So, remember when I said that the Bettencourt Assassin was the one lure that I've never had to tweak to get it to swim straight.
Heres the secret to the baits built by Nathan Bettencourt.  Nathan is fortunate enough to have his own private pond in his backyard.
After building a bait, whether it's the Assassin or the Real Trout or the Rodent, Nathan takes each lure out to the pond to personally
test it.  Now, he doesn't just throw them out there and say "Yep, it's a floater," he throws that lure out time and time again until he is
satisfied that it swims true and performs the way it's intended to.  I asked him what happens if the lure is not quite up to snuff,
"What if it swims straight but the action is just a tiny bit off" was my question.  He told me that the lure is then stripped of hooks
and destroyed so that it may never reach the hands of an angler.   
I was first introduced to the Bettencourt Baits by a local Bass Pro. "You have got to see this
bait that I found in Missouri" he told me. "It's incredible."  So, being the curious one I
gathered what information he had and checked the web site for Bettencourtbaits.  When I saw
the site I was impressed but how good are the baits I asked myself and for what are they good
for.  Well, I made a phone call to Nathan and introduced myself. I told him how I came to
hear about the baits and then I drilled him for answers.  After about an hour on the phone I
told him I'd like to purchase a few for myself, "Hrumph" I said, "I'll be the judge of how good
these things really are." Nathan told me that he would be happy to send some lures my way to
try for myself.  About two weeks later I received half a dozen Assassins in the mail.
Okay, so now I had a few new toys to play with.  The first thing the struck me, or I should say
"stuck me" was the fact that the hooks on these things were incredibly sharp. Nathan equips all of
his baits with VMC hooks. The next thing that made me say wow was the incredible job that he
did and the meticulous attention that he paid to detail.  This was no two minute paint job on these
lures.  The paint on these lures rivaled even the shiny glossy coats on mass produced lures. Okay
says I, they look purty, but how well does it perform?

See for yourself. The photo at the right was the first 20 pounder I caught with an Assassin. Not
only did this lure have an absolutely incredible action to it but it really did catch fish.  I've caught
alot of large fish on the Assassin and we had one at about 40+ pounds break free a few months
ago.  I took my buddy out to the river (Willow Beach) to do a little trolling. He had never hooked
into a Striper let alone a huge Striper.  I set out a couple of rods and before long we had a strike. I
set the hook and at first it felt to be about a 10 to 12 pounder. Ah, it would be a nice starter fish
for him I figured so I handed off the rod.  As soon as I did that the fish decided he was not in the
mood to play games.  Well, I use 30 pound mono when I'm out there trolling and the drags are set
slightly tight.
Well, that old fish made not one but two or three very hard runs, each time taking out about 70 to 100 feet of line.  I told my buddy when he's not
running reel like a son of a gun because he will charge the boat if you let him.  Well, thats exactly what that old fish did. My buddy reeled like crazy
but he let up when he thought he lost the fish.  I screamed, the fish made another short run, my buddy didn't know if he should give the rod to me
or cry, so I told him to reel.  We got that fish about 15 feet within reach of the net when it was all over. Those few hard runs had created a hole in
his jaw big enough to toss that hook.  We tried to find him again but he wasn't to be found.  We did catch a nice 14 pounder and a 12 pounder that
night.  My buddy, well, he hasn't been the same since.
The Real Fish
The newest lure in the Bettencourt arsenal!
The Bettencourt Real Fish is just as great as the Assassin. Nathan has developed the
lure to resemble the Rainbow Trout, Bluegill and now the Shad. Folks, these lures are
not just purty (yeah I know it's spelled wrong, but I like the sound of purty, pretty is
too sissy like and I ain't a sissy)  The same attention to detail goes into this lure as it
does in all of his lures. Guys, if your fishin' the bass tournaments then the bluegill and
shad are lures you might want to look at and use.  Okay, I can ramble about the
Bettencourt Baits all night long but I won't do that. I'll let www.tackletour.com do it.
Click on the above links to read the reviews from
tackletour.com
Just a few more words and then I'll close this one out.  In my opinion the lures built by Nathan Bettencourt are definitely one of the best hand
crafted lures that I have ever seen.  The attention to detail, the quality of the materials and the lures performance was what it took to make me a
believer.  

Here is just another great advantage of the lures. A typical hand crafted lure usually costs alot of money. The cost does not come from the fact that
the lure is great, or made of titanium or takes hours and hours to create.  The cost comes from the fact that the builder thinks he should get alot of
money for the product because your willing to pay it, but thats just not the case with Nathan.  He believes that he can give you a product thats
second to none with a minimal cost. He knows how hard you work for your money and he wants your return business. He knows that if you buy
his product and love it then you'll be back for more. He can sell you an Assassin for 60 or 70 bucks and you'll love it, but, will you buy another;
especially if that one gets busted off by that huge 40 pounder that eluded me and my friend? You might, but chances are that you'll debate it for a
long time.

He also backs his lures up with a satisfaction guarantee. Fish the lure for 30 days, if you don't like it, send it back, it's that simple. He'll either
replace your money or send you a new one. I am happy to say that I've been using these lures for about four years now and they are one of the
main weapons in my arsenal of lures.  I still have and use the very first Assassin I ever put into the water. Granted, the paint is chipped from me
bouncing it off of rocks along the shorelines or dragging it across the bottom of the river when I run into shallow waters. Nathan has wanted to
replace that lure for me on several occasions but I said no way.  I plan to use that same lure until it literally falls apart.  Looks like I'll be using it for
a very long time.

I have taken the lures to the marinas at Willow Beach and Cottonwood Cove, both located on the river just below Hoover Dam. I have also taken
the lure to Laker Plaza Bait & Tackle.  All three places now carry them. I have been asked to get Nathan to place the lures on the shelves of many
other stores but Nathan has politely declined the offers.  "Ken" he said, "I don't want to get so busy that the quality begins to suffer or I run into
delays getting them out to the individuals that order them from my site"

By the way, take a close look at the color assortment available for the Assassins, thats just a few of a growing variety. Now then, you see the one
colored like a cow?  Well believe it or not it does catch fish. According to Nathan the Mrs. collects cow things, so he built her a cow lure just for the
heck of it.  Just like any other lure he took it out to the pond during field testing. He tossed it out to fine tune and what do you know, a bass hit it;
ah heck, that was just a fluke he thought. He tossed it out again and again it got hit. Three or four times that cow lure was hit by a hungry, or angry,
fish. It could be argued that the fish started to laugh when he saw the cow lure, laughed so hard in fact that when he sucked in a breath he
accidentally swallowed the lure.  Whatever the reason, it worked.
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BETTENCOURT BAITS ASSASSIN
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