Grab A Scalpel, It's Lure Autopsy Time

Of all the fishing websites I frequent, Tackle Tour is easily one of my favorites. If you're not familiar with this site, the fellas that run it do nothing but test new tackle. And I mean everything from rods to storage to swivels and beyond. They also do it very thoroughly, and offer an unbiased opinion of what they test. They take no issue with saying something didn't pass muster. Now the Tackle Tour guys have found a new way to review lures: They're looking at the guts.

Last fall, Tackle Tour started a new "autopsy" series in which they carefully dissect lures, studying each component in a lab setting from the outside in. They'll start with weights and measurements, a tank test, then see how the finish withstands some torture. When that's done, they slice and dice to see what's inside.

I've always said lures are a hard thing to review. Unless you fish them on a ton of water bodies in a ton of conditions, it's not easy to get an accurate picture of how they produce. But autopsies answer other questions that can help you decide to try a bait before bringing fish into the equation. How durable is the lure? What components are different and what will they achieve? Are special features worth the price it fetches?

In this dissection of a classic Snag Proof frog, it was learned that the rear weights are now molded in place and very tough to remove...so much so that the reviewer had to cut the weight free with a razor. On older model Snag Proofs, that weight would frequently fall off when the glue lost its grip. It's a small change, but one that may not have been noted just by looking at the lure or fishing it a few times.