Relax is one of the biggest and most respected soft lure companies in Europe. It started from Poland in the mid 90′s and extended gradually, soon to be reaching the United States. Every year their bait range increases with new items being added to the product family.

Relax Kopyto is one of their first model and maybe the lure they are most proud of. They call it a legend, a lure which has written history in predator fishing. A star lure, with an incredible action and fish catching abilities.

We taught that’s a pretty bold statement for any soft fishing lure and decided to put its name to the test.

When it comes to colors and sizes, Kopyto lures are all about diversity. They come in 7 different sizes, starting from 1 inch (2.5cm) all the way up to 6 inch (15cm). This size range offers versatility in terms of target species and techniques.

Relax Kopyto offers a huge range of over 200 colors, making sure even the most pretentious anglers find their desired patterns. It’s such a big color range that you can easily get lost and confused trying to browse all of it.

Softness & Material
We can agree that one of the biggest secrets of any soft bait is the material composition. It’s one of the key elements in the lure’s action equation. It has to be resistant, yet allow for a natural and appealing swim. The Relax team took this thing very seriously, when manufacturing their lures, and Kopyto is no exception.

It has a pretty tough body, yet the tail portion bends easily on each side.
There’s a simple test you can use with any shad shaped soft lure, that will give you a good clue about whether or not it has a consistent tail action. You only need to hold the lure in a vertical position, with the tail facing up. If the tail bends close to the lure’s body and the paddle is at a good angle, there’s a big chance that the tail will emit good vibrations even at the smallest traction.

This is exactly the case for Relax Kopyto. The tail construction and paddle positioning make this lure a really aggressive softie.

Kopyto initials covering the lure's body.

Durability
Kopyto has a really good material composition, which makes it resistant to predators teeth.
What may happen is that you loose the tail from time to time. The tail portion is pretty thin and because the paddle emits powerful vibrations, predators tend to attack and hold to this area, so it gets ripped off.
It happened to me on several occasions, when fishing for perch or zander (wallaye), to remain without the tail. This is really not such a big deal, as it mainly happens with small fish, not able to swallow the entire lure. Overall Kopyto has a good ratio between softness and durability.

Engineering and Design
Being born out of the European fishing market, Relax Kopyto was meant to address freshwater fishing using the classical jigging technique. Unlike the Japan market, revolving around bass fishing, this soft lure has nothing spectacular regarding packaging, details and finish. It doesn’t posses salt nor scent impregnation. Relax kept it simple, focusing only on action and material.

But if there’s one thing to give credit for, it’s the Kopyto original shape. Let’s be honest, this lure started a new design trend. Because it was so efficient it was copied by a lot of competing companies all over the continent. I think I’ve seen more than ten copycats out there and most of them are really far from the original, mostly due to the material used.

Application
Kopyto works its magic when fished on a jig. Jigging gets the most out of this bait. I caught pretty much all freshwater predators using this soft lure. Species like pike, perch, bass, catfish and zander simply nailed this lure, when properly presented.

If you improvise a little, you can really stretch its application range. I’ve also fished Relax Kopyto on weedless jigs, and the smaller models (2.5” and 3”) work excellent armed with an offset hook. This lets you easily cover techniques like Carolina or Texas with this lure.

Light jigs do pay off!

My favorite presentation with Kopyto is to fish it slowly, using minimum jig weight.
Even though it’s all-year lure, Kopyto really kills it in the spring, before spawning. Big females are protecting their nest, males are highly aggressive and Kopyto is the perfect solution to take advantage of their territoriality.

Big perch love skirt jigs

Action
The lure’s perfect proportions contribute to an amazing action. It’s not just the tail that emits underwater vibrations. Due to the perfect link between body and tail, the hole body moves and emits strong signals. Just pull it through the water and you’ll quickly notice the body movement. No wonder predators can’t resist it.

Kopyto's flexible tail and large paddle are "quilty" for its agressive action

Conclusion
I think the fact that you can find this lure in my personal Top 10 Walleye Baits pretty much sums it up.
Relax Kopyto is an efficient lure and over time has helped me catch more fish. If you improvise a little, it can be fished in multiple manners, using weedless jigs or offset techniques. The size and color range on this model is huge, much bigger than on any other soft baits I’ve used before. Oh, and yes, I think this comes pretty close to a legend.

About Adrian

Professional angler, web enthusiast and tackle fanatic. Always in search for new things that can improve his fishing.

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In the past years tuning and customizing reels got a voice of it’s own, and starts to change the face of fishing. Faster bearings, lighter and lighter spools, more performant braking systems, out of this world handles, full bearing supported knobs, and lots more can make a reel more than you bargained for.
But the question is: ” Is it all worth it? Are there tangible results? Or is it just playing tricks on us?”

Boca Bearings Orange Seal, ABEC #7

We are trying to find some of the answers in the next test. We have chosen 2 reels for the test to see if Boca Bearings really make a difference: an old and famous reel, Abu Morrum 3601 Mag, and a new Shimano model, Scorpion 1501XT.

Morrum 3601C Mag

Shimano Scorpion 1500/1501 XT

We tested their performance with their factory bearings, and afterwards, did the same tests with Boca Bearings ABEC 7 Orange seals, throwing 5.5g (3/16 oz), 10g (3/8 oz) and 15g (about 1/2 oz) weights. How noticeable is the difference in casting distance? Is there any difference, or it only makes the reel feel smoother? I guess we’ll just have to find out, won’t we?

