The Berkley Havoc line of baits is pretty cool as all of the baits are designed by a Bassmaster Elite Series Pro. The Grass Pig was designed by Florida pro Bobby Lane. Living in Florida, I have seen the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper and the Gambler Big EZ take these grassy waters by storm. Everyone is throwing them and it's because they work. When the Skinny Dipper first came out, I knew it was only a matter of time before everyone had their own version. I have been using the Havoc model for the last few trips and have enough info to give it a review.
One of the first things I noticed about the Havoc bait was the texture, it was really soft. For this type of bait, I am torn on deciding whether or not the softness is a good or bad thing. For one, you want a soft bait that the fish will hold on to and allow the hook to penetrate. On the other hand you want durability, especially when fishing it in heavy grass, pads and reeds that seem to tear up baits quickly. The second thing I noticed was that the body was much thinner than the other baits in it's class. All of the baits in this category are the same size at five inches.
It also features a slit in the belly for easy rigging. The Grass Pig comes in ten colors, which is much less than the competition which has up to 30 different color choices.
While fishing this bait, I rigged it on both a weighted Moaner Stroker and unweighted Stroker. When fishing these baits, in my opinion, it is usually best to have that screw-in hook to keep the bait in place during the retrieve. The cool thing about these style of baits is that you can fish them several different ways. You can buzz them at top and vary your retrieve speeds, or you can fish them under the surface. I do both and let the fish tell me what they want.
While I like this bait, it's hard for me to pick a reason why this would be better than any of the others on the market. If you are in an area where the other versions aren't sold and can only use this one, it's worth it. I think in general, the fish that hit these are pretty aggressive and will eat whatever is buzzing by.
Scoring for the Havoc Grass Pig
Price/Value: 5
Again, like all Havoc baits, it is only $2.99 for a pack. At around 50 cents per bait it is much less than the others (roughly 68 and 77 cents each)
Durability: 3
I didn't catch many fish on the bait so it was hard to determine, but based on hooking and re-rigging, it was average durability.
Performance: 3
It swam well at fast and slow retrieves.
Innovation: 1
Nothing special about this swimbait.
Availability: 3
Online at TackleWarehouse, and no stores I have seen yet.
Total Score: 15 - Good Buy!
20 comments:
I will probably try them just because they are cheap. Must say that the other Havoc baits seemed durable enough.
How do you think it will work on a Scronger head? I have had issues using a Zoom paddle tail fluke on them, I am wondering if the thinner bait would help or hurt it more. What do you think?
@Jody...your right..at that price you can't go wrong.
@Thoughts of a Christian Bass Fisherman - I didn't think of that..using it on a scrounger...but you may be on to something there. I think it would be great actually.
I fished this bait during the Big Bass Splash on Lake Guntersville this weekend. I fished it with a slow retrieve on the the bottom to find suspended or bottom-dwelling fish. Caught some 3 and 4 pounders but nothing worth weiging in.
OK so what did you fish it on, spinning gear or baitcaster? If spinning gear is it heavy enough to fish with a baitcaster?
i havnt used this bait, by looking at it, it looks good. so here is my review. the grass pig is no diffrent than the reaction innovation dipper. the grass pig is cheaper in price than the reaction innovation, which i think is a plus! but the downside is the grass pig does not have a lot of color selection! the little dipper has a lot more color selection than the grass pig. i can also see that the dipper has really ribbed body which creates motion. so in my opinion if your looking for a swimbait that is cheap and has the color you want, go for the grass pig. but if not i would go for the dipper.
@Tony...what color were you using?
@ikaika...good review of the bait...are you going to get some?
@Chris - I fished it on baitcast gear with 15lb test and it cast a long ways!
What color is that "grass pig" yhat you have pictured?
@Samuel- that color is called Swamp Gas and the color is close to the best color down here in FL.. Reaction Innovations' Houdini
for sure man, has my favorite color and its cheaper!
How does the scent of the Havoc baits compare to the rest of the Powerbaits?
@HellaBass - the scent is almost non existent compared to PowerBait. It's like a very faint version of it.
Nice review of the Havoc Grass Pig. From the looks of it, value is its greatest asset as it is reasonably priced.
It will be interesting to hear how durable they are after a few trips. I like my baits a little sturdier as I run into toothy pikes a lot in my fishing.
Honestly TB, this is the kind of stuff I appreciate in a review!
"it's hard for me to pick a reason why this would be better than any of the others on the market. If you are in an area where the other versions aren't sold and can only use this one, it's worth it."
@TBrinks
hmmm.... wonder if it's a new formula, better, worse or just different?
@mspbass thanks. I try to keep it honest and tell it like it is.
@hellabass. Its definitely a new formula. Not the formula you are used to.
Talked to a Berkley rep at Northwest SportShow today, HAVOC baits are unscented plastic, nothing, add your own, no salt, no scent, no powerbait.
I used some Grass Pigs this past weekend and had a much better hookup ratio than I do with Skinny Dippers. I attribute that to the softer plastic. I have a tournament on Lake Jackson in Tallahassee Saturday and noone here sells them, but I found some nearly identical baits made by Bitter's. I bought a bag of their Houdini color and expect them to perform just as well.
the Bitter's Naked Swimmer is a great bait. I like it just as much as the Dipper and Grass Pig. I think they all have their place. Good luck on Jackson.
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