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Post 20 Jul 2020, 13:12 • #51 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Lou and his friend Whit both have new kayaks to maiden paddle.
We'll probably hit Boerne City Lake one morning this week.
In case they want to rig before light and get out to catch fish, I decided to rig a Flash J stinger with fluoro.
I used 15-lb Blue Label, snell knot to hook, short stinger leader with perfection loop.
Also for those of you who have no interest in the wire bite traces and micro snaps.

I added a leader to the jighead with a non-slip loop through the hook eye, and tied it loop-to-loop with the stinger so that rig gets a relaxed, break-proof footing. Since all my UL braid spools are rigged with a 10" fluoro tippet and 1" surgeon's loop, finished with a short perfection loop on the 5" jig leader so it's easy to loop the whole thing to the line.

yeah, probably couldn't do this without the Ott lamp and magnifier


those are size 4 hooks - going to rig two smaller with 2-g and 1.5-g jigheads, all with size 6 hooks and 8-lb Blue Label


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 21 Jul 2020, 16:51, edited 4 times in total.

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Post 20 Jul 2020, 18:48 • #52 
Sport
Joined: 12/04/11
Posts: 72
Location: US-MI
walleyejoe wrote:
Bill - it looks like you're only missing a minno-bug. It was nice to see Charlie Fox's name mentioned, I'm not sure many people today know who he is, I'm guessing you have his book of lures. I hope the fishing in Michigan is better than here.

Tim

Tim here a few of my Mack's Minnow Bugs. I did not include them as the lightist are 3/8 oz and I have always used them on light baitcasting rather than spinning tackle.Charlie mentioned in a Pennsyvania Angler article in the late 1930's that he liked to substitute a small Pflueger tandem spinner for the original june bug style spinner. There are a couple here that I have done that to and they proved effctive on Smallmouth up north. I was privilaged to spend 2 days with Charlie in 1989, talk about interesting conversation! If you can only read one of his books make it "Advanced Baitcasting" which is the story of a group of anglers in the 1930's who were experimenting with homemade light lures before the advent of Spinning.

PS the Bass fishing so far this season has been as slow as I can recall.
Image


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Post 20 Jul 2020, 21:00 • #53 
Sport
Joined: 10/17/14
Posts: 68
Location: US-PA
I had a feeling you would have one or two minno-bugs. I've never fished with one, I may have to try to correct that this year.

"Advanced Baitcasting" is the other Charlie Fox book I have, it's one of my favorites. Being a Pennsylvania native, his books have a little extra value to me. It's a shame, he was on the cutting edge of casting tackle and techniques for lightweight lures and then spinning tackle arrived and buried his work.

It's wonderful that you got to speak with him, I'm sure he was quite interesting, he also seemed to be a very decent man. You're lucky, I've never had the chance to meet any famous fishermen. But then again, sometimes it's for the best, people aren't always what they seem.

good fishing, Tim


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Post 20 Jul 2020, 21:52 • #54 
Sport
Joined: 10/17/14
Posts: 68
Location: US-PA
Here's a picture of what has been doing all the work for me this year. Normally I would also be using small spoons, spinners and curly tail grubs, but the Connoquenessing has been low, the bottom has changed where I fish the Allegheny and I would just be losing them left and right.

Fishing has been slow, but the AC shiner has accounted for some fish, the rear treble was lost while unhooking a channel cat. The Yozuri minnow is a new addition, when I saw it in Bulldogs post it looked really promising, but except for a couple fish, its been a bit of a disappointment. I like the body shape, and it has good action, but it seems unnaturally bright in the water, oh well, you never know what works if you don't try.

The Rapala at the top has been the winner so far this year, I was always a fan of the silver/blue back, but this muted green color is working well.

I should have added a baby zara, but I haven't used one this year. Trying to get one to dance right is the devils work on spinning tackle, so I only throw them when I know there's a fish, but they are absolute poison here.

This is an unusual year for me, the past several years, the little fishing I've done was for muskies, but my sons interest in fishing has reignited so I've been spinning with him. That's why the hairless bucktail is at the bottom of the photo, it accounted for some bass and walleyes last year, while muskie fishing. I was getting hits but wasn't hooking anything. I speeded up my reaction and started hooking fish, the only problem was, I was snagging them, in the face or under the jaw. It seems they were coming up right behind the lure, when they went to grab it, the hook was too big to fit in their mouths and was pushed to the side, so when I set the hook it was burying on the outside. Needless to say, they weren't very big fish, its amazing what fish will try to eat sometimes.

