There’s no better way for an angler to celebrate Mother’s Day than to take Mom to the lake to enjoy all of Mother Nature’s gifts. Speaking of gifts, here’s some suggestions for Moms of all levels of fishing experience.
If your Mom is more of an occasional angler than an expert, gift wrap a selection of 360GT Searchbait™s. Fishing these new baits from Storm is easy, peazy, lemon-squeezy – no experience necessary, just cast and retrieve.
“There’s no need to make it pause and jump and things,” says Freshwater Fishing Fall of Fame Legendary Angler Al Lindner. “The idea is cast it out and turn the reel handle – that’s it.”
Creating the ultimate illusion of natural movement, the 360GT Searchbait pairs a life-like, single-ball rattling jig head with a realistically designed phthalate-free soft-body featuring 3D holographic eyes and a toe-in boot tail that elicits incredible fish-attracting action at any retrieve speed. “This is the closest thing that I could think of to what you’d call a universal bait,” Lindner says. Fish love it.”
And you don’t need high-end rods and reels to catch fish with them – they work just as well with a starter rod-and-reel combo as they do with the gear pros use.
The 360GT is available in 11 color patterns: Chartreuse Ice, Gaga, Herring, Houdini, Hot Olive, Marilyn, Pearl Ice, Smokin’ Ghost, Smelt, Tru Blue and Volunteer. It’s available in three sizes – 3 ½ inches, 1/8 oz; 4 ½ inches, ¼ oz.; 5 ½ inches, 3/8 oz. – each of which come in a handy package containing one pre-rigged bait and two extra soft-bait bodies.
Think Pink for Master Angler Moms
If your Mom is a Master Angler with tackle boxes full of baits, get her some classic lures in fun, non-traditional color patterns as bright as bows and gift wrap – X-Raps in Hot Pink; Shad Raps in Pink Tiger UV; Storm Smash Shads in Wonderbread, Rainbow-Descent Glitter, Pink fire UV, Ghost Pink Lemonade UV, Ghost Pink UV or Ghost Wonderbread UV.
But don’t think pink lures are just for fun – they’re more than functional too. They catch fish! For smallmouth bass, this time of year is among the best time to tie on X-Raps in off-the-wall color patterns.
The biggest mistake many smallmouth anglers make, Lindner says – especially early in the season – is to throw baits in only subtle, natural-looking color patterns. “You should do the opposite,” he says. “We’ve caught so many smallmouths – north, south, east and west; wherever they live – on a handful of key colors that’ll floor you.
“Put on a Hot Head or a Hot Pink X-Rap and you’ll pound ‘em,” Lindner advises. “There’s not a better way to catch early-season smallmouth. They love that thing! It’s like a magic bait to them.”
X-Raps excel when water temps are in the mid-40s to mid-50s, when they mimic the activity level of both gamefish and baitfish in the cool water.
“I don’t know anything that can outfish that X-Rap early in the year, when those smallies start sticking their noses up,” Lindner says.
X-Raps casts like a bullet for long accurate casts, features prominent scales in its design and a lateral line on the fuselage captures and flashes light like a beacon. Additional features include a textured translucent body, internal holographic foil, 3D holographic eyes, flash foil teaser tails and premium VMC® black nickel treble hooks. It suspends on the pause and can swim with both Slashbait® and classic Rapala-wobble action.
The benchmark other crankbaits are measured by, Rapala’s Shad Rap® closely resembles baitfish found the world over. Constructed of premium balsa, it is equally effective cast or trolled, performing from ultra-slow presentations to super fast, without fail. Its precise action, detailed finish and proven fish-catching patterns make this a “must-have” bait for all anglers.
“Shad-Rapping is a real classic thing that’s going to be done this time of year,” says James Lindner, co-host, director and producer of the “Angling Edge” and Fishing Edge” shows. “Cast ‘em up to shallow rocks with current blowing over them and slow-roll your retrieve back to the boat.”
For a “really big bite,” Al Lindner says, find a feeder creek dumping into a main-river area with rip-rap rock and pitch a Shad Rap up shallow. “Little feeder creeks that are dumping into the river will attract a lot of fish,” he says.
Hand-tuned and tank-tested for perfection right out of the box, Shad Raps feature super-sharp VMC® black-nickel treble hooks.
Producing hard-core action, Storm® Smash Shads portray a deliberate, steady cadence on the swim with a stable rolling action at all speeds.
“This bait is packed full of action and is ideal for all anglers,” says Storm Pro-Staffer Chris Gilman. “Whether you’re casting or trolling, the Smash Shad runs with a perfectly timed and steady top-to-bottom rolling action that mirrors a panicked minnow on the run.”
Loaded with a high frequency, multi-ball rattle system, Smash Shads call in active fish, providing anglers with an added punch for long casts. Pair that with the bait’s external scales and holographic 3D eyes and anglers will have fish careening in for the kill from all directions.
Love to WIN!!
These lures were the best ones I used when I was a kid some 50 years ago.