The Cl8Bait 9 inch trout debuted at the 2008 Bass-a-Thon show. This handmade bait is made in the USA and comes in three sink rates and five colors including two trout, hitch, chartreuse shad, and baby bass. Retail price is $80.

The most innovative aspect of this lure is the body material, which is hard - but pliable. If you grip the bait firmly and push on the dorsal fin, you'll notice that it flexes ever so slightly. Clayton (the bait maker) tells me that this material really withstands casting it on to rocks and docks well and I believe it. It doesn't feel like it will break at all.

Attention to detail with the hooks on this lure is amazing. The rear top hook and the belly hook are painted up to the barb to match the lure. Those hooks are also recessed in to the body of the bait and held in place by magnets which gives the bait a clean profile and even more importantly keeps the hooks in place cast after cast! The top hook is positioned well out of the back of the lure which gives a wider bite. I've never been a fan of the frog hook but like the hook setup on this bait overall.

The action on the Cl8Bait trout deserves a slew of adjectives. It's well above average, and the lure swims perfect at all speeds. My bait is a slow sink and when you crawl this thing along it moves stunningly like a trout. I mean fool your backseater good. If you rip the bait it looks like a trout rushing up to grab a fly off the surface. It's uncanny. I'm 100% impressed by the action.

What's not to like? Not much. I did get a speck of rust on the magnet that holds the rear hook, and I feel like the contrasting fin colors give the bottom of the bait a 'complex' look that doesn't totally jive with the smooth white belly of a trout. But any small flaws are easily made up for in the action and durability department. I'm calling this one as a long term fish catcher. You'll hear more about the Cl8Bait trout in the coming years.


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