September 28, 2017
By Ned Kehde
Several decades ago, a soft-plastic French fry played a mighty role in the repertoire of Midwest finesse anglers. It was, however, replaced by Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits' Senko and a plethora of similar Senko-style baits during the first decade of the 21st century.
Strike King Lures has resurrected the French fry phenomenon by creating the Strike King KVD OPT Supa Fry, which it introduced to the angling world at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show on July 12 at Orlando, Florida.
To manufacture it, Strike King uses a process they call the Open Pour Technology, which replicates many of the features that are accomplished with hand-poured soft-plastic baits — such as multi-layered-laminated colors that are devoid of imprecise edges.
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What's more, the Open Pour Technology creates a bait that is extremely flexible and soft.
The Supa Fry is 4 1/2-inches long.
Its belly is flat, which will accentuate its ability to glide when it is rigged on a small jig. The belly is also smooth skinned.
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Each end is donned with a dome-shaped head or tail, and a jig can be affixed to either end. And when one end becomes too tattered and torn to stay affixed to a jig, the other end can be affixed to the jig. Each head is smooth skinned.
The sides and back of its torso are embellished with 28 significant ribs. These ribs are said to help heighten the flexibility and the action of the Supa Fry.
Several of the professional black bass anglers who work for Strike King and field tested it say they have affixed it to a Carolina rig, a shaky head jig, a darter-head jig, and a drop-shot rig. These anglers say another alternative is to use it whacky style, and when it is rigged whacky style on a weightless hook, the Supa Fry's flexibility allows it to exhibit an alluring and unique twist as it plummets towards the bottom.
Back in the good old days of Midwest finesse fishing, we used to use a French fry on a split-shot rig, and it is likely that some of those old-timers will work with it on a modern-day version of the split-shot rig. Of course, most Midwest finesse anglers will opt to rig it with an exposed hook on a 1/32-, 1/16-, or 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig. Some of us will shorten it a tad, too.
It is available in the following colors: Blue Craw, Bold Bluegill, California Craw, Candy Craw, Chartreuse Pepper, Double Header Red, Desert Craw, Double Header Candy, Green Pumpkin, Junebug, Magic, Morning Dawn, Red Bug, Sexy Shad, Triple Magic, Watermelon, and Watermelon Red Flake.
A package of six costs $5.49.
