Berkley has some interesting new lures and color offerings for 2021.
Summer is finally here and that means most people are focusing their efforts on angling. We recently got to take advantage of the warm weather and spend some time at Berkley and Pure Fishing's Spirit Lake, Iowa facilities. While there, they introduced us to a bevy of new lures and color schemes on existing designs they are launching this year.
We already covered Berkley's new line of jigs and the introduction of their new, revolutionary Gilly swimbait. Today we are highlighting some new soft plastics colors and shapes, and some new hardbait offerings.
The engineers and employees in Spirit Lake, Iowa have been cooking up some exciting stuff in their lab and factory. Now they are ready to share them with the world.
Agent E
One of Berkley's newest soft plastics shapes was designed with input from pro angler Edwin Evers. This is a smaller, bottom fishing swimbait that Berkley says has a lower center of gravity and weighting that allows it to scoot along the bottom, temping bass that are hanging out deep. Although they say this is a versatile bait that can also be fished at mid-depths as a swimbait.
Berkley says the design has proven to be quite durable in testing and the tail provides a lot of action. The designers added a fluorocarbon weed guard to help fish this bait in weedier lakes. Berkley plans to offer it in several injected colors as well as HD print patterns that will help you match the hatch on bluegill, gizzard shad, gobies, or perch.
The Agent E is available in lengths from 2.25 inches to 3.75 inches and 3/8, ½, ¾, and 1-ounce sizes. This bait is set to drop in September with an MSRP from $6.99 to $8.99 depending on size.
MaxScent Lil' Trooper
This new softbait design came from a plethora of requests for something for bed fishing applications from both pro anglers and consumers. This 2.5-inch finesse bait was designed mostly with Ned rig style jigheads in mind. It should allow the bait to bounce and scurry along the bottom just like a bass' favorite food, crayfish.
Berkley says this will be a great option for targeting highly pressured fish since the MaxScent line offers slightly better scent and taste than their standard line. The Lil' Trooper will be available in July. The MSRP is $6.99 for a package of six. The lure will be available in ten colors at launch.
MaxScent Lil' General
The Berkley General has proven to be quite the effective soft plastic bait. We had some excellent success using them with Berkley's engineers during the trip. In July, they plan to launch the 'Lil General, which is just what it sounds like. It is a 2.75-inch stickbait built specifically for Ned rig style setups.
The Lil' General will launch in 14 different color schemes. We anticipate colors like blue pearl black hologram, baby bass, and Gobyashi will be perfect for matching the hatch on baitfish while something like green pumpkin and watermelon copper orange with red will help look like a crayfish scurrying across the bottom. The MSRP is expected to be $6.99 each for a bag of eight.
MaxScent Tube
Every angler knows how effective a tube bait can be in the right circumstances. Berkley decided to make them even better by introducing a line using Powerbait MaxScent for even more fish-catching features. While they are designed for multiple species, they are expecting these baits to work extremely well on smallmouth bass.
The MaxScent tube will be offered in two sizes, 2.5, and 3.5-inches, and will be available in ten colors at its July launch. The larger tube will have six to a bag while the smaller one will have eight. The MSRP is expected to be $6.99.
Berkley Stunna Jerkbait
Travis Smola (Prototype lures shown)
The year 2020 was a wild year, and it also marked the 50th Bassmaster Classic, which was won by Hank Cherry with a whopping 65-pound, 5-ounce total weight. His winning catch came despite rough conditions and were mostly caught on jerkbaits. Which is not surprising given that Cherry's nickname is often "The jerkbait guru."
As a result, it was a no-brainer for Cherry to work with Berkley on the company's newest jerkbait, the "Stunna." The design went through 38 prototypes to re-create the action of the custom jerkbaits Cherry used to win the Classic. Berkley says the new Stunna offers improved action without a loss of durability, especially in the bill. The lure uses a tungsten weight transfer system that gives the bait incredible casting distance. During development, Cherry rated the castability of the Stunna at a "12" on a 1-10 scale.
These jerkbaits are slow sinking models. The Stunna's brass block weight system gives the lure a subtle shimmy on the fall that helps further the illusion of a dying baitfish. Each is a half-ounce and is fitted with extra wide gap Fusion 19 hooks. The standard model will dive three to six feet while the "+1" model will dive to depths between six and 10 feet thanks to a more protruding bill. The Stunna will be available in 14 color schemes. If you are looking for Cherry's winning color, go with "Hankie Pankie." These jerkbaits will retail for $14.99 each.
New Color and Size additions.
In addition to their new bait launches, Berkley is launching new sizes and colors in existing lines of baits. MaxScent Flatworms will get four new colors in green pumpkin/watermelon, cinnamon purple, Gobyashi, and smelt. Berkley's Squarebill crankbaits will get six new colors in black chartreuse, blue shad, firetail green craw, ghost morning dawn, ghost red craw and green shad. Berkley's extremely popular Frittside crankbaits, which were designed in conjunction with pro angler David Fritts, and used to win the Bassmaster Classic, are getting some new HD Tru Color designs. The new HD designs are threadfin shad, blueback herring, bluegill, brown craw, green craw, and blue claw. These lures have either a shiny or a matte finish depending on the color scheme.
As far as topwaters go, Berkley has some new colors on the horizon for the Choppo, which will see threadfin shad, golden shiner, rainbow trout, bluegill, blueback herring, and baby bass HD Tru Color schemes added to the line. There will also be a new 75 size added that weighs ½ ounce and will come in 10 colors.
Finally, Berkley is offering up a new 110 size in its popular Cane Walker stick bait. It comes in 10 colors and is fitted with Fusion19 hooks. The MSRP will be $8.99 each. For more information on all their new offerings, visit the Berkley and Pure Fishing websites.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: PETA IS NOW GOING AFTER FISHERMEN
WATCH
