September 06, 2019
By Ned Kehde
Strike King Lure Company introduced its Rage Ned Bug to the angling world at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show in Orlando, Florida, on July 9-12, 2019.
It is a finesse-size creature bait. And in the eyes of veteran Midwest finesse anglers, it is a modern-day rendition of the late and great Chuck Woods’ Puddle Jumper, which played a significant role in the repertoire of Midwest finesse anglers who resided in northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri in the 1970s and 1980s.
In June, we exchanged several emails and talked on the telephone with Mark Copley of Collierville, Tennessee, who is Strike King’s Marketing Relationship Manager, and Crispin Powley of Camden, Tennessee, who is Director of Strike King’s Product Development, about their venture into the world of Midwest finesse fishing. And they sent us some samples of the Rage Ned Bug to examine, describe, and use.
Here are of the things that we discovered about it:
It is 2 5/8 inches long. It possesses four appendages, a head, torso, and anus.
Its anus is round with a flat apogee. It is one-eighth of an inch long with a circumference of about one inch. The flat portion has a diameter of a quarter of an inch.
The head is shaped in the form of a dome. It is a quarter of an inch long with a circumference of about one inch.
The Rage Ned Bug’s torso is 1 1/4 inches long. It is emblazoned with 12 substantial ribs or segments, which are somewhat cone-shaped. At the eighth cone, the torso is five-sixteenths of an inch wide with a circumference of about 1 1/8 inches.
A large, flat, and thin appendage radiates from each side of its head and the torso’s first rib. Each appendage is 1 5/16 inches long. They are about five-sixteenths of an inch wide at their widest areas. Near their junctions with its head and torso, these appendages are about three-sixteenths of an inch wide. They are about one-sixteenth of an inch thick. The epidermis of the dorsal and ventral sides of the appendages is embossed with scores of minute ribs. On one of the appendages, the word Strike is printed on one of the sides. The word King is printed on another side. On the second appendage, the word Rage is printed on one of the sides, and the word Tail is printed on the other side. The epidermis of the rims or edges of the two appendages is smooth.
The outer rim of each appendage is endowed with a ridge, which is three-eighths of an inch long and one-eighth of an inch wide. The folks at Strike King call the ridge a “Rage Tail flange,” and they are designed to accentuate the flickering of these appendages. The epidermis of these ridges is smooth.
A small, flat, and thin appendage extends from each side of ribs number eight, nine, and 10. They are thirteen-sixteenths of an inch long and about three-sixteenths of an inch wide at their widest spots. They are less than one-sixteenth of an inch thick. The outer rim of each appendage is tipped with a ridge or a Rage Tail flange that is a quarter of an inch long and slightly more than one-eighth of an inch wide.
They are manufactured in the following hues: Bama Craw, Black Blue Swirl, Blue Craw, Crawdaddy, Dirt, Green Pumpkin, Moon Juice, Morning Dawn, Okeechobee Craw, Red Bug, Summer Craw, and Watermelon Red Flake.
Less than five percent of its body weight consists of salt, and according to Crispin Powley, this allows the Rage Ned Bug to be buoyant and exhibit what he described as “‘a stand up’ manner on the bottom.” He also noted that “we customized the individual plastic formulas to what was best suited for the size and shape of each bait.” He called it “a ‘super floater’ formulation.”
They are infused with organic coffee scent, which is said to mask human scent and allure black bass.
A package of nine costs $6.99.
Endnotes
1. Here is a link to Strike King Lure Company’s website: https://www.strikeking.com/ .
2. Since 2011, we have published several Midwest Finesse gear guides about Strike King’s soft-plastic lures.
Here are the links to some of those gear guides:
https://www.infisherman.com/editorial/Strike%20King%27s%202.75-inch%20Coffee%20Fat%20Tube/328922 .
https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/strike-kings-kvd-opt-supa-fry/156272 .
https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/strike-kings-2-75-inch-rage-swimmer/154602 .
https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/strike-kings-rage-twin-tail-baby-menace-grub/154589 .
https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/strike-king-lure-companys-rage-twintail-menace-grub/153541 .
https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/strike-king-lure-companys-scizzor-shad/153468 .
https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/strike-kings-drop-shot-half-shell/155963 .
https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/strike-kings-drop-shot-half-shell/155963 .
3. Since the beginning of the fall of 2006, Strike King’s four-inch Super Finesse Worm and its Zero Stick Worm has also played a significant role in the repertoire of scores of Midwest finesse anglers. Here are links to Strike King’s website that features the Super Finesse Worm and Zero Stick Worm: https://www.strikeking.com/products/4-super-finesse-worm ;
https://www.strikeking.com/products/5-zero-stick-worm .
4. When Midwest finesse anglers wield the Rage Ned Bug, it will be affixed to a small mushroom-style jig. And they can present it to their black-bass quarries by employing the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves. Here is a link to a Midwest Finesse column that explains how to execute those retrieves: https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/153946 .
5. In the near future, we will publish gear guides about Strike King’s new Rage Ned Cut-R Worm, Ned Rig Head jig, and several of their new finesse-size soft-plastic baits.
