Here’s a cool little device that should help solve some future arguments between you and your buddies about the length of fish you caught.

The Snap Shot Ruler is a vertical fish measuring device that you can easily attach to your line or fish gripper (BogaGrips, etc). It’s a two birds with one stone type of deal: You can simultaneously snap a photo of your fish while getting a measurement…

Made of durable vinyl, the Snap Shot is simply a soft (easily stowed) ruler with a clip on the top side for attaching to your gripper or scale and a weight on the bottom so that it hangs straight. We recently tried it out on some Nor Cal stripers. With the fish lipped with a gripper, all we did was snap the ruler onto the Boga and then snap a couple quick shots.

Just slide your grippper or scale through the slot and measure away...

We’ve been out scouring the West Coast sportsmen’s shows this winter, in search of the coolest new fishing stuff…and let me tell ya, brother, we found plenty! From boats to plastic baits and everything in between — there’s a lot of stuff out there that you just may need.

Here are some of our favorites…

A Fresh Take on Driftboats

We’re always suckers for new boat concepts and Chuck Gross at Pavati Marine is an energizer bunny full of slick new ideas. Okay, so he’s obviously the “drift boat with doors” guy, which makes so much sense, but he’s just introduced his new fully customizable floor layout.

Everything's movable in here...

No more anchors bouncing around in the bottom of the boat on the way home!

Swimbaits for the Rest of Us

For those of us not named Skeet Reese or Kevin Van Dam, amassing a workable collection of swimbaits is an expensive proposition. These days you can spend more on a rubber bait that looks like a trout than you paid for your first truck. Now, however, thanks to Ho Pham, the president of the Real Fish Bait Company, us Regular Joes can actually afford a collection of swimbaits without taking a second out on the house.

Pham has an impressive list of cool baits that cost less than ten bucks, including Crappie, Bluegill, Tilapia and, our fave, the goldfish…

Bet they've never seen one of these before!

A swimbiat for under $10? No kidding!

Real Fish Bait Co. will have trout and shad models out soon too and Pham has plans for all sorts of baits in the near future like spanish mackerel, sardine, bullhead, baby bass, brook trout, balllyhoo, baby pike, brown trout, anchovy, baby tuna and a bunch more.

What’s really cool about this small company is Pham truly wants to know what his customers want. To that end, you can log onto Real Fish Bait Company, and tell him exactly what types of baits you’d like to see him produce — and in what sizes.

Sweet New Bass Sticks

Well, if you’re going to pick up some of those swimbaits, you might as well get a nice rod to throw ‘em on. It just so happens that you’re in luck! Lamiglas has just come out with a new lineup of rods: The Excel Series, which features 10 graphite models and 1 glass version to cover pretty much any bassin’ situation you’ll encounter: froggin’, small swimbaits, crankin’, rip baits, drop shot, etc…they’re all here.

The Excel’s feel really nice & light and have crisp actions.What’s really great about them is they come in at a really user-friendly price-point in the $99-$119 range. These days, to get a sick, American-made rod for a hundred bones is almost unheard of. Check ‘em out at Lamiglas

Back and Better than Ever!

It was a sad day for salmon and steelhead guides across the West when we found out Shur-Cure egg and prawn cure kinda just dropped off the map. For many of us, this stuff was like gold — the easiest cure to use ever created and the fish really, really seemed to like it. Unfortunately, the cure’s creator, Mr. Shur-Cure himeself, Budd Mackey, got tired of making it a while back and all of us diehards had to find a new cure.

That's Ms. Shur-Cure, to you pal!

It's almost like organic fish food!

Finally, Somebody Thought of This!

Let’s face it, the worst part of owning a driftboat is the whole tilt it up so it can drain scenario. You know the story — you go to rinse it out or store it and always seem to be propping it up precariously with a 2×4 or stick or whatever…It’s just a matter of time before the boat comes cashing down on somebody or it hits so hard that you break the trailer tongue.

Well, finally there’s an answer! Ken Smith has come up with a simple yet totally ingenious drift boat stand that allows you to prop up the boat safely.

A little piece of mind, eh?

With 4 bolts, you quickly and easily install this bad boy to your trailer and you’re good to go. Just pull the pin, lift the trailer and the leg drops into place. Put the pin back in and you’re done…And when it’s time to hit the road, the stand easily kicks up and out of the way.

Ready for the road...

Check ‘em out at Ken’s website, www.smitty-tackle.com

The Eel Deal

Being the Delta striper junkies that we are, we were drawn like moths to the flame to the Vision Hooks & Tackle booth when we saw their new line of sexy swimbaits: the Surf Eels and Sand Eels.

Though we have yet to get any into our hot little hands, these babies have that holographic paint job and skinnier profile that look a lot like small smelt, baby steelhead and salmon that stripers seem to really enjoy eating. See more colors at the website.

Cut it Up!

Finally, this one comes to you from our “we’re not really sure why we need this, but it sure looks fun,” file. Allow us to present Motion Marine’s Lil’ Mo Jet. These micro jet sleds come in three different sizes (12′, 12′ and 16′) but the little guy somehow looks the coolest.