Considering we’ll do the testing only for a few hours, we decided to leave the bearings dry… We’ve tested them afterwards, oiled, and actually didn’t feel the difference (using Friction Zero ZPI oil or High Speed Oil from Boca).

The cold was keeping us company

The rod used for the test is a custom St.Croix SC5 5S68MXF,  6’8”, 6-14 lbs, 3/16 – 5/8 oz, ex-fast action, medium power. Not the best casting rod, but it was the one that loaded the best with all the weights used in the test. In order to draw a conclusion, we did a few accommodation casts with each of the weights, and afterwards did 5 more that were accounted for. In the end, we calculated the arithmetic average of the 5 distances measured.

Exact measurements, no cheating here

1. Abu Garcia Morrum SX3601C Mag casting distance:

Orange Seal Boca Bearings(OSBB), compared to original, manufacturer bearings:
- 5.5 gr. – 9 m extra with OSBB, meaning +26,6 % gain in “performance”;
- 10 gr. – 6 m extra with OSBB, meaning +13,6 % gain in “performance”;
- 15 gr. – 11,6m extra with OSBB, meaning +24 % gain in “performance” ;

Avarage gain in performance (distance): 21,4 % with OSBB.

Observations:
With the manufacturer, original, bearings (almost 12 years old, since this Morrum was mada – according to its serial number) Razvan used to cast with the tension know completely untightened, and the magnetic brake set to 5, out of 10.
After replacing the bearings with OSBB, he couldn’t make one cast with those settings. He had to tighten the magnetic brake to the maximum, and make a few small adjustments with the tension knob to be able to cast them. The hybrid Boca’s seem to spin darn fast.

If it matters, with all the braking systems set to zero, the spool spinned 18seconds with the manufacturer, original bearings, and 50 seconds with the Boca Orange Seal’s.

2.Shimano Scorpion 1501 XT casting distance:

Orange Seal Boca Bearings(OSBB), compared to original, manufacturer bearings:
- 5,5 gr. – 5,2 m extra with OSBB, meaning +14,9 % gain in “performance”;
- 10 gr. – 5,2 m extra with OSBB, meaning +11,1 % gain in “performance”;
- 15 gr. – 9,8 m extra with OSBB, meaning +20 % gain in “performance”;

Avarage gain in performance (distance): 15,3 % with OSBB

Observations:
Settings with the Scorpion 1501 XT, as well as with the Curado 51E are a breeze. In this case, in need of thumb control, for maximum distance, I only pulled out one of the centrifugal brake blocks. A few adjustments from the tension knob here and there, and off we go.

Amongst the 2 reels, it’s the most controllable, as easy as it is with the Curado 51E.

With all the brake blocks deactivated, the spool spun 29 seconds with the manufacturer original bearings, and, in this case (the spool wasn’t filled with line), with the Orange Seal Boca’s it spun 1min and 15 sec.

As you’ve seen the decade old ABU had poor performance with the original bearings, and excelled with the Boca bearings, the difference being the most noticeable. The gain in performance with the Scorpion is less evident, but if you come to think about it, with a 1/2 oz weight, there’s a very visible difference in casting distance, even with this new generation reel, this distance will definitely improve your catching chances, especially on a clear water reservoir, where every foot counts, in this case instead of casting 160 ft (49m) you’ll cast that necessary 33 ft.  (9-10m) further, increasing your chances to catch that spooky fish.

It’s obvious Orange Seal Boca’s are a gain in performance. Is it worth it? That’s for everyone to decide.I’ve changed all my spool bearings to Boca’s, if that’s any consolation:) , and will continue to do so in the future with all my new reels. They are by far the cheapest quality upgrade, excepting the carbontex drag.

Boca's and pike are made for each other

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →

I was really keen on buying a Curado 201E. Just my luck that my transaction was denied on a black November Sale. No matter! I’ll get a better one. A pal, Razvan, keeps insisting that I take a look at the Abu MGX, because he has read only good things about it.

I search the Internet for the next 2 days, and I finally get the feeling this is what I want on my lighter than air custom Kistler LTX 2 rod. It’s the lightest reel ever, weighing in a hammering 154g, and winner of ICAST Best Freshwater Reel.

I didn’t think too much about it, and placed the order. I am a lefty and luckily I’ve found a lefty for myself. I was desperate to have it. Lighter than a Steez, cheaper than the Steez, I was beyond inpatient. I opted for the 7.1:1 gear ratio. I know it had a smaller diameter spool, but 7.9:1 just sounded too fast, even if it was comparable to the regular reels that had 7.1-7.3 gear ratio’s. Mine would recup about 72cm/handle turn. I’ll be using it especially for fishing plastics, and spinnerbaits.

Two weeks passed and I finally got it. The “magic” black box that has “Abu Garcia For Life” written all over it. I hope not to fall into Abu’s trap, with the “For Life” thing. I kinda love diversity.

First impression (Design/Feel): As light as a feather. Matte black – I love it! Man this reel is light…crazy light! I’m just checking the weight of the reel, to see if I’ve got what I was promised. And what do you know? That’s exactly what I got, but half a gram lighter (not that it would make a difference). A 153.5 g reel.

Abu MGX - 153.5g

The detailing is impeccable. It is very smooth, considering it had oil “leaking” of all it’s pores. It was over greased, but that was an easily solvable problem. It was very smooth, especially due to the 9+1 bearings.

