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Spring 2026
w AB ha A t M ’s n I e E w T fr R o W m ICOARNKS
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NETBAIT, SNAG PROOF, SCUM FROG, HALO, SET THE HOOK, FREEDOM TACKLE, BAITFUEL
The American Baitworks family of brands is big, with several very popular lure brands under their umbrella. Included in the lineup are NetBait, Snag Proof, Scum Frog, Halo Rods, Set The Hook, Freedom Tackle, and BaitFuel. Nearly all of them had new items being released this year at ICAST, and they also added another, Synch Fishing, which are beautifully crafted glide baits.
Here’s a complete look at all of the new items that will be coming out soon that bass anglers should pay attention to.
A NEW NETBAIT LINEUP: HEXTEK FINIKI
The HexTek baits from NetBait were released last year and feature a unique honeycomb-like design that holds and disperses scent like BaitFuel, which is molded inside with the plastic. Now, there are four
new bait shapes with this material. They call the new series Finiki, and they were built for pressured fishing situations.
The new shapes include the Sonix Pinch, a finesse craw bait with oversized craws to give it a unique action. This bait can be fished on the back of a finesse jig or rigged on a Ned Rig to imitate a small crawfish along the bottom.
Also new is the PropShot, a finesse worm that can be rigged many different ways. It has an oversized egg sack to hold an O-ring and a unique blade tail to give it a nice kick as it falls or moves around. You can fish the bait on a drop-shot, Neko Rig, or small Texas rig and take advantage of the unique tail design to show the fish something different.
The other two are finesse swimbaits, the Sonix Shad with a wedge tail design, and the Finiki Glide with a split tail for a unique kicking action. Both are meant to be fished on a jighead, but they would catch fish on a drop-shot or when used as a trailer on a small swim jig or vibrating jig.
MORE AND MORE FROGS
Having two frog brands in the lineup, American Baitworks continues to add new frog styles. Included in their family are two legendary names: Snag Proof and Scum Frog, and each has new baits.
New from Scum Frog is the redesigned BassRat. It has a very soft body for better hookup percentage, and the pointed nose allows it to walk easily. It comes in several realistic rat colors and has a custom-fitted hook made just for the bait. It’s also made in America, which helps keep costs down.
Another new bait from Scum Frog is the Leap Frog, which weighs 1/2-ounce but comes compact. It has a unique keel design in the body to give it great action with every twitch of the rod, and is made from an exceedingly soft material so that you will hook more of what bites.
Building on the popularity of the Zoo Series, Snag Proof added the Zoo Prop. It looks just like a pencil-
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