Introduction: Trophy Sticks are a new custom made bait designed for West Coast trophy hunters pursuing a wide range of species from Salmon to Striped Bass. These lures exhibit handmade craftsmanship of days gone by coupled with a deceivingly subtle action.
Impressions: These days when you think ripbait a number of manufacturers come to mind, namely Rapala, Lucky Craft, Yozuri, and Megabass for JDM junkies like our own Enthusiast Editor Cal. We often forget that there are other options, other solutions out there that not only can catch fish, but are less likely to be seen by fish on high pressured water.
The Trophy Sticks, a new stickbait you probably haven't heard of....yet
Trophy Sticks are one such lure, and are the brainchild of Jake Bunio a trophy hunter who was not satisfied with other mass produced solutions. He the team at Trophy Sticks spent a lot of time modifying lures from the very brands we mentioned earlier and started by upgrading the hooks and repainting the bodies. Though the lures worked they never could get the lures to look as realistic as they desired. The result was the birth of the Trophy Stick, still regarded by many as a secret out in the West Coast though it has now been featured in a number of publications including the Fish Sniffer.
The Trophy Sticks feature a 3D design that actually features flared gills
Well the word is officially out. Trophy Sticks remind us of handcrafted balsa wood lures of the past, with some artistic creativity added in, and some intelligent hydrodynamic design all wrapped into one lure. The lures themselves took over a year to create, and countless hours of testing went into getting the design and action just right.
Look closely and you can see a realistic lure pattern, fins, and gill plate
Jake decided to start the company with 3 different patterns, which are the food for all big fish in rivers, lakes and the delta systems. These include the
Tasty Tui which is a
Tui-Chub imitation or also known as a hitch and is designed to target Largemouth and Stripers on lakes like Clear Lake, The California Delta, Lake Folsom.
The Trophy Sticks have a subtle action and is best retrieved at a medium pace or trolled
The next pattern is the
Baby Bow, which is the same paint scheme he originally used on the Rapalas he modified. This lure is designed for any fish that preys on rainbows, including bass and stripers. Jacob explained that the little rainbow trout is a great meal for all Bass in the Delta and went on to say that the rainbow/steelhead runs back and forth through the CA Delta system further make this a good choice for all types of bass because they love to eat little rainbow trout including big, big Striper.
The "Baby Bow" pattern is the same paint scheme that was originally created by Scotty to soup up the Rapalas he was modifying
The third pattern is called the
Silver Platter which is a small Salmon imitation which mimics a young salmon and a favorite food for giant predatory fish like Brown Trout, Giant Mackinaw and Trophy Rainbow Trout, but can also be used to target bass and stripers as well. When Jake contacted us to introduce these baits to us, well... we were skeptical, after all does the world need another stick bait? We have tested so many jerk/ripbaits over the years we have joked that we need a new section of the site simply dedicated to these elongated lures. It was time to see if the Trophy Sticks are worthy of the very name they are bestowed with.
Underneath you can see the protruding gills
Real World Tests: To put the Trophy Sticks to the performance tests we head to the very water that Jacob explained the lures would perform well on... our backyard, the California Delta. While we did fish for largemouth bass our main goal was to hook into some double digit early Fall run stripers. We fished the lure both as a standard stickbait, a ripbait, and trolling....and here's what we found...
Casting: The Trophy Sticks are easy enough to cast but don't cast as far as some of the branded plastic jerkbaits, especially ones from Lucky Craft and Yozuri that have a weight shifting cast control system. Though as little shorter in distance the lures are large and heavy enough to get pretty far out with any rod over 6'6" in length. We did all our fishing with 12 and 14lb monofilament, so downsizing your test will increase casting distance though we wouldn't recommend it... after all with this lure your going for a trophy fish.
Each lure is coated with a thick layer of gloss to protect the finish
Retrieve: Once in the water we began to examine the Trophy Stick's unique retrieve. At first we struggled to see how the bait worked as it exhibits a very different slow rolling action rather than an erratic side to side swim so often found on other jerkbaits. The action is tight, and even when ripped this lure will surge forward relatively straight rather than dart side to side aggressively. At first this puzzled us, as we wondered if the lure would even garner attention from big fish. It was only after we began trolling the lure close to the boat that the bait's action really started to shine.
The Trophy Sticks make use of a extra thick diameter bill for added durability
At a medium to constant retrieve the bait swims in a slow wobbling movement that looks much more lifelike that other stick baits that whip back and forth. Never judge a book, or lure for that matter, by its cover... and as we have found out in the past what anglers and fish see are two completely different things.
During the tests we found many bass and stripers eager to pursue the subtle action the Trophy Sticks exhibited. The scale pattern looks even more authentic in the water, and flashes like a live minnow as it flees from predators.
From all angles the "scarred" eyes look realistic, and they too are coated with the same thick layer of gloss
Durability: Stickbaits take most of their abuse from fish rather than structure, so the vulnerable points are typically both the finish which often comes in contact with the hooks, and the durability of the hooks themselves. Anyone that has fished Lucky Craft Pointers can attest to the arc shaped scratch that forms on the side of the lure after a few trips. Trophy Sticks make use of Daiichi hooks and rings and to prevent scratches the lure is coated with a serious amount of gloss, honestly the gloss is so thick that it actually looks wet at all times. Striper after striper the Trophy Sticks held up to the abuse, the scaled finish was well protected beneath the gloss and looks as good as the day we started fishing the lures. Stripers over 10lbs in weight are known to bend out hooks, but the Daiichi hooks held up well. They opened up just a bit but were easily bent back with pliers.
Price & Applications: Though we were not able to test the Trophy Sticks on giant Brown Trout...yet, we did pit the lures against some decent sized striped bass. This lure is designed to attract and get big fish to commit and will work well on bass, stripers, muskie, pike, and we intend to try the lure on salmon and trout in the coming weeks. Jake and his team have boated many big browns, and there are a lot of other testimonials starting to now pour in from anglers willing to share the bait with others.
A striper caught with the Trophy Stick
When it comes to price the Trophy Stick is by no means a cheap bait, and retails for .99 to .99 depending on size. This is in line with premium Japanese lures from companies like Lucky Craft. The lure has a completely different appeal to many of the lures currently being mass produced. It is a regional offering, one that has all the makings of a handmade work of art, and is good for what it isn�t just as much for what it is. Confused? Many of the mass produced lures from Tier 1 brands are cookie cutter, meaning they look identical in every way. This is certainly a good thing when you want consistency, but fish do see things in a different way, and sometimes extra realism can be a result of organic design.
The Trophy Sticks look real down to the small scale pattern, and scarred 3D eyes. They may not swim as aggressively as other lures, but they do swim realistically. Whatever the formula is, fish seem to like the Trophy Sticks, and especially if you�re trolling, this bait will call in the big ones.
