November 15, 2012
By Ned Kehde
In 2011, when folks at Lunker City created the 4 1/2-inch Ribster, they proclaimed that it is "the most versatile finesse worm on the planet."
Rich Zaleski of Stevenson, Connecticut, and a veteran In-Fisherman writer, was the primary creator of the Ribster. In his hands, it is primarily a drop-shot worm. But Zaleski and other finesse anglers find that it works well on a split-shot rig, finesse-size slip-sinker and Texas rig and a variety of jigs.
Zaleski describes its head and the first first two inches of its body as being fat or chunky. According to Zaleski, this feature retards the tattering effects that hooks and donnybrooks with bass render. And Midwest finesse anglers, who tangled with an average of nine largemouth and smallmouth bass an hour on all of their outings throughout a calendar year, appreciate durable soft-plastic baits.
The Ribsters torso is graced with 15 ribs, and its tail is endowed with 22 ribs. Compared to its bulky torso, the core of the tail is slender, which allows its willow-leaf-cupped tail to wigwag and undulate provocatively during a variety of retrieves. The rings of ribs around the slender core section of the tail enhances its profile. Therefore, it looks fatter than it acts when anglers make it dance and sashay around a variety of bass lairs.
In an e-mail written on Nov 7, Zaleski wrote: "There's another benefit to the Ribster as a drop shot bait that isn't obvious until you use it for a while. Rigged properly, it virtually eliminates line twist concerns. Nose hooked properly -- small hook very close to the nose and accurately centered -- the 360 degree symmetry of the body and tail, along with the water resistance caused by the rings, defeat line twist, which primarily occurs in drop shotting while retreiving the lure steadly after the actual presentation portion of the retrieve is completed. I usually use two dropshot rods, one of which never has anything other than a Ribster on it. The other one usually has a Ribster, but might have some other worm or DS bait I'm experimenting with at other times. I can fish the Ribster exclusive rod for months without having to run the line out behind the boat to take the twists out. The other one, depending how much experimenting with other baits I do, will need the twist removal every trip or two." For more information about rigging the Ribster on a drop-shot rig, see Zaleski's blog at http://www.richz.com/fishing/blog/?page_id=552
It's a available in 21 colors, and a package of 10 can be purchased for $3.99. For more information, please examine Lunker City's Web site at www.lunkercity.com
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A footnote about Rich Zaleski:
He recently retired from his duties at Lunker City, and he is currently recuperating from open heart surgery. To his chagrin, he is scheduled for another round of surgery (extra anatomical aortobifemoral bypass) in mid-November. Despite his recent health woes, he has plans to fish and write about fishing for In-Fisherman in the months and years to come. For more insights about Zaleski, examine his Web site at http://www.richz.com
