False at all speeds and really dart around when twitched. These really are some of the finest crankbaits on the market today. I’ve also had the chance to play around with two new prototypes that are coming out next year and they are going to be absolutely devastating! All I can say right now is that they are both big baits over 10” long. The only thing you can do to improve these Slammer baits is to check the split rings and upsize the hooks on some of these baits— particularly the 6” and 8” Minnow baits. These tend to have very light wire hooks that bend easily and have weak split rings. I also feel the 8” doesn’t need three hooks, so I put a 5/ 0 Eagle Claw 774 treble hook on the front and rear hook hangers and leave the middle hook off. I also change out the split rings for # 5 stainless steel Wolverine Super Rings. Holcombe Tackle has downsized three of their popular baits and upsized one. The Tsunami, Humper and Super Humper now have Mini size brothers. These baits are all take- offs of the old Globe, Head Banger, Thunderhead and Water Humper, with heads that spin. These Mini baits really aren’t that small— just smaller than the originals. They are around 7.5” long with the Mini Super Humper being about an inch longer with its plastic tail extended. These downsized baits are easier to cast and their slimmer profile gives them much better hooking power. I strongly suggest that you at least try a Mini Super Humper. The prop produces a very loud and distinct “ pop” as the tail slithers and gurgles across the surface to attract and tease. Where this bait really excels is at boatside. Most prop baits are not very good at boatside and fish usually leave when you start your figure 8. With the plastic tail on the Mini Super Humper dancing in the fish’s face ( like a Bull Dawg tail), it really holds their interest when you bring this bait sub- surface at boatside. Just make sure you have extra Action Plastic 8” Super Goober Grubs and Hawg Seeker’s Glue on hand to replace the tails because this bait is going to get chewed up! Enough downsizing. Time to go bigger! Holcombe Tackle stretched their popular Phat Boy walk- the-dog style topwater out to 8” and added a third treble hook to create the Phat Daddy. This bait is very light when compared to similar baits of this size, and as a result it really jumps around. Like most topwater jerkbaits, a 12” 174# single strand Ty Sennett Pacemakers

False wire leader is required to get the best action. I would also put on bigger hooks, as the stock hooks are a bit undersized. This bigger profile bait will definitely get noticed by the muskies and is a lot lighter and more user friendly than other baits of its size. Ruff Tackle’s Rad Dog spinnerbaits have been justifiably popular, for they are well built, function incredibly well, are reasonably priced and the fish like them! This year, Mike has introduced two new Rad Dogs. One is a junk fisherman’s dream and the other will replace a lot of deep weedline fishermen’s deep diving crankbaits. Currently, there are only a couple of real slop baits on the market and they either aren’t durable or they are poor hooking baits. The new Rad Dog Buzz doesn’t have these problems. It is built strong on .062” wire and has a pair of 7/ 0 single hooks to hold fish. It is also a more elongated bait, which positions its hooks farther from the buzz blade, which will also help increase hookups. The Buzz is a very light bait but still casts very easily, even on extra heavy equipment. Baits that start immediately are critical in slop fishing. If they don’t, you’ll be fouled up and waste a cast and/ or ruin a spot. The Rad Dog Buzz jumps immediately to the top. This is because of the unique planer style of head that pushes the bait up, in conjunction with the lift of the two- piece quad buzz blade and Delta buzz blade. We all know the fish can be in that nasty junkyard and thick reed beds. Now we can go in there and get them out! The first time I threw the new Rad Dog 3- 1/ 2 oz. Tandem spinnerbait was at a poolside demo in April and I’ve been impatiently waiting to throw it for real! It didn’t even take half the length of the pool on my very first cast to get the gears grinding in my head. The thump of the # 10 blade is awesome and the bait ran deep with great control and really got me thinking of all the spots I was going to cast and troll this bait. Deep rock reefs and points as well as open water will definitely see me using this bait on them, but I’m going to totally terrorize the fish that use the deepest parts of a weed edge with this bait. It has tons of vibration, flash, action, is weedless and allows me to control exactly “ Cutting Edge” continued on paage 94 Slammer Drop Belly Glider, 6 Minnow, 8 Minnow & 10 Deep Minnow