"You guys wanna break for a quick sandwich," asked Terry Jones, one of the premier bass guides on the eastern end of Lake Erie based out of the Buffalo, N.Y. area.
His inquiry was innocent enough, but when his fishing mates for the day – myself and Buck Knives marketing director Bob George – agreed we could use a little grub in between smallmouth hook-ups, we quickly realized we neglected to bring even the dullest of knives to halve a sub sandwich.
"Let's try these," George said, offering up his company's latest creation – the Buck Knives Splizzors, a stainless steel pliers/scissors combo tool.
Before any of us could say "dropshot," the Splizzors cut through the turkey hoagie effortlessly and our floating shore lunch was underway.
At that point of the day, however, Jones and I had become quite familiar with the Splizzors as it was our go-to tool for treble hook removal and line cutting as the pre-spawn smallies along the breakwalls near Buffalo were smashing jerkbaits like they were playing Whac-a-Mole.
George figured the early May outing at Erie would be a great opportunity to field-test the Splizzors to see if any final tweaks were needed prior to the product's official unveiling at ICAST. He'd been getting feedback from Elite Series pros Bill Lowen and Brandon Palaniuk (both sponsored by Buck Knives), but he wanted to see it in action himself.
He liked what he saw and so did I.
The fishing tool category has grown considerably in recent years and is not unlike the rod, reel and line segments of the fishing business in that anglers want a product they can trust will perform every time they reach for it. The Splizzors certainly fit that profile.
During a separate outing this spring, I took note of how many pairs of shears some pros keep near the front deck of their boat. I lost count at six on one boat. Short of a pair of split ring pliers, the Splizzors fills every niche an angler needs on the water.
Constructed out of 420HC stainless steel, which Buck uses in many of its knife products, the tool is 8 1/2 inches long and weighs 8.3 ounces. It's every bit sturdy as it is hefty. Simply put, it's a no-nonsense tool that delivers every time and its rock-solid construction won't surprise anyone who knows of Buck's long-standing sterling reputation in the knife market.
The Dynaflex rubber handles make it comfortable to hold and very easy to control even while trying to remove three sticky sharp trebles from a 5-pound smallmouth. The couple inches at the tip of the tool act as a pair of pliers plenty strong enough to grab a hook shank and maneuver it out of a fish's mouth. They're also slender enough to free hooks that have been inhaled.
The rest of the scissors portion is a pair of razor-sharp shears with a micro serration pattern that makes quick work of any braided, fluorocarbon or monofilament line. The design also allows for the blades to be replaced if needed, but the prototype pair we were able to test seemed like they'd remain ultra sharp for years. Below the pivot point of the scissors is a small and large crimping tool and on the butt of the thumb handle is an integrated can opener.
While there are certainly many other options in the fishing tool category, the Buck Knives brand has always stood for quality American-made craftsmanship and the Splizzors figure to only add to that reputation.
Notable
> The Splizzors, covered by Buck's Forever Warranty, come with a nylon sheath that gives users multiple attachment options (belt loop, clip, etc.).
> Buck Knives will unveil the Splizzors at ICAST in Las Vegas. Check it out in booth #423.
