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TEST REVIEW #2 3:16 MINNOW


buttaluns
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Not a fan of the rago A-rig. I have been using the Power Tackle "Get em Goin'" rig. Nice because besides the actual swivel snaps, the actual wires have snaps allowing you to put heavier duty or separate rigging techniques directly to them.

 

With some trial and error, you can get a balanced, yet asymmetric rig going like in the picture I listed. I have noticed better feedback from fish this way, rather than an equal "2-1-2" looking rig. The wires on the Power Tackle rig are thin enough to flex when the retrieve is sped up causing the baits to run closer together, and spring back to shape when slowed back down. Looks like a school of fish pulsing. Really cool actually.

 

I run a 3/8oz head on the bottom 2 and center, and twist lock the top 2 baits in place, but you have to belly weight the top baits of they spin when you bring it in.

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jolley

 

and a ball point pen tube

 

 

Hot damn, that's exactly what I need! Thanks man, never would have thought of that.

 

Just cut a section long enough, take a lighter and melt it lightly. The plastic will flow to the sides of the tube and create a small flange. You can insert the tube using a toothpick in the end to draw it through without tearing the bait to much. Once you have it in position you can pull back the rubber around the tube and melt the other end. Be careful not to melt the bait and don't let the pen tube catch flame. You can be pretty local with the heat application using a bic lighter with a small flame. You really don't need to glue it in because if you flange both ends nicely then they tend to hold the tube in place. I have pics that didn't get added So I will reposting my review with the added pics to show this.

 

Don't touch the melting plastic to create a wider flange, by like flattening it with your finger. Just let the plastic flow naturally. The small flow of plastic is enough there's no need to flatten it out with you finger and risk burning yourself, and ruining the perfect little hole in the tube.

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JOLLEY

Reposted with the pictures

 

3:16 Minnow Review

 

Topline: The 3:16 Minnow is a soft plastic swimbait, made of a durable rubber that can be rigged weedless. It comes in a huge variety of colors that will appeal to fishermen throughout all areas of the country. My overall impression of this bait is that it’s a great bait to be fishing more throughout the summer once bass get up under the cover of pads and heavy weeds. The baits I was sent to test were the bluegill pattern. I found the bluegill pattern to be nice color that I would certainly pick as a confidence color in the New England area. I would recommend fishing this bait when bass are shallow. Another nice part about this bait is that a light weight swimbait rod, or heavy action regular bass tackle can be used.

 

Comes Packed nicely in a clear plastic box that can be used for storage (vs a bag where sometimes the bait can get mangled and take a permanent deformed shape that affects the action).

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Nice looking bait, soft natural feel.

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Rigging: The recommended rigging for the 3:16 Minnow is to rig Carolina style or weedless using an 8/0 beast Owner hook that comes with the baits. Basically rigged just as the 3:16 No Bull Frog, or any other soft plastic bait. While this is the recommended style of rigging I explored other options which included converting the Minnow to a line through style bait similar to a 3:16 Little Booger, using a #2 Owner ST-41 with some split shot, 3:16 soft bait glue, and a ball point pen tube.

 

Recommended Rigging

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Ball Point Pen Tube: Just cut a section of ball point pen tube long enough, take a lighter and melt it lightly on one end. The plastic will flow to the sides of the tube and create a small flange. You can insert the tube using a toothpick in the end to draw it through without tearing the bait to much. Once you have it in position you can pull back the rubber around the tube and melt the other end. Be careful not to melt the bait and don't let the pen tube catch flame. You can be pretty local with the heat application using a bic lighter with a small flame. You really don't need to glue it in because if you flange both ends nicely then they tend to hold the tube in place.

 

Don't touch the melting plastic to create a wider flange, by like flattening it with your finger. Just let the plastic flow naturally. The small flow of plastic is enough there's no need to flatten it out with you finger and risk burning yourself, and ruining the perfect little hole in the tube.

 

Line through rigging method

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Availability: This bait is readily available for purchase at http://www.316lurecompany.com, and at a few selected online tackle retail outlets. The price is reasonable at $11 for a pack of 4 baits including a hook, and my opinion is that the bait is a good value in comparison to competing soft plastic swimbaits.

 

Gear: The 3:16 Minnow weighs a little more than 1oz depending on how you’re rigging it. And for that purpose I used my G Loomis 904c paired with a Shimano 201 DPV. This fairly light setup from a swimbaiters perspective cast the bait perfectly, and being such a light weight fast action rod really allowed for me to impart a nice action to the bait. I heavy action jig rod or flipping stick rated to about 1oz should also handle this bait perfectly so as far as a swimait beginners bait its great product because you don’t need anything more than heavy traditional bass fishing gear to fish it.