Big Fred and Lil' Mo

See it a Motion Marine

Nobody likes a bruised groin, right? Well, thanks to the folks at Scotty, the black and blue spots on your hip, groin and boiler are a thing of the past…

But let’s back up here. I am, of course, referring to stand-up fishing for big critters like sturgeon, sharks, rays, jumbo bottomfish, albacore, peanut tuna, Pacific halibut, etc. And if you’ve ever done any of that type of fishing you know that jamming a rod butt against your body as you battle a denizen of the deep can leave some painful bruises.

Enter the Scotty Hammerhead rod butt cap! It’s a super simple solution to an ages-old problem that leaves you thinking…just like the whole Girls Gone Wild video series…why didn’t I think of that??

Features &Specs

Often the most brilliant designs are the most simple, and that’s certainly the case with the Hammerhead. There’s really nothing to it. Basically, you’ve got a semi-soft plastic mushroom that slips onto the end of your rod that, when pushed against your body as you tangle with an oversized fish, distributes the pressure over a much wider area…making stand-up fishing a lot more comfortable.

The Inside of the cap accommodates a variety of rod sizes, from typical 20- to 30-pound stand-up gear down to an average steelhead rod. Slide a Hammerhead on and the soft plastic really grips your handle.

The tough yet non-rigid material that the Hammerhead’s made from is also nice when it comes to jamming it against tender portions of your anatomy! Okay, this is starting to sound a wee bit phallic, but I swear it was unintentional!!

On the Water Test

So, I’m gonna cut straight to the back of the book here….we’ve run these things on shark, bat ray and sturgeon trips recently and they’re f@#$ing awesome! With the cap on, the comfort level goes up astronomically when you’ve got a lot of pressure on the rod.

Again, you don’t have as much pressure being channeled into a small area. The mushroom shape really spreads out the force of the rod.

Way more comfortable!

Fighting belts are fine, but you can only keep the rod in one position….with the Hammerhead, you can easily adjust rod angle and position during the fight.

Old Technology...

The Hammerheads are way too wide to fit in any of my rod holders, so we needed to slap them on after the hook-up, which was no biggie. I just kept a few on the boat so that they were always within easy reach. After a day of going toe-to-toe with 100- to 150-pound bay rays, the Hammerheads quickly and unanimously declared “must-have” equipment on board for all future big game missions.

Conclusion

Scotty Hammerheads: They’re cheap, easy to use and they work great. Buy some now!

Are XTOOLS’ 6-inch HybridX floating pliers a brilliant design or simply a gimmick? Read on to see how they fared in the real world…

General Overview

Pliers that are light as a feather, float and resistant to rust…sounds like a great idea. Early models, however, had their flaws but the HybridX version is a different animal entirely.

Key Features

• Floats
• Co-Molded Metal Inserts
• Tungsten Carbide Cutters
• Rust Resistant
• Cuts Braided Line & Mono
• Soft Grip Handles
• Lightweight
• High Visibility
• Comes with Safety Lanyard

On the Water Test

One summer in Alaska, I lost 6 sets of pliers over the side while unhooking unruly kings, so the idea of floating pliers had some serious appeal. I picked up one of the early models with plastic jaws…and while they floated, the pilers just didn’t have enough rigidity to allow me to pull big hooks out of bony salmon mouths.

After that experience, I had gone back to regular pliers until the HybridX, with its metal inserts, came out. While not as stiff and strong as standard pliers, the new XTOOLS model has proved that it can handle big hooks and big fish this spring during striped bass season.

The metal jaw inserts feature knobby teeth that give you some extra gripping power when grabbing ahold of hooks, which is a nice feature as well.

The only downside, really, is the fact that the teeth make it hard to pinch the barbs down on all but the largest of hooks.

The HybridX’s are billed as rust resistant and, obviously, the handle and outer jaw are completely rust-proof. The inserts are the only part that can corrode and I started getting a little rust spot at the point where the teeth screw into the jaw. Of course, after fishing in saltwater for a few days, I completely ignored the manufacturer’s suggestion that says “Rinse with mild soap/water and dry completely after each use.” Oh well, no biggie…my fault and it’s only a small spec of rust.

In this day an age, pliers had better be able to cut braided line and with these razor-like tungsten carbide chompers at the base of the jaw, you can burn through today’s superlines easily. Thin-diameter stuff like 20-pound braid is oddly a little tougher to cut that the heavier lines because it is so thin. The cutters get through it, but you just have to squeeze a little harder…which leads me to a major downside. Over time, my pliers have gotten loose and I have to squeeze extra hard to get them to cut — which is a problem with the plastic handles that flex.

Conclusion

Okay, so maybe the XTOOLS 6-inch HybridX pliers aren’t quite as tough as a standard stainless model. However, when you consider the fact that they float and won’t rust (if you rinse & dry ‘em after each use) make up for it. In addition, the foam handle is more comfortable than on any other set I’ve used and that briad cutter is really helpful.

Maybe the coolest feature, however, is the fact that HybridX’s are so stinkin’ light. You can toss ‘em in a pocket in your jacket or waders for bank fishing and not even notice they’re there. They’re so light that you may not even notice when you drop them…it happened to me last summer on a fishing trip in Alaska. I realized they were missing and went back to find them, which was an easy chore thanks to the bright blue and green color.

Overall, the HybridX from XTOOLS is a cool product with only a few small downsides.