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River2Sea Bossymarck - Bass Pattern

Author: Rob Belloni

Overview/History:  The River2Sea Kong series came out in late summer 2007.  For some reason the name has since been changed to the Bossymarck and I’ll call it that for this review.  This three-piece hardbait is available in a 6 and 5/8” and a 9” version.  River2Sea measures everything in millimeters so the corresponding model names are the 168 and the 230.  There’s a floating and sinking version in each size and a total of six available colors.  For you math majors that’s 24 different options.  The stock hooks are black nickel Daiichi’s with 2/0 on the small bait reviewed here and 4/0 on the larger model.  Split rings are heavy duty style.  Retail price is $28.

Pros:  I had this tournament at Clear Lake right around when the Bossymarck came out.  If you didn’t know, big bass have this thing about eating little bass at Clear Lake.  Talk to people who fish the lake often and you’ll start to hear the, “I was reeling in a 10 incher and this 9 pounder cam up and crushed it!” stories pretty quick.  So I was intrigued by the bass paint job on the Bossymarck and decided to purchase the 168F.  The bass paint job looks good, albeit a little yellow.

The trout pattern isn’t half bad either.  It’s a pale trout pattern but I like that for clear water.   You get a slight green tinge to water with ten foot visibility and this paint job really starts to look yummy.  The fins are matched well enough to the body and River2Sea took the time to paint the top of the tail a darker color to match the back of the lure.  A more transparent set of fins and a black edge to the tail on the bass pattern would have made me even more excited to push the ‘Add to Cart’ button but they let the light through OK.

The Bossymarck swims straight out of the package and the joint system is solid as far as I can tell.  I haven’t had any issue with the fins falling off or breaking off at the base.  The finish seems durable and hasn’t chipped up where the hooks rub the lure.  If you want to tie direct to the wire loop on the nose, it’s thin enough to do so.  The Kokanee pattern has a red eyeball.  Shoot, do kokanee have red eyes?  Maybe if they stay up too late at night eating plankton and kernels of corn, I don’t know…

My experience with River2Sea baits is that they hit that mid-range of quality and performance for China manufactured stuff.  You’re not going to get junk from River2Sea but it’s probably not going to knock your socks off either.  With the obvious competition being the BBZ-1 (and by extension the Rago 3-piece Tool) the Bossymarck comes in $5 cheaper than the BBZ-1.  If you need to save five bucks and get a 9” three-piece hardbait something fierce, the Bossymarck is here to fit that spot.  

Cons:  For a lure that looks a lot like a walleye it’s weird that there is no walleye pattern.  I mean - there could have been an interesting musky bait to be had here with the 230F and the right paint job.  Maybe the guys at River2Sea know that musky go for giant pink and purple spinnerbaits and figured that a walleye specific paint job wasn’t needed.  We can only wonder.  

The point I’m making here is that this lure is shaped nothing like a trout, and not much like a bass.  With so many hardbaits available that are shaped like trout and bass, it’s hard for me to justify this bait in my tackle box.  I did try it at Clear Lake and found the action to be jerky and awkward.  The best adjective I can use to describe it is stubby.  Not what I was looking for.  

River2Sea makes a buzzbait called the Crystal Buzz.  This is a hot looking buzzbait in the Chartreuse Shad pattern.  When I watched my team partner fish with it he had two good fish short-strike it.  I went home and bought one right away.  The next year I had a chance to use my Crystal Buzz and got short bit too.  It seemed coincidental.  I talked to another friend about it and he told me the same thing unprompted.  

I bring this story up because it’s an analogy for what I think happens with these baits that are manufactured but not field tested thoroughly enough.  Time is spent on features, quality, and low-cost production but it is not spent putting the lure in front of predatory fish eyeballs.  There’s something just not quite right about that Crystal Buzz buzzbait.  There’s something not quite right to me about the Bossymarck either.  It moves weird in the water; it’s shaped like a walleye but painted like a trout or a bass.  It’s not a bad lure, it’s just not right.  

River2Sea has the manufacturing capability to build a good product and price it low; they just need to spend more time making sure that fish want to eat the finished product.  It’s hard to get bit on swimbaits so testing one can take a long time.  You have to find pro-staff who know what they are doing and fish in places where you get more than 1 or 2 bites a trip.  But testing is the only way to confirm the intangible fish-catching features that can’t be seen with the eye.  As a fisherman, that’s all I care about.  

Are you slaying them on the Bossymarck and figure I’m off in left field?  Write in and let me know.  I have two rows with four stacks of Plano 3700’s in the fishing room at home.  My Bossymarck will be chilling out in row two toward the bottom until then.

Average Rating out of 1 voters
David Giudice( madison, AL) Mar 25, 2008
Kong Reveiw
ive used this bait in bass pattern and i love it.
ive been able to 180 the bait,as well as get her to move like a fleeing baitfish. this is a great bait for some bigger fish here in the alabama area such as guntersville,wheeler and wilson
 
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