Heres what happened, I was walking around, actually I was dragging my Tuskas because it had been a long day, and I came across
a booth which was promoting what was called the Ultimate Luresaver. Okay thought I, it's another lure knocker, what the heck, I'll
talk to the man and see what it's all about. Well, I half expected that he would show me a five pound block of lead that you
dropped on top of a snagged lure to bust it loose from the tree it was hung up on, but instead he showed me a little looped piece of
wire about the size of a split ring. (The company has changed the name from Ultimate Luresaver to Ultimate SmartLink to
prevent anglers, like myself, from automatically assuming it's just another lure "knocker".)
"Hrumph" says I, ( I say that alot) "how's this little piece of wire going to save my $60.00 Ol' Henry from that tree I just hung up
on?"
Well," the guys says to me, "You replace the split ring on your lure with this piece of wire, and when you get snagged you pull on
the line, the wire separates and your lure comes free, you loose only the hook thats left behind on the tree among the other two
dozen lures that it has claimed." Well, he didn't say it exactly like that but pretty close.
"Mister," says I, " I was born at night, but not last night!" (I know when I'm being taken for a sucker right) so I say to him; "As
soon as that big old 40 pounder hits my lure that little piece of wire will separate and the fish will break free and I'll reel in a lure
minus one hook."
Well, that old boy just smiled and says, "Here, take a hold of this lure that we rigged with the SmartLink and make like a fish."
Without taking the time to think about it I grabbed the lure and took hold of the hook. Fortunately for me these guys were on the
ball. They rigged the lure with a nice big barbless hook that was easy to grab a hold of without fear of the point sinking deep into
flesh and bone. Not that I'm a sissy mind you, I just didn't want to bloody up his new lure.
"Make like a fish?" I asked. Although I tried not to I must have looked a little confused. He laughed, "Just tug on that hook like you
were a fish trying to get away."
Heh Heh I thought, I'll show him who's the fool now. So I took that lure and started to pull hard, but the drag started to sing and I
was just taking out line. "Hey" I yelled, "Tighten that drag back up!"
So he asks me, "When you go fishin', do you fish with the drag hammered down?" Man, this guy thought I just fell off the turnip
truck.
"Of course not" I tell him, "What kind of fool do you think I am." He laughed again.
"Well" he said, "the SmartLink works because it is based on the principle that you know how to fish and that you do have your drag
set correctly."
No matter how hard I pulled all I could do was pull out more drag. So now he tells me, "okay, now make like a tree." Well, he's got
my attention so far so I rooted my feet and stood my ground.
"Hold onto the hook tight" he says, "just like you're a tree branch and it's hung up."
So, I held the hook tight, clinched my teeth and waited. He pointed the rod tip down, straight at the lure; then he thumbed the reel's
spool so the drag wouldn't play out and he pulled gently but steadily. The next thing I knew I was standing there holding a hook and
he was holding the lure complete with the SmartLink still attached.
"I bet you can't do that again" I said; actually I figured he could I just wanted to see it again. So he showed me again and again until
I was finally satisfied that this thing worked. Okay, I'm going to give it my best shot to break down the principles of WHY THIS
THING WORKS.
The SmartLink is a piece of equipment just like any other that is in your tackle arsenal and it must be rated accordingly. In other
words, you won't use 30 pound mono to go fishing for 12 inch trout. The SmartLink comes rated in various sizes to match your
tackle. In my case I do a lot of fishing for the big Stripers so I use Smartlinks rated at 25/30 pounds, (my line weight) If I were to
use a Smartlink rated at 10 pounds and a big 30 pounder hit, I'd loose him along with the hook. In order for this thing to work you
must have the drag set accordingly. If you have the drag hammered down and a big Striper hits, say he weighs about 30 to 40
pounds, he makes a hard first run and chances are you'll loose him because the link will separate. BUT IF YOU HAVE THE DRAG
SET, he'll run, pull some line, get tired, run again, pull some line get more tired and eventually you'll land him. Thats how fishin'
works, well, unless your from the Ozarks and your blastin' 'em up with them little red candles. So, rate your equipment properly.
Now if you were running a #25/30 link and a ten pounder hit you could probably just horse him on in, chances are he wouldn't have
it in him to pull hard enough to break loose. (Okay, if you want the technical explanation of how and why the SmartLink works
then check out their site at www.UltimateSmartLink.com, it's worth reading.)
So here's where it gets interesting folks, that old boy at ICAST had me so convinced that I immediately called Nathan Bettencourt of
Bettencourt baits and told him, "Nathan, you have got to see this thing!" I told him "If you supplied your lures with this product it
would be absolutely fantastic." So I handed off my cell phone to the man so Nathan could talk to him, it's my understanding that
work's in progress to get this beauty onto the Bettencourt lineup.
