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Jackall Chubby Minnow 35
JACKALL CHUBBY MINNOW 35
INTRODUCTION: Jackall's latest addition to their
tournament winning Chubby range is the Chubby Minnow 35. Like it's deep
diving big brother, the Chubby Minnow is a suspending crankbait which
has proved to be deadly in our diverse breaming conditions.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type : Crankbait
Depth : 0.5m:0.8m
Size : 35mm
Weight : 2.3g
Class : Suspending
Colours : Brown Suji Shrimp, Crawfish, Ghost Ayu, HL Gold
Colour Tested : Brown Suji Shrimp
Hook Size : #16 (Owner Treble)
RRP : $20-$24
IMPRESSIONS: Anything from the Jackall Bros range
seldom disappoints. Out of the packet, the Chubby Minnow has been
finished as well as all Jackall lures with strong split rings, super
sharp hard gauged trebles and awesome colour schemes which will
definitely make this lure a hit on waterways. Being a massive fan of the
shallow Chubby because of it's size and weight, I was a little uncertain
about the casting ability of the minnow being only 2.3grams. Other lures
in it's weight range (eg. Bassday Sugar Minnow, Atomic Deep Shad 40,
Ecogear SX40, Smith Camion SR) often pose a little bit of a problem when
punching a cast into the wind. It's length of 35mm is a perfect size for breaming and added to the eagerness to get this lure wet.
FIELD TEST: We rigged the Jackall Chubby Minnow onto
our test setup that we will be using with all our lure reviews being a G
Loomis DSR820 matched with a TD Sol 2500 spooled with 4lb Berkley
Fireline and 4lb Yamatoyo Harris fighter leader. Our arena for this test
was the shallow rubble flats of Peel Island with the conditions of
8:10kt winds and a nice sunny day. We tried the lure in several depths
of water to test it's running depth, suspending features and more
importantly fish catching ability!! During our test we tried several
retrieve rates to determine which was the most effective. We found when
cranking fast, the minnow's wobble action remained normal but the lure
swam sideways and rose to the surface which can be due to it's bib shape
cutting through the water. On the contrary when the lure is slow
cranked, the chubby minnow's wobble action was at optimum with a
slightly wider wobble than it's bigger brother chubby which can be found
to be irresistible by aggressive predators. We agreed that the best
retrieve rate and pattern was a slow cranking retrieve with 3:4sec
pauses added which allowed the lure to suspend without slow rising
outside the strike zone. The suspending feature of this lure was good
but found when left suspended for more than 5 secs it slowly began to
rise which didn't pose a great problem when cranking it over shallow
reefs.
CASTING: Now this was the area of concern at first because of it's light
weight and thin design but from the first cast this minnow proved me
wrong. The first cast was into a slight breeze where I gave it full
power to see how this Chubby handled. Much to my surprise the casting
ability was awesome as the lure travelled surprisingly good distance
with ease. Maximum casting distance could be achieved by decreasing your
line diameter as found with many high grade dyneemas or by using 2:4lb flourocarbon straight through.
APPLICATION: Due to the Jackall Chubby minnow's shallow diving and
suspending features, it would be best used when chasing fish right up in
the shallows, for example during a rising tide, or over the top of reef
flats and shallow bommies where predatory fish cruise during their
feeding time. Suspending lures are fantastic when including pauses in
your retrieves as it can entice shy fish to strike when the lure stops
and suspends.
EFFECTIVENESS: During our field test we found this
lure's catching ability very effective. With Brown Suji Shrimp being one
of Jackall's flagship colours for breaming, we found even in a smaller
minnow size it still attracted the fish with little trouble. The several
fish caught were mainly juvenile during our field test which can mean
the testers ability was of par (I hope not!!) or could open up for
debate the old adage 'Big Bait, Big Fish!!'
RATINGS KEY: 5xbream= Awesome > ½ x bream= Find another
product.
Construction/Quality: A brilliantly constructed lure 5 bream
Performance: Excelled in casting expectation 4 bream
Price: Little high compared to similar quality lures 3 bream
Features: Top quality hooks and split rings 4.5 bream
Design: Good shape and size 4 bream
Application: Good dive height ,slow rise in suspend 3.5 bream
TOTAL: 4 bream
CONCLUSION: Overall, the Jackall Chubby Minnow 35 is a
fantastic lure with great performance and features at a reasonable
price. It has passed all our expectations with flying colours and would
be a very handy addition to any Bream angler's arsenal. When the colour
array is expanded in the future this lure will live up to it's big
brother's tournament winning reputation as an ultimate 'go to' lure.
Jackall Chubby Minnow
35 Colour Chart and Pricing
4Breamin copyright 2009
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