New Marketing Manager!

We are pleased to announce that Michael Murphy has accepted the position as Marketing Manager for Reins Fishing.

Michael brings years of experience in marketing and we are very excited to have him on board.   

2 BIG fish stories

Many of you who have fished with Reins tackle know how well it works.  Now, if we need any additional proof, we have 2 of our pro fisherman that both have great stories to tell about fishing with reins.  Ott Dafoe won Bassmasters Rookie of the year honors...and 2 weeks ago won the Bassmaster Allstar Challenge.  This weekend, Paul Meuller won the co-angler portion of the Forest L Wood Cup tournament of the FLW series.

Rookie of the year at Bassmasters, and top co-angler at FLW.  Both using Reins, hmmmm maybe we're onto something here.

Here's a new article from Reins Prostaffer Brandon Reeves

Brandon's Tackle Bag: The Versatile Soft Plastic Rig

Share When I am fishing tournaments, I typically have 12-15 rods ready to go. However, when people fish with me, they only will bring a handful of rods with them to use. Most of the time, half the rods I have are rigged up with one or more variations of some soft plastics with my new tungsten weights from Reins. Strangely enough through, I have been asked on more than one occasion what is my most versatile soft plastic rig, so it got me thinking. Was it my carolina rig, the texas rig, or one of the other rigs I use on a regular basis and what could I recommend to people who could only carry a small handful of rods with them at any point in time. Well it hit me. Most of the time, I was using my main soft plastic rod, I had the same rig in my hand. It was a combination texas rig, caronlina rig, and a flipping / pitching rig. The rig uses a few simple components and I will explain it here. Here is what makes up my versatile plastic rig: 1: Reins Ax Claw 2: Sinker Stops 3:#3 Straight Shank Worm Hook 4: 3/16oz Reins TG Slip Sinker With these simple components you will be able to develop a single package that will be able to be fished in multiple different ways, let me explain. First thread a sinker stop (2) on your fishing line above the slip sinker (4). It should look like this: This serves a few purposes. First when texas rigging, it will allow you to control how far the weight gets from the soft plastic when fishing structure. For example, if I am fishing vegetation, sometimes the weight would fall down between the pads and the plastic would stay on top. With this rig, that no longer happens. Adjust the sinker stop up and down as needed. Next place another sinker stop immediately below the slip sinker and tie on the hook. This achieves a few things. This allows you to effectively "peg" the weight to the hook by moving the weight up or down, it also protect the knot from any damage since the sinker stops are made from rubber. Here is a picture. At this point you have completed the rig. You can now completely control the weight position without retieing. You can make a makeshift carolina rig, texas rig, and a punching rig without any effort. Because of the small diameters of the Reins weights and multiple sizes, the uses of this rig are limitless. Here are the finished rigs.

Brandon's Tackle Bag: The Versatile Soft Plastic Rig

Share When I am fishing tournaments, I typically have 12-15 rods ready to go. However, when people fish with me, they only will bring a handful of rods with them to use. Most of the time, half the rods I have are rigged up with one or more variations of some soft plastics with my new tungsten weights from Reins. Strangely enough through, I have been asked on more than one occasion what is my most versatile soft plastic rig, so it got me thinking. Was it my carolina rig, the texas rig, or one of the other rigs I use on a regular basis and what could I recommend to people who could only carry a small handful of rods with them at any point in time. Well it hit me. Most of the time, I was using my main soft plastic rod, I had the same rig in my hand. It was a combination texas rig, caronlina rig, and a flipping / pitching rig. The rig uses a few simple components and I will explain it here. Here is what makes up my versatile plastic rig: 1: Reins Ax Claw 2: Sinker Stops 3:#3 Straight Shank Worm Hook 4: 3/16oz Reins TG Slip Sinker With these simple components you will be able to develop a single package that will be able to be fished in multiple different ways, let me explain. First thread a sinker stop (2) on your fishing line above the slip sinker (4). It should look like this: This serves a few purposes. First when texas rigging, it will allow you to control how far the weight gets from the soft plastic when fishing structure. For example, if I am fishing vegetation, sometimes the weight would fall down between the pads and the plastic would stay on top. With this rig, that no longer happens. Adjust the sinker stop up and down as needed. Next place another sinker stop immediately below the slip sinker and tie on the hook. This achieves a few things. This allows you to effectively "peg" the weight to the hook by moving the weight up or down, it also protect the knot from any damage since the sinker stops are made from rubber. Here is a picture. At this point you have completed the rig. You can now completely control the weight position without retieing. You can make a makeshift carolina rig, texas rig, and a punching rig without any effort. Because of the small diameters of the Reins weights and multiple sizes, the uses of this rig are limitless. Here are the finished rigs.

Nail Sinkers now in USA!

The reins Nail Sinkers have just arrived in the USA.  All sizes now available for you to customize your fishing presentation!  

New Swim bait article

Here's a new article from Reins Prostaffer trevor Knight, just published on Basseast.com

Shake Things Up With Swimbaits

By Trevor Knight

The soft plastic swimbait has probably grown in popularity more than any other bait over the past 5 years.  Before they started showing up on the rods of tournament anglers several years ago, only a handful of tackle companies made them.  Now, just about every soft plastic manufacture has some version of a soft swimbait.  Some are hollow, some segmented, some have boot tails, and some are even shaped like sunfish and tilapia.  The one common aspect of all of them is that they have found their way into the tackle boxes of most anglers.

After throwing many of the soft plastic swimbaits on the market, I have narrowed it down to four that I rely on when tournament fishing.  The workhorse of the group is the 5” Reins Fat Rockvibe Shad.  It is a solid boot tail swimbait.  This class of swimbaits has become extremely popular on Florida fisheries.  The difference in the Fat Rockvibe Shad is that it has a fatter and wider body than its competitors along with a ringed tail section.  The design stabilizes the bait so that it does not roll over as much on the retrieve even at high speeds, while providing even more vibration and water disturbance.  The second bait I like to throw is the 4” Reins Bubbling Shad.  This is more of a finesse swimbait with a ringed body that I find works well in pressured fishing conditions and as a trailer.  My third choice is a Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad in the 3 ½ and 4 1//2” sizes.  The Live Magic Shad has a very realistic swimming action that I like as a trailer or when drop shotting.  My final swimbait choice is a Matt Lures Bluegill Series swimbait that looks ultra-realistic.  I use it mainly for bed fishing.

The mistake I see most anglers make with soft swimbaits is that they fish them one way and one way only.  Yes, it’s true that you can just chunk and wind soft swimbaits and catch fish.  However, to unlock the full potential of these baits, an angler must experiment with different retrieves.  Here are some of the presentations I have had great success with soft swimbaits.

Let’s start with the Reins Fat Rockvibe Shad.  The reason this swimbait is my workhorse is because I can fish it so many different ways and cover a lot of water with it.  It really shines in the spring and fall when the fish are shallow and active.  During the spring, I like to throw the Fat Rockvibe Shad around spawning flats, especially if vegetation is nearby.  I rig the swimbait on a Gamakatsu 6/0 Monster EWG hook and attach a Paycheck Head Case screw lock.  The Head Case is basically a clear plastic bullet that screws into the head of the swimbait and helps keep vegetation from balling up on the bait.  If I want to get the bait deeper than 2 feet I will replace the Head Case with a 1/16 to 1/8 oz. Reins Tungsten Slip Sinker.  I will match this up with 65 lb. test braid and a medium heavy or heavy action rod.  I experiment with my retrieve speed until I find what the bass want.  Sometimes it’s almost a slow roll while other times it’s bubbling just under the surface.  This time of year, the bass typically just nip at the bait a few times then load up on it.  If you set the hook before the rod loads up, you will miss the fish most of the time.  A lot of fish will just follow the swimbait back.  If I cannot get the bass to hit the Fat Rockvibe Shad, it at least lets me know the size of the fish, and I can then come back and try a different lure to entice it to bite.

