Nomad Design DTX 200 HD Trolling Lures

Nomad Design has decided to beef up the DTX 200 lineup with the Heavy Duty series, featuring an improved body which will resist cracking and water intrusion much better than the previous versions. All of the new lures also ship with the updated BKK inline hooks with larger barbs. With all of the upgrades they’ve done to the body these lures should track better and quote a higher top speed as well as more depth. Given the 200 size can pull close to 20lbs of drag at trolling speed the upgrade is well worth it. 

Bibbed minnows have traditionally been made with an eyelet fixed into the bib of the lure. It is impossible to control the manufacturing process to ensure that this fixed eyelet design is always perfectly centered and the fixed wire eyelet is not bent. Therefore, virtually every type of bibbed minnow made with a fixed wire eyelet in the bib will occasionally either not swim straight out of the box, or will fail to swim straight after one or a few fish. The eyelet is either not straight to start with, or becomes distorted during use.

The pat. pending Autotune system developed by Nomad Design has eliminated this problem. The design eliminates problems during manufacturing and ensure that no matter how many fish you catch, the lure will keep swimming straight. During testing we had lures that had caught over 50 fish, and had been worn through from wahoo and dogtooth teeth to the point of the lure body filling with water, but the lure kept swimming perfectly. The DTX minnow with Autotune will always swim straight, first time and every time, no matter how many fish you catch.

​The other key feature of the Autotune system is the amazing diving depth that can be achieved. The ability of the system to perfectly centre itself every time on the bib means that the tow point can be designed to be as far back on the bib as possible, effectively just forward of the point where the lure becomes unstable and won’t swim. However, having the tow point as close to this “point of not swimming” is what achieves maximum diving depth, but it can only be done with a perfectly centred tow point. Traditional fixed eyelet trolling lures are unable to position the tow point this far back on the bib and have to allow room for error in the manufacturing process.

​The pat.pending Autotune system has eliminated this problem and has set a new standard for diving depth in trolling lure design. In addition to the Autotune technology, the concealed Hydrospeed belly eyelet allows faster trolling speeds with single hooks, and ensures the lure is balanced with single hooks, so the DTX minnow just keeps swimming straight and true. The additional belly eyelet in front of the Hydrospeed eyelet is designed to be able to fit an assist hook when targeting large tuna and marlin. For tips on how to rig your DTX minnow for marlin and tuna, please see the website videos.

Rigging – do not over-rig these lures, you’ll detract from their action and performance. Thinner diameter leader means greater depth with any billed diver and a heavy line improperly rigged can impede the Autotune system. Don’t go in for a lot of hardware, snaps and such. A simple loop with crimp, on 3′ of 175 cable terminating in a swivel for line attachment is plenty good enough and will outfish heavier lines. Don’t run ’em on 12 feet of 400  lb cable or 200# mono…! A shorter 3 feet of say 175-275 lb is recommended, and is more than sufficient if you are targeting wahoo on the troll. Same story for mono and tuna, keep it simple, and fish reasonable line tests for your target. Thinner diameters get you more depth and will catch you more fish. Going heavy on the rigging will take away from the lure’s action, not allow it to track well.  Go simple and skinny and you’ll gain depth and tracking will be spot on even at some speed.