New products reviews

[Heijac]

I have'nt run these planers in any really rough water yet, so not sure how they will hold up.
I did manage to land a couple of 7-8 lb lakers on the new rods last week, plus a fat 30" northern, and they seem to hold their own. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see how they do on 6+ silver soon! But so far, I am loving them. Lightweight, and being only 7' is definitely a bonus in my limited space.....

[CanadianFisherman]

I'm in the market for a new net. I want a long reach and soft-rubber netting with fairly large openings. I have found the neting I like without the reach or else the reach I want with the wrong netting.

Any tips?

Ken

I have the yellow lucky strike net and love it. Long collapsable handle and deep rubber netting with large 15lbs fish sized opening.

[Heijac]

Just a quick update on those Okuma rods. Come to find out, they are kind of brittle! Had no problem with fish, landed several 8-9 lb lakers on them, and my buddies 6.5lb salmon, but over the past month, I managed to drop both of them, and broke the tip off each one! One I managed to salvage, as it was only about an inch, but the other was 5 or 6 inches. So, I spent some time online doing a little more research. I really loved the 7 ft length, makes a difference in my boat, much easier to rig. I ended up buying a pair of Ugly stick Ultralites (CA11702UL). They seem to have approximately the same action as the Okumas, and hopefully they will be a little less fragile We'll see!

[popster]

Follow up

EGO S2 Slider Nets have been redesigned to beef up the handle mechanism that was the weak link and the new handles have held up very well with fish up to 12 lbs. Hats off to Adventure Products for making these changes after receiving the feedback from users.

Fish Hawk customer service has always been excellent and they proved it again recently. The probe on my 2 yr old X-4 unit started to send intermittent readings. A call to Trevor and a few days later, I received a new battery holder and spare O-rings, no charge.

The InvisaSwivel continues to be one of the best new products I've come across. Todd hopes they'll come out with an Invisa hook!

[drachma]

I agree with Bill on the Bechold products, Jerry had been using me as a tester for the last year and service is great and products produce. Been great on the Big O. Going there next week for one day to test out his new flasher line.

Michael

[Captain Esteem]

This could be a great thread
Like Randy and probably many more of us, I've also been playing with some new products this season.
For those of you that use in line barrel swivels, I've been running InvisaSwivels on all my rods about 3-4' in front of the spoon. So far, I have been very impressed with their performance ..... No line twist and the 12lb swivel will fit thru the tip top guides easily. These Fluorocarbon swivels work with braid or mono. Warning.... The holes are small.

The other product I've been experimenting with is the Stinger Dive Bomb in the 1 oz size. I've used them on mono as well as lead as a means to get to a depth of between 10-20'. Easy to install and remove and the drag is minimal. Haven't honed in on a depth curve yet, but at 1.7-1.9 mph, I hit bottom at 12'.

A product that has not been holding up well is the EGO S2 Slider Net. This is my 2nd season using the large model. Both Thorny & I have had net handles jam, making the slide feature virtually unusable. A great idea, however the long handle opens up potential problems. Just a heads-up.

Bill

I just recieved my handle for my EGO S2 slider from Adventure. It is my understanding that there was a problem with the handle but now has been corrected. thier customer service has been very good to me. I called them and they told me they were in the middle of production on the new handles and would send one out when done and sure enough they did. It really stunk when I went to extend the net and it didn't extend but as they say stuff happens. all and all pretty good net. Just my opinion.

[Captain Esteem]

Hi,

I've been working with Jerry of Bechhold & Son Flashers & Lures this winter. He asked if I would try some of his new lures that are a curved fish in plastic that slides down your line and spins. They are designed for Kings, Cohoes, etc, but, after speaking with him, he put together and sent new make ups of if them in 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" sizes. Will have a couple to show at the derby.

Last summer I had been trying a new set of daisy chain attractors 4 " each that I showed at the taping session this winter. They worked great last summer and I would highly suggest them.

This company's products are great especiallly for Lake O fish. Jerry's website is http://www.fishcatcher.com. Please let them know I sent you as he asked me to be a tester.

Michael Milne

I too recieved a few of the smaller 1 1/2" and 2 1/2' plastic lures from Jerry. used them on the lakes in NH. the only luck was on the little maroon colored 1 1/2" size. caught one salmon. You have to rig them yourself so you need your own beads and a hooks sort of a PIA but I did catch a fish on them. to be fair I really haven't run them a lot so maybe with time they wil;l be more productive.

[Captain Esteem]

the way you break stuff I wouldnt spend to much, but I do love the blades you make,Reggie

I like your Handle instigator. Some would say I was deserving of the same name. LOL