hookedup

I tested it out today, it swims great. I was a little worried about the extra weight in the middle of the bait but it swims just as it should. Only thing is it sinks faster than normal but that can be fixed.

I posted a pic of a broken Deps 250 and I've had a few people message me saying they have also done this and asked if it is fixable. I messaged Butch and he gave me some pointers and this is what Ive done: When I bought this bait from a member and took the skin off I noticed it was already cracked. So when I casted this thing off and it hit a rock at 80mph it was probably an easy brake... First thing you do is take the hooks off and the skin. I slid a flathead screw driver through the mouth of the bait to help the skin over the hook ring. You can also spray some baby powder under the skin and it will come off much easier. Next I screwed 2 screws into the broken section. I drilled holes first to minimize a chance of cracking the bait. I left out about 3/4 of an inch. Once the screws are in I used some bolt cutters to cut the heads off. I also used the cutters to cut slits in the smooth section of the screw to allow the glue to grip better. *If your bait has flash you will probably want to take it off and purchase some new lure tape, I found mine on ebay. The next part was the most difficult. You need to drill holes on the other side of the bait for the screws to fit into and act as dowels. They need to be lined up so the bait goes back together the same way and all the rivets and bumps on the broken edge fit back together. I ended up drilling my holes slightly bigger than the screws because it was impossible to get the bait lined up perfectly. I also figured with slightly bigger holes I could get more glue in there for better grip. Butch told me to use 5 minute Epoxy so I purchased some Gorilla Epoxy from home depot because it had the highest rated bond strength I could find. I mixed the glue on a paper plate then used a paint brush to liberally spread the glue on both sides of the bait. I also made sure to fill up the holes with glue. I then held the bait together for 5 minutes and wiped off any excess glue dripping out. Then let it sit for 24 hours. I had some extra epoxy that I didn't notice in the weight chamber so I wasn't able to fit the original weight back in so I used tungsten putty. Then put your lure tape back on (if it had flash), slide the skin on and your good to go. The good thing about a slide swimmer is if it does break again the skin will hold it together (depending on where its broken). I usually don't make it a point to break expensive lures and this is my first time doing this. Maybe some of the guys that make lures can chime in on what they do or what would make this easier.

The new round models (S,SX,STX) are made in China. I have the new STX 5600 and its ok, I hate to say it but it feels like a reel made in China.. I also bought a new C3 (Sweden) and its definitely a better reel. The one good thing about the STX is its lower profile than the C3, it sits lower on the rod and palms much better. I've used C3's for years with no problems and at the price they are hard to beat. They are not refined or flashy but they will last you years and take a lot of abuse. If you buy a C3 or C4 its almost mandatory to change out the handle with a power handle. Abu likes putting on smaller than average handles for some reason and a longer handle makes a world of difference when reeling in big baits.

I don't always cast my baits off... but when I do I make sure I launch my bait 100+ yards into a rock on shore... no blame on my line here.

Thanks guys, it really is a nice bait. If you like fishing hudds, it would be a good bait to add to give the fish something new to look at. I'm looking forward to fishing some deep water with this thing during the winter months. I wanted to add, I'm using a dobyns 807 to fish it and it casts it very well but I'd bet the 867 would be even better.

I just post most of these in another thread sorry you guys have to look at my mug again... and a pic of the arsenal for good measure.

I've been fishing this bait a lot lately so I figured I would do a review of it since there isn't much info on these on the web. REAL PREY SWIMBAITS and Joe: I can write a lot about my experience with ordering my bait from Real Prey but Ill just say this. Joe is awesome. He emailed me after I placed my order asking about rate of fall I was looking for and how I would rig the bait. I wanted a bait that would fall similar to a ROF12 hudd and he told me to go with his Medium sink and it was right on. He kept me in the loop via emails while he was making the bait and let me know when it was finished and shipped out. Great guy and great company. Initial Impressions: Two things really jumped out at me when I saw this bait. First was, "my good this bait is huge" and "the paint and finish of this bait are top notch". This bait dwarfs a 8" hudd (see pic bellow). Remember that feeling when you went from fishing 6" hudds to 8" hudds? I got that feeling again throwing this thing for the first time. I have 2 baits, one I bought used from a member on here that is a slow sink and the one I just got from Joe that's a medium sink. The bait is exactly 10" long and the slow sink weighs in at 7.8oz and the medium at 8.3oz. The paint is superb. The silicone feels a bit tougher and less supple than a hudd. It seems like it will be very durable over time. Fishing: Bait has a good tail kick at any speed and does not roll over when reeled faster. At slow speeds the tail kick is not as hard as a hudd rof5. The tail is probably twice the size of a hudds so even though its not kicking as hard as a hudd its probably moving as much water if not more. Both baits I have sink vertically but the medium sink goes down at a slight nose down angle. I rigged my Medium sink BB style with no stinger hook. My thought was, because I would be fishing it so slow, and the bait is so big, any decent size fish will grab this thing by the head. The slow sink I have is rigged with a stinger mostly because that's the way I got it and I would be fishing that one off the bottom so less chance of snags. So far I am 2/2 on the slow sink and 1/1 on the medium sink. The fish I caught on the BB rig was just over 6lbs. Conclusion: I really like this bait. The reservoir I fish rarely stocks any trout under 10" so I feel like this bait has the look of a freshly stocked trout. Also, because of the fishing pressure in California, and everyone throwing swimbaits out here in the winter has a hudd tied on, changing things up a bit cant hurt.

OK guys you've tapped me out. I am officially putting an end to the free eyes. If you've messaged me and haven't got them yet let me know. Thanks to everyone who participated, it was cool seeing all the nice fish people are catching.

or you can add some weight and see if it glides

Yep, it's very much like a hudd with subtle head movement. I really like the bait and can't wait to try it some in colder water I swear it just looks like you could get a tail attachment and put it on a normal slide swimmer and make it a shudder tail. Maybe the weighting is different, but it looks like a slide swimmer with a bigger tail glued on. Ya the slide swimmer, shudder tail, and silent killer are all pretty much the same basic bait. Deps has it figured out, very efficient from a business standpoint.

They don't glide like an SS. The tail kicks like a hudd but because of the joint you do get a little movement from the body. Its definitely a cool bait, you'll enjoy it.

Is the skin glued on to the bait? The saiko tuned baits I have are. Butch glues the skin on with super glue. Does the bait float during g retrieve? It doest go under when you reel it in?

If this wasn't on video I never would have believed it... lol.

Hogs... that first fish looks heavy, how big was she? Don't forget to message me your address and I'll get them out to you.

I don't put any hooks on the bottom of a hudd because I am usually fishing a ROF12 on or near the bottom of the lake. I personally don't think a hudd needs a stinger, the bass I have caught using BB style really eat the entire bait and usually have the bait head first. When I am throwing a hudd late Fall and winter I rarely get nibbles, the bass usually commit to it. I've started throwing the Real Prey 10" trout a lot lately and I have that bait rigged BB style as well. The real prey is significantly bigger than a hudd and I may end up putting a stinger on the back, I just don't have enough experience with it yet to say. I feel like these bigger baits that are fished really slow need to look as natural as possible so I hate putting extra hooks on them. Maybe someone with more experience throwing baits like the real prey and magnum trout can chime in on their experiences.

Nope, still have some, send me a PM.

The problem with the 201e is that they are all 7:0.1 gear ratio which is really fast. They never made a e5 in lefty so you will really need to slow down your retrieve to fish those baits, especially as the weather starts cooling off. I use a 201e7 sometimes to fish some smaller baits that I want to fish faster like the roman made trick.

The 175 weights are smaller. If you use them you will need to add more weight on top of it.

I mentioned I catch a lot of fish on a bait that suspends but that's just what the fish seem to be wanting right now at the specific lake I fish using a rip and pause retrieve. When it cools off more i will probably be using a faster sinking bait to get down deeper and fishing much slower. These baits catch fish stock and are really easy to tune. You'll figure it out once you start fishing it. When I tune mine I don't use a scale I just test the sink in a empty fish tank I have set up. Like speed said water temp plays a big role in sink rate so if you get it doing what you want now that might change a bit when your on the water.

I have a few different colors and have caught fish on all of them. I think the bigger variable is the rate of fall. I have a saiko tuned trout that suspends and I catch noticeable more fish on that bait than the standard slow sink. As far as color goes I like colors with flash in them. Flash trout, flash carp and blue gill are my go to baits. I caught this guy today.

I dont have that reel but it should have one for each side of the yoke. Ive never seen a reel with only one.