New ICAST 2019 Lures:
Some of the newest lures, hooks and jigheads that are a must have for your tackle box. Check out the award winning lures that may be nothing like you’ve thrown before!
Hyperlastics DartSpin
The DartSpin, a tough, durable, bladed soft bait is now available in 4½- and 3½-inch sizes. The 5½-inch size proved itself with stripers, largemouths, smallmouths and fluke, and the two smaller sizes should work well for trout, panfish, even albies.
From $8; abandofanglers.com
LiveTarget Slow Roll Shiner (Winner: Best Saltwater Lure)
LIVETARGET’s Injected Core Technology (ICT) has produced an ultra-realistic paddletail swimbait, both in appearance and action. The inner-core perfectly matches the appearance of a thin-profiled shiner, while the exo-skin generates a hard-thumping action that moves its whole body. The result is a lifelike lure that creates a subtle yet enticing rolling action.
$10; livetargetlures.com
Fish Lab Hard Mack Attack
With a slenderer, mackerel-like profile than a Sebile Magic Swimmer—complete with finlets—this Fish Lab Hard Mack Attack could be the next hot bait at the Cape Cod Canal and any New England waters where stripers eat mackerel. The three-piece swimming action can be retrieved slowly or burned just under the surface. Of the seven colors currently available, five are mackerel patterns. The Mack Attack comes rigged with two trebles on the belly and a feather- and flash-dressed single hook on the tail. There are four models available, a 7-inch slow sinker, a 7-inch fast sinker, a 9-inch slow-sinker, and a 9-inch fast sinker.
$14-$19; fishlabtackle.com
Spro Spin John 80
Designed by B.A.S.S. Elite Series Angler John Crews, the Spin John 80 spybait comes with swivels incorporated into the line tie. Its back-hook hanger helps the bait rock back and forth on the retrieve when it is falling, and the swivel on the back makes it harder for a fish to get leverage and throw the hook out of its mouth. The Spin John 80 also has a special “chin” underneath the bait that increases the water resistance on its body, causing it to rock back and forth on the retrieve.
$15; spro.com
Lunkerhunt Phantom Spider (Winner: Best Freshwater Soft Lure)
One of the most talked-about baits at ICAST 2019 was the Phantom Spider. With a hollow-body, weedless design, similar to a hollow-body frog, the legs of the Phantom Spider twitch as it is worked across the surface. It also features a self-righting ballast in its sternum to ensure a consistent natural action, so it sits upright every time. Unless your favorite pond is infested with tarantulas, this wouldn’t be a “match-the-hatch” bait for the Northeast, but instead it is more of a reaction-strike-triggering topwater.
$9; lunkerhunt.com
Felmlee Lures 8-inch Curltail
This super-sized take on the classic curly tail grub will match well on the back of a bucktail, whether casting from the surf for stripers (especially the white with red tail color) or jigging from the boat for fluke. The Curltails are infused with Felmlee Species Specific Scents for added attraction.
$8 (pack of three); felmleelures.com
Live Target ICT Ghost Tail Minnow
Recognizing that traditional manufacturing techniques lack both realism and detail, LIVETARGET developed a specialized injection process that merges realism and function. Among the new line of lures is the ICT Ghost Tail Minnow. Though developed with drop-shotting in mind, it has great potential for false albacore when rigged weightless. The clear tail adds weight and vibration without sacrificing the realism of the core, which perfectly resembles a silverside.
$10; livetargetlures.com
Fish Lab Mad Eel
The hook design on this paddletail jig is designed to hold onto fish better than a standard J-hook, and the rounded head provides an additional rolling action that causes the bait to skip off rocks and bottom structure. Each tail is molded with a chamber that allows for straight rigging (and can be filled with Super Glue to keep it snug to the jighead). It’s available in three sizes, 7, 7.5, and 8 inches (2.25, 3.5, and 5.25 ounces, respectively), and seven colors, including sand eel, green mack, and pearl white.
$9-$14; fishlabtackle.com
Rapala BX Big Brat
The BX Big Brat is the big brother to the original BX Brat and maintains the same 4×4 balsa inner body with a super tough copolymer shell, giving the lure the lively action of balsa without impacting its durability. The Big Brat is 2¾ inches long, dives down to 6 feet, and is available in 16 colors.
$10.99; rapala.com
Ocean Born Flying Wideback
One of the latest hard baits from Ocean Born is the Flying Wideback. This lure is almost a hybrid minnow plug/metal lip, with a unique bill that has two attachment points that the designer, Patrick Sebile, said allowed him to get the action he wanted while making the bill very strong and able to withstand bouncing off rocks. The bill design also allows freer side-to-side movement of the lure due to its minimal water resistance. It features a ribbed bottom to cut down on wind resistance during the cast.
abandofanglers.com
Hyperlastics Sandyll
Made from durable, tear-resistant SofTough material, the Hyperlastics Sandyll sand-eel imitation, pairs the paddletail body with a unique, pronged collar that fits into the bait and holds it perfectly in place without the need for Super Glue.
abandofanglers.com
Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ (new sizes)
The versatile DieZel MinnowZ now comes in 5- and 7-inch body sculpts. The larger profiles and increased thump of the new sizes make them appealing to larger predators like striped bass—and like all Z-Man Elaztech baits, they can even survive attacks from bluefish. The key feature of the DieZel MinnowZ is that the tail activates at any retrieve speed from super slow to burning fast.
$5-$7; zmanfishing.com
Hooks & Jigheads
Lazer Sharp LEEJ Eagle Eye Jigs
Built on the American-made Lazer Sharp LV570 Pro-V jig hooks with lead “aspirin-style” jig heads, the LEEJ Eagle Eye Jig has a light wire design, non-offset profile, and a straight point perfect for freshwater species like bass, walleye and trout. The Pro-V bend, in conjunction with the “Aspirin-style” head, offers anglers a more streamlined profile when it falls through the water column. Large holographic eyes and premium paint in a wide range of colors add to the appeal of the jighead.
eagleclaw.com
Gamakatsu G-Finesse Stinger Weedless Wacky Hook
The super-sharp, thin-diameter Weedless Wacky Hook is designed to fish baits “wacky rigged” for largemouth bass. Dual titanium weedguards provide protection again weeds and snags, allowing you to pitch wacky-rigged worms into thick cover, without fear of fouling.
$10 (pack of four); gamakatsu.com
Owner Darter Head Offset Jighead
Molded around an extra-wide-gap style hook with a “Z” shoulder bend, the Owner Darter Head Offset Jighead allows anglers to rig their soft plastics with the hook point exposed for a completely weedless presentation. It also features a 90-degree line tie and a pointed head design, which allows it to produce an erratic darting action while also creating a perfectly horizontal profile for vertical jigging applications
$5 (pack or 4 or 5); ownerhooks.com
VMC Bladed Hybrid Treble Hook
The Bladed Hybrid Treble adds a small silver willow blade to the back of a 1X-strong, wide-gap, short-shank hook via a resin-sealed split-ring. On the split-ring, the willow-leaf trailer can rotate 360 degrees, so its built-in action makes it kick out in any direction. Each time it does so, it catches light and flashes. VMC Hybrid Treble hooks are available in four sizes: 2, 4, 6 and 8.
$6; rapala.com
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