Gear of the Year 2023
I don’t see how fishing can ever be anything less than an incredible thing to be obsessed with. If you read this blog then I would like to thank you so much for doing so. It’s nearly been another year and I guess I keep doing this blog quite simply because I love it. My work in fishing naturally gets me access to a lot of different fishing tackle, but miles above any of that is always going to be that simple thrill of almost running down a cliff path because the conditions look so good and you can’t wait to get at it. But yes, you know that fishing tackle fascinates me, and if I look back through my reviews from this year I realise that the world of modern bass fishing as such is still a wildly exciting place to exist within. Here goes then for the Gear of the Year 2023……………….
The most interesting lure rod I have fished with 2023 - APIA Foojin’RS Vivogue 96ML+ 9’6’’ 6-38g (review here). A 28g finesse rod masquerading as a 38g weapon, the tip on this thing is something else. Utterly effortless, loads of power in the butt which moves into a forgiving and very precise tip which in some ways belies how versatile this amazing rod really is. Seriously special and even more impressive with how easy it would be to get a rod like this so wrong.
Best value for money lure rod 2023 - Savage Gear SGS5 10’ 12-46g (review here) or SGS5 8’6’’ 9-35g. Take your pick of two rather different rod lengths and casting weights, but I can’t get enough of these specific rods. I have been using them for a good while before they hit the market earlier this year. I now turn to the SGS5 10’ 12-46g for the bulk of my surf and/or heavier lure fishing, but the real peach here is the little SGS5 8’6’’ 9-35g. I haven’t reviewed it yet but damn I love this rod and will get round to it at some point. Nothing yet has changed my opinion that “our” Savage Gear SGS5 lure rods are the best value for money lure rods on the market. I will try and get round to reviewing the new SGS5 9’ 12-46g (weapon!) and SGS 9’2’’ 9-42g rods as well at some point. I found some of these rods on sale at the Art of Fishing if that is any help:
The lure rod I most want to own 2023 - APIA Foojin’Z Testamatta 8-56g. Help, plain and simple. A mate of mine owns this ridiculously effortless rod, and quite simply, I want one. I have never fished with a lure rod quite like it. Horribly expensive but worth every penny in my opinion, almost three lure rods in one with how versatile it is. An 8’8’’ long 8-56g lure rod should not be this easy and effortless to fish with, but it is, and I have no idea how APIA have done it. The rod to make me sell my Shimano Exsence Genos “Wild Contact 90” S90MH/R 9' 8-48g?
The lure rod which I think will most likely slip under the radar and it’s a shame because it’s fantastic 2023 - Savage Gear SGS6 9’ 7-35g (review here). It’s thanks to the amazing APIA Foojin’RS Vivogue 96ML+ 9’6’’ 6-38g and its amazing tip which got me picking this SGS6 9’ 7-35g up and giving it a proper go. I am so glad I did because this is an amazing value for money, regular sort of casting weight 9’ lure rod. The tip is stunning. I have found this rod on sale for a ridiculous £177.99 at the Art of Fishing if that is any help, check here, and my lure rod of the year from 2022 is also on sale for an even more ridiculous £169.99 (the awesome Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g, review here, check here). There are also a few of those outstanding Penn Conflict Elite lure rods on sale, check this page here.
Best value for money spinning reel 2023 - ABU Superior 3000SH (review here). I never expected to like a non-Shimano or Daiwa “budget” reel as much as I do this ABU Superior 3000SH, but it’s a peach. Of course you can spend a lot more money and get a more refined spinning reel, but for under £100 I can’t see how any angler could go wrong with this thing. Don’t drown it and it should go on and on providing smooth and easy fishing for a good while.
Best more expensive spinning reel 2023 - Daiwa BG MQ 4000D-XH (interim report here). You know how much I like the Penn Slammers and Authorities, but they have taken the top spots before in this Gear of the Year thing I do at the end of the year. I haven’t done a full review yet of this Daiwa BG MQ 4000D-XH, but I seriously like fishing with it. You know you aren’t going to get any wind-knot hassles when you fill a Daiwa or Shimano or indeed that budget ABU Superior 3000SH right up with braid. I haven’t tried drowning this Daiwa BG MQ 4000D-XH because I don’t believe it’s meant for that, but with how tough it feels and how much good press it from some much heavier duty fishing in the US, I see no reason why this thing will not keep going and going. There is one slight caveat to this reel which I will talk about when I get around to doing a full review, but it’s nothing that would remotely put me off owning this awesome spinning reel.
Braid of the year 2023 - Sufix 91 (review here). A very good braid which I reckon is probably quite a hard sell with where it sits in terms of price, but it’s Sufix, and I trust Sufix lines above all others. Sufix 91 braid is really good, but money no object and I’m still going for the more expensive Sufix 131. Nothing feels quite like 131, and I haven’t come across any braid yet which lasts as long. Money being an object and these days I find it hard to look beyond the very good Berkley Sick X8 braid. We have never been more spoilt when it comes to modern mainlines.
Sub-surface hard lure of the year 2023 - IMA Hound 125F Glide. I know it’s not remotely a new lure, but I still think it’s that good. I would never go out open coast fishing without at least one Hound Glide in my lure box, and they also work rather well in a good run of estuary current. The IMA Hound 125F Glide just works, plus it’s such an effective lure in rougher seas and/or when a bit more distance is required. Thanks to the forward-thinking IMA importers Tacklewave, we now have a better range of colours than ever in many of the awesome IMA hard lures. Foul tempters!
Surface lure of the year 2023 - Savage Gear Slap Walker 12.5cm/20g. I like all three Slap Walkers (or the Slapper as we started calling them last year on our guiding trips), but the standout for me is the 12.5cm/20g version. It casts a frigging mile, you can easily get it out there on so many different lure rods, the hooks are really good, there are some good colours, and it just works. Somebody said to me earlier in the year that the Slap Walker wasn’t a Patchinko, but it was very deliberately never meant to be! They are very different surface lures with how they move and react. The Patchinko range is incredible, but I have just as much confidence when I clip on a Slapper.
Soft plastic lure of the year 2023 - Savage Gear Slender Scoop Shad. Sorry, it’s the same lure as last year, but I fish with them so much it was going to be hard not to choose the Scoop Shad again. Of course I use “my” Savage Gear Gravity Sticks a hell of a lot, but there is something a bit unique about the Slender Scoop Shad, and it keeps on catching bass in so many different situations. I feel supremely confident when I have a Scoop Shad on the end of my leader, and I really like them rigged on weedless hooks with different weight cheb heads to match the depth or sea conditions or current strength. I blogged about this plenty this year, see here, here, and here.
Misunderstood lure of the year 2023 - Savage Gear Sandeel Pencil. I don’t have access to Savage Gear sales figures, but I would imagine that the Sandeel Pencil 90, 125 and 150 lures aren’t up there. I don’t hear that much about them in the bass fishing world, but I wouldn’t go bass fishing without them and I know how bloody lethal they are. Whack ‘em out and wind ‘em in over all kinds of ground, and especially when you need a lure which swims as subtly and shallow as a weedless-rigged soft plastic but which can cover a huge amount more ground. The perfect lure for a good deal of our guiding work over in Ireland, indeed we have one lad who has caught so many bass on the Sandeel Pencil 125 that it takes a lot of persuasion to get him to fish without one!
Best fishing book 2023 - “Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective, Volume 2” by Marc Cowling (review here). Trust me - buy this book and then devour it. You will learn so much about bass fishing and you are going to want to apply so much of Marc’s unique thinking to your own fishing. Huge respect to one of bass fishing’s most intelligent and articulate anglers, who also happens to be a very professional bass fishing guide as well.
Wading boots of the year 2023 - Bestard Wildwater Pro boots. A touch cheaper than my wading boots of last year, the Bestard SAR Pro Water Rescue boots, but just as good. Review to come. These red ones don’t have the higher top to the boots and as such they let a bit more fine sand into the boots when you are beach fishing, but it’s no problem if you are prone to washing your boots when you get home. So comfortable and easy to move around in, Bestard make ideal fishing boots in my opinion.
Sun protection clothing of the year 2023 - HUK Men's Pursuit Sun Glove. I am really liking some of the Anglers Only tops I bought earlier in the year, but from a Gear of the Year point of view these HUK sun gloves are the ones for me. I bought them off Amazon this time last year and I have worn them loads and washed them a good few times as well. They are still holding up, they are very comfortable to fish in, they protect the backs of my hands any my wrists especially from the sun, and I will buy another pair whenever these ones fall apart.
I won’t go on and on. To be honest the accessories and various bits and pieces I would put as Gear of the Year are essentially the same as last year, so check out that blog post here. You all have a good weekend, how much rain can there actually be in the sky?!
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