During the heat of summer, I will put the Fat Rockvibe shad on a 1/2 to 3/4 oz football jighead and fish typical summer haunts.  Ledges and channel swings with wood cover or shell beds are ideal.  I will let the swimbait sink to the bottom.  Then I will jerk the swimbait up off the bottom with quick hard pops.  This is much like stroking a jig.  The idea is to create a reaction bite as the bass see the swimbait quickly dart off the bottom and then fall back down.  Many of the strikes will occur as it is sinking back to the bottom.  If the bass are suspended in trees, I like to swim this rig just over top of the trees and occasionally twitch the swimbait.

In the fall, I really like to buzz the Fat Rockvibe Shad on top just as you would a buzz frog.  Fish are chasing baitfish this time of year, and a swimbait buzzed across the surface is a great way to catch lunker bass feeding up for the winter.  I can put the trolling motor on high and cover the backs of creeks and along grass lines quickly with the swimbait.  The hits tend to be much more violent with this presentation and can occur at any point during the cast.

As I mentioned before, the Reins Bubbling Shad makes an excellent trailer for swim jigs, buzzbaits, vibrating jigs, and spinnerbaits.  The boot tail gives these baits some extra vibration and a bulkier profile.  One of my favorite combinations is a 3/8 oz. Stanley Swim Max Jig paired with the Reins Bubbling Shad.  I like to fish it around emergent vegetation, docks, and marinas.  The 4 1/2” Lake Fork Live Magic Shad is great on the back of a vibrating jig as well.  Sometimes I will take the skirt off when I want a more slender profile.  Both of these swimbaits are great for schooling fish since they can be put on the back of an underspin or scrounger head and fished through the school. 

The Bubbling Shad and the 3 1/2” Magic Shad are some of my favorite drop shot baits too.  Fish do not see swimbaits on a drop shot rig very often.  The real benefit of drop shotting these smaller swimbaits is that fish will hit them even as the rig is being reeled in or sinking to the bottom because of the natural swimming action they possess.  They can also be deadly on the end of a Carolina rig.  I will even take the Bubbling Shad and rig it on a shaky head when I am looking for a kicker fish during tough conditions.    

The Matt Lures Bluegill is a swimbait I will utilize when fishing a bed.  Normally, it is not a bait that I am actually trying to catch the bass with.  Instead, I use it to aggravate the bass and get it in the striking mode.  If I am having trouble enticing a bedding bass, I will pick up the Matt Lures Bluegill and make several pitches to the bed.  More often than not, this will cause the bass to lock on and become very defensive.  After I get it to strike the bluegill, I will reel it in and then pitch in a bait with a higher hook up ratio to catch the bass.  Occasionally, I will throw the bluegill imitator when bass are targeting bedding bluegills.  Simply find areas with bluegill beds and slowly fish the swimbait around the area.  This can produce some quality bass eager to fatten up after the spawn.

These are the techniques and soft swimbaits that I use the most.  Even with all these great techniques, I still like to experiment and try to figure out new ways to utilize swimbaits.  The next time you find yourself throwing a swimbait, keep these tips in mind, and also try coming up with some new swimbait presentations that may help you catch more fish.

Reins Pro Ott DeFoe in 9th after 2 days!

http://basseast.com/?p=7586

From BassEast.com:

Reins Tungsten Pro Ott DeFoe finds himself in 9th place after day 2 on the B.A.S.S. Elite Series stop number 3 at Pickwick.
Day 1 was a total flipping bite (read: Berkley Havoc Pit Boss) for Ott, but today he boated a couple of key fish on a chatterbait that contributed to his nearly 19 pound bag.  The water has dropped about 5 inches in the last 24 hours –and still dropping, but DeFoe doesn’t think it’s going to affect his fish much, if at all.  He has three areas off the beaten path and is looking forward to day 3.
“Timing is everything in catching these fish” Ott told us, “my areas are really good, but the timing is everything.  You can be in the best spot at the wrong time and you’re just not going to get bit.”
Sitting about 7 pounds back from leader Davy Hite, Ott will definitely have to time things right tomorrow to make it happen.

