Stanley Baits
Date: Tuesday, January 26 @ 15:36:52 CST
Topic: Bass Fishing Tackle
 There are few folks in the angling world that are not familiar with the great fishing products made by Stanley Jigs, Inc. Many years ago fishing legend and tournament pro Lonnie Stanley introduced some of the finest fishing jigs on the market and many tournaments were won with these great products. Over the years the company has expanded its product line in many ways but one thing has been consistent.. and that is Quality. Stanley knows fishing and has made every effort to put nothing but quality products into the hands of anglers like you and me.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting with Stanley and he told me about the great line of new items they are featuring for 2010. This highly innovative company always finds a way to put together new baits that are almost certain to increase not only the number of bass that we catch but also the size of the fish. Here are a few of the fishing products that you will definitely need in your tacklebox for this upcoming fishing season. 
Y-NOT – This has to be one of the greatest little baits that have come along in the past decade. The name comes from its simple Y-shaped body, yet there is nothing simple about this lure's design and its uncanny ability to mimic a living, breathing crawfish. It absolutely drives bass nuts! The bait can be pitched, cast, flipped, jig’d, used on a drop-shot rig or fished as a suspended bait. Its versatility is truly unmatched.
Small air pockets are built into the legs of the Y-NOT and rattlers can be placed into the air pockets for added attraction. These chambers also trap air for greater buoyancy. As you fish the bait along the bottom of a lake or pond the two legs stand straight up, imitating with amazing realism a defensive crawfish with pincers in the air. Air is also trapped within the dozens of soft, flexible rings surrounding the lure's body and legs. Each time you twitch the bait tiny air bubbles are released. Bass are drawn to the “breathing” bait by the sound and sight of the air bubbles.
“The collapsible rings feel like something alive. When the fish grabs it, they just hold on,” says Stanley. “Since bass hang on tight it's hard to miss the fish when setting the hook. The point of the hook is exposed yet hidden in the flexible rings, for weedless fishing.” The bait is ideal for Carolina and Texas rigging and works great with Drop Shots and Shaky Heads. And according to Stanley, there is no better jig trailer.
When pulled behind a bare hook the Y-NOT looks amazingly like a frog. The trapped air adds buoyancy that floats the soft bait along the water's surface. As the air bubbles escape the lure sinks so slowly, that it looks just like a frog swimming with outstretched legs. Add a 5/0 hook and the bait will suspend the hook, sinking ever so slowly. It is absolutely awesome for fishing with a Carolina Rig. Y-NOT is available in 4 and 3.5 inch sizes and 11 top producing colors
 ItzaBug – Although there are a number of “creature baits” on the market these days, nothing has all of the features of the new “ItzaBug”. The design combines the soft “real-feel” rings of the Sidewinder lure for the body with a pair of crawfish claws. Then throw in a couple of screw-tail tentacles and you have a “bug” that's dynamite for fishing our Texas/Louisiana waters.
ItzaBug's soft flexible rings trap air, emitting tiny bubbles that imitate a live, breathing crawfish. Bass will hang on tight to the collapsible rings that feel like moving prey in the fish's mouth. Two flat appendages with pincers and the pair of curly-tail tentacles add a liveliness that drives bass crazy. The small 4-inch ItzaBug is as versatile as it is effective. The soft bait can also be fished behind a 1/8 or 1/4-ounce jig head. “It's a great jig trailer,” says Lonnie Stanley. When the ItzaBug is slid onto a skirted jig the wide ringed body opens up expanding the skirt and the escaping air bubbles give it a “breathing” effect. The bait is also perfect for throwing after cold snaps, when the bass tend to favor smaller baits. It is ideal on a 3/0 or 4/0 hook Carolina-rigged or Texas-rigged, and works great when drop shot'ing. ItzaBug fished on a Texas-rig is deadly on the bedding bass. How the ItzaBug is fished, is limited only by one’s imagination. 
The Sidewinder – This bait has a “soft ringed” body and sinks slowly with a life-like movement that bass just can’t resist. Multiple rings surround the soft bait from tip to tail, trapping air as its cast and giving it slight buoyancy. As it falls, the tiny air bubbles escape allowing the bait to sink deadly slow. The Sidewinder remains in the water column longer thus maximizing its visibility in the strike zone.
The Sidewinder has a rattle chamber in the tail that enhances its attraction. When used without a rattler the chamber becomes an air pocket that causes the tail to stand straight up. A slight shake of the rod allows trapped air bubbles in the rattle chamber to escape. The Sidewinder is extremely versatile and is ideal for shaky heads, Texas and Carolina-rigging or dead-sticking. The slow sinking Sidewinder can also be fished near the top “fluke style”. It can create some explosive strikes when snaked over or through thick cover. The tip of the hook can be exposed yet it's hidden in the rings, making it weedless.