Well I told the guy that before I get too worked up over a product I have to field test it myself. He gladly handed off a half dozen
samples and said have fun. Now I have to tell you about the lures I use. Along with the Assassins and my Old' Henry nearly every
big Striper lure in my outfit costs at least 20 bucks a pop, so when they get hung up it's a scary thing, and when they get busted
loose it's down right sickening. That weekend I took my Henrys and Assassins and I equipped them with the Smartlink. I trolled
my spot through the meadows like usual. Now I call this particular place The Meadows because it's rather shallow and has a lot of
submerged trees and other lure unfriendly obstacles that are just waiting for fools like me to come trolling through, but, it has some
very nice sized fish as well.
So I went trompin' through there like always and soon enough I got snagged up, like always. Now before when I got snagged I had
to back track to where the lure was and use my lure knocker The MacSquid, (I'll tell you about that one in another section). Now
the MacSquid always got my lure back but it was a bit of work. And, it did manage to not only take away fishin' time but it also
scared away fish because of the commotion I would make gettin' my lure back. (mainly all the swearin' and kickin') Well, this time
when the lure got snagged up I started to back track like always and then I remembered, wait a minute, I have the Smartlink
attached. So, I pointed the rod tip at the lure, thumbed the spool and pulled gently, but steady. I felt something give way and at
first thought that the line had snapped. I reeled it in and low and behold my lure was there, minus one hook. I put on a new hook
and was back in business.
Here's another sweet part about the SmartLink, I can put a new hook on the link with damn near one hand, it's that quick and easy.
So, I lost a 50 cent hook, but I saved my 50 dollar lure. Now then, in the past year I've still gotten snagged up many times, but after
every single snag I always get my lure back within less than a minute, complete with the SmartLink. Now I gotta' tell ya' the
Ultimate SmartLinks are a bit more expensive than run of the mill split rings; these high tech jewels run about five or six bucks for a
pack of 6. But, considering that you use them again and again and they save your expensive baits they are well worth the price and
then some. Okay already, I've rambled enough, go check out their website and find out who carries them in your neck of the woods.
Pappy
a booth which was promoting what was called the Ultimate Luresaver. Okay thought I, it's another lure knocker, what the heck, I'll
talk to the man and see what it's all about. Well, I half expected that he would show me a five pound block of lead that you
dropped on top of a snagged lure to bust it loose from the tree it was hung up on, but instead he showed me a little looped piece of
wire about the size of a split ring. (The company has changed the name from Ultimate Luresaver to Ultimate SmartLink to
prevent anglers, like myself, from automatically assuming it's just another lure "knocker".)
"Hrumph" says I, ( I say that alot) "how's this little piece of wire going to save my $60.00 Ol' Henry from that tree I just hung up
on?"
Well," the guys says to me, "You replace the split ring on your lure with this piece of wire, and when you get snagged you pull on
the line, the wire separates and your lure comes free, you loose only the hook thats left behind on the tree among the other two
dozen lures that it has claimed." Well, he didn't say it exactly like that but pretty close.
"Mister," says I, " I was born at night, but not last night!" (I know when I'm being taken for a sucker right) so I say to him; "As
soon as that big old 40 pounder hits my lure that little piece of wire will separate and the fish will break free and I'll reel in a lure
minus one hook."
Well, that old boy just smiled and says, "Here, take a hold of this lure that we rigged with the SmartLink and make like a fish."
Without taking the time to think about it I grabbed the lure and took hold of the hook. Fortunately for me these guys were on the
ball. They rigged the lure with a nice big barbless hook that was easy to grab a hold of without fear of the point sinking deep into
flesh and bone. Not that I'm a sissy mind you, I just didn't want to bloody up his new lure.
"Make like a fish?" I asked. Although I tried not to I must have looked a little confused. He laughed, "Just tug on that hook like you
were a fish trying to get away."
Heh Heh I thought, I'll show him who's the fool now. So I took that lure and started to pull hard, but the drag started to sing and I
was just taking out line. "Hey" I yelled, "Tighten that drag back up!"
So he asks me, "When you go fishin', do you fish with the drag hammered down?" Man, this guy thought I just fell off the turnip
truck.
"Of course not" I tell him, "What kind of fool do you think I am." He laughed again.
"Well" he said, "the SmartLink works because it is based on the principle that you know how to fish and that you do have your drag
set correctly."
No matter how hard I pulled all I could do was pull out more drag. So now he tells me, "okay, now make like a tree." Well, he's got
my attention so far so I rooted my feet and stood my ground.
"Hold onto the hook tight" he says, "just like you're a tree branch and it's hung up."
