The Troublemaker
This hybride style jerkbait is made by Kjelle Lundberg and it will be sold in a limited number of stores in the near future. As you might have guessed from the details of this jerkbait, it's a slow sinking jerkbait that holds the middle between a glider and a hybrid style jerkbait. You can fish it like a glider when you use subtle, short twitches. This makes the glider glide side to side in a narrow glide path. You can keep it in one spot for a long time by fishing it this way or by using some slightly harder twitches. The troublemaker glides side to side in a glide path of about 20-30cm so it's easier to fish it a little faster.
Just like you can/should with many of the gliders available today, it's a good idea to crank the troublemaker back like a crankbait. You can even troll it. It will glide side to side a little wider but it tracks true all the time. You will never have to tune it as long as you don't overdo it on the boat speed. If you want to troll it a little deeper, it's a good idea to add a swivel lead just in front of the leader to make it run up to 3m deep with ease.
I've seen Kjelle use the troublemaker and he gets the best results by varying the rate of retrieve throughout a cast. By this I mean the following: he twitches the troublemaker for a short distance and varies the force with which he twitches them (soft and hard twitches mixed together), then he cranks it back and speeds up a little after which he pauses the bait. Then he twitches it again. It works well and when you use some harder twitches throughout the retrieve, the troublemaker can achieve a depth of about 2m! Kjelle makes a bigger version of this lure and that one goes up to 3m deep. These lures are ideal to fish a little slower and more importantly a little deeper. Some ideal spots where you should use this bait, are underwater humps, reefs and deeper flats bordering to deep water.
About the finish I can be brief: it is phenomenal. Even after having caught a lot of pike (including big ones) it holds up very well.
Kjelle usually sprays his lures in natural colors because in the clear water that he fishes, it's essential. Having said that, the colors are extraordinary. You only need to look at the picture I took of one of his 'bream' colored baits and you'll see.
All things considered, this bait is a must-have for people that want to fish jerkbaits a little slower and a little deeper at the same time. It's not ideal for water shallower than 1m but don't let that spoil the fun. The troublemaker is special because it's relatively small and yet it runs fairly deep. Presumably that is caused by the fact that the attachment eye is located on the back rather than on the tip of the nose.