I must admit: I love doing product reviews, especially when the new products aren't reinvented wheels. Recently I received products from Jackall and, like always, I was pleasantly surprised and a little curious as to the company's new offerings. I literally opened the mail, took the lures to my boat and off to the lake I went.
I've always been a fan of plastics and cranks, and back in my tournament days, those two styles of lures were my bread and butter. The ASKA 60 SR is Jackall's newest crank. It's a square-bill with a dynamic finish, just like you'd expect from Jackall, and the SR stands for silent runner, so it's a sort of finesse square-bill that Jackall says will excel under pressured conditions.
The hooks are extremely sharp and the bait, although silent, does include an internal weight. The bill's constructed of fiberglass, as is the Bling 55 crank, and that material seems to grab more water and offer a different vibration than the standard polycarbonate bills on other lures.
The ASKA's deflection qualities are awesome. Bang this lure into a stump and it rockets off the wood. Fiberglass is a fantastic bill material only if it's done right, but Jackall seems to have perfected the process because the deflection and vibrations are intensified.
On standard monofilament this lure runs 4 to 5 feet deep and will gain an extra foot if thrown on superlines like Berkley FireLine Crystal or NanoFil.
More Details
> The bait was designed over a 5-year period by legendary lure designer Seiji Kato in Japan. Jackall bills it as the world's most advanced crankbait design.
> The ASKA 60 SR includes an internal balance weight, as noted above, the purpose of which is to help the bait find center and track correctly almost immediately after a deflection.
> The belly hook-holder includes two guards to each side, which helps keep the hooks from digging into the side of the bait and fouling. It also allows the use of a larger hook.
> The fiberglass (aka "circuitboard") lip is all but indestructible.
> Like other Jackall cranks, the bait will retail in the mid-teens when it becomes available. Eight colors will be available.
> For more on Jackall, visit Jackall-Lures.com.