Abu Garcia's Logo - on the tension knob

I’m tightening the brake up… it works. More than that, it’s a clicking drag star. As on any other respectable reel. The tension knob, the same: clicking tension knob. With all these features you might wonder where did they shave all of that weight from, considering the extras.

The reel, as small as it is, is very comfortable, easily palmable. I’m already ecstatic. And I’m just 10 minutes into observing the reel, maybe even less.

Now lets take a look at the adjustable centrifugal brake – Infinitely Variable Centrifugal Brake System (IVCB-IV). It’s the first exterior adjustable variable braking system I’ve seen and used so far. The interesting thing about it is that the brake blocks act vertically instead of horizontally , as in the rest of the centrifugal braking system that other competitors use.

Abu MGX - Externally adjustable centrifugal brake

The carbon handle is equipped with EVA knobs, which seem more comfortable than the Shimano or Daiwa knobs so far. The handle is a swept design, which is a plus in what looks matter, at least from my point of view. Some still prefer the straight handle over the swept one.

Inside the Abu MGX (Gears and Durability): If anyone thought I might be sitting and observing this reel any longer, they might rethink it. I’ve had to open it up, degrease it, and regrease it. The worm gear seems to be DurAl, with a hard protective coating. The main gear seems to be made out of some sort of brass alloy. Seems to be the same material used in the legendary Abu Morrum’s.

MGX's Gears

The plastic support for the worm gear has a metal reinforcement, unlike what I've seen in other reels.

The brake disks seem to be some sort of carbon material, which Abu calls Carbon Matrix Drag System. It’s utilized in all of Abu’s Revo reels.

Only one washer in this reel

The spool weighs in at an impressive 11g, bearing included. Impressive, considering the Daiwa Sol’s spool weighs in at 16g. I’m already starting to wonder how it does, casting wise. I doubt it’ll cast better than the Curado 51E, but I like imagining me casting it a country mile:). I bet it’ll be much more controllable than the Sol, and probably about the same as the Curado.

Really light spool!

With all its guts out, I forgot to mention that only the frame is made out of actual metal. It’s made out of the X-MAG Alloy, proprietary to Abu, while both side plates are C6 Infused Carbon, which I guess is about the same material as the Zaion from Daiwa or the Ci4 from Shimano. This is where it probably shove most of the weight off. The reel seems sturdy, and doesn’t have the airy feel, you’d expect from this reel. Let me tell you an advantage you haven’t thought about for the C6 carbon side plates. Let’s just say that during winter months this reel is the most comfortable of them all. It won’t absorb the heat out of your palm as a metal reel would.
E.g.: I was fishing the reel without gloves, while Razvan was fishing both Abu Morrum and Daiwa Zillion with gloves . I bet you haven’t thought about it this way.

To much grease - and the trigger mechanism has more plastic than you'd probably want in a reel. This is what happens when you need to shave weight and $$ of...

The trigger mechanism is mostly plastic, and a few key parts made out of metal. It seems to do the job for now, but we’ll have to see how it does in the long run.

If you’d expect a Japan made reel, than you’re definitely mistaking. The reel is actually made in Korea. I’ve seen a lot of very well made reels in Korea, and with the right supervision, some might even surpass Made in Japan quality.

Made in Korea sticker

Almost forgot to mention that it has an oiling trap door, that permits lubrication to the gears, if you don’t like to open the reel up to often.

Under the 7.1:1 gear ratio inscription, notice the trap door for lubrication

Retrieve: Considering the whooping 153g it has, I’m testing the lightest reel on the planet. You’d expect it to feel a bit on the geary, or airy side… You should feel it’s something different, than a entirely metal reel, but it doesn’t feel that different, except the weight.

It’s very smooth. You don’t get the geary feeling, while it feels a bit aerated at times. The smoothness comes from all the bearings, and from the 4 bearings supported knobs (2 per knob). I’ve fished it with almost everything, except deep cranks. It handles the heat without any problems, and still feels as smooth as when I’ve bought it.

2 bearings / handle knob = silky smooth reel

The funny thing about it being so light: for e.g. I was fishing spinnerbaits for pike the first time, and because of it being so light, and the C6 Carbon side plates, I get the feeling it acts as resonance chamber that amplifies the vibrations transmitted thru the line and rod. I mean that the entire reel acts as a resonance chamber. Until I actually got the feel of it I thought something was crooked, thinking it couldn’t handle the pressure, but what I was actually feeling was the vibration of the spinnerbait in the reel, which is an entirely new feeling, at least for me it is. I have no other reel that amplifies the vibrations from the lure. To feel what’s happening at the end of the line both in the rod and the reel needs some getting used to. It takes sensitivity  (at least when fishing spinnerbaits) to a whole new level. You need to get used to it, in a good way…

The 7.1:1 gear ratio feels as powerful as the Curado 51E, but much smoother than the Curado, and very little back-play in the spool/overall, compared to the Curado (when you lock everything down).

7.1:1 Gear ratio - is just about perfect.

After fishing it for a few months, it still feels silky smooth, and even smoother then when I bought it, after changing the spool bearings to Boca. Who would’ve thought that changing the spool bearings would make the entire reel feel smoother.

Line lay: The reel lays the line well, and evenly, so there’s no issue in this department.

Casting: As I’ve said earlier, I’d pair the MGX with my Custom Kistler LTX2 rod. The entire combo weighs in at 260g (9.17oz.), with the line aded to the reel, less than a Shimano Calais DC reel . The entire combo is lighter than you’d expect. Everyone who had it in their hands couldn’t just stop praising it.

