Berkley's New Shrimp Sure To Please
Reviewed by Jason Bryant
Product:    PowerBait Rattle Shrimp
Company:    Berkley
Thursday, July 03, 2008

Shrimp lead a tough life. From the moment they're hatched, our little whiskered friends spend the majority of their time trying to avoid becoming a snack for something bigger than them.

Shrimp are a staple in the marine food chain, and quite simply, there's not a fish that swims that'll pass up an easily had shrimp dinner. Sure, inshore gamefish will gorge themselves on crabs and finfish, too. But the sheer abundance of shrimp (both white and brown) throughout our coastal waters make them a top-rated choice for predators in search of a quick snack.

As anglers that should be important to us. If it's a shrimp that a redfish or speckled trout (or flounder, or snook, or whatever) wants, then we need to give them a shrimp. The choices in shrimp-style baits are just about limitless. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors and levels of realism, and they all have their place in an inshore angler's arsenal.

But there's a new shrimp bait on the block that you should know about: the Berkley PowerBait Rattle shrimp.

Berkley paid attention to the details with this bait. Note the holographic foil on the internal weight and the saltwater-proven black-nickel hook.

The Vitals

A few things stand out about the rattle shrimp from the moment you first lay eyes on it.

First, it's pre-rigged. No need to worry about getting the bait just right on your jighead or hook so it swims properly. Just pull the bait out, tie it on and you're ready to go. The Rattle shrimp is molded around the weight and hook so it performs perfectly out of the box. The bait comes in 3- and 3 1/2-inch sizes in 1/8- and 1/4-ounce weights, respectively. And the stout black-nickel hook is designed to hold up to corrosive coastal waters.

Second, as the name suggests, this bait rattles. We're not talking about one of those super-loud rattles you can hear across the bay. Yeah, sometimes those come in handy, but unless the water conditions are absolutely horrible they're usually overkill.

If you've ever held a shrimp in your hands and heard the little 'click' sound they make when they flip their tail in a futile effort to escape, that's about the same amount of sound the internal rattle puts out when you shake it in your hand. It's just enough sound to let nearby predators know that something is trying to escape without being so loud and unnatural that it scares them away. Perfect.

The Rattle shrimp will come in the great standby colors like clear/gold fleck, pearl white and new penny, but the assortment doesn't stop there. Coastal candy, glow, glow/chartreuse tail, natural, rootbeer gold, strawberry/white and watermelon/red are the other colors offered.

The Rattle shrimp is designed with a notched tail section and segmented, fan-like tail for increased action and realism.

Delicious Design

The Gulp! craze is still going strong and doesn't show any signs of slowing down in the near future. While the Rattle shrimp isn't a Gulp! bait, it's the next best thing. The baits are designed with Berkley's potent PowerBait formulation cooked into the plastic, so you don't have to worry about a fish spitting it out before you can set the hook.

The Rattle shrimp is a great compliment to the Gulp! offerings, especially in clear-water situations where fish are feeding primarily by sight. The realism of the Rattle shrimp far exceeds anything Berkley has been able to produce in its Gulp! shapes thus far.

The Details

On the subject of realism, it's obvious that the folks at Berkley went to great lengths to make this bait as realistic as possible, but not at the cost of sacrificing its action or fishability.

The Rattle shrimp comes with a notched tail section that provides extra flexibility and movement when you pop and hop the bait along the bottom. And the tail itself is segmented and fans out just like a real shrimp tail.

The baits come with large, colored eyes that fish can easily home in on, and on certain colors the internal rattle is covered with a holographic foil for added flash and attraction. When you add up all these visual triggers, the subtle, fish-attracting rattle and layer the tantalizing PowerBait formulation on top of it - you've got a bait that appeals to just about every sensory organ on a fish's body.

Ample Applications

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Rattle shrimp is its versatility. This bait can be swam in open water or hopped along the bottom. And even though the bait has an open hook, I was able to use it around reefs and scattered grass with only minimal hang-ups.

One of the best applications I can see for the rattle shrimp is under a cork. The popping-cork rig is one of the most widely used techniques on professional redfish circuits right now, and it seems that the Rattle shrimp was tailor-made for this application.

The Rattle shrimp is the perfect compliment to a popping- or rattle-cork rig.

When you pop the Rattle shrimp under a cork it doesn't dive bomb back to the bottom like a lot of other baits will. The bait's shape causes it to glide back down to the bottom where it sits perfectly balanced, hook facing up, ready to strike. And the internal rattle adds another dimension to a cork presentation that's difficult to achieve with other baits.

Realism, action, sound and scent all rolled into one make this bait a winner. Pick up a few packs and give them a try on your local waters when other baits aren't buying bites - you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Notable

> The Rattle shrimp come three to a package in a clamshell container, so you don't have to worry about getting baits that are deformed or bent before you have a chance to use them.

> The Rattle shrimp is set to debut at ICAST in a couple weeks, but it's already available online at Cabela's HERE for $5.99 a pack. You can also check out several different colors there, too.