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Before I get into my quick 2c on the deal, here's what Dan "The Mad Bait Scientist" Spengler had to say about it on Jay Kumar's BassBlaster:
1. What does the Doom Stroller do that's different or better than a jighead minnow?
> "First off, it's a rolling hard bait so it's a jighead minnow meets a hard bait. We developed it with Logan Parks, and it honestly it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to work on.
> "Think of like all the jighead minnows...some of them move differently than others, and we had to build this consistent rolling hard bait.
> "...it's different in the sense that it's a body shape that looks more realistic and natural than a jighead minnow.... We tried to build a kind of high-end, natural looking, elongated shad or herring body profile.
> "[With a hard bait] you can really get hyper-focused on the gill plate anatomy, the body shape anatomy...that's one of the goals with it.
> "And then the next thing was the action of the bait...so it's easy to roll. We designed it to have less pain points – it actually works best with the rod tip down. That's a good thing because a lot of times you're sitting there working it with your rod tip up, and your arm maybe gets fatigued all day doing that...and [if] the wind catches your line, that drag throws your rolling action off.
> "We wanted to create something where you just put the rod tip down, almost like when you work a jerkbait. It's just easier, more comfortable, and...the flash and roll is very easy just by slowly reeling and imparting rod tip action.
> "But the real separation between the jighead minnow comes in these next 2 parts. The 3rd thing would be – it's got treble hooks...a brand new [Berkley] Fusion19 hook. It's a a light-wire yet super-strong new hook....
> "So when you're thinking about hookup ratios...[trebles] allow for maximizing hookups. So if the fish come up and they're a little bit more neutral, they just barely brush against this bait and then those hooks can get them.
> "And then the other thing is when this bait is descending in the water column. It does some really unique things you can't do with a jighead minnow....
> "It swims on the fall. So if you just hold it on a tight line, the bait rolls beautifully. It's like you're rolling the bait or retrieving it, but it just shimmies and rolls on the fall all the way down to your target.
> "If you want to drop it on a slack line to get it down there quicker, it swims down – it kind of drops head down and swims with a natural tail motion, like a baitfish trying to evade predation.
> "That's where the feathered treble hook comes into play...it looks like the tail of a fish swimming.... [And] that back tail [and] treble hook is...a point of drag. It's like a parachute. That is positioned a little bit upward on the tail...so that back treble hook is catching the water and it's allowing that body to roll so easily, even with the lightest twitches of the rod.
> "...just twitch your rod. You don't have to reel, and it rolls side to side beautifully. And a lot of times they'll they'll come up and eat it.
> "So I think it does a lot of things that the current jighead minnow market hasn't seen before."
2. How does it not sink too fast or sink out of the zone you want it in?
> "It is a sinking bait. And if you look at the sink rates of the bait, we have 3 sizes: We have a 70 [mm] and that sinks at 2.2'/sec, and then we have a 90 and a 110, and they both sink at basically between 2.6-2.8'/sec. So it sinks pretty fast.
> "But that is intentional – so they get down to targets quick if you want to slack-line drop the bait. If the fish are moving, maybe they're pelagic, and they're not just locked into position, you want to get that bait down the water column to the fish as fast as possible.
> "...the 70...you can fish that 3-20'. The 90, I'll fish that 5-30'. You may be like, 3', 5' – what do you mean? This is a fast-sinking bait. But as soon as you start strolling the bait and impart that rolling action, it maintains its position in the water column absolutely perfectly.
> "So as soon as I start strolling it, it's not really going to drop much in terms of the position in the water column, even if I'm fishing super-shallow. That's what allows me to fish literally the entire water column with this bait.
> "...I can [also] stroll it either super-slow or I can pick up the speed and try to impart a little more rapid action. That's another thing Logan and I wanted with the bait...to be able to stroll it slow, middle speeds and pretty fast.
> "...I'm a fish biologist [by degree and training]. So I'm thinking this way when I'm building baits [and when fishing]...how that baitfish responds. Typically they'll speed up and start trying to evade predation – that's what you can do perfectly with this bait."
How about water temp? Does that matter at all?
> "...we have tested this in a lot of different regions, and so far it seems like pretty much anytime they're chasing bait is going to be the window for this product...which is all the time.
> "...and it's honestly been a phenomenal crossover bait between species, like bass and walleyes...."
Dan's Doomin' gear
> 70mm (2/5-oz) – 7' M F Abu Garcia Fantasista X Spin Rod or a 6' 10" ML F Fenwick World Class Spin Rod, Abu Zenon MGL LTX Spin Reel (6.2), 8-lb Berkley FireLine or Berkley X5 Braid to 3-4' of 12-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro ("you don't need a super-long leader with this technique because they're chasing").
> "I don't like high-speed reels because it burns up all your slack line so you can't roll the bait. You want to use a more-traditional gear ratio."
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