BASS BAITS, ECONOMY BOTH SOFT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 17, 1993                   TAG: 9301180374
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: D11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
BASS BAITS, ECONOMY BOTH SOFT
What will the bass be biting this season?
Put that question to the tackle dealers and manufacturers at the Old Dominion Bass Anglers Show in the Salem Civic Center and you get the following suggestions:
Rodney Bryant of Boot Hill Gun & Tackle in Fieldale recommends that anglers pay close attention to the Bass Assassin. It is a product of the new generation of soft-jerkbaits that have followed the debut of the Slug-Go.
The Bass Assassin Baby Shad is smaller and livelier than the Slug-Go, and that means the average angler can fish it with more skill, Bryant said.
"You just barely twitch it and it goes everywhere," he said.
Henry Morgan, of Henry's Gun & Tackle in Vinton, believes the soft economy will have a bigger influence on what anglers use than the new soft baits.
"I felt this was the year to have something with a cheaper price tag," he said.
His bass show display is dominated by discount lures, such as the deep-running Ditto, a crankbait that sells for $2.97. It is made in the U.S.A., hand painted and about half the price of a similar lure, Morgan said.
Any angler troubled with the hook or blade of his spinnerbait wrapping around his line will appreciate the new Stanley's Wedge Blade, said Sally Elliott of Elliott's Military Surplus in Radford.
This spinnerbait has a willow-leaf blade with a special taper that gives it better control. What's more, it makes so much noise that you can use a smaller blade and get as much vibartion as one two sizes larger.
The lure already is in such demand that Elliott said she couldn't get any in time for the show, but she has them on order.
Gary and Judy Parsons say their Muskie-Striper fly-and-spinner combination is one of the hottest items among the many offerings they manufacture at Parsons Fishing Lures in New Castle.
The lure sports a gold No. 6 spinner, two 2/0 trebel hooks and 1 1/2 ounces of weight, plenty big to get the attention of a trophy-size fish.
Stan Sloan's Hoot-N-Ninny is a good choice for bass anglers at Lake Moomaw, said Larry Andrews of the Bait Place in Covington. It is a plastic lure that looks like a crawfish, which happens to be a major food source in the mountain impoundment, he said.
David Webb of D&B Outfitters in Roanoke says anglers "won't go wrong" with established lures like the Rat-L-Trap and Poe's 400 crankbaits. The show prices are attractive, too: three for $10.
The bass show ends today following a 10-a.m. to 6-p.m. run.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB