Northland® Fishing Tackle’s new Lite-Bite Spring Float signals the mere kiss of a fish.
Floats don’t always flush. In fact, the preponderance of panfish bites are transmitted as pops, pings and pulls. Run-of-the-mill floats – as seen in the bargain bins – aren’t designed for precision, finesse fishing, but rather to sell at the cheapest possible price. They’re not perfectly balanced. They’re constructed of inferior materials. They twist into a bird’s nest on the cast.
Northland dismisses all those foibles with its new Lite-Bite Spring Float. Built from premium balsawood, the remarkably sensitive floats are equally as buoyant. Balsa is exceptionally lightweight, able to manage even seemingly oversized bait without being massive in size.
Each is meticulously painted and then coated with a clear lacquer finish to mitigate chipping. You’ll also appreciate the color spectrum. The stems are painted fluorescent orange, the brilliant brightness continuing onto the top of the body. At that point, florescent yellow takes over, greeting a white stripe and finishing into a rich and natural stained wood. The vibrant colors yield extreme visibility at distances and during low-light conditions, while also serving as metering to determine how sensitive the bobber is set, as determined by the mass of sinkers, size of the bait and or weight of the jig. The lower it floats on the surface, the more sensitive the setting.
A well-anchored, sturdy plastic stem cuts through the center of each Lite-Bite Spring Float and finishes into an easy switch spring clip. Anglers can quickly upsize or downsize float size, and without damaging the fishing line.
Northland pro Brian “Bro” Brosdahl is a proponent of floats, especially for springtime panfish and whenever fish are hunkered shallow. “Floats get a bad rap sometimes for being too amateurish,” quipped Bro. “The opposite is true. Floats let you fish at precise depths and in tight places you can’t cast and retrieve a jig without fouling. You can fish super slow with a float, too. Where a naked jig keeps falling, a float holds the bait right in the target zone.”
“Northland’s new Lite-Bite Spring Float is versatile, too,” continued Bro. “For spring crappies and bluegills, I cast and slowly drag it back, sometimes pausing along the way. Curious panfish will swim up and eat it on the stop. Sometimes, popping with pauses gets them going. Just experiment until you find what’s doing the trick.”
On the business end, for panfish, Bro has a squadron of go-to baits. He opens with pre-rigged jigs, preferring to slam slabs without live bait. His top producers for crappies, bluegills and perch are Northland’s IMPULSE® Rigged Bloodworm, Rigged Mayfly and Rigged Mini Smelt. They track perfectly on a straight retrieve, and seductively pendulum swing when you pop the float. The feathery plumes of Northland’s Fire-Fly Jig and Gypsi Jig® also get the nod. And when a meat additive – waxies, maggots or tiny minnow – are in order, he’s a fan of the Gill-Getter.
Northland’s new Lite-Bite Spring Float is available in six sizes: 3/8 in. Pencil, 1/2 in. Pencil, 3/4 in. Oval, 7/8 in. Oval, 1 in. Oval and 1-1/4 in. Oval. MSRP $4.99-5.99 (2 per card).
Available Spring 2022.
ABOUT Northland® Fishing Tackle In 1975, a young Northwoods fishing guide named John Peterson started pouring jigs and tying tackle for his clients in a small remote cabin in northern Minnesota. The lures were innovative, made with high quality components, and most importantly, were catching fish when no other baits were working! Word spread like wildfire, the phone started ringing… and the Northland Fishing Tackle® brand was in hot demand! For 40 years now, John and the Northland® team have been designing, testing and perfecting an exclusive line of products that catch fish like no other brand on the market today. Manufactured in the heart of Minnesota’s finest fishing waters, Northland® is one of the country’s leading producers of premium quality jigs, live bait rigs, spinnerbaits and spoons for crappies, bluegills, perch, walleyes, bass, trout, northern pike and muskies. |
ABOUT Bagley Bait Company The personality of any company comes from its founder. Jim Bagley was an inventive, fun-loving, passionate fisherman who became one the most respected legends in the fishing tackle industry. In late 2010, Jarmo Rapala and a group of investors bought Bagley Bait Company. As an admirer of Jim Bagley for his attention to quality and of his product ingenuity and innovation, Jarmo initiated significant changes in operations, enhanced production processes and quality control. Now in 2020, Northland® Fishing Tackle, along with Jarmo as its Chief Lure Designer, maintain the legacy of creating premium balsa crankbaits and topwater lures, as well as jigs and spoons for both freshwater and saltwater anglers. |