I have been attending outdoor shows now for about 15 years, the past several years have been slightly different in that I have gone expecting to do one thing; serve the fishing public. As a writer, pro staff member for several companies, and as the owner of a small tackle manufacturing company, I have become accustomed to remaining in my booth and spending time with the angling consumers.
I had the privilege this year to spend two days at the San Francisco Sports and Boat Show at the Cow Palace. Even more of a privilege is that I was serving on behalf of some truly fine people, Snag Proof Manufacturing. I was going to be spending some time in the booth with some quality professional anglers, Aaron Coleman, Armando Luzuriaga, and Bobby Barrack talking to the public about one of our favorite lures, the Snag Proof Frog. Connie Fuller, one of the owners of the company was also going to be there to hang out for the weekend, another major plus, as Connie is one of my favorite people in the industry.
As a “presenter” an angler does not expect to see much in the way of new products, mainly because we tend to be quite occupied, but also because we see a lot of new stuff all year long. This year was different for me in that the Snag Proof booth was directly next to the Doc Waters Lure Company Booth.
I met the owner of Doc Waters, George Ghilarducci the year before at the ISE Show in San Mateo, and with last year being his first at the shows, he had some excellent lures to debut. His grubs are excellent, and the Helix worm is a great soft plastic stick bait, however, I was instantly impressed with the Riptail Worm. The Riptail looks like an ordinary 7 1/2 inch curl tail worm, but it comes to life when used as a weightless drop bait.
It was nice to see George and say hello on Saturday morning, but as he was unpacking his display lures for the show to begin, I saw something I never thought I would see again, an innovative tube lure.
When Bobby Garland first came out with the Gitzit, it took the fishing world by storm, and ever since the last real innovation on a tube was Strike King’s Denny Brauer Flipping Tube with its solid head and bulkier size. Strike King’s Tube Technology product line was next, which incorporated creatures, craws and lizards into tubes. For the most part however, tube innovations mainly dealt with tube accessories, hooks sinkers rattles, etc. Until now that is.
As George was unpacking I saw him pull the first tube out of the package, and thought to myself, “that’s pretty unique, he incorporated the Helix Swirl texturing onto the tube,” and then I looked closer. I picked the tube up and instantly felt how soft the bait was, the body felt a little thinner, and it featured a solid head design for better rigging. I remarked to George, “this is a nice tube.” He then told me to flip it upside down and look at the inside of the skirt. I did, and my eyes must have sparkled a bit, because George chuckled and said, “you like that?”
The Doc Waters Man-O-War Flippin’ Tube has a second skirt integrated into the hollow of the tube, and the second skirt is a contrasting color. I was holding the black with red flake Man-O-War and the inside skirt was red. That was not all, as with each of Doc Waters Skirted Grubs, the tentacles of the tube are not poured solid and then shredded, each strand is individually poured to help minimize the stickiness often associated with tube tails.
He then pointed out that the 4 1/2 inch tube is slightly reverse tapered from head to skirt to make it easier to rig, and eliminate the plastic clogging up the hook gap when an angler sets the hook on a fish. Another feature is that the tube will be salt injected like the rest of the Doc Waters Lures soft plastic baits.
I told George right then that I would be replacing all of the flipping tubes I had in my box after those hit the market, and I meant it. The other thing I must tell you is that I am in no way associated with Doc Waters Lures as an angler or salesman. However, I do work for Future Pro Tour, and Doc Waters is one of our sponsors.
What really moved me about the bait is that a guy could put that much innovation into what could possibly be one of the most versatile, and perfect baits in an anglers arsenal. It was so striking to me, that rather than being a typical tournament fisherman and trying to talk George into the O’Sullivan exclusivity clause, I instead wanted to let you all know about the bait, it is truly that good.
George will be at the ISE Show in San Mateo, January 28 through February 1, stop by and see him, and the Man-O-War Flippin’ Tube. The Man-O-War is still a couple of weeks away from release, but he has some color samples to show you, I am sure you will be as impressed as I was. If you must miss the show, find out more about Doc Waters Lure Company at http://www.docwaterslures.com, and tell him DanO said hi.
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