I've decided to resurrect the HardCore XXX Fishin's Tackle Torture Chamber blog and apply it's focus to my new and favorite bass fishing technique: punching. If you're not familiar with the term or technique, stay tuned, as you'll soon find the coolest punchin' specific rods, reels, line, hooks, and baits discussed here. I plan to have some video reviews in the spring, as I plan on purchasing a GoPro Hero2 video camera to capture some on water fishing action. I'll leave you with a little peek at the GoPro.
Parasite Weights
(models reviewed: Parasite Weights (lead: 1/4 oz and 3/16 oz, tungsten 1/4 oz and 3/16 oz), Parasite Clips.
Ever needed to get your soft plastic lure down to the fish hugging the bottom, or hunkered down in the weeds? What did you do? Did you peg a bullet weight to the line using a toothpick? Good idea, but that toothpick could cause abrasion, or pinch your line, weakening it fatally. Did you clamp a split shot onto the hook or line? Another good idea, but that split shot can't pinch really well to your wire hook, and by their nature, they WILL pinch your line, again weakening it.
Ever lost a senko or other style of soft plastic from your hook while fighting a fish, or casting, or have it ball up on the hook, preventing a solid hookset? Did you try some sort of super glue or 'fisherman's glue' to try to glue the bait to the hook? I bet you didn't like the result either. The area where you applied the glue is discolored white and crusty and is the plastic itself is turned hard as a rock, not to mention what the fish smell or taste when that stinky glue is applied. Did you try some sort of weight that you screw to your bait to hold it? Did you try to change your bait with this weight, only to have the bait pull apart, and be unusable for other purposes, or take too much time to remove without shredding your bait when the bite was hot on another color?
With these above situations, you used to have to just deal with it or make do with less than satisfatory solutions. But what if there was a "bullet" style weight that attached to your hook without any glue, toothpicks, screws, or pegs, and that also kept your bait from balling up during hooksets and flying off during those epic battles with monster fish? "Amazing!", you would exclaim, "Pure genious! BUT..., that's impossible, what's the catch?!". Well, Chuck Ditto at D&W Lure Co. had these very same problems, and set about creating a solution. With some craft wire, some good ol' ingenuity, and plenty of trial, error and patience, he created and perfected a product that addressed all of those issues we looked at.
It is called the Parasite Weight. It's a hydrodynamically shaped weight (think "bullet") with a hole in the middle for your line to go through, and with a wire clip molded right into the weight itself. It is very simple to use, and yet so effective it is amazing. The weight itself comes in regular lead, painted lead, and tungsten. Out of the three styles, I prefer the tungsten, not only for it's environmentally friendly aspect vs the lead, but for the fact that it's size is much smaller than the lead version of the same weight (due to tungsten having a heavier/more dense mass than lead). The lead version comes in 7 sizes from 1/8 oz to 1 oz, and the tungsten version comes in 1/4 and 3/16 oz sizes.
To rig the Parasite Weight, all you need to do is follow three easy steps.
1. Thread your line through the hole in the center of the weight.
2. Tie your preferred worm hook onto your line.
3. Begin to rig your plastic. Once you have the plastic up to the eye of the hook, but before you bury the hookpoint in the bait, slide the weight up the line a few inches so you have some play in the line, and slide the wire clip over the point of the hook and up to the bend just below the eye of the hook. Pull the line tight, and bury your hookpoint into the soft plastic. You're done and ready to fish.
Now that we have it rigged up, lets take a look at how it performs under real HardCore fishing conditions. I like to use very soft soft plastic baits, and the Parasite Weight holds them on on without a problem. Even on the harshest "Bill Dance style" home run swing hooksets, there is no tendency for these ultra soft baits to slip down the hook, or tear at the head. The same result applies for epic smallie battles. For the most part, the bait stays on the hook, but once in a while, the bait will be thrown. That's to be expected when fighting a ferocious battler like a smallmouth bass, but it is a much much less frequent occurence in comparison to a smallie battle without the Parasite Weight.
It's performance around underwater structure is effective as well. It slides through the weeds and over branches and through rocky beds as well as any bullet style weight does, and the tungsten version does it better naturally due to it's smaller size. The lead style tends to slip through the rocky areas better due to its slightly more long and slender form.
We've looked at how it works, and how well it works under HardCore fishing conditions. However, there are a few minor issues that did arise while using them, but not enough to prevent my using this product on a constant basis.
The first issue was figuring out how to rig it for the first time. It seems a bit complicated, but I just looked at the picture on the package, and followed the easy diagram, and now, it is second nature. There have been a few times when I've had to retie as I forgot to slide the Parasite Weight onto the line before I tied my hook on, and being somewhat lazy, I wished there was a way to get it on after you tie the hook on, but that's jut me being lazy, as if you were going to use a regular pegged bullet weight or screw in weight, you'd have to retie as well.
