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Presentation
Like the other members of the X-Light series, this little RAPALA swimming fish is made of plastic rather than balsa. Fitted with VMC triples in size 10, it measures 4 cm for 4 g and is rated for a swimming depth of 1.50 m. Important point: this is a sinking crank.
4 g doesn't sound much. But for a crankbait of this calibre, it's pretty heavy. What's more, this lure is sinking, which is unusual in this category. This should facilitate casting as well as penetration into the wind, often a problem when using these small swimming fish.
Another unusual point for this type of lure: it is noisy, but the sound is low and discreet.
There's a vast choice of colors, and I personally find them very successful. I think there's something for everyone, even in UV colors.
The finishing touches are top-notch, and they've even gone so far as to choose 3D holographic eyes. The result is a beautiful little crank.
Test at the water's edge
The lure comes with a broken ring so I tie it directly to my tip without a staple. It's said to sink, but its density shouldn't be much greater than that of the water, as it submerges slowly. From the very first casts, I see the advantages of this density. Casts are easy, the lure goes straight. Distance is easy to obtain and this also helps with accuracy. Its swimming action is tight and it holds the current quite well.
It swims at any retrieve speed and has no tendency to "stall" under hard acceleration.
It can be brought back in a constant, linear fashion, but can of course be varied ad infinitum by adding pauses, accelerations, scion strokes...
The first fish to be seduced were chub. They liked it a lot, sometimes even without any animation, the lure was "picked up" shortly after impact in the water. Thanks to its ability to hold the current, I took it in search of trout in slightly faster areas. He was effective in these conditions too. For the latter, which have the annoying tendency to turn on themselves once hooked, risking injury with the second treble, I used a single barbless hook only. This little detail made this little X-Light shad suspending. A little less "keeled", it nevertheless performed well in agitated water veins and the accelerations followed by pauses were particularly pleasing to the trout.
I'm sure he'll also be excellent on perch this autumn. His casting ability will be an invaluable advantage on distant hunts or on windy days.