 

Presentation: This bait excels in heavily weeded areas, of which I had none available to fish at the time of this review. Being late February / Early March in New England we have little to no weedcover what so ever in this region at this time. In fact we are lucky to be fishing open water at all this time of year seeing that Ice Out is typically late March to Early April. Not that I’m complaining on that front, this year we’ve been blessed with some warm weather, very little snow, and early open water to fish. The minnow is best when fishing in the weedy cover, and at this time of year having none I tried to find other applications. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in the single hook rigging at this early season fishing opportunity and after fishing the minnow the recommended way started think of alternative ways to rig the bait that would allow for more hooks and a deeper water presentation seeing most bass are deep this time of year. One thing that I didn’t like much about the baits recommended presentation for this time of year is that the 8/0 Beast hook that comes with the bait causes the bait to sink head first at a very slow rate. My experience is this is not a bait you would fish this way to get to deeper fish. Because the bait sinks head first and very slow it’s really best fished in shallow areas and almost top water, slightly subsurface applications. 1-2 foot depth max. When I fish a bait that tends to sink head first I like it to drop fast rather than stall to get reaction strikes. For this reason I would classify this as a good bait to fish in shallow water cover.

 

Fishing: Unfortunately I think it’s still a little early in the season to be fishing a bait that fishes both weeded areas and high water column applications. The bass are deep this time of year and very slow moving. For an effective swimbait presentation this time of year I need a bait that you can get deep. However I did have a pickerel (aka slime dart) chase the lure in shallow water. I didn’t hook up with any fish in the 3 trips I took with this bait (2 trips with the recommended rigging, and 1 with my alternative line through deeper water presentation). Of course that doesn’t say much about its fish catching ability. I know from experience with this bait in the early summer months that it’s a great lure for fishing shallow water weedy shorelines. I’ve done well with the 3:16 Minnow throughout the summer when softplastics in the pads are the only presentation that seems to work. The bait comes through the pads nicely when rigged weedless. I’ve caught bass ranging from 2lbs-4lbs on the minnow when fishing pads in the heat of summer.

 

Nice Natural Baitfish Profile in the water

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Fishing my alternative line through rigging in the early season allowed me to get the bait down and also allowed for a more exposed multi-hook presentation which I think will be a great application for fishing this bait when the fish are deep and somewhat less aggressive. You can tune the sink rate by putting more or less split shot (lead free of course) in the air blatter. Rigging the bait this way allows the bait to sink with a horizontal orientation rather than head first. I really liked this presentation because it appeared more natural. It would sink similar to a ROF5 Hudd remaining completely horizontal and wiggling nicely as it sank. As I weighted the bait and rigged it line through style I could get a nice sub surface walk the dog action out of the bait. This was really cool and not something I could get the default rigging to perform. Another way to rig in order to get deeper would be to get weighted swimbait hook, but I did not have any available.

 

One of the best parts about doing these reviews is it kept my fishing simple. I brought with me one rod, a bag containing my 3:16 Minnows, a boga grip scale, a pair of pliers, some split shot and a few extra hooks. I wish I could have posted up a few fish on this review. But at least participating gave me the chance to get out and fish, and for that I am thankful to have had the opportunity to review the 3:16 Minnow.

 

Summary Chart Rating the Bait on a 1-10 Scale.

Catagory Rating (1-10)

Versatility 4 (Shallow water application, heavy cover)

Availability 10 (Hit up the 3:16 website, I’ve never seen them out of stock)

Value 9 (Comes in packs of 4 with a top quality hook)

Swim 8 (Nice powerful tail kick that delivers a slight wobble to the head)

Durability 9 (Tough yet Soft material, easily repaired with 3:16 softbait glue)

Catching N/A (wrong bait to be fishing this early in the NE) :(

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I tried the stinger hook yesterday with an Owner 1/0 treble and hyper wire split ring. It gave a bit of stabilization that is similar to the beast hook. just a touch of extra weight at the bottom. It does hang up but the bass seemed to like it waking yesterday. At least the babies did. I caught several fish on that stinger hook yesterday. Problem was they were all 10-14". :lol: I couldn't keep them away from the bait long enough to let the big girls eat I guess. I definitely liked the stinger idea. Thanks guys for the tips!

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Here are the pictures from my review gentlemen. Hope this will help add to the great ideas already posted. Another note I would like to add is I liked the 8/0 size hook over the 6/0, the shank is just a bit longer. This puts the hook point a bit further back on the bait, this will help landing a few more fish that might have been a short bite on the 6/0. Good luck gents and tight lines.

 

Joshua

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Here are the pictures from my review gentlemen. Hope this will help add to the great ideas already posted. Another note I would like to add is I liked the 8/0 size hook over the 6/0, the shank is just a bit longer. This puts the hook point a bit further back on the bait, this will help landing a few more fish that might have been a short bite on the 6/0. Good luck gents and tight lines.

 

Joshua

 

The use of the minnow on the chatter head is an awesome idea. I have something coming up where that may be just what I need. Thanks JD

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Here are the pictures from my review gentlemen. Hope this will help add to the great ideas already posted. Another note I would like to add is I liked the 8/0 size hook over the 6/0, the shank is just a bit longer. This puts the hook point a bit further back on the bait, this will help landing a few more fish that might have been a short bite on the 6/0. Good luck gents and tight lines.

 

Joshua

 

The use of the minnow on the chatter head is an awesome idea. I have something coming up where that may be just what I need. Thanks JD

 

It thumps hard, hope it works out for you and good luck.

 

Joshua

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