ICAST 2011 | Vagabond Works of Art Swimming in Plastic Now
Posted by Jason Sealock on Thu, Jul 14, 2011 @ 07:28 PM
Vagabond is a Japanese Lure manufacturer that is known for making very high quality tackle and reel and rod accessories. Today we met with the owner and Matt Paino who helps distribute their lures in the US.
Their high detail baits are hand carved in foam, and intricately detailed and then custom painted before hardened for sale and use. They have some of the pretiest designs you've seen on baits. Their baits retail for $60, $70 on up to more than $100.
But now they've released two new injected plastic baits. They feature intricate detailing and custom paint jobs and they will retail around $24-$29. Which makes them very attractive to swimbait anglers in the US. The new baits are the Swim Hustler 6-Inch Inject swimbait and the Simson-5 Swimbait. The Swim Hustler is a long, slender profile bait with two joints while the Simson-5 is more of panfish profile bait that features four hinged sections and a rubber tail.
The baits can be worked fast or slow and have very lifelike actions in the water. The Simson-5's unique soft tail makes the bait swim very naturally as well.
The Vagabond series of baits are works of art and have been highly sought after lures in Japan. More and more anglers have been clamoring for them state side but shyed somewhat on the prices so these new "entry level" plastic baits will likely attract more folks to their high end products.