Product Type: Soft Plastic Swimbait
Tested Size(s): 5”
Tested Colors/Patterns: Hitch, Blue Back Herring, Fire Tiger, Shad
MSRP: $6.99
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First Impression: This is the softest swimbait I have every seen. Has a great profile, excellent colors, and is very flexible.
| FishPittsburgh Scorecard – Hippo Tackle 5 Hollow Core Tube Swimbaits | |
|---|---|
| Durability |   |
| They are very soft so they will get ripped up after a few fish, but for as soft as they are they hold up surprising well. | |
| Fish Appeal | |
| Looks very life like in the water. Had alewife swimming right along with it, thought the swimbiat was one of their own | |
| Special Traits |  |
| Much thinner then other hollow swimbaits on the market. | |
| Price | |
| The Hippo swimbait are not the cheapest on the market but you are getting a good quality product. | |
| Diversity | |
| Read the article on How to Rig soft swimbaits and you will see how versatile this bait really is | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| The best soft swimbait I have used to date. | |
| Pros | Cons |
| Super Flexible | Rips easier then others |
| Great Color Selection | |
| Execellent Action | |
| Well tuned, runs straight |
RECOMMENDATIONS: Here are a few recommendations that you should consider before throwing these lures to make you more successful. First, the better the water clarity the better the lure will work. These lures, no matter the brand, can be unsuccessful during muddy water conditions. Medium current conditions are optimal. Also, through these lures with a flexible rod that has enough backbone to sink the hook. I prefer a 6.2:1 ratio baitcasting reel. If you are getting short strikes put a stinger treble hook on the swimbait hook. You will be surprised how many fish you catch on this hook.
Leo’s Thoughts: I have been playing with swimbaits in general for a couple of years now. Hippo Tackle’s 5” Hollow Core Tube Swimbait is one of the finest soft plastic swimbaits I have ever used. They claim that the hook can be weighted or non-weighted and still run true. This is true, but you have to retrieve the lure slow when throwing it without a weighed hook. Slow retrieves tend to work best for weighted hooks as well. I have never held a soft plastic swimbait that was so soft and flexible. This translates into fantastic life-like action that matches any swimbait on the market. The soft body has 1 down fall and that is it will rip easier. More than likely you will still get multiple fish on the same lure, but they don’t last as long as some other brands. Hippo has generated a nice set of colors that covers most of the baitfish options that you could want. The only other down fall I discovered is that you can’t find them locally. Or at least I haven’t found them locally. For me that isn’t a problem because I order almost all of my lures online. Overall I rank this lure a 42 out of 50 because The water conditions determine if this lure is going to work or not. I promise you that if I am traveling to a clear water lake, these lures will be on several rods.
You can find more information about Hippo Tackle at http://hippotackle.com/ or buy the Hippo Tackle 5″ Hollow Core Tube Swimbaits from here.
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