In case you were wondering how the test products were working, here’s the quick rundown.

DUDS

The VMC Octopus Live Bait hooks didn’t seem to hook fish any better when used on a damashi/sabiki rig, and were harder to quickly unhook from the fish. I did like the how the bent-back eye of the hook made the hook hang straight when tied with a snell, but the offset angle of the point didn’t release from the fish easily.

The scented 13 Fishing soft plastics weren’t any more effective than the Completely Hooked Lures minnows I normally use, and were more expensive.

STUDS

The flexible Rapala Fish Pro 6 inch Fillet Knife has performed really well, especially on soft fleshed fish. Such an improvement over my thicker, stiffer knives.

NOT TESTED YET

Haven’t used the 13 Fishing Concept Z SLD reel yet. Need to throw some plugs for papio or kaku while they are still close to shore.

I have used the Phenix 6’6″ Black Diamond Heavy boat rod and 6′ PE 2-4 Megalodan jig rod, but haven’t fought anything significant on either. I do like the lightness and strength so far, though.

I’ll drop a Duo Drag Metal Force Semi Long jig on the Megalodan jig rod.

And to add to my backlog of products to test, I purchased a Chasing Can Fish Lure underwater camera since the GoFish camera is discontinued. It has an external on/off switch, full 1080p and more than 2 hr of battery time. I’ve used it once so far and the ease of use and clarity was a big upgrade to the GoFish. If the camera turns out to be a winnah, I plan to become a dealer and sell it at our usual killer prices.

This was taken in 50ft of water and hasn’t been photo edited at all. I wasn’t able to drop on fish in the deeper water, but water clarity at 130ft was clearer than this shot.