Despite the 110 nomenclature, the Magnum clocks in at 5-1/6-inches and 5/8-ounce. While it suspends on the pause in cold water with “a nice little shimmy,” Zaldain doesn’t just use it when fish are lazy.
“I don’t care what time of year it is, I have it tied on. That’s mostly because I can maneuver it just like a square bill or spinnerbait,” he said.
At last year’s Elite Series event on Florida’s St. Johns River, he jerked it around pilings with barnacles and was “almost skipping it under docks.” Those skip casts were made easier by the fact that it has a fixed balancer instead of an internal weight transfer system, which provides “a consistent feel to help with tight roll casts.”
MAGNUM TARGETS
The Magnum only dives 3- or 4-feet, so Zaldain recommends throwing it anywhere you’d throw your favorite squarebill.
“It deflects really well and it snaps out of the grass well, too,” he said. “I’ll jerk it around cover where most people are afraid to go.” Part of that confidence comes from the fact that he throws it on 20 lb. test Seaguar Rippin’ monofilament line, which not only helps him get the lure back, but also allows him to keep it floating high in the water column.
Zaldain throws the Magnum on a 6’10” Megabass Orochi XX “Spinnerbait Special” (F5-610XX), which he said has “a little more horsepower” than the “Jerkbait Special” or “Flat Side” special that might get the call with smaller rip baits, and that beefiness “compensates for the stretch of the mono.”
He pairs it with a 200 size Shimano Core in a 6:1 gear ratio. “Seven to one is too fast. Eight is way too fast and five is too slow,” he said. “You’re moving your rod tip 2½- to 3-feet at a time, and a 6:1 takes up the slack perfectly.”
SCOOPS AND KNOCKS - OTHER JERKBAIT OPTIONS
His other favorite “big” jerkbait is the Megabass Ito Shiner, which isn’t much longer than the
SUMMER 2017
Chris Zaldain’s battered Vision 110 HT Ito Tennessee Shad
standard Ito Vision 110 (4½-inches versus 4 1/3-inches – just an extra 5 millimeters) but he believes that “its deeper body gives it a larger profile, and it’s very appealing any time there’s a gizzard shad type presence.” That means it’s almost always in the rod locker or on deck when he’s in south Texas, Florida or his native California.
“If you’re looking for a four-pounder or bigger bite, this lure has more of a dull knock to it,” he explained. “It’s almost like a one knocker. It just has a dull thud which gives it a large presence.”
He added that the bill design has “a scoop taken out of it, which ensures that on every snap of the bait it’s going downward. It’s very consistent.” Because he tends to use the Ito Shiner during a more limited time period than the 110 Magnum, he wants it to dive a bit deeper and to suspend. Therefore he relies primarily on 12-pound-test Seaguar InvisX, on which the lure will dive to 6- or 8-feet. His goal is to keep the line as thin as possible, which allows him to maximize that “valuable lateral movement,” but he won’t hesitate to upgrade to 15-pound-test when he’s around “really big fish.”
Unlike the Magnum, the Ito Shiner does an internal weight-transfer system that allows for long casts and enhances the side-to-side motion and flash, calling fish from longer distances. He uses the same Shimano Core reel as with the Magnum, but switches to the slightly longer and slightly lighter “Flat Side Special,” which allows the requisite lateral motion, but also has adequate power to drive through a pull and then slam the hooks home on a big fish.
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