Evergreen is one of the world’s largest and most revered brands, with tackle that covers almost every species – and its core range of Egi Bancho sees a series of new colours for 2021.
The focus of this review is the new colours, but for those who missed the many previous reviews we’ve done on the Egi Bancho series, I’ll give you a quick rundown; EverGreen’s Egi Bancho is the squid jig I recommend to anglers new to squid fishing. They’re not cheap but they’re extremely high quality and are the easiest jig on which to impart effective action. They’re quite thin, with a very sharp nose and shallow back arch, and it’s easy to get a great hop action from them, even with a normal rod.
As you gain more experience you can get them to dart like a baitfish, which makes them a versatile jig in several fishing scenarios. They are beautifully balanced while sinking and aren’t negatively affected by strong currents. They come in sizes 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 and have an outstanding build quality and hardware.
The new series of colours is a mix of brand-new colours to EverGreen, with a few old classics that are now part of the Australian range. One new colour that caught my eye was 0904HS, a clear body with a half foil silver wrap adorned in a white cloth. EverGreen has been using intricate half foils since 2018 but this has taken it a step further, with a fish tail shape to mimic a baitfish.
It proved highly effective on the few days we had patches of clear water and high sun. Another standout colour was 1001S, a silver foil with a white cloth that has strong lumo stripes and an extremely strong UV red. There is a great mix of classic-looking yet originally designed natural patterns with red foils, greens with gold and outstanding UV highlights. Another highly original design is 0305R, a gold foil base with a red foil stripe and UV tail. These are not designs and colour combinations you see often, nor are they easily replicated – and they’re effective. The stand-out jig, 0223GL, a clear body with a peach cloth and a single thin brown stripe and brown circle on the tail, has a UV head and strong glow tail, which is a perfect combination for the dirty water we fished on the test day.
Distributed By: Gladiator Tackle
Web: gladiatortackle.com.au