The bait is also going to be great for those of you that like to “wacky worm”. Paired with the Stanley T-Wacky hook either 1/16 or 1/8-oz., the weighted hook and slow-sinking Sidewinder “fight” each other, giving it a life-like action whether the bait is hooked through the middle or the nose. The rings of the bait are so flexible that when you try to grab the bait in the water, it feels like trying to hold on to a live worm or snake.
The 5 1/2-inch Sidewinder can also be trimmed to a 4 to 4 ½-inch length and fished as a “jiggin” eel, with the air pocket in the tail giving it a floating snaky action; or insert a rattle in the chamber making the Sidewinder a deadly muddy-water jig trailer. Put a rattle in then slip it on a spinnerbait and you have the world’s first rattling spinnerbait trailer! The Sidewinder is available in eleven top producing colors  
Ribbit Double-Take Hook As most of you know, the Ribbit is one of the most widely used baits in our area. Lonnie Stanley and colleague John Hale applied a great deal of common sense and logic when coming up with the idea of the Ribbit Double-Take Hook. As in most cases, two heads are better than one when solving a problem, and two hooks are always better than one for hooking and landing big bass!
The Ribbit Double-Take Hook is specially designed to fish with Stanley Lures' Ribbit soft bait but works wonders with other frog-imitation soft lures as well. Bass tend to strike violently at the “racing” frogs that run across the top of the water, and will often miss a single hook.
The Ribbit Double-Take Hook with its longer shank and two points doubles your chances of hooking up, says Bassmaster Classic veteran, Stanley. It's longer than other hooks, allowing the tips of the two hooks to penetrate lower within the legs of the Ribbit frog. The churning legs of the frog grab the fish's attention and are often the target of the strike. The added length to the shank of the hook greatly reduces the likelihood of the fish missing the hooks. The Ribbit Double-Take Hook is definitely going to get a double take from our anglers. 
SwimMax Jig – In the past year or so the swimming jig has slowly moved more and more into the spotlight for our local anglers. There are just some days when this technique is about the only one that produces a strike.
My partner A.D. White and I experienced this in the recent January Fairmount Bass Club tournament. Although a few fish were caught on other baits, the majority of our first and second place finish came by swimming a black jig that had a dark crawfish trailer.
One of the bass caught (by A.D. White) pulled the scales down to 11-pounds 6-ounces. That is a BIG BIG bass!  
Stanley has spent a great deal of time perfecting a jig made for this swimming technique. The shape of the head allows the bait to swim over and through grass, pads and all types of structure. The bait won’t roll over on a fast retrieve and it is great when fishing those tough areas of fallen timber. The bait has a patented “Wedgehead” design that is like adding a four wheel drive to your jig. It's the most weedless jig that Stanley has ever produced and comes in sizes of 3/8 and 1/2 oz 
T-Wacky - If you haven’t tried fishing “wacky style” then you have missed out on some great fun and probably some nice bags of bass. Wacky worm fishing is one of the most effective do-nothing methods available today.
Stanley has just introduced the T-Wacky which may well be the best hook system on the market for wacky fishing. The T-Wacky has a teardrop front weight design so the lure will fall naturally. All of the T-Wacky hooks come with a weed guard and are super sharp. The unique teardrop head design allows the hook point to stay up as the weight falls head first, allowing you to have a superior hook set. 
Bugeye Football Jig – Football jigs have certainly made their presence known in the past year or so and some anglers believe that they are the hottest thing going for big bass. Lonnie Stanley states that he has caught more monster bass on the jig and trailer than any other lure they make. The new Bugeye Football Jig will certainly enhance your chances of getting that big bass into the boat. The bait has realistic eyes, a quality Owner hook, Accent Flash Skirt, and the best paint jobs you'll ever see. All you have to do is pitch, flip, or cast and hang on.  
Casting Jigs – These are the “bread and butter” baits that started the entire Stanley product line. The original casting and flipping jigs are the best of the basics for all jig fishermen. An all time favorite color would have to be black/blue, but others that receive a nod of approval from our area pros are the black/brown, white and watermelon seed. 
RFE - Platinum Bloodspot Series – The new Realistic Flat Eyes bait comes with Bloodspot skirts and the patented two color weed guard. The weed guard is made with a few stands of red facing up... Where it counts. This bait should have a numbers of users because it is really one of the finest looking jigs on the market today. The bait sports a super sharp Mustad Ultra point hook, Hot Flash Blood Spot skirts, a rattle chamber and Realistic Flat Eyes. 
Well there you are, a few of the newest baits on the market from one of the front runners of the fishing industry – Stanley Baits.
As I mentioned earlier, quality is what you get when you purchase a Stanley product and having a high level of customer focus is their way of doing business. Give some of these baits a try – They just may help you catch that bass of a lifetime.
Good Fishing – JB
For more information go to www.fishstanley.com or contact Ken Chaumont at kenchaumont@fishstanley.com
|
|