New Optimum Baits 7" BLT

Optimum Bait Company, the longstanding leader in swimbait innovation, released the Baby Line Thru (BLT) swimbait in 3-inch and 5-inch sizes. Responding to tremendous consumer demand for a lure that will tempt the biggest bass, stripers, musky, pike or walleye in any lake, Optimum now announces a 7-inch model. The newer, larger LT retains the same fish-catching qualities that made the BLT an instant success, only in a bulkier package that moves more water.

The Line Thru series of lures responds directly to a problem that plagued many swimbait anglers for years, namely how to keep fish that strike these internally-weighted lures hooked throughout the fight to the livewell.

“The lure has a sleeve that allows you to pass your line through and tie it directly to a laser sharp treble hook,” said Tony Paino, GM. “Then you embed the hook in the bait. When the fish strikes, it usually pulls away from the plastic so you’re fighting the fish directly without tearing up the soft plastic.” Not only does that mean more fish landed, but it also means that a single bait will last a long time, even around toothy critters.”

While the larger Line Thru may look like a BLT on steroids and maintains much of the original’s signature action, its creation wasn’t just a matter of increasing the mold size proportionately. “In order to get the bait to work at all speeds, we had to go through dozens of prototypes and revisions,” Paino said. The end result is a bait that that looks like its predecessor from a distance, but upon further examination it is evident that it is in many ways a totally new lure.

Various Elite Series pros, including Fred Roumbanis, Bill Lowen and Mark Tyler have tested the 7-inch Line Thru and raved about it. Roumbanis said that the BLT quickly became his “go-to” tournament swimbait last year “because you can swim it at just about any speed and it’ll still run true.”

While a moderate to fast retrieve is ideal, even at the slowest speeds the Line Thru series baits pulsate like a frantic baitfish.

“Most big swimbaits just have a tail shake,” Roumbanis said. “But this one, even at the slowest speeds you can still feel that big head shake.”

Optimum will release this larger Line Thru in all its regular colors, including sexy chartreuse. While some of them are aimed at specific situations, many will serve double-duty in both fresh and saltwater.

The 7” Line Thru will retail for $10.99.

ABOUT OPTIMUM BAIT COMPANY: Optimum Bait Company has been the leader in swimbait design since 1996. Optimum was the first company to release a swimbait with an internal weight in the head, but that is only one of their many innovations. Using CAD machinery, the company has branched out not only within the swimbait market, but also into other genres – one such development was Furbit the Frog and the Poppin’ Furbit, which were chosen as the best new soft lure by the American Sportfishing Association at ICAST in 2006. While Optimum is based in Southern California, where swimbaits got their start, the lures have gained a strong foothold throughout the US as well as in overseas markets.

For more information about
Optimum Bait Company, go to
www.optimumbaits.com