The second issue I have with the Parasite Weight is the incidental contact of the weight with the knot on the hook eye. The Parasite Weight has a concave area for the hookeye to sit in, and the bore of the hole in the weight itself where the line runs through is very smooth and I never noticed any abrasion on the line from the weight. What I did notice is that after extended use, there is a very small amount of wear that can be noticed on the knot from the weight contacting the knot during regular fishing. This is due to the small amount of play that the Parasite Weight has to accomodate the varied types and sizes of lines, hooks and baits that it may be used with. This issue never resulted in a failed knot, or lost fish though, it was just something you may want to make a note of, and keep an eye on. A very simple remedy for this is to put either a tiny plastic bead behind the weight before you tie on the hook, or use a tiny rubber bushing to cushion the knot, like one found on a Buzzbomb.
The third issue was with the Parasite Clip, which is another product in the D&W's Parasite system which is simply the clip without the weight, and is designed for weightless rigs. It works just as well as the Parasite Weight in holding the bait on the hook, but I found that the clip did have the tendency to accumulate more detritus and weeds than a pure weightless/weedless rig would have.
I guess the real question is whether this is a viable product for everyday fishing use, and does it do the job well enough to replace and make obsolete the pegged bullet weight, the fishermen's glue and the screw in weight. In my opinion, the lead version of the Parasite Weight is a bit bulky, and lacks the compact size and high tech, precise nature of the tungsten model, which appeals to my tackle junky side to no end. The colored lead version could be a nice alternative to shake things up when fishing is tough, or you want to make a more precise and unified presentation of your bait. The Parasite Clip is also a good product and effective for what it's purpose is, but I don't seem to be reaching for it as much as the tungsten Parasite Weights as the tungstens fulfill my fishing needs to a T.
The HardCore results:
Parasite Clip: Karma Level of 5.25
(It works great, but I just never really find myself looking for it when I throw a weightless rig. Plus the weed attraction factor is a pain.)
Lead Parasite Weight: Karma Level of 5.75
(It works great, but put it beside the painted or tungsten model and its the plain nerdy sister to the prom queens)
Painted Lead Parasite Weight: Karma Level of 6
(The coolness of the color aspect is offset by its bulk in comparison to the tungsten version.)
Tungsten Parasite Weight: Karma Level of 7
(It's exotic metal composition is not just for the cool factor and high tech bling, it is a very critical part of what makes this weight so functional. It provides the avenue for it's compact size, and in doing so, makes it stand head an shoulders above it's lead siblings in form and function. Now if came in anodized or painted colors as well as the plain silver, and perhaps a rubber cup on the concave part of the wieght to protect the knot, I think it would come as close to a perfect fishing product for it's intended use as could possibly exist.)
Ever needed to get your soft plastic lure down to the fish hugging the bottom, or hunkered down in the weeds? What did you do? Did you peg a bullet weight to the line using a toothpick? Good idea, but that toothpick could cause abrasion, or pinch your line, weakening it fatally. Did you clamp a split shot onto the hook or line? Another good idea, but that split shot can't pinch really well to your wire hook, and by their nature, they WILL pinch your line, again weakening it.
Ever lost a senko or other style of soft plastic from your hook while fighting a fish, or casting, or have it ball up on the hook, preventing a solid hookset? Did you try some sort of super glue or 'fisherman's glue' to try to glue the bait to the hook? I bet you didn't like the result either. The area where you applied the glue is discolored white and crusty and is the plastic itself is turned hard as a rock, not to mention what the fish smell or taste when that stinky glue is applied. Did you try some sort of weight that you screw to your bait to hold it? Did you try to change your bait with this weight, only to have the bait pull apart, and be unusable for other purposes, or take too much time to remove without shredding your bait when the bite was hot on another color?
With these above situations, you used to have to just deal with it or make do with less than satisfatory solutions. But what if there was a "bullet" style weight that attached to your hook without any glue, toothpicks, screws, or pegs, and that also kept your bait from balling up during hooksets and flying off during those epic battles with monster fish? "Amazing!", you would exclaim, "Pure genious! BUT..., that's impossible, what's the catch?!". Well, Chuck Ditto at D&W Lure Co. had these very same problems, and set about creating a solution. With some craft wire, some good ol' ingenuity, and plenty of trial, error and patience, he created and perfected a product that addressed all of those issues we looked at.
It is called the Parasite Weight. It's a hydrodynamically shaped weight (think "bullet") with a hole in the middle for your line to go through, and with a wire clip molded right into the weight itself. It is very simple to use, and yet so effective it is amazing. The weight itself comes in regular lead, painted lead, and tungsten. Out of the three styles, I prefer the tungsten, not only for it's environmentally friendly aspect vs the lead, but for the fact that it's size is much smaller than the lead version of the same weight (due to tungsten having a heavier/more dense mass than lead). The lead version comes in 7 sizes from 1/8 oz to 1 oz, and the tungsten version comes in 1/4 and 3/16 oz sizes.
To rig the Parasite Weight, all you need to do is follow three easy steps.
1. Thread your line through the hole in the center of the weight.
2. Tie your preferred worm hook onto your line.
3. Begin to rig your plastic. Once you have the plastic up to the eye of the hook, but before you bury the hookpoint in the bait, slide the weight up the line a few inches so you have some play in the line, and slide the wire clip over the point of the hook and up to the bend just below the eye of the hook. Pull the line tight, and bury your hookpoint into the soft plastic. You're done and ready to fish.
Now that we have it rigged up, lets take a look at how it performs under real HardCore fishing conditions. I like to use very soft soft plastic baits, and the Parasite Weight holds them on on without a problem. Even on the harshest "Bill Dance style" home run swing hooksets, there is no tendency for these ultra soft baits to slip down the hook, or tear at the head. The same result applies for epic smallie battles. For the most part, the bait stays on the hook, but once in a while, the bait will be thrown. That's to be expected when fighting a ferocious battler like a smallmouth bass, but it is a much much less frequent occurence in comparison to a smallie battle without the Parasite Weight.
It's performance around underwater structure is effective as well. It slides through the weeds and over branches and through rocky beds as well as any bullet style weight does, and the tungsten version does it better naturally due to it's smaller size. The lead style tends to slip through the rocky areas better due to its slightly more long and slender form.
We've looked at how it works, and how well it works under HardCore fishing conditions. However, there are a few minor issues that did arise while using them, but not enough to prevent my using this product on a constant basis.
The first issue was figuring out how to rig it for the first time. It seems a bit complicated, but I just looked at the picture on the package, and followed the easy diagram, and now, it is second nature. There have been a few times when I've had to retie as I forgot to slide the Parasite Weight onto the line before I tied my hook on, and being somewhat lazy, I wished there was a way to get it on after you tie the hook on, but that's jut me being lazy, as if you were going to use a regular pegged bullet weight or screw in weight, you'd have to retie as well.
The second issue I have with the Parasite Weight is the incidental contact of the weight with the knot on the hook eye. The Parasite Weight has a concave area for the hookeye to sit in, and the bore of the hole in the weight itself where the line runs through is very smooth and I never noticed any abrasion on the line from the weight. What I did notice is that after extended use, there is a very small amount of wear that can be noticed on the knot from the weight contacting the knot during regular fishing. This is due to the small amount of play that the Parasite Weight has to accomodate the varied types and sizes of lines, hooks and baits that it may be used with. This issue never resulted in a failed knot, or lost fish though, it was just something you may want to make a note of, and keep an eye on. A very simple remedy for this is to put either a tiny plastic bead behind the weight before you tie on the hook, or use a tiny rubber bushing to cushion the knot, like one found on a Buzzbomb.
The third issue was with the Parasite Clip, which is another product in the D&W's Parasite system which is simply the clip without the weight, and is designed for weightless rigs. It works just as well as the Parasite Weight in holding the bait on the hook, but I found that the clip did have the tendency to accumulate more detritus and weeds than a pure weightless/weedless rig would have.
I guess the real question is whether this is a viable product for everyday fishing use, and does it do the job well enough to replace and make obsolete the pegged bullet weight, the fishermen's glue and the screw in weight. In my opinion, the lead version of the Parasite Weight is a bit bulky, and lacks the compact size and high tech, precise nature of the tungsten model, which appeals to my tackle junky side to no end. The colored lead version could be a nice alternative to shake things up when fishing is tough, or you want to make a more precise and unified presentation of your bait. The Parasite Clip is also a good product and effective for what it's purpose is, but I don't seem to be reaching for it as much as the tungsten Parasite Weights as the tungstens fulfill my fishing needs to a T.
The HardCore results:
Parasite Clip: Karma Level of 5.25
(It works great, but I just never really find myself looking for it when I throw a weightless rig. Plus the weed attraction factor is a pain.)
Lead Parasite Weight: Karma Level of 5.75
(It works great, but put it beside the painted or tungsten model and its the plain nerdy sister to the prom queens)
Painted Lead Parasite Weight: Karma Level of 6
(The coolness of the color aspect is offset by its bulk in comparison to the tungsten version.)
Tungsten Parasite Weight: Karma Level of 7
(It's exotic metal composition is not just for the cool factor and high tech bling, it is a very critical part of what makes this weight so functional. It provides the avenue for it's compact size, and in doing so, makes it stand head an shoulders above it's lead siblings in form and function. Now if came in anodized or painted colors as well as the plain silver, and perhaps a rubber cup on the concave part of the wieght to protect the knot, I think it would come as close to a perfect fishing product for it's intended use as could possibly exist.)
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