Monday, August 19, 2013

Evolve RX Mad Mouse Review


RX Mad Mouse:      Colours: 3   Size: 5"     Pack Count:  4     
                            Leg Style: Buzz            Scent: N/A


Intro:

The Evolve RX Mad Mouse may have found a soft spot in my heart, it reminds me of  the Gene larew 3-Legged Toad (one of may all time favs). It is a very well designed bait that give off an almost perfect eerily calm swim, so much so that I find myself humming the Jaws theme on every retrieve waiting for a bucketmouth to swallow it whole 


Overall Rating: 8.2/10
Each frog is rated on the following criteria: Quality, Castability, Presentation, Hook-up Ratio Available Options, Product Availability & Price


Quality & Durability: 4.0/5


I love the deisgn of this mouse. The body mould gives it s great profile, and the crimped legs give it a unique swim not found on most buzz style frogs or mice. A belly keel helps it cut through the water and  when paused it gives off a nice slow fall.

it is surprisingly durable for its size, and even more so for a baits with long thin legs. That being said, it has"long thin legs" and will only take so much abuse. The nose of this mouse can also be an issue, its narrow and thin and can be ripped during the heat of battle.




Castability: 3.5/5

Size or more accurately weight maybe the biggest downfall to the Mad Mouse. Coming in at 5 inches in length you would expect that this bad boy would have some heft to it.. and you would be wrong. I have not been able to find a listing the actual weight, but take it from me its lite. If fishing this frog/mouse bait be sure to match up your gear accordingly, this means you will want to lower your line diameter, lighten up on your rod and ease back the magnets on your reel.

Once you nail the above this is a fun bait to fish, it casts well, and skips better then most.


Presentation: 4.5/5


The Mad Mouse is a swimming machine! designed with boat like keel on it;s underbelly it cruses through the water with ease. Each of the three legs is equipped with a crimp in the middle giving the mouse it's gentle buzz/churn on the retrieve.

Surprisingly enough the subtle motion of this bait drive fish crazy. It is at its best when fished on very calm days and/or in shallower water conditions. Its soft almost sticky body material  hampers its ability to crawl over pads and other structure, so stick to open water situations.





Hook-Up Ratio: 5.0/5

The rubber/plastic used to build the Mad Mouse is ultra soft and pliable. I can be easily balled up on the strike and will not hamper the hooks ability to find its home. Evolve equipped the Mad Mouse with a deep belly slit allowing the hook to move more freely and ensuring no plastic gets in its way.

I would have liked to see some sort of hook point protection on the top side of the mouse, but the soft body material does allow you to bury it easily, just watch out for rips and tears after each fish



Availability: 4.5/5

Just two short years ago Evolve baits were very hard to find, and I will admit that I once drove 2 hours to a bait shop that I knew carried their products. Nowadays they are more and more available both locally and on-line.. check out the healthy list of on-line dealers below


Options & Price: 3.0/5

This Mad Mouse was introduced in one size and 3 color options. This is not exactly an abundance of choice, but that being said it is still a new product and I hope we see more sizes and colors in the seasons to come. As for pricing these baits average $4.73 a 4-pack. It may not seem like much but when you take into consideration that you only get 4 baits in each pack, it starts a sting.. the price works out to $1.18 a frog..er.. mouse. That's well above the  $1 per bait mark I use as a benchmark


Where to Find:
In case you are having a hard time finding these locally, here are some reliable options for you.

Evolve ($5.09)
Land Big Fish ($4.79)

Cabelas ($3.99)

Fish307 ($4.99) 



Equipment:

As mentioned above the Evolve RX Mad Mouse is a light weight bait and if you want to have success with it, you are going to need to gear down.. Instead of my standard SunLine FX2 40lb braid I used Daiwa Samurai 20lb braid. My rod of choice is the Dobyns 735c, and I test drove using a Daiwa T3 Ballistic reel.. worked like a charm






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