Casting it with the 4 brake blocks was a breeze. Such a breeze, that after the first fishing game, I had to remove 2 of them to see how much further I could cast. Of course you can cast it further, but you won’t be able to set the brake to the minimum setting after this operation. I’ve casted everything with it, from 4″ fluke’s (Fin’s Shad – from Lunker City), rattle traps, and swim baits without a hitch. It casts just perfect, everything you throw at it.

I removed 2 brake blocks - notice the line lay as well....

Small bass are very hard to come by these days

I’ve went the extra mile and changed the spool bearings with ABEC 7, Orange Seal Boca’s. If the reel already was smooth to start with, now it’s in the ultra silky smooth league. It casts better, and further. Pitching is a also a breeze with this reel, while, skipping, with 2 braking blocks removed seems to be a bit harder to do, not to say… very difficult . It was doing well with all the 4 braking blocks, if it matters. If you want to do skipping with the reel, I’d advise not to remove any of the braking blocks.

First day out with the Revo MGX

Compared to the Curado 51E, it doesn’t cast as well, but close enough. The Curado is in a class of it’s own when it comes to casting.

Brake: The Carbon Matrix seems to do a very good job. It’s much more powerful than a Curado, Sol, Zillion or a Fuego. It can handle really good pressure. I haven’t fished it with 60lb test braid to see how much it can take, but it’s definitely much powerful than the above. You have to clean the brake washers, and regrease them for your liking to get it consistent. When I bought it… I had to jerk the line to get it rolling out at a constant pressure. Now it can handle 5.7kg of pressure, if you really tighten it up, that’s the equivalent to 12.5lb, a tad more than advertised.

Conclusion: This is a reel I’ll definitely keep for a long time. It’s not casting as well as the Curado, but not one reel I’ve had so far is. It’s light as a feather. It has lots of backbone, and is silky smooth. What more do you want from a reel?

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →

Rapala is one of the worlds most long-lasting companies in the industry, since the first lure carved by Lauri Rapala in the 1930′s till this day when it continues to grow, holding over 300 world record catches it manufactures lures for more than 80 years now. Lures that brought smiles on many fisherman’s faces. Even I remember that amongst my first lures in my small tackle box, almost 20 years ago, Rapala were the most acclaimed for. But that’s another story, as this review we’ll discuss some other type of Rapala product: Rapala Pro Wear X-ProTect Chest Waders to be exact.

I’ve had them for 2 years now, and wore them occasionally, at least until the last trip I had in the Kiruna area, Sweden. It’s probably the harshest terrain they will ever encounter.

Since I’m not a fly-fisherman I decided not to spent a whole lot of money on a pair of waders. Which is somehow understandable as I don’t wade a lot. I probably use waders 2-3 times a year, even though I really like this type of fishing, especially in cold water trout infested rivers and streams. There’s no better way of catching this wary fish than to walk upstream and take them by surprise.

Presentation:  Their description convinced me this would be the best choice for the. I didn’t want to go spent over 100-140$ for a pair of waders at that time. They feature a 3 layer breathable construction, all over, with no reinforced knees or any additional features. 3mm neoprene socks, articulated knees, and internal zipped pocket for electronic devices filled up the spec list. Looks, and feels perfect to me. Checked them, and double checked them when I finally got my hands around them, and they seemed perfect, even though I didn’t really fell for the color… seemed too out of place, no matter what the surrounding environment was.  They were armed with a repair kit in case anything should happen. Never bothered to read the instructions… really.

Out into the wild test: First time out with them, and was overwhelmed with the good decision I had made. Everything seemed to fit in perfectly at first glance. After getting to use them for a while I started detecting all sort of things. The suspenders were loosening every time I went fishing with them. Sometimes this was uncomfortable, especially during summer days when I had nothing than a t-shirt on. The suspenders kept loosening every hour. It’s probably from the way I walk ). If I was well dressed, meaning some type of clothing over the suspenders, or a backpack, then the loosening was happening a tad slower, and wasn’t that noticeable or uncomfortable.

Nice to be dry for a few relaxing moments

The belt was well designed, and I’d say better designed than other brand waders of the more expensive sort. I liked the fact it had straps for the belt from back to front. It keeps the belt in place.

Now lets get wet and sweaty, and see how their waterproofness and breathability goes. On my first fishing trip I’d have to say I didn’t notice a thing, but that’s probably because I was fishing in not more than 1.3m deep water, and wasn’t fishing for more than 1-2 hours. Honestly I’ve fished them on rare occasions, probably 3-4 times/year, and didn’t quite got the feel of them until this year, when we were fishing in Northern Sweden, Kiruna area. Where all we did for 7 days was trout fishing in our waders.

On the first day of expedition I’ve found out they weren’t that waterproof after all and this only in about 1-2 hours of fishing. They seemed to be letting in water in the  knee area, and in the pelvic area, bot front and back. The areas that were most prone to stress and tear. This is probably why higher quality, and more expensive waders had reinforced these parts of the wading suit. It wasn’t water pouring in, but you could see my “insulating” trousers were damp in these areas, and didn’t really make me feel good, considering I’d be doing this for the next 7 days at least 8 hours a day.