So, I held the hook tight, clinched my teeth and waited. He pointed the rod tip down, straight at the lure; then he thumbed the reel's
spool so the drag wouldn't play out and he pulled gently but steadily. The next thing I knew I was standing there holding a hook and
he was holding the lure complete with the SmartLink still attached.
"I bet you can't do that again" I said; actually I figured he could I just wanted to see it again. So he showed me again and again until
I was finally satisfied that this thing worked. Okay, I'm going to give it my best shot to break down the principles of WHY THIS
THING WORKS.
The SmartLink is a piece of equipment just like any other that is in your tackle arsenal and it must be rated accordingly. In other
words, you won't use 30 pound mono to go fishing for 12 inch trout. The SmartLink comes rated in various sizes to match your
tackle. In my case I do a lot of fishing for the big Stripers so I use Smartlinks rated at 25/30 pounds, (my line weight) If I were to
use a Smartlink rated at 10 pounds and a big 30 pounder hit, I'd loose him along with the hook. In order for this thing to work you
must have the drag set accordingly. If you have the drag hammered down and a big Striper hits, say he weighs about 30 to 40
pounds, he makes a hard first run and chances are you'll loose him because the link will separate. BUT IF YOU HAVE THE DRAG
SET, he'll run, pull some line, get tired, run again, pull some line get more tired and eventually you'll land him. Thats how fishin'
works, well, unless your from the Ozarks and your blastin' 'em up with them little red candles. So, rate your equipment properly.
Now if you were running a #25/30 link and a ten pounder hit you could probably just horse him on in, chances are he wouldn't have
it in him to pull hard enough to break loose. (Okay, if you want the technical explanation of how and why the SmartLink works
then check out their site at www.UltimateSmartLink.com, it's worth reading.)
So here's where it gets interesting folks, that old boy at ICAST had me so convinced that I immediately called Nathan Bettencourt of
Bettencourt baits and told him, "Nathan, you have got to see this thing!" I told him "If you supplied your lures with this product it
would be absolutely fantastic." So I handed off my cell phone to the man so Nathan could talk to him, it's my understanding that
work's in progress to get this beauty onto the Bettencourt lineup.
Well I told the guy that before I get too worked up over a product I have to field test it myself. He gladly handed off a half dozen
samples and said have fun. Now I have to tell you about the lures I use. Along with the Assassins and my Old' Henry nearly every
big Striper lure in my outfit costs at least 20 bucks a pop, so when they get hung up it's a scary thing, and when they get busted
loose it's down right sickening. That weekend I took my Henrys and Assassins and I equipped them with the Smartlink. I trolled
my spot through the meadows like usual. Now I call this particular place The Meadows because it's rather shallow and has a lot of
submerged trees and other lure unfriendly obstacles that are just waiting for fools like me to come trolling through, but, it has some
very nice sized fish as well.
So I went trompin' through there like always and soon enough I got snagged up, like always. Now before when I got snagged I had
to back track to where the lure was and use my lure knocker The MacSquid, (I'll tell you about that one in another section). Now
the MacSquid always got my lure back but it was a bit of work. And, it did manage to not only take away fishin' time but it also
scared away fish because of the commotion I would make gettin' my lure back. (mainly all the swearin' and kickin') Well, this time
when the lure got snagged up I started to back track like always and then I remembered, wait a minute, I have the Smartlink
attached. So, I pointed the rod tip at the lure, thumbed the spool and pulled gently, but steady. I felt something give way and at
first thought that the line had snapped. I reeled it in and low and behold my lure was there, minus one hook. I put on a new hook
and was back in business.
Here's another sweet part about the SmartLink, I can put a new hook on the link with damn near one hand, it's that quick and easy.
So, I lost a 50 cent hook, but I saved my 50 dollar lure. Now then, in the past year I've still gotten snagged up many times, but after
every single snag I always get my lure back within less than a minute, complete with the SmartLink. Now I gotta' tell ya' the
Ultimate SmartLinks are a bit more expensive than run of the mill split rings; these high tech jewels run about five or six bucks for a
pack of 6. But, considering that you use them again and again and they save your expensive baits they are well worth the price and
then some. Okay already, I've rambled enough, go check out their website and find out who carries them in your neck of the woods.
Pappy
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Do you love Hunting, Hotrods, Motorcycles, Boating, Golf or the Rodeo?
To visit some other great sites owned by Pappy's World simply click on our red, white & blue logo above.
To visit some other great sites owned by Pappy's World simply click on our red, white & blue logo above.
| I RECOMMEND THE ULTIMATE SMARTLINK |
| SMARTER |
| THAN A SPLIT RING |
| Every once in a great while I come across a product that really blows me away. Sure there are alot of great products out there worth mentioning but there are not alot of products out there that will make me say Holy Sheeshkibob, this thing is awesome. Well, last year I found such a gem at the ICAST convention. |