The Maverick Swimbait came out late in 07, or perhaps early 2008. The lure is 5.5" long. They are hand poured by the Tackle-It bait shop up at Clear Lake in Lakeport. The Maverick comes 3 to a pack for $9.75 or thereabouts. At a little over $3 per lure, the price is very reasonable.

Fresh out of the package the lure is not particularly impressive. It looks short and stubby, smells a bit like a banana, and is made from very soft plastic.

In the water, things look much better. I would in fact go so far as to say that this is the best looking paddle tail bait since the Basstrix in terms of swimming action. The lure is so soft that it gives a wonderful kick at slow speed, and runs true even at a good clip. It did take me a few back and forths with the hook to rig the lure right, which resulted in a tear in the plastic, but regardless - this thing looks like it is going to catch fish.

The lure has a unique round slot inside the head that could allow you to shove a mojo weight up through the nose and "pro-rig" the lure with a treble hook. I like that feature. Otherwise, a 5 or 6/0 EWG hook is in order.

There is another slot along the belly that allows you to put a mojo weight in the lure with an EWG hook rigged. I tried that and found that the lure did not sink much more (even with a 3/16oz weight) and it messed up the action. If you messed with it you might have better luck than I did.

I would not expect these lures to last for more than a few fish, but they swim great and cost $3 so... the usual tradeoffs. In any case, the Maverick looks a lot better than the strict Basstrix knockoffs that have been showing up with amusing regularity the past few months.


http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/lures/small_swimbaits/maverick_swimbait/maverick_swimbait_side.jpg