Collaborative effort leads to exciting new version of soft plastic swimbait
If a bass angler’s favorite body of water is everybody else’s favorite fishin’ hole, too, he or she needs an artificial lure that produces in heavily pressured areas. An edge, so to speak.
A one-year long joint project between PRADCO Outdoor Brands’ YUM Bait Co. and the Scottsboro Tackle Co. resulted in a new, improved version of the highly popular Scottsboro Recon Swimbait. Billed as “the greatest injection-molded swimbait ever,” it was introduced in 2022 at ICAST in Orlando, Florida.
That’s how Dustin Elder described the recently released soft plastic swimbait that has had so much success at highland reservoirs near Louisiana, such as Table Rock Lake and Ouachita Lake in Arkansas and grassy lakes like Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas and Lake Guntersville in Alabama, among countless others.
It took a year
According to Elder, Scottsboro Bait Co.’s owner reached out to PRADCO Outdoor Brands to produce the swimbait injection-molded, as opposed to the original hand-poured method. Elder and others on the PRADCO Outdoor Brands production team did just that to nail the exact action of the originals.
“It took us at least a year to get it done. We did a lot of work on these things. We want it to be best for us and the (Scottsboro) owner,” Elder said, pointing out the originals have been ultra-successful since the early 2010s. “The coolest feature about it is it has a very lifelike appearance. The tail and head wag are probably my favorite part of the bait.”
The injection-molded product makes it more economical and more affordable for bass anglers for several reasons. The new swimbaits are a little tougher, last a little longer and are less expensive to purchase in their six-piece package than the old hand-poured models that gained the confidence and praise of so many bass anglers.
Gone are the realistic 3-D eyes featured on the old hand-poured Scottsboro Swimbaits, Elder said. Otherwise, he said, the old and new “look just about the same.”
Popular colors
There are 10 vibrant, fish-attracting colors to choose from among the new swimbaits. Elder is an avid bass angler who lives in Mount Ida, Arkansas, and fishes the clear lakes in the region and has been PRADCO’s assistant brand manager since 2016. He helped decide those colors while assisting with research and design.
Highly popular colors have proven to be Sight Minnow, Rainbow Shad and Baby Bluegill. For clear water it’s hard to beat Rainbow Shad or Sexy Shad, Elder said, while stained water calls for Sunny Bluegill, Tops, or Electric Blue Chartreuse.
Elder recommends threading the YUM Scottsboro Swimbait on a 4/0 Scottsboro Tackle Co. Recon Swimbait Head armed with a Mustad Black Nickel Hook. It also features a keeled head to enhance the soft plastic’s wiggle in the water as well as a durable screw lock keeper to wedge it firmly against the jighead.
The 3- and 3.5-inch YUM Scottsboro Swimbaits are ideal for the YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. umbrella rigs, according to Elder.
“The 3 and 3 ½ swimbaits pop for the umbrella rig,” he said. “Umbrella rigs are the primary reason that we built that one, so it competes in the market.”
For more information on the YUM Scottsboro Recon Swimbait and other YUM/Scottsboro products, go to www.lurenet.com (256) 596-3547 or Scottsborotacklecompany.com (800) 531-1201.
