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Like a ballerina in a flak jacket, the bait dances by a bass, triggering a vicious strike. Wham! The beast is hooked, fought, photographed, released. The angler checks the bait. Nary a dent. He hauls back on his rod, makes another cast. The bait pirouettes back onstage, unscathed.
So it goes for the BX Minnow, one of Rapala’s new Balsa Xtreme hardbaits. It’s sister, the BX Swimmer, is another tough customer in a tutu, a pugilist with painted nails.
“The BX baits feature the delicate action of balsa and the extreme toughness of plastic on the outside,” says Rapala bass pro Michael “Ike” Iaconelli. “BX baits are the liveliest, yet toughest, balsa-constructed lures ever produced.”
Staying true to Rapala’s roots, in the heart of a BX bait beats a balsa core. That’s then encased in a durable copolymer shell for unmatched toughness and painted with proven fish-catching patterns.
“Wrapping these balsa baits in a co-polymer shell allows anglers to tangle with the strongest jaws in both freshwater and saltwater without compromise, all while producing incredible action and displaying eye-popping finishes,” says Iaconelli, a Bassmaster Classic champion and Bassmaster Angler of the Year.
Both the BX Swimmer and Minnow feature internal X-Foil, along with molded 3D heads, gills and scales that meld together to form lifelike finishes unlike anything previously possible in balsa lures.
BX Swimmer
Featuring an articulated body built on a durable pivot system, the BX Swimmer is a slow-sinking bait that produces a methodical swimming action that entices strikes.
“Twitch it, stop it, start it... you get all the durability of plastic, with the action of balsa,” says Rapala pro Ott DeFoe, 2012 Bassmaster Angler of the Year runner-up. “It’s something that’s going to be great out on the tournament trail, for sure.”
Cast or trolled between four to six feet, the BX Swimmer locks hold of anglers’ prey with two size 03 black-nickel VMC Treble Hooks. It measures 4 ¾ inches long and weighs ¾ of an ounce.
DeFoe will use a BX Swimmer to target shallow water when bass are chasing shad in the fall or when shad are spawning in the springtime.
“Man, it’s going to be a great bait around those times of year,” he said. “It’s something I’m really excited about.”
Rapala pro and defending Forest Wood Cup Champion Jacob Wheeler says he will throw a BX Swimmer on the FLW Tour this season, swimming it on long points during shad spawns and casting it around docks for post-spawn bass.
BX Minnow
A sleek, minnow-shaped bait with flat sides, the BX Minnow flaunts a strong flash on the roll as it slices and twitches through the water.
“I fish around a lot of cover and a lot of structure, and this is going to change the way I fish balsa-type baits,” Iaconelli says.
Measuring 4 inches long, the BX Minnow weighs 3/8 of an ounce and features two size 04 black-nickel VMC Treble Hooks.
Fish-catching colors
Both the BX Swimmer and BX Minnow come in 10 color patterns: Blue Back Herring, Blue Pearl, Firetiger, Gold Shiner, Perch, Purpledescent, Rainbow Trout, Silver, Smelt and Yellow Perch.
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