First day dinner - grayling

Which the passing of each day I was getting to know my waders better and better, but not in a good way. The 3mm neoprene socks weren’t that waterproof either, as everyday my socks were humid inside, and not from perspiration. I doubt that I could get that humid from sweating, considering the temperatures outside. Their breathable qualities probably were there, but I couldn’t feel them working for me. All the sweat was trapped inside, when having to hike from a fishing spot to another. Stefan didn’t seem to be that bothered with his waders, at least not in this matter (he was using a more expensive pair of waders). This was a problem, because sweat that was trapped inside my waders made the cold water feel even “better”. This and the “waterproof” abilities of my waders.

Waders had to withstand a lot of battering amongst the rocky underwater terrain

You remember I told you that my waders were equipped with a repair kit? Well they do come with a repair kit, and couldn’t be bothered that I tarred my waders, when my left knee hit a boulder after slipping on it… I probably happens very often, especially in this area. In the same day a treble punctures Stefan’s waders as well, and told him: “Don’t worry… I have a repair kit”. What I didn’t know was that the repair kit was meant to be used at home, with an IRON. I couldn’t believe what my eyes were reading. You can only tare, or puncture your waders when fishing. Consider you are (as we were) in a remote area, where you can only be picked up by helicopter, with no electricity or phone signal. How the f…. can you use the repair kit. We finally came up with a solution. We’ll use the kerosene tent warmer. The top is hot enough. Again SURPRISE… the unopened , sealed glue was as hard as a rock (dried out). No chance of using it. Luckily there was just enough vulcanization strip to use on my knee. You could iron this on without the additional glue. Just my luck I’d say, because after the repair the water leak was stopped, and could at least fish the rest of the trip.

Moving from one spot to the other we encountered swampy areas

Moving from one spot to the other we encountered rocky and shruby areas

If the kit wasn’t meant to be used easily without electrical appliance I’d rather not get it with the waders, at least like that I’d know I needed something in that matter, just in case something happened, and needed repair on the spot.

Water pressure on my waders

I didn’t check other waders repair kits. Stefan’s waders only had vulcanization inseams and a few material patches for repair. No glue, no instructions. Maybe it’s just me, but it just doesn’t feel right to not be able to do anything about your broken waders on the water. I can repair an Inflatable boat on the spot if ever faced with the challenge, but you have to iron a lousy patch to repair a pair of waders. This seems close to BS to me.

Waist deep water all day long

Waist deep water all day long - if you wanted to get where the fish were

Other than that …. the waders did their job. Not terrific but did their job, for the last time I believe. I’ll definitely get  better ones before planning another wading trip far away from home.

Save up for more expensive/durable waders - it'll be worth it....

Conclusion: What you pay is what you get is a wise saying. You will never be able to buy quality stuff cheap. This has been proven time and time again. In case anyone wonders. The waders have never been washed, only lightly cleaned, so they should’ve been as new. The waterproof-breathable material isn’t so waterproof or breathable after all, but it gets the job done, if that’s the only thing you want. The material isn’t the most durable, but I didn’t expect that from a 100$ pare of “breathable” waders. The 3mm neoprene socks aren’t waterproof either. Everyday on the trip when back to base camp they were damp inside. If asked if I would ever buy these waders again… I probably would if I had the same budget, but I’d recommend saving more money for a better quality waders than these. I like the fact that they come with a bag, for easy transportation, in which they can dry out pretty well if you leave them in a well vented area.

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →

Orka lures got my attention a few years ago when I walked into a friend’s fishing store and there was a shelf full of these lures waiting for me. Looking at the shelf, the first model that I picked up was the Shad Tail.
Its particular body shape quickly made me imagine its underwater action. And let’s just say, my first impressions were very close to the actual thing.

Orka lures are produced in Serbia, and have expanded rapidly in the lure boxes of many predator fishermen all across Europe. They manufacture over 10 models of soft baits, each coming in different sizes with a substantial color range.

Orka Shad Tail

Orka Shad Tail is a lure that easily stands out. This is mainly because of its shad body and a grub tail. It comes in 4 sizes, from 10cm to 21cm, each size having a 12 color range. Even though you can cover pretty much every situation with these 4 sizes available, I would have loved to fish also with a smaller Shad Tail, let’s say around 6-7cm. I think this size could have been interesting for light tackle and finesse fishing.

Good variety of sizes and colors

Softness and Material
The first thing you notice when you put your hands on a Shad Tail is the quality of the material. The good composition allows this lure to be both pretty soft and resistant. It’s not the softest material out there, but it does the trick. As you will see in the short movie below, this material has also a big influence on the lure’s amazing action.

Another plus of this resistant material is that the lure doesn’t get off the jig easily. This means you don’t have to use glue or other substances to fix the lure on the jig. For me this is pretty important because I really don’t like adjusting the soft lure on the jig every few casts. It’s pretty resistant to predator’s teeth also.

A downsize would be the fact that the material can get pretty sticky sometimes, and when you’re fishing the smallest model (10 cm), this can make the tail stick to the lure’s body during casts.

Durability
Again, judging by the material and having just a little experience, the first time you put your hands on a lure and feel its composition, you will also have a good clue about its resistance. And Shad Tail felt like it had durability written all over it.

With soft baits two things may happen. They usually get messed up when you try to arm them on a jig (or offset) and fail few times, or when they end up between the predators teeth. For me the second one is not that important, as long as they bring fish to the boat, but just so you know this softie handles excellent even the sharpest teeth.
The first one though can be inconvenient, but it’s not the case for the Shad Tail. It has a very resistant and dense shad body that will not allow several jig changes or arming attempts to mess up the lure.

Engineering / Design
You really can’t talk about this lure without giving some credit for its design. Sure, it’s not the only or the first shad body/grub tail lure on the market, but you must admit it has a significant amount of originality in it. This unique small shad body with a long and wide tail is responsible for an aggressive action and powerful vibrations.

The tail length increases significantly in bigger sizes (15cm, 17cm and 21cm) so you have to be careful what hook size you use. A small hook may loose you fish, while a too large one will affect the lures action. You can start with a hook size of 2/0 for the 10cm model and end up with 6/0 or 7/0 for the 17, 21cm sizes.

Regarding lure details, the only things that stand out on the lures body are the extruded eyes (not painted), a small back fin, and the Orka logo on the tail. Not that I would expect high quality finish from a soft bait.

Action and Applications
Shad Tail’s amazing action is a result of great design and good soft material. This lure puts out strong vibrations, making it impossible to get by unnoticed.

What I like most is that it works flawlessly at extremely slow speeds using light jigs. This tells a lot about how versatile this lure really is. The tail works hard at slow speeds, which kind of says it all when it comes to this type of soft baits.

In the movie below we made the test using jigs of only 7gr on 4/0 hooks and the 13cm Shad Tail worked like a charm. For an even more aggressive action you can use heavier jigs.

The versatility remains also when it comes to different fish species. This lure seems to have caught them all: walleye (zander), pike, catfish, perch and even bass. I personally caught four of the above, and I’m sure there are more to come.

I think the perfect technique for this lure to work wonders is the classical jigging. If you fish in heavy cover areas try a weedless jig head, maybe even equipped with a skirt, for more vibrations. The Shad Tail can also be fished on an offset hook, but from my experience, in this manner you don’t really get access to all of its potential.

Conclusion: Orka Shad Tail is a powerful soft lure. It has a great body shape that will put out pretty much the strongest vibrations you can get from a soft tail lure. The material is considerably soft and highly resistant, playing a key role in the underwater action. Besides, Orka Shad Tail offers great quality for the price. Don’t be skeptical, check these lures out, you might be surprised.

About Adrian

Professional angler, web enthusiast and tackle fanatic. Always in search for new things that can improve his fishing.

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I used to be a Daiwa extremist… saying: “Ahh! Shimano is a bike manufacturer !” But with all the hipe going on around the Shimano Curado, launched at ICAST last year, I just couldn’t resist. The movies, the pictures, all the great feedback, at a lower than 200$ price range, was more than enough to convince me. I was actually thinking about the JDM version of Curado, the improved, Scorpion 1001XT, but after analyzing in detail both models, I actually had to have the small sleek Curado E51 (you got me… I’m a lefty). I had to know what it punched at 199.99$, even though I got it cheaper . Of course I wanted a faster “finesse” reel than my actual Sol, which in many cases seemed to be slugish, especially when pooling fish out of dense structures.

I even had parts ordered from Mudhole and Matagi for a rod, with the special purpose to match it with the reels color.

Design: The shape of the Curado is actually the exact same as the Core 51, and the Scorpion 1001XT, with the gearing sitting as low as possible, to get the reel profile height from the reel seat as low as it can actually go. I’m not that excited with the greenish color, but can overlook that in the end. It’s a color that really doesn’t match with almost anything out there in the rod industry, and I’d rather not have a rod specially designed (colorwise) for a certain reel, even though it’s a lot of fun.

I personally think a black handle would’ve made the reel look more appealing, but does that matter in the end?

The clutch takes about 1 minute to get used to, if you're a Daiwa fan

The reel is also equipped with a clicking star-drag, that in this case is graphite. I really don’t worry about it’s durability, but would, as well as many, prefer something that felt more solid.

Feel: First impression sometimes count. The Curado as it turned out didn’t feel that sleek right out of the box. It didn’t feel as smoth-going as I thought it would feel, but this is a problem that got easily solved as soon as I’ve opened the reel up. The handle had a little bit of backplay, but after a good tightening (don’t be afraid to tighten it up a knotch) of the handle screw it got from some backplay to none.

Notice how low it is on the reel seat... really confortable

As far as ergonomics go I’ve heard some people complain about the extrusion, that lets the spool side plate spin whenever you open it. It seems to incomodate some fishermen when fishing this reel. I couldn’t understand how, as my hand doesn’t touch that part at all, but than again, this might be because I’m a lefty, and don’t swipe the rod from a hand to another when casting. It seemed very confy for me. The Sol feels more comfortable though, but the Curado certainly is more robust.

Inside gears & durability: We’ve opened the reel up so you can see for yourself what you get from a under 200$ Japan made reel. Check out the video below:

I especially feel confident about the brass gearing, and would take any day of the year brass over any other light alloy in much lighter reels. What I must mention is it only has 1 SA-RB and 1 A-RB, and the rest are stainless steel, one of the reasons it’s so cost effective. That won’t be a big problem as long as you don’t do a lot of saltwater or brackish water fishing. I clean my reels thoroughly once a year, and other than that I just clean and lube my spool bearings for the rest of the year. It seems to do the trick, as I’ve seen no problems with my gear bearings after more than 9 months. If I ever see some rust going on inside there, I’ll go ahead and order a full set of corrosion resistant ball bearings, but I guess that will never happen.

All bearings are sealed in such a manner that you won’t be able to remove the shields in order to clean them thoroughly, unlike Daiwa’s bearings for e.g.

