Excalibur Saltwater Swim'n Image

EDITOR'S NOTE: Anthony Randazzo of Belle Chasse, Louisiana, earns a living each day as a guide for speckled trout and redfish. He has five guides who work with him at Paradise Plus Guide Service, Inc. They fish the entire Mississippi Delta, from Empire to Venice, Louisiana. Their income directly relates to the number of fish they catch, the size of the fish they take and the lures they use. Night Hawk Publications has asked these fishing guides to test some of the newest saltwater lures on the market today.

Randazzo has tested Excalibur's Saltwater Swim'n Image, a shallow-water crankbait, in a goldfish color called Golden Sardine for redfish and speckled trout.

"We use a slow steady retrieve and just let the bait swim barely under the water," Randazzo said. "You also can use a stop-and-start retrieve, if the trout are somewhat slow to take the bait. This lure is highly productive when fished over sunken islands, oyster bars or any place you find trout schooling. Generally the Swim'n Image tends to produce bigger trout."

While fishing with Randazzo, we also learned that the Swim'n Image will take redfish. Since redfish and trout often feed together, this new lure seems to produce both fish species equally well.

"We'll cast the bait on 12-pound-test line, which is light enough to allow us to make long casts, yet strong enough to enable us to land 9-pound trout or 30-pound redfish," Randazzo explained.

The new 2 7/8-inch Swim'n Image that will come to the market this year for the saltwater angler has the same body design as the freshwater Swim'n Image. However, the company has crafted colors to match saltwater baitfish, including Speckled Trout, Redfish, Striped Mullet and Golden Sardine. Too, PRADCO has changed out the hardware on the Saltwater Swim'n Image and now uses rust-resistant hooks, to last in tough saltwater conditions. Although you can work this bait like any other with a variety of retrieves, we learned from field testing it that simply casting it out and reeling it in made big reds and trout bite. You also can catch flounder with this bait.

To learn more about this lure, contact Bruce Stanton at PRADCO (501) 782-8971, or Anthony Randazzo (504) 656-9940.

Tomorrow: Riverside Croaker Tail