Gear of the Year 2025 (10% off everything on this list at Veals Mail Order until midnight on 14.12.2025)
Maybe it’s a getting older thing, but I honestly hadn’t quite realised where we had got to in the year. I know it’s Christmas soon, but for a good few years now I have done these annual Gear of the Year blog posts and I clicked that one was due! I accept that some of you aren’t remotely interested in fishing tackle and that’s just fine. We live in a world where it seems to me that people keep hating each other more and more and I want no part of that kind of behaviour. If you don’t want to read this then I will catch you soon, and if you do like to read about fishing tackle then let’s get to it………
I asked the nice people at Veals Mail Order if they could do a bit of a discount for the Gear of the Year stuff below, and they kindly said yes. If you want to save yourself 10% off the “winners” below then go to this specific VMO webpage here to place your order, then use the code GOTY2025 at checkout. This 10% discount is valid until midnight this Sunday, 14.12.2025.
As always I wanted to say a big thank you to all of you kind people who take the time to read this blog and also interact with me via the comments section, or on my Facebook and Instagram pages. Thank you!! I am awarding “prizes” to fishing tackle which I have either reviewed this year or mainly fished with this year, with a couple of exceptions aside which I hope will make sense further down the page. Here goes then and you all have a good weekend.
The Favorite Black Swan 9’ 902MH 10-36g in action
Regular bass fishing Lure rod of the Year 2025: Favorite Black Swan 9’ 902MH 10-36g
Review here. As always I must say that fishing rods are very personal things, plus it’s not easy trying to compare different rods with similar specs when rods might well be so different because that is how they were designed to be. If we take the sort of lure rods I tend to like then, I have fished with numerous 9’ lure rods around the 30-36g rating which have cost a serious amount more than this Favorite Black Swan 9’ 902MH 10-36g - and I’d take this Favorite Black Swan 9’ 902MH 10-36g over any of them. End of. I think this rod is that good. Hell, I know this rod is that good. I also think the shorter Favorite Black Swan 852MH 8'5'' 10-36g is a truly phenomenal rod (review here), but I reviewed that one back in 2024.
Me whacking a lure out into big seas and big blue skies in Portugal on the Savage Gear SG8 Defiance 10’ 10-45g
More powerful Lure rod of the Year 2025: Savage Gear SG8 Defiance 10’ 10-45g
I definitely err towards shorter lure rods than this Savage Gear SG8 Defiance 10’ 10-45g, but damn this thing is sweet. Powerful, but SO easy to wind up and get lures out a frigging mile if you need to. I mainly fished with this rod in Portugal earlier year and it’s ended up becoming my surf rod of choice now. I got to work closely with one of the Savage Gear product guys to bring this rod to market and I am really proud of it. I’d obviously prefer it to be a bit cheaper, but I know what has gone into it.
Me fishing with the Favorite Skyline '25 862ML 8'6'' 5-18g
More finesse style Lure rod of the Year 2025: Favorite Skyline '25 862ML 8'6'' 5-18g
Review here. I was torn between four specific rods here which I have fished with extensively for a lot of this lighter, mainly estuary based bass fishing I have been doing so much of. The Favorite Black Swan 852M 8'5'' 6-24g which I reviewed in 2024 so I can’t go for it (review here), the shorter and even lighter Favorite Black Swan 772ML 7'7'' 4-18g (review here), and two of these 2025 version Favorite Skyline rods, the Favorite Skyline '25 862M 8'6'' 8-24g and 862ML 8'6'' 5-18g rods (review here). I would quite cheerfully have any one of them for this type of bass fishing, but tie me down, make me listen to Coldplay, and I’m going for the Favorite Skyline '25 862ML 8'6'' 5-18g.
Me fishing with the Westin W2 SBass 9' 9-35g
Value for money Lure rod of the Year 2025: Westin W2 SBass 9' 9-35g or Sakura Ryokan 902MH 9' 9-35g
Westin review here, Sakura review here. Give me a maximum of £100 to spend on a lure rod which I could use for most of my bass fishing and I’m going to happily take either of these Westin W2 SBass 9' 9-35g and Sakura Ryokan 902MH 9' 9-35g rods. Amazing what fishing tackle we can get for our money these days.
Fishing with the awesome Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE X8 braid in some bouncy conditions
Braid of the Year 2025: Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE X8
Yep, this Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE X8 is not remotely a new braid to me, but it’s the first 8-strand braid I ever fished with - and in 2025 I kinda came back to it to see if it was as awesome as I remembered it being. It is! Amazing mainline which I blame for starting my slight obsession with higher-end braids.
Fluorocarbon leader of the Year 2025: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon leader
As with the braid, this YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon is not a new leader to me, but I was interested to come back to it. I haven’t left yet. I love this stuff and I use it from 12lb up to 25lb depending on where and how I am fishing.
A new colour of the Savage Gear Surf Seeker
Hard Lure of the Year 2025: Savage Gear Seeker and Surf Seeker, new colours, bit of a cheat I know!
Sorry, these Seekers are obviously not new lures, but I love the new colours and they have all caught plenty of bass.