The frame, like the spool are aluminum, while the sideplates are graphite. That doesn’t seem to cause any problems, and it feels as sturdy today as it did when I first fished it.

The frame is extreamly light... and until now very durable.

I’ve burned, slow jigged, and even used the reel for crankbait and spinnerbait fishing during the last 9 months, and it still feels like new. No back-play, no nothing, and the anti-reverse ball bearing seems to keep up with my fishing. It makes me wonder what the…. with the anti-reverse pawl in this tiny baitcaster. It only worsens the reels action.

As you can see from the pictures, unlike the Core 51, the tension knob seats on a spring mechanism, and has no rubber band to protect water from sipping in that spot, in case your reel gets in contact with water somehow. That might ruin a good day fishing if it interacts with the oil or grease  you are using. The spring has a double role: to keep some tension on the tension knob, so it doesn’t unscrew by itself, and to keep the spool ballbearing in place. I would’ve preferred the rubber-band myself, and never thought about looking at this detail before buying the reel. I’ve had nothing to worry about for now with or without the rubber collar, even though I’ve fished the reel in awful downpour. Lets just hope it’ll stay that way.

I preferred they used the alternative - rubber band

If the handle has zero backplay now, after tightening it up, the spool has some minor backplay to it. It makes it a bit nosier than the average guy, but as long as you have your line going through your guides, the tension in the line will keep it quiet.

Brass gears = durability

As far as the drag goes, after tightening it up as much as I could, without the fear of breaking the stardrag, and it tested out at 3kg, a little under the 4.5kg expected.

Retrieve: As I’ve mentioned above. Right out of the box, the reel didn’t have that freespin, aerofeel, or whatever you want to call it feeling. It felt like the tension knob was a tad to tightened, even though it wasn’t. This is the best way I can describe it.

But as soon as I’ve opened the reel up, problem was solved. Even though Curado’s have instant antireverse gear blabbering, Shimano, for some reason, mounted the old antireverse pawl, found on older models. It beats me why they did this, but I instantly removed it from the reel, and the reel is now much smoother, and easygoing. No matter how enthusiastic I feel about this reel I won’t lie to you: there is a slight, but when i say slight, I mean extreamly slight feeling of the gearing being there, but it’s nothing that keeps me from fishing without noticing it.

The 7:1 gear ratio works just fine, especially when power fishing smaller baits, and really helps pooling those fish out of the brush.

Line lay: This is something you don’t really hear anyone mention about any reel. I consider this to be really important, especially when concerning spinning reels. I’ve seen so many expensive spinning reels that don’t spool the line as well as they should. I’t not a concern for the Curado though. It does the job extremely well.

Casting the Curado E51 is a lot of fun, and probably the easiest casting reel so far. It really doesn’t take that much fine-tuning as with Daiwas magnetic backlash control systems, even though it’s not externally controllable if you offset only 2 pins from the 6 Curado has you won’t be needing any other tuning, no matter the bait size.  What I loved about this reel’s casting abilities is it takes almost zero time to get used with it, and it casts perfectly, cast after cast.

Spinnerbaited Pike

Flipping it into bush is a child’s play, even with weightless plastics. I’ve even managed to get it skipping under brush with the Lake Fork Magic Shad, without backlashing on a few occasions, pike fishing.

It casts everything from 3-4 g up to you name it. I’ve managed to get a good distance with both Rapala Original Floater 7, and 9cm and Rapala Team Esko, Balsa lures without any long casting balancing systems. I have a really hard time controlling backlashes for example on the Daiwa Sol with this baits, even with the ZPI SiC Ball Bearings.

I know this is not what you'd expect when texas rigging - but it happens

Conclusion: As far as I’m concerned Shimano has won me over with the new Curado, E Series, and can’t wait to see what they come up with next at ICAST in 2011. If you want to teach anyone baitcasting, Shimano Curado is definitely the easiest reel to teach some casting with, as I’ve learned teaching casting a few of my friends.

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →

As you can see JDM tackle has really taken it’s toll on us. Today we’re going to review/reveal another Japan hardbait. Most of us have tried, or at least heard about Yo-Zuri brand. Their variety of lures can actually blow you mind, and the price is not as premium as you’d expect from a JDM. Duel is the mothership brand, and sustains both brands, Duel and Yo-Zuri. Duel has been making lures in Japan for more than 40 years now, and still have some of the most demanded and accessible (pricewise) lures on the JDM market.

Yo-Zuri is a worldwide brand that sells, it probably sounded better than Duel, when introduced to the US market. Duel is the actual developer, that’s always improving, and coming up with new technologies, like they came up with the Magnetic Long Cast System, making some of the top rated lures in the world.

Hardcore is one of the brands most sought after lures, with a large variety of lure types, starting with minnows, both regular and deep diving, up to crankbaits and vibe baits such as the Hardcore Drum.

The F736 SH-50 is a suspending deep diving finesse minnow most suited for reservoirs and deeper river areas.

Packing:
The lure’s packing is Yo-Zuri standard, simple and effective to keep your lure safe until you manage to fish it.

Finish: Hardcore series are made out of durable plastic, with detailed gills and scales with both MAT and clear gloss finish. They’re really attractive to both fish and fisherman. They all are provided with the most realistic 3D eyes, but tend to “escape” the sockets after a few toothy predators. I tend to fix this problem with a drop of super glue upfront so I don’t loose the eyes.

This lure was clearly ment for something other than bass fishing, considering it’s size and “low profile”.

