G-Daddybaits…….beautiful shad imitation

[Micanopy]

I discovered these folks and read some and admired their product and then did order me some.

Here they are with the heads I made special for them.



I made heads in three sizes- 1/32nd - 1/16th - 1/4 ounces, in both Herring Head and Free Style. Made some with my under spin concept and some plain. Three sizes and three colors of heads, same bait just different colors. I ordered these three colors as a test and must say these are some very nice baits. So I have essentially over 100 combinations available. Maybe.

The company uses a hard plastic to make these. They say that one of their baits will outlast an entire package of regular baits, because of this hardness. I felt up this hardened plastic and sure enough it is much harder than the other baits. Hardness factor has varied widely I have noticed, one maker to another. Bait in hand this is very noticeable as hardest yet. Will they last as claimed…..well we shall see.

Their website has some other very nice color patterns. Also they have three lengths available- 1, 2. and 3 inch. You can easily see what colors I feel are important. I chose multiple packs of just these three colors, all in their 2” size. Packs come 10 baits for $ 4.