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Rago Baits - Live Trout Hardbait

Author: Rob Belloni

History/Overview: The Live Trout came out in the fall of 2003 in limited numbers. Like all of Jerry's baits, it is hand made and hand painted. And like the original Generic Trout Hardbait, it's really a work of art. The bait is made from some sort of composite material, and is balanced to float with just a little of it's back out of the water. The Live Trout has a pretty good sized bill and dives about 5 to 8 feet on a long cast. You can work the bait on the surface, but only if you are willing to work the lure very slowly.

Pros: The number one thing about this bait is the realism of the profile. Check out the higher resolution pics above and from all angles you can see that this bait is shaped just like a trout. Also, the hard fins are molded into the bait, making them less prone to breakage. Could you snap one off on a rock, sure, but that's your bad ). The action on the bait is very fishy and it has a much wider kick than the original Generic Trout. This bait has a lot of what you might call 'head wobble' where the head of the bait kicks side to side almost as much as the tail. If you bump the bait off of cover, it shoots off and really looks good. I love the hook placement and the fact that it has two hooks so you can hook and lend a good number of the fish that hit it.

Cons: The bait is pretty bulletproof, but like all baits there are some things to look out for. The tail has a slot that it sits in to help hold it, which is great, but it would be good to have a spare tail handy on the water in case a fish decided to really latch on to it. Also, like all high dollar hardbaits, if you want to protect your bait from chipping and scratching, two coats of Aristocrat liquid glass will go a long ways in protecting the bait. The paint jobs will wear out casting around the hooks over time. The bait comes with stock VMC hooks. Good for stripers, and decent when sharpened, but if you are going for largemouth only, a pair of gammie or owners would be in order.

As far as I know, this lure is no longer in production

Average Rating out of 1 voters
Chris Fenton( auburn, CA) Mar 16, 2010
Awesome!
I landed my biggest trolling wild rainbow ever with one of these!
 
Copyright © Robert Belloni 1997-2012. All Rights Reserved.
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