Terminals: I still don’t now what trebles are used on Duels and Yo-Zuris, but they are as sharp as they can get, even though they aren’t the toughest ones out there. They’ll hold  as long as you don’t get really excited about using them on a heavier than 6-8lb line.  If you intend on using them on larger fish I strongly recommend replacing them with tougher ones. I don’t replace them only if they get used, but other than that I am pretty confident about them for what I use them for. And I like they chose a dark, black, color for them.

Harder fighting fish need tougher trebles

Split rings are standard quality, and I believe they will never let anyone down.

As most of plastic lures it doesn’t have thru-wire construction, and, unfortunately I’ve had trouble in the past with the lip pulling of a lure while fighting a fish. I don’t have the pics to prove that, but have had friends with the same problem with some of the heavier lures in the Hardcore series, like the SH-60 and the 75-SP, which should be able to hold up to some strong fighting fish. Hope Duel will acknowledge this problem, and take some attitude about it in the future.

Casting: Little lure, lots of features. Tungsten weight and the proprietary Advanced Magnet Weight Transfer System, patented by Duel have a lot to do with the good casting abilities of this lure, considering it’s light 1/8 oz. weight. The Advanced Magnetic Weight Transfer System will work on most of the casts, but it takes a little power into the cast, to make the magnet “click”. You get the hang of it in a blink of an eye.

It casts like a charm for a 1/8 oz. lure. The further you cast it, the deeper it will get. The tungsten bb’s act as a rattle as well, so be prepared to call fish from a distance.

Action:The looks of the bait will win you in a millisecond. The patterns are as deadly as they get, being able to get both MAT, translucent and flashy patterns.

What about the action? How will the Yo-Zuri Hardcore SH-50 run? Is it worth the trouble? It definitely is. It has a deadly tight bobble that will start vibrating at the slowest retrieve speeds. I actually prefer tighter wobble over wider, but as you must all know: every lure will catch you fish eventually you just need the right conditions for that lure. I’m not talking about this lure though… you can catch fish almost every day of the week with it. You can use it as a suspending jerkbait in colder weather as well. It really suspends, as you can see in the video. We kept it motionless for a few moments so you can get the general idea of how suspending this lure really is. I’m putting accent on this detail, because most of the lures that are sold as “suspending” really aren’t. Most of them are a very slow floating lure. I won’t give names for now, but I’ll keep you posted on the suspending ability of lures in the future as well.

Video:

Application: This is definitely a finesse bait, most likely to be used for species like trout, perch, chub, asp and barbel. Bass is on the menu, but it’s not really considered to be a bass finesse bait. I especially like to use it on clear water reservoirs and in deeper river areas. I even went the extra length of painting a few of them in trout patterns for really clear waters. The action on these is amazing, and you have to consider they can be used with high efficiency in very powerful currents as well, as they are utterly stable.

Due to the Advanced Magnetic Weight Transfer System you will be able to use it on a baitcaster if ever needed. Don’t expect long casts though.

I caught almost everything from chub to perch with this lure, and like to use it on trout lakes and rivers. They seem to especially like it when hanging to depths of 4 to 10 ft.

I usually fish it with up to 6lb rated line ( 0.18mm diameter-tops)

Hardcore 50-SH – Ratings (?/10)
Design	Really dynamic shape. It won’t keep you wondering weather to buy it or not. Hardcore lures are known worldwide for their incredible fish catching abilities. I like the sharp, black trebles, but if you want to hang on larger or harder fighting fish you need to change them for tougher ones. The trebles are well spaced, in such a manned they won’t ever tangle. The finish is tough.	8.5
Features	This lure is packed with features: great patterns, tungsten weighting, Advanced Magnetic Weight Transfer System, all in a 2 inch bait that suspends whenever needed.  Could you ask for more? I could… Please keep on manufacturing them . I won’t give it the highest grade though, because the lip seems to come off (I had it happen once) in some cases, and it’s not an isolated case, unfortunately.	6.5
Application / Performance	They run true right out of the box. Due to their tight wobble they are really versatile, and can cover a lot of fishing situations. It’s a finesse bait that will catch you fish, and catch your eye. It will start vibrating on the slowest retrieve speeds, and will keep on running true even in the fearsome currents.	9.5
Price	It’s on the premium side, but for a JDM I consider them to be lightly priced. I can swallow a 10-12$ bill, but for a lure of this size, most of JDM have a price tag that hangs well over 12$. It a good deal if you ask me.	7.5
Overall	Final Grade	8

Trouty lure:D

Conclusion: If you like finesse fishing, this lure has to make it’s way in your tackle box. You won’t be able to buy them for a long time from now on, because Duel/Yo-Zuri has stopped producing this model.. to think I just came to like it:). It’s a really small bait packed with tons of features.

The lip it’s not it’s strongest point, and is prone to come of on some of the Hardcore baits. Don’t ask why, but it happened to other people besides myself. The price is excellent for a JDM, but would love to be able to take it out full of confidence. The broken lip gets my heart pumping, and not in a good way, every-time I have a fish dangling at the end of this lure. I’d expect more from a lure in this price range, but unfortunately I can’t just throw them in the garbage, due to their unique action. I have no other lure with a similar action as the Hardcore 50-SH, not even close.

Other than that it has impeccable action, and will catch you tons of fish. I wish they had more match the hatch patterns though, and with all finesse deep diving baits… a sinking version would blow me off.

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →