much more educated So Cal bass with several friends. it always makes for a good show.

Yea I said it...DUMB :P

:P

Nico & Rob - Thanks for the photo and your thoughts on the Matt Lures True Trout. I placed an order with Outdoorproshop on Monday night and they were waiting on my doorstep when I got home last night. Hot dang!

Tim

Cool. Hope your stuff works for you. Keep in mind with the live trout softbait that this is not a shallow water or shore fishing kind of bait. This is a bait that needs at least 10' of water to even begin to fish. If you're in 15 to 40 with crystal clear water, that's the better scenario. Fishing this thing from shore is almost out of the question because of the diving action. You don't want to beat the bill in to the bottom, it's just not made to do that for too long.

hope that helps. good luck Tim.

Rob - Thanks for the usage information about the live trout softbait. I've been fishing from the bank the past 3 years so it is good to know about the ideal use for that bait. Hopefully I will get my little 11 foot tub onto the water in 2010. There are a couple 15+ foot visibility lakes near my house.

I'm looking forward to getting Matt's True Trout wet. I like the subtle "salmon" color and I like the idea of the semi-suspending slow sink bait.

I have to give a shout out to the guys at outdoorproshop for their quick shipping. I placed an order for Jerry's large Dirty Rat at about noon on Thursday and it was in my mailbox this afternoon. Not quite the overnight shipping you Cali guys have experienced from TW but pretty cool for being up in the PNW.

Tim

Thanks for the kind words Tim...

We ship (and have been for over a year) overnight to anywhere in California. Free for over $50 orders.

I also wanted to give you all a heads up - we have just received 5 Rago Soft Live Trouts (9 inch) and 5 Rago Soft Tools (11 inch). All in Trout color. These will be the last of these two baits Rago will make until 2010 sometime. Get 'em if you want them at the Outdoor Pro Shop site. No link since we are not a sponsor but, I know many of you would like a chance at one or both of these baits.

Not sure they will last long - but, if our system lets you order them - then they are still in stock.

Also - Rago is selling 30 Hand Carved Original Rats (wood) on his website RagoBaits.com

Hey Tom - you can post links, I don't care. There are no rules on the new product / product availability forum about who can post. It's fundamentally here to provide a free advertising venue.

That's awesome Rob! Thanks. I didn't know the rules and didn't want to break them... YET! LOL

Just checked your site.....are the soft tools gone already?

Yes sorry - Sold Out in about 2 hours.

Not sure when the next run is going to be - but, I will keep you informed over here!

In the meantime - those hand carved Original wooden rats are definitely a good ticket. Rago is selling those direct. RagoBaits.com not sure how many he has left - but, he was making 30 last I heard.