By Josh B. Peacock

If you are an avid angler, there’s a good chance that at least one of the items covered below will leave you wishing for one or all of them in your stocking this Christmas morning.

St. Croix Avid-X Rods

Let’s start with the open water lumber, I was fortunate enough to try out one of St.Croix’s new 2015 Avid-X (AXC70MF) rods this past fall. Not only did I get to try it out, but I also got to put it through the paces! When I held my first St.Croix Avid-X rod in the Kenora hotel parking lot with St.Croix Canadian Sales Rep Bob Stirling in September, I felt as though the Ontario Provincial Police, in suspicion of illegal activity would come flying around the corner with lights a-blaze at any moment. This rod is scary light, comes with a split-grip handle, and boasts the new Kigan advanced microguide platform which minimizes line slap on the blank, and in turn equates to increased casting distance and accuracy. The Avid-X comes with an unprecedented 15 year transferable warranty (although who in their right mind would sell a St.Croix rod!). I just so happened to fluke into this 43.5 inch Northern Pike while slinging a football jig around for largemouth bass on my home lake. The rod performed flawlessly on its first outing, controlling the powerful and insanity based surges that giant Canadian Northern Pike are famous for. Asked to provide a review at the end of the day, I simply stated. “I’m sold”.

LazerTrokar TK133 Flippin’ Hooks

I have a confession to make, I’m absolutely fanatical about my flippin’ hooks. Since the Lazer Trokar TK130 came out a few years back, I’ve literally had one to three of them tied on every outing, ever since. When I heard that they were coming out with two new versions of the original TK130 I immediately e-mailed the good folks at Eagle Claw, begging for just a few sample packs! As luck might have it, a small package arrived from Denver Colorado a short time later. The package contained the new TK133 Big Nasty flippin’ hook, designed with an aggressive bend and smaller gap to mesh well with narrow/slender soft plastic baits. Here was the first bass (a hefty 4 + lb fall fatty) that I jacked on the new Big Nasty. In one word, Wicked.

Also new out from Trokar is the TK135 HD, an even beefier version of my favourite TK130 (I’ve already got mine on order for 2015). These babies are made for the absolute meanest – gnarliest cover on your lake. Think winching giants with heavy braid, using your heaviest rod out of the thickest milfoil, reeds, laydowns, and timber.

Lastly the TK250 Frog hook is sure to catch the eye of the Amphibian flinging crowd. I had some toilet bowl flush – style strikes on my new Vicious Frogs this past season and can’t wait to beef them up with the new Trokar Frog Hooks, I received the 3/0 versions in the mail which look like they will pair up perfectly with the jr. sizes, and the 4/0 -5/0s will arm you with two new lethal barbs for the standard size of your favourite hollow body frog.

Vicious Vision Sunglasses

One of the most important items, which I can’t live without while spending thousands of hours each year on the water is a quality pair of polarized sunglasses. Being a shallow water angler I rely heavily on polarized sunglasses to reduce glare and help me spot not only key pieces of cover, but fish as well. They also provide significant eye protection while running at high speeds, and from my wild homerun-style hook sets while flipping, pitching, and frogging (trust me, my wife, and tournament partners are constantly dodging tungsten weights, apparently they hurt!) Now that I’ve completed my first season wearing the new Vicious Vision polarized sunglasses I can confidently say that they are at the top of the market. In fact, I was told that they would meet or exceed a leading brands pair of premium polarized sunglasses, and couldn’t help but scoff at that bold of a statement, after all I had been wearing this brand since high school. My buddy Greg at Vicious was right. I will be ordering another one or two pairs for this coming season. I currently have the copper and amber lenses which were awesome in all light conditions, especially overcast days.

From my family to yours, have a safe and Merry Christmas, and wishing you the best of luck with your new gear in the coming New Year.