Here's a nice Article from Basseast.com written by Prostaffer trevor Knight

Weighing In: Not all tungsten sinkers are created equal

By Trevor Knight

Over the last ten years, the two biggest advancements in fishing tackle have been the refinement of fluorocarbon lines and the introduction of tungsten sinkers.  We all know that not all fluorocarbon lines perform the same, but it seems fewer anglers are aware that not all tungsten sinkers are created equal.  I myself thought I was using the top of the line tungsten sinkers in years past.  It was not until I was introduced to Reins tungsten slip sinkers that I really knew what a quality tungsten sinker should look like.

The biggest reason for the switch from lead to tungsten sinkers over the past few years is the fact that tungsten is denser than lead.  That higher density has several advantages.  The first advantage is that tungsten sinkers are more compact in size than lead sinkers of the same weight.  Having a smaller sinker of the same weight helps an angler cast farther, deliver the bait with a smaller splash, slide through cover more effectively, and create a more natural presentation.  The increased density of tungsten also allows it to transmit vibrations more effectively than lead.  The result is better sensitivity, allowing an angler to detect the differences between different bottom compositions as well as those subtle bites from finicky bass. 

The reason I like the Reins TG slip sinker over other tungsten sinkers is the fact that it is even denser and more compact.  Reins accomplished this by using a higher percentage of tungsten in their sinkers and by using nickel to comprise the rest of the weight.  Some tungsten sinkers on the market use a combination of iron, nickel, and other alloys to make up the rest of their tungsten sinkers.  Nickel is denser than iron and some of the other alloys used.  The end result is a tungsten sinker that is smaller in size than other tungsten sinkers on the market.  A 5/16 oz. Reins sinker is smaller in size than the leading competitor’s 1/4 oz. tungsten sinker.

Tungsten sinkers have become more popular in recent years in part because they are environmentally friendly.  Some states have instituted bans on selling lead sinkers because of the risk to aquatic birds that may ingest the harmful lead.  Tungsten is 100% safe for the environment.  When compared to steel and brass sinkers, tungsten is by far the best choice due to the much higher density.

Another aspect to consider when purchasing tungsten sinkers is whether or not it has an insert.  It is debatable whether or not an insert is good in a tungsten sinker.  Personally, I like having an insert in my sinker, which is another reason why I love the Reins slip sinker.  If there is even one small burr or imperfection inside the tungsten sinker, it can nick or damage the line as it rubs against it.  Line damage can result in a breakoff during a hookset or while fighting a large fish.  Some anglers believe that having an insert reduces the intensity of the vibrations transmitted from the sinker to the line; however, I feel that the difference is negligible, especially with the increased density of a quality tungsten sinker. 

The shape of the sinker is another important attribute of a quality tungsten sinker.  The majority of tungsten sinkers on the market are the common bullet shape.  What sets a high quality tungsten sinker apart is a design that tapers at the back third of the sinker.  This tapering helps the sinker slide through cover, and more importantly, it helps increase hook up ratio.  The reason is that the taper causes the weight to come out of the fish’s mouth more easily preventing the fish from clamping down on the weight.  This allows the hook to quickly set into the fish’s mouth instead of being slowed down as the fish clamps down on the sinker.

A small detail that sets a Reins tungsten slip sinker apart from others is the matte finish.  The majority of painted tungsten sinkers have a glossy finish on them.  The glossy finish will create flash that can spook a finicky bass.  A matte finish is more natural and eliminates the problem of unwanted flash from the sinker.  Reins sinkers are available in a non-painted version and in black or green pumpkin matte finishes.  It is the attention to little details like this that makes some tungsten sinkers superior to others.  So the next time you purchase tungsten sinkers, keep these notes in mind to ensure that you get the best results out on the water.