Dialing Them In

[Micanopy]

When I first started buying baits for my brand new hobby, I chose some paddle tails in lemon lime flavor. Recently I discovered them to be very popular with the locals, both the fish and the fishermen. My supply of this color combination has been dwindling down due to the fish ripping and tearing at them while thrashing. I glue my baits to the jig heads to help stave off the inevitable. Anyways i wanted to replenish my supply of John Deere lures.

I looked at the usual suppliers and saw that Slabonator had some very interesting offerings. I wanted a paddle tail style bait as they seemed to do very nicely, and they have a large selection of those. I saw they had them in 2” and 3” sizes and thought I would try the bigger baits for a change. Then I started looking for my color combination and spotted it in a glow in the dark version. BAM

I had lost my old clicker out the back of the boat…….so got me two of those.

Then I saw what they call the Devil’s Minner in a 2.5” version. Hmmmmmmm…..just my colors, too.

The order arrived yesterday, which was pretty quick. Thank you Slabonators.


Well I got to fiddling and learned a little as I went. First off the 3” paddle tail baits are HUGE. I was surprised at how so. I added one to a jig head and it looked scary to me. The tail section is thick and substantial. Looks like it will flop about with gusto. You remember gusto. Well I ended up clipping off three rings of the front of the bait and felt that it made a much better fit to the 1/0 hook that way. The grub portion is also very thick and is about the same diameter as the jig heads. Take a look.



You can see the part I trimmed off up top. A 2” flopping tail style below, so you can see the size differences. The lure itself is a 3/16th ounce FreeStyle, with a Victory 1/0 red sickle hook, no eyes, with my custom under spin blade design. I like the proportions just fine. Overall it is right about 3” in length, and about an inch from hook tip to bottom of the blade. Roughly.

The paddle tail on these baits is fat and feels sturdy. I hope it holds up well. Nothing irritates more than being on a hot bite and having to swap lures because the tail is missing. I hate that. This tail looks like it is gonna put large impulses into the water as it snakes through. Blade whirling, tail flapping about, large lure, it is bound to be discovered. I just hope it doesn’t frighten the fish, and it might. Takes a bold fish to want to eat that thing. Big fish. I actually prefer catching big fish over small fish you know.

The Devil’s Minner is also a hit with me. Here it is.




Shown with a FreeStyle 1/16th ounce head, painted in glow powder, 1/0 Victory sickle hook in black, custom under spin design. This looks like it is gonna flat out slay them fish. I like that the tail section is fat on these. It looked thin on-line, but in person there is plenty of beef on it. I think I will like that and that the fish will like it as well. Looks to be durable. The proportions look awesome. Nice and compact with lots of room for the hook tip to stand proud. I do so much better with the 1/0 hooks, and this bait matches up to the shaft length nicely.

I also rigged up some of these Devil Minners onto the larger 3/16th ounce heads and they look pretty nice as well.



The clicker was cheaper than other places and has a better feel to the clicks than the Rapala brand it is replacing. Sometimes that version wouldn’t actually click when the depressor was pushed. This provides a solid click.





The Sun’s rays are losing their intensity due to the changing angles due to the Erf tilting again. Every year it is the same thing, but it never gets old for me. Everyday the length of days is either shortening or lengthening, but it is this time of year I most notice that change. Mornings are cool again. A man could harvest from his second crop of tomatoes now. Some leaves are yellowing. Grass has slowed it’s growth. Everything is falling into place quite nicely.

I am excited to discover what Fall fishing is like. Spring was lousy for me, but that was due to lack of skills. The hot days of Summer have been very good to me, as my skills increased. I wait to see what I will learn about Fall fishing. Then Winter. I love Winters.

Work is the scourge of the drinking class. Everybody knows it. Not much opportunity to go fishing this weekend, but I might find a small window to dip these new lures a little. I want to get out there and see if the fish appreciate all that I go through to please their ridiculous expectations. Fickle bunch, the lot of them. Slimy little creatures with those beedy green eyes. Why if they didn’t taste so darn good we would all dislike them.

I tested the new Varivas line- Twitch Master and want to make up all new leaders before I go again. That line seems like a winner to me, but it is early and one never knows.

[BobC]

Very nice. Thanks for the thread.
Bob

[Micanopy]

1/16th ounce, 1/0 Victory hook, paint is fluorescent, UV reflective, and glow-in-the-dark. The one far right and bottom is a 1/8th ounce.



I always like to dip these lures beside the boat and observe them as they swim. Occasionally a lure will spin and twirl and it is nice to catch this before the line gets wrapped. I have seen how things go when the blade is too large for the jig head. The lure’s profile becomes angled downward. Head down orientation. Changing the angle that the wire exits the head fixes some of this, but larger blades and even some bait shapes exacerbate the issue. The fish will occasionally strike a lure swimming like this but far and away the better results come from jigs that swim on the horizontal, natural plane. I can’t help but imagine them being more attractive when they swim as fish expect prey to swim and my results bear this out.

Been reading what walleye people say about blades. I doubt any of it is going to be particularly revealing when it comes to enticing crappie. Salmon, steelhead, trout people seem to be dialing in on their specie. I suspect that a great deal of the success the Road Runner has gained is a direct result of the size of the blade to head being a good match allowing the bait to swim in the horizontal presentation. Apparently they have their own version of blades, and they seem to be rather normal to me.

I don’t care for the ponyheads I have made in 1/16 and 1/32. The angle the swivel comes away is not as likely to spin the blade as well as what I currently make. Painting them is also just a huge pain. However that lure has scored so many fish it cannot be ignored, and no doubt there is something there for me to learn.

I am also learning that there are quite a few good fishermen that troll longline fashion, and that they are preferring bladed jigs to those without. Brad Chapperel says big blades and Strol’Rs is what he likes to drag. I suspect I could use bigger blades more effectively with the heavier sizes and selected baits that are streamlined. Balance seems to be hit or miss with this stuff.

Expecting to do some more fishing soon. Test out the altered designs and see how things go.

[BobC]

Nicely made. Best of luck with them.
Bob

[DockShootinJack]

Great looking colors and baits

["G"]

Baits look good....you should do good with them.

[BuckeyeCrappie]

Bet of luck. Looking forward to seeing the results!

[Micanopy]

Thanks.

I want to go tomorrow but they are saying thunderstorms early. That means no fishing for this boy. Maybe Sat or Sun will be nicer.

[DockShootinJack]

Don't blame ya. Thunderstorms on the water aren't my cup of tea either

[BobC]

Don't blame ya. Thunderstorms on the water aren't my cup of tea either

Wave a graphite rod during a TS! What could possibly go wrong?
Bob