Certain bass lures, such as wakebaits and swimbaits, simply catch bigger bass. Before and after the spawn, it’s nearly impossible for a fat bass to ignore a big, meaty bream. Koppers provided us with a LIVETARGET Tilapia Wakebait to review, so I headed south to Georgia’s Lake Seminole to put it through the wringer. With water temperatures hovering in the 60-degree range and thousands of bream roaming the river bars, I was impressed by 4 key elements of the bait.
• Castability
• Realism
• Action
• Durability
Casts a mile
The Koppers LIVETARGET Tilapia Wakebait measures 3 3/4-inches and weighs in at a hefty 1 3/8-ounces. Combining it with a 7-foot 3-inch heavy-action Duckett White Ice Casting rod and 65-pound braided line allowed me to cast it upwards of 50-yards with minimal effort.
I exclusively fished it on big grass flats and sand bars to target prespawn bass and its castability helped me cover water efficiently. It flies straight, doesn’t spiral and its hooks never tangle.
Looks just like a real bream
Koppers is well known for their ultra-realistic paint schemes and profiles. This bait perfectly resembles a “medium” sized redear sunfish—not too big and not too small. Because of its ideal size, you can be sure to catch both quality and quantity with it.
Wild, erratic action
The Koppers LIVETARGET Tilapia Wakebait has a single joint, giving it incredible action in the water. This design also gives you the ability to use it several different ways. For exciting topwater bites, retrieve it with a high rod tip to give it a wide-wobbling “v-wake”, and for subsurface action, simply put your rod tip down and fish it like a crankbait.
I got the majority of my bites using an erratic, “jerk, jerk, pause” retrieve, much like a jerkbait. At rest, it sits perfectly upright in the water, emulating an injured bream.
I couldn’t break it
Anytime you pay $17.99 for a bait, it can make you apprehensive to use it in some situations. I spent the majority of my time ripping it free from thick hydrilla, occasionally slamming it into the side of the boat—on accident of course. It held up very well and still looks brand new—no paint chips, hook rash or cracks.
Many of the single-jointed wakebaits on the market are extremely fragile, with the bait often coming apart at the joint. To find such a durable wakebait is a rarity, but definitely a major plus.
Spring is coming, and if you fish anywhere with a big population of bream, I suggest you splurge a bit and try out the Koppers LIVETARGET Tilapia Wakebait. It catches some really big fish!
The Koppers LIVETARGET Tilapia Wakebait is available at TackleWarehouse.com.
