Review: Pro-Troll E-Chip

By Tom Nelson on November 1, 2008

It’s time to put electricity to work in your fishing lures. One of the newest innovations in fishing tackle is the E-Chip. This is a revolutionary new product developed by the president of Pro-Troll Tackle, Dick Pool, in Concord, California. The E-chip is a small metal cylinder containing a metal ball. At each end of the cylinder is a special ceramic crystal. As the cylinder rotates the ball strikes the crystal and causes an electrical discharge in the water. This is the same type of electrical discharge the startled baitfish gives off. For year’s fisherman have taken advantage of the highly sophisticated mechanism fish use to find prey color, smell, vibrations and now the E-chip adds nerve impulse of wounded baitfish to the others. I was given some HotChip Flashers with E-chips mounted on them to test while fishing at Port Hardy B.C.

We conducted extensive testing of the E-chips on different lures and baits. For over a week of testing, our results showed that the E-chip HotChip Flashers out fished the same lure and flashers setup without the E-Chip. We would fish the same setup, a flasher with a Silver Horde Sonic Edge spoon tied 57 inches with leader to a large HotSpot flasher. Even with moving the flasher to different locations on the boat, using different rods and changing flashers rigged with the HotChip Flasher would out fish the non E-chip rigged Flashers. Not only would HotChip flasher out fish the non-E-chip flashers, but also the HotChip flasher would consistently produce bigger fish. We found the very same results fishing the Washington coast for large fall Chinook with herring rigged 45″ behind the flasher last summer and later in South Puget Sound for winter kings. These same results have been report by charter captains from Alaska to California. This is one serious salmon catching product! Currently E-chips are available on the HotChip 8 &11 inch flashers, Roto Chip Bait Holders, Sting King Lures, Kokanee Killer, Trout Killer, Sting Fish Lures and RatZap Crankbaits for you bass lovers.

Tom Nelson

Tom Nelson is the publisher of salmonuniversity.com. Known throughout the Pacific Northwest as the “Dean of Saltwater Fishing,” he has helped develop and test tackle and gear for Scotty, Pro-Troll and Silver Horde, is a regular speaker at area sports shows, has taught more than 5,000 students how to fish during his classes at western Washington community colleges, and is the co-founder of the Puget Sound Anglers.