BassTEK Tungsten Jigs Reviewed

Earlier this year, BassTEK Tungsten Jigs, a new local company opened up shop.  What makes these jigs different from most others on the market are that they are made from (as the name indicates) tungsten, an alloy that is nearly twice the density of lead.  That density translates into a smaller profile and more sensitivity for the user.

Currently, BassTEK offers mainly flippin' jigs and some soft plastic stick baits.  Though my area of focus with this entry will be on the jigs.

3/8oz skirted jig and a 3/8oz unskirted jig.

I made my initial order in March and received my package that same week.  My first impression was good, I liked that everything was labeled (not all companies do that).  I ordered one of the 3/8oz. skirted jigs and a pack each of the 3/8oz, 1/2oz, and 3/4oz unskirted jigs with the intent to make up a few of my own skirts.  Needless to say, I ended up picking up a pack of some green pumpkin/watermelon skirts at Fleet Farm until I have time to get some of my own made up.  Anyway, first impression was good overall with the only constructive feedback being the barb trailer keeper, concern being that the trailer may slip past the barb and down the hook.  I've had better luck with a wire keeper that some other manufacturers use, but on the other hand, that is on a swim jig - different jig meant for different uses.

3/8oz unskirted BassTEK jig.

I took these out with me and played with them while I was on vacation over bass opener and was highly impressed with how sensitive they really are compared to conventional lead jigs.  I was able to throw this into many of the laydowns in the area and could feel the jig as I crawled it over the limbs.  I also took these to a small river where I've been able to catch smallies near the boat launch.  The water was higher than normal with all the rain we've been getting so I had trouble finding the rock patch off the end of the ramp where I normally catch them but once I found it I knew.  While I didn't catch anything off that spot, I found that, upstream a bit, they were holding tight to shoreline cover, this one hit it on the first drop.

Pig in training.  Check out BassTEK's Facebook page for examples of the fish these baits can catch.

The jigs come through grass well, too.  That is always something I'm concerned about with jigs but it hasn't been an issue with these.  I spent a little time at a small lake near my house and flipped it into and through some matted veggies and while there were some weeds that would hang around the jig eye, it was about equal with what I'm used to with my swim jigs.  Oh, and that barb trailer keeper?  Never had an issue with it in any of those three scenarios.

Pricing for these jigs is very competitive (or better in many cases) with other tungsten jigs on the market (1 per):  $4.99 for the 3/8, $5.50 for 1/2oz, and $6.99 for 3/4oz.  Although, you can cut those costs significantly by purchasing the packs of unskirted jigs and making some of your own skirts, something that I am likely to do so I can have my bluegill colors.

The real question is:  Are these jigs worth the cost compared to traditional lead jigs?  That depends on you, if you derive income from your fishing, then the answer is a simple risk/reward scenario:  Yes.  If you are like me, some dude that loves to fish:  Maybe.  Personally, I like whatever advantage I can get, so for me it is a yes.

The fact that they are a local company takes any kind of hesitation out of the equation.

Bass Opener - 2013 P. 2

To start my third day out, I skipped the lake completely and headed back to the backwater areas I had fished previously.  The water was getting closer to that 60 degree mark so I was sure I'd see some fish starting to move in shortly.  I ended up catching only pike in my first stop working the area with the same spinnerbait as previous.

I revisited the area where I had caught the fish pictured in my last post and missed a few hits on a NSCB Flip n Swim Black series in the laydowns going in.  I switched back to the spinnerbait and that ended up getting bit off by a pike.  At that point I decided to down size my baits a little bit, swapping the Black series for a regular Flip n Swim jig and tying on a Basstek 1/2oz Flippin Jig on the other and had little luck with either bait.

I made a move downstream and into another backwater, though this one had a lot of current running through it.  The entire area was flooded so it made getting around a little interesting, I found a little pocket of slack water with some isolated flooded trees and started pitching.  I only had one bite in the area on the Flip n Swim:

He weighed at 3lbs 5oz and is my first (and only) qualifying fish for BP's Minnesocold derby.  I stayed working this little backwater area until the text messages regarding breakfast became a little more assertive.

I did revisit this spot later in the week and caught only pike. 

Over all, I had a lot of trouble figuring this system out, never really putting together a consistent pattern, and I think a lot of it had to do with the flooding in the river.  Everything looked fishy and I got caught up in that mentality that "there should be a fish in that bush" or "next to that tree" or.....  Couple that with the unfamiliarity of fishing a pre-spawn phase and this guy got lost, even when I got out into deeper water working some of the points leading up to some flats - the action was subdued.

Hopefully my next trip out will prove more productive as the fish will be in a phase I'm a bit more experienced with - and I've got some new toys to help catch them too.

I'll talk about those in my next post.

Bass Opener - 2013 P. 1

What a long winter.  Prior to this past weekend, the last time I wet a line in open water was Thanksgiving Day of last year - and that is way too long for this guy to go.  Definitely my fault, but, it was for good reason.  However, school is now out and bass fishing season is in, opening week has come to an end and here is my report:

052513

I dropped the boat in on Friday when we got to the lake and cruised around a little bit to check things out and noticed right away that the water temp was 55-56 degrees, which would put most fish in a prespawn mode. 

My Dad and I went out on Saturday morning and I decided to fish some flooded timber on the way out to the main lake as the canal and flats area where my boat is moored would should be one of the areas they will be spawning.  I worked the area over with a 1/2oz Northstar Custom Baits Flip n Swim Black series jig and felt a thump but was too late on the hookset and too far past that spot to try another pitch so I told Dad where to throw, no bite. 

We went into the river briefly and I was thinking about heading up the Snake and into some of the backwaters but decided not to with as swift as the current was and a logjam in the middle of the bridge.  We spent most of Saturday eliminating water.  Dad got one crappie and I got skunked.

052613

I went out solo and noticed that the water temp had risen a couple of degrees.  I fished the same flooded timber as I had the day before with the same results - if nothing else, it helped knock the rust off my pitching technique.  I decided to skip the rest of the water that Dad and I fished on Saturday and ventured downstream and into some backwaters and probed the area with the same Flip n Swim jig I had tied Saturday and a Northstar Custom Baits spinnerbait in New Gill color.



I fished my way down the flooded side of the slough and didn’t get anything.  No bites, no taps, no bumps or thumps.  At this point, I was getting fairly discouraged. I started working my way down the opposite shoreline with the spinnerbait and a quarter of the way down the line my bait darted violently to the side and then went quiet again.  Then it hit like a ton a bricks and my line started moving back and forth quickly.  It was a pike, but, at least it was a fish.  There was life in this water after all!  I started lifting him in the boat and the hook came out.  Easy release, no pike smell on my hands, and no human smell on the pike.  It was a win-win.

I had a couple more hits going down the bank but no hook ups.  I decided to idle into another backwater.  This one had a lot more wood so I decided to fish the side with the current, figuring that any bass would be hanging out in the timber and grass patches waiting for an easy meal.  I had several hits in this area on the spinnerbait, some bass and some pike but they almost always came off.  I had no stingers or anything that would make a useful trailer hook along, so I tied on a regular Flip n Swim in New Gill with a single grub for a trailer.  I had a few missed hits on that and then, finally, a solid hook up.  He was sitting right at the base of a fallen tree.  Not huge, but, it's a start.

This is getting pretty long so I'm going to wrap this first post for up now.  I'll detail the rest of the week in my next post.