Tackle Review - Slammer 10" Deep Minnow

Like in the past, I'll spend some of the off-season posting my reviews of new baits, rods, reels, etc. that I used in the past season.

The Slammer 10" Deep Minnow was one of my favorite crankbaits for a long time. I was a bit nervous when they quit making them out of wood and went to plastic. I was most worried that the action would change. The old ones had a big, wide head-shake, even at slower speeds. Best of all, they would "wander" off center, a trait I feel is crucial for a productive crank; the St. Clair guys swear by it.

I was relieved this past season to find the new plastic Slammers are better than the old ones. The action was exactly the same, and more consistent from one lure to the next. The old ones usually needed quite a bit of tuning and tweaking to run and were a bit inconsistent from lure to lure. The plastic ones need far less tweaking, usually none at all. Even better, the new ones are a lot more durable. I used the new plastic version a lot this fall and it was awesome for walking across the rocks. Like the wood version, it rarely got hung up. But unlike the wood version, I didn't have to worry about contacting rocks and breaking my lure. The improved durability was noticeable. The achilles heal of the wood version was the connection of the lip to the lure body - the lip would eventually get loose in the slot or just fall off completely. I banged the heck out of the new Slammers, for hours and hours a day, and I haven't had one fall apart yet.

It looks like an old favorite got better.