The Nikko Craw 3.2’’ did for this decent estuary bass
Alternative style Soft plastic lure of the Year 2025: Nikko Craw 3.2’’ creature bait
I know how good and easy to use the RTF (Ready To Fish) MegaBass Sleeper Craw is, but I tend to prefer the added flexibility that a cheb-rigged, separate creature bait gives me - and I really like this Nikko Craw 3.2’’. It sits bolt upright when you trundle it along the bottom, bass smash it! As with the Z-Man soft plastics, these are made from a TPU plastic and you don’t want to be mixing them with other lures.
Another good bass to the Savage Gear Ned Dragontail Slug
More regular soft plastic lure of the Year 2025: Savage Gear Ned Dragontail Slug
Mads from Savage Gear urged me to try these Savage Gear Ned Dragontail Slug lures for bass and I will admit that I resisted for a while. I am a tit though, because these things are absolutely lethal. I have been mainly bumping them along the bottom in a run of current, much like I used to fish the MegaBass XLayer. I tend to cheb-rig these Savage Gear Ned Dragontail Slugs, but one of my aims for next year is to see how much more I can do with them. On a cheb-rig they sit bolt-upright so I know that I need to put time into them where I would more usually fish with a creature bait for example (surely it’s almost a prawn-type lure as well?). As with the Z-Man soft plastics, these are made from a TPU plastic and you don’t want to be mixing them with other lures. Deadly wrasse lures as well!
Can’t get enough of the Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp L12 Weedless hook, look how well it holds a Z-Man creature bait in place
Terminal Tackle of the Year 2025 no.1: Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp L12 Weedless hook with moulded keeper
Review here. I know that a hook is perhaps not the most exciting thing in the world, but this Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp L12 Weedless hook with moulded keeper is brilliant for TPU-style soft plastics especially. It’s bloody sharp, when it goes in, it properly goes in, and that “moulded keeper” really helps keep soft plastics in place. When I turn to lures like the Nikko Craw and Z-Man Pro-CrawZ creature bait or the deadly Savage Gear Ned Dragontail Slug, this is the hook I turn to.
Terminal Tackle of the Year 2025 no.2: Berkeley Fusion Cheb weights
Simple and effective, I know that I should ideally be using tungsten cheb weights, but now find me a 5g or a 7g tungsten cheb weight which can accommodate a decent lure clip. Slightly bigger these Berkley Fusion Cheb (lead) weights might well be, but they work well and the metal clip things are plenty strong enough for our bass and indeed wrasse fishing.
Terminal Tackle of the Year 2025 no.3: Decoy Violence VJ-36 jig head
Not at all new to many of you, but I didn’t start fishing with these fantastic Decoy Violence VJ-36 jig heads until this year - and I really like them for specific soft plastics and more situations than I initially envisaged. I especially love how the awesome Savage Gear Slender Scoop Shad sits, swims and fishes on these weedless jig heads. I don’t go out without these jig heads now.
Bits and pieces of the Year 2025 no.1: HTO Double Latch Box 20.5cm
This HTO Double Latch Box 20.5cm is cheap and it works great. I have stored various TPU-type soft plastics in this thing for months now (Z-Man etc.), and there is absolutely no sign of damage to the box or the lures.
The little size 1 BKK Fast Snap-41 lure clip
Bits and pieces of the Year 2025 no.2: BKK Fast Snap-41 size 1 20lb lure clip
I know, it’s a bit of a cheat when the regular size 2 version of this fantastic lure clip was here last year, but I am really liking this smaller size 1 BKK Fast Snap-41 lure clip for the lighter side of bass fishing.
Photo courtesy of David Trickey of Labrax Mafia - me landing a bass in the Grundens Vector Stockingfoot chest waders
Waders of the Year 2025: Grundens Vector Stockingfoot waders
Review to come. Not cheap, but these Grundens Vector Stockingfoot chest waders are fantastic, and there’s a really robust and easy to understand repair policy. For sure you’re going to pay for repairs if you damage these things - it’s going to happen at some point in saltwater fishing! - but at least you know that you can get lots more life out of these waders if need be. Very comfortable and easy to wear, they feel seriously tough and very well made, they have already lasted me longer than the Simms high-end chest waders I used.
Wearing the Grundens Bankside Wading Boots
Wading boots of the Year 2025: Grundens Bankside Wading Boots
Review to come. My favourite boots for use with waders are still the awesome Bestard SAR Pro Water Rescue Boots, but if you want a pair of “proper” wading boots then these Grundens Bankside Wading Boots are seriously worth a look. I have covered a lot of miles in these things when I have been doing my co-guiding work especially, and I really like them. No sign of any wear or damage so far (the kiss of death?!).
Me fishing in the Grundens Full Share waterproof jacket
Waterproof jacket of the Year 2025: Grundens Full Share jacket
Review to come. For around £120 I think this Grundens Full Share waterproof jacket is outstanding. Light and easy to wear, properly waterproof, there is also a smock version of this jacket which I haven’t seen or used, but I’d like to. If this Grundens Full Share jacket keeps me dry when Kerry in SW Ireland throws a proper hissy-fit then that’s good enough for me!
Disclosure - If you buy anything using links found around my website, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you anymore to buy via these affiliate links - and please feel entirely free not to do so of course - but it will help me to continue producing content. Thank you.