Tim


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Post 21 Jul 2020, 00:07 • #55 
Sport
Joined: 11/09/18
Posts: 33
Location: Beaver, PA
My go-to spinning lure has consistently been the Joe's Fly. The 1/4 oz ones are perfect for creek bass around me, and the smaller sizes are great for panfish. Brand new the flies come with a hook with a stinger treble behind it, and the spinning blade is typically a bit smaller than mepps and rooster tails. I normally cut the treble off and fish it with just the single hook.

The flies themselves aren't the most durable, and normally bend out after a few fish. What I like to do then is take the fly off and put a heavy woolly bugger or similar on to the spinning blade clip. The added flash of the blade gets some nice summer strikes, and the added weight lets me cast decently small flies without moving back to fly gear.


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Post 21 Jul 2020, 17:01 • #56 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
[quote="walleyejoe" The Yozuri minnow is a new addition, when I saw it in Bulldogs post it looked really promising, but except for a couple fish, its been a bit of a disappointment. I like the body shape, and it has good action, but it seems unnaturally bright in the water, oh well, you never know what works if you don't try.

[/quote]

interesting, that's been my experience with them as well. They work great sometimes, typically in stained water or on relatively innocent fish, and sometimes seem to actively repel fish..
Missed a nice cuttbow on a small spoon, put on the Yozuri Pin's minnow hoping for a freak result, but it looked huge and neon-bright in the little trout creek. Well if I can't catch 'em at least I can put some fear into them.. ha.


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Post 21 Jul 2020, 17:56 • #57 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
my last coast outing in late March, it was The lure for imitating glass minnows


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Post 21 Jul 2020, 20:48 • #58 
Guide
Joined: 02/23/11
Posts: 237
Location: Tulsa, OK
No love for the little split tail Beetle Spin? Caught a ton of bass out of farm ponds in Oklahoma on yellow or green Beetle Spins. Loved getting the Mepps Spinner catalog every year with pictures of fish caught all over the country.

Kalen’s grubs on 1/8 oz heads were my go-to for river smallmouth prior to fishing almost exclusively with fly rod now. They made a color called Slime that was mostly clear with hint of chartreuse that was easily the most productive color our group had ever fishing for smallmouth.

Would love find some copies of the old Mepps catalogs for childhood memories.


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Post 21 Jul 2020, 21:09 • #59 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I mentioned beetle spin in my OP, have bought a few, and know of people who swear by them for catching stripers deep.
But I don't know if I've ever caught a fish on one. For me, much better results with rubber + flashabou skirt hairpin spinners and, especially, buzz baits - love the slow paddle retrieve of a buzz bait and the surface explosions - and nailed a few nice stripers in jumps with them.


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Post 21 Jul 2020, 21:29 • #60 
Guide
Joined: 02/23/11
Posts: 237
Location: Tulsa, OK
Sorry I missed original post. I always liked to retrieve the Beetle Spins just under the surface and watch the bass come up from below and smash them. Definitely try one sometime on a stock tank.


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Post 21 Jul 2020, 21:45 • #61 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I've never seen a picky tank, especially compared to reservoir fishing. Throwing crankbaits, catching big bass, catfish, and green sunfish no bigger than the crankbait.


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Post 22 Jul 2020, 12:03 • #62 
Guide
Joined: 06/21/20
Posts: 141
Not very exciting, but last year I caught more fish (probably 500) with this Bobby Garland Baby Shad jig body (usually on a 1/32 oz head) than any other lure or bait. This thing snagged bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. There are no trout in the waters I fish.




In a similar vein but scented is the 1 inch Gulp Alive minnow. It's been especially effective in cold water/weather months this year. I usually fish this on a Trout Magnet 1/64th oz jig head. I've jigged this, slow retrieved, under float and even on a drop-shot set up. The drop shot was very effective this winter and early spring for bluegills.





