I got a chance to try out the new Rago Live Trout hardbait today. I threw it almost exclusively for 5 or 6 hours and I gotta say it fishes just as good as it looks.

Specs:

The one I used was 9 3/4 inches long and weighs about 4 ounces. The hard part of the bait is made out of some type of lightweight injected plastic. It floats and dives about 10 feet.

Action:

From the first cast I was extremely impressed with the action on this bait. I always thought the old Generic Hardbait's action was a little too dampened, but the action on these baits is awesome. The bait kicks surprisingly hard at any speed of retrieve. I was also pleasantly surprised that the bait ran perfectly true right out of the box and would not roll no matter how fast I burned it. Finally, I think the extended plastic tail portion combined with the jointed hard body is the best of both worlds action-wise. You get more movement with the hard joint than the plastic jointed Castaic Trout, and more realistic action in the tail than the MS Slammer or the old Castaic hardbait.

Durability:

I've often though swimbaits should be rated like car warranties. For example Joe Swimbait is rated 5 fish / 40 hours (which ever comes first) structure, 20 hours paint, 10 fish / 1 rock hook, etc... Basically the problem with a lot of soft plastic swimbaits is that I end up running through those 40 hours before I get a decent fish and end up feeling like I wasted my money. Which is why my favorite swimbait has been the MS Slammer. It would have a limited lifetime guarantee structurally. The Live Trout is almost as durable as a SLammer AND is shaped like a real trout. Overall the hard body and bill seem nice and solid. I don't doubt you could get 50+ fish out of one bait. However the soft plastic tail on mine has already began to come unglued on one side. I know I can permanently fix this with a slight internal modification, but I hope Jerry creates a better way for attaching the tail for future baits. After 5 hours of casting (including a few that landed on the bank) the paint job is already showing a few nicks. I would expect better durability than this. I will probably clear coat this one before I use it again. On the grand scale though, this definitely be one of the most durable swimbaits on the market.

Cosmetics:

Like all Jerry's baits, this lure is a work of art. Overall the basic shape makes a very realistic trout silhouette, with detailed fins and paint job. It's almost too pretty looking, it actually looks a lot better than most of the real trout I see around here. Ideally, I would have preferred a slightly more toned down finish with smaller fins, but the fish probably don't care.

Fishing:

The fishing was pretty miserable today. Some small fish were being caught dragging plastics, but anything over a pound or two were not showing up anywhere. I stuck with the Live Trout all day and finally got my one bite. The fish grabbed the lure about 20 feet from my boat and ran hard. I was using my heaviest swimbait rod with the drag hammered. I ripped the fish right back up to the surface. It was a good one, looked about 8 pounds. The fish shook its head below the surface right in front of me and spat the lure out. At least I know it gets bit. I'm actually very surprised the fish came off, even with a locked drag. The double hook design should have a extremely high hooking and landing percentage. Next time I'm putting on Gammies!

Nico