Headed out to Walton's on Wednesday to buy some jigs and a DD22. Over in the swimbait corner he had added some new Optimum swimbaits that look like ospreys. Now I know people say re-rigging the osprey is necessary but does anyone know if it is necessary on this bait too?? Has anyone even tried/heard of/seen this bait? I've already put a 2/0 gammie on it and depending if i feel better in 6 or so hours I might just head up to Del Valle to give it a shot from shore. Would much rather be in a boat at Pablo where the big ones are though... oh well maybe Pablo next weekend.
Erik P.

We've played around with those baits a bit, and can tell you they're different from an Osprey. They swim ok, with their head riding up towards the surface. The only re-rigging I would suggest is making sure the crimp sleeves are cinched down tight. I had a customer cast off a bait because of a faulty crimp sleeve. You also could remove that wire leader altogether and run your mainline through the bait (ala Pro Rig Osprey), and tie off to your Gammie hook with a split ring.

When I first saw this bait, my main concern was that the hook position is so far down from the head of the bait. I have a friend who has caught a few fish already on it and says that hooking fish is no problem. I know he coats his baits with Hot Sauce to slick them up, and maybe the bait slipping in the bass' mouth is why that hook position hasn't been a problem for him. BTW, the customer who casted off his bait was offered a replacement by Optimum. Those guys are pretty cool.

Very first cast with mine, all I got back was the split ring. Luckily the bait sinks slowly and was able to fish it out before it sank out of sight. Will be tying directly to the hook from now on.