Others include the Storm Wild Eye Live Shad (various colors), Eurotackle Anisoptera and the larger Nikko Hellgrammite.

https://www.rapala.com/storm/soft-baits ... Freshwater

https://www.eurotackle.net/anisoptera

https://nikko-fishing.com/product-categ ... lgrammite/


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Post 22 Jul 2020, 13:12 • #63 
Guide
Joined: 06/21/20
Posts: 141
Quote:
"Advanced Baitcasting" is the other Charlie Fox book I have, it's one of my favorites. Being a Pennsylvania native, his books have a little extra value to me. It's a shame, he was on the cutting edge of casting tackle and techniques for lightweight lures and then spinning tackle arrived and buried his work


Also a PA native. I need to find his books!

Seems with BFS gain more popularity, this info would be useful.


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Post 23 Aug 2020, 10:46 • #64 
Guide
Joined: 12/05/18
Posts: 134
Location: US-MN




My solution to correcting the action of the smallest Rapalas when removing the front hook - beads. Beads of various weight, material and color.

Up tight to the lure for shallow or surface, and slide the bead out a bit for deeper diving.

It’s not the same action. A bit more nose down.

Two treble hooks just is not an option for me, even with flattering the barbs. I have not tried two single barbless hooks. Yet. I


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Post 23 Aug 2020, 12:51 • #65 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/12/16
Posts: 4093
Location: USA-CO
Here are some that I fished as a kid. From top, L to R:

Dardevle, Al's Goldfish, Super Duper, Abu spinner, a couple of Mepps.
Baby Cobra, EGB, another Goldfish, Kastmaster, Pflueger Patrol, and a pearl minnow.
at bottom, a Kamlooper spoon.

These are all trout-sized except for the larger Goldfish and the Kamlooper. The pearl minnow is too light for me to cast with my spincast rig. Perhaps it was meant to be a flyrod lure.



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Post 25 Aug 2020, 09:23 • #66 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2086
Location: US-PA
Looks like you were rooting around in my tackle box, up to and including the hook bonnet. ;)

Missing be a yellow with red dots; Panther Martin (my favorite), a couple Hildebrandt Flicker Spinners, my tiny Lazy Ike and Big O, both trout sized, and a Mepps Black Fury and Mepps Comet minnow, two spinners I never caught a thing on. I also had a whole set of those Abu spinners in 4 or 5 colors.

I still have them all in my original tackle box.


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Post 25 Aug 2020, 11:23 • #67 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/12/16
Posts: 4093
Location: USA-CO
I suspect that many of those old tackle boxes looked a lot alike. :-)

I used double pearl Hildebrandt spinners above a snelled hook and a nightcrawler in my early days. The Abu caught quite a few fish, evidenced by its state of wear. Note the poor attempt at repainting the Pflueger Patrol -- that one caught a lot of trout.


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Post 31 Aug 2020, 23:55 • #68 
Sport
Joined: 10/17/14
Posts: 68
Location: US-PA
Here's a picture of one I won't fish with. This is, I believe, the only lure still existing from my early childhood, I was a big fan of the show. The lure was part of set, my dad and I both got a set. I remember a flatfish-type lure and a gold spin hellgrammite also, I think they're still around somewhere, I'm going to have to look for them.




I grew up in the city, going fishing was the best thing in the world. This spoon brings back those early years.

Tim


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Post 01 Sep 2020, 09:19 • #69 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/05
Posts: 1008
Location: US-NY
In addition to those you mentioned, the six-lure set also included a red/white spoon, an Al’s Goldfish spoon, and a red/white plug that never did anything. The Al’s Goldfish was the best of the bunch. All the lures were made by the Al’s Goldfish lure company of Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.


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Post 01 Sep 2020, 11:29 • #70 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2086
Location: US-PA
In my travels I always go into old "bait shops" looking for locally produced lures or packaged flies. On occasion I've bought a whole "card" of lures or flies for the "cool" factor and because it's only a matter of time before they become unavailable.

Years ago at a fishing show I became acquainted with a small spoon called a Niti-1 or Niti P-Chip made by small company called Pcola Lures in my home state of PA. I asked them for the biggest size they made in gold & silver figuring it would be a killer on Pickerel...

...I was SO right!!


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Post 01 Sep 2020, 18:58 • #71 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/12/16
Posts: 4093
Location: USA-CO
I had this exchange with my son, when we were pickerel fishing out of a canoe:

Me: "Try this lure, it's a pickerel killer."

Son: "Anything's a pickerel killer."

This was right after a small pickerel attacked my paddle -- repeatedly.


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Post 02 Sep 2020, 06:43 • #72 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
don't put your toes in the water


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Post 24 May 2021, 13:03 • #73 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
bulldog1935 wrote:
small glass minnow imitation for big toothy fish, with a velcro addition...

The lure is the 3" Flash J on small jigheads, 2.5-g with size 4 hook, or 2-g and 1.5-g with size 6 hook

The same internal mylar flash strip transmits purple-pink


Begin with a Mustad Double Trap stinger hook, this is size 4, tied with 10-lb single-strand titanium wire using a "knotless" snell knot.
The double stinger hook has a 3rd smaller and reversed hook for planting in the swimbait.
....


bringing back up the old Flash-J + stinger hook post.
This has been a good lure, night-fished fished as a tandem, glow lure body up front, with the stinger on the blue rear lure, has landed doubles with seatrout, redfish and ladyfish.
Seems the reds always go for the glow.
Filling a Japan cart, one of my recent close-out finds was a buzzbait safety pin made for these lures (or any jighead) - tossed in the cart for $3

Something else added to that cart, these amazing Smith split-ring tweezers that for the first time let me work #1 and #0 split rings (and will cover the split-ring gambit to offshore) - $6.73

Took one of the #0 split rings I removed from a finesse plug lure eye, spread and twisted it over the safety-pin wire. Clinched a piece of leftover 20-lb braid, and snelled a double-trap stinger hook. Drop of super glue before final tightening the braid wraps.


looks like a pretty good finesse buzzbait, especially for the deep clear no-motors reservoir we kayak locally.


Since I brought up the split ring tweezers, a range of finesse plugs I swapped the size 14 and size 18 trebles for single salt hooks, size 8 to 4.
The Megabass Dog-X is included for size comparison, bronzed hooks swapped for VMC size 4 salt trebles, and a 3/16 oz YoZuri Pins minnow on bottom.
Added the spoons with stingers just because they're pretty.


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Post 19 Jul 2021, 09:10 • #74 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
more lure tinkering

Years ago (ok, it was more than a couple of decades) had success fishing this strange-looking rig drift-fishing the Pasture at S. Padre.


The cigar cork clicks when you snap it. The shrimp tail doubles over, just like an evading, kicking shrimp. It settles down head-first, just like a shrimp swimming with its legs.

Stazo flex jigs haven't been made since the '90s - I stocked up with a few back then. Josh (neumie) came through for me with a couple of 1/8 oz (the photo above with the 4" shrimp tail is 1/4 oz)


We have our favorite Arroyo City house and lighted dock reserved for four nights around the December new moon.
Maybe finger mullet, a few poecilids, the water should be black with tiny glass minnows, tiny shrimp - oh yeah, schoolie seatrout, redfish, and snook.
In the past, we've had great success fishing tiny live shrimp on a 4' leader below the 3" clicking cigar cork - and changing up with anything to imitate the glass minnows.


Japan shopping, I found these gorgeous Okiami (krill) lures made by Nikko.



Here's a glow Okiami rigged with the 1/8 oz Stazo, and a No. 7 Gami SH treble was the smallest that seemed to rig properly.


More Japan perusing found these Keake F-change head in 3 g down to sub-g weights.

I'll probably rig the single hook forward to keep the abdomen stiff and head-first lure settling, and clip the stinger hooks for fish velcro.


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Z-Ray
Post 20 Jul 2021, 19:00 • #75 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/22/07
Posts: 871
Location: Out West
Z-Ray

Originally produced by Wittmann out of Tucson, AZ. They went out of business several years back, but I believe Zona Lures bought the rights and brought them back into production fairly recently. They used to come in many sizes ranging from 1/16 oz up to 3/4 oz (maybe even 1 oz), and in a wide variety of colors and patterns...not sure what all sizes and colors Zona has brought back.

Great lures! I've caught LOTS of cutthroat, rainbows, bull trout, brook trout, brown trout, whitefish, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, a variety of sunfish, crappie, northern pike and even catfish on these lures. They wobble real good!

The brass (gold) color with red spots and copper color with red spots were always trout catching colors for me. The black color with red spots was also good for me, especially in low light conditions.

I've fished them mostly in moving water, but also quite a bit in lakes and reservoirs. In the larger sizes, they would probably work really well in the salt.

Anyway, if you've never tried them, check out the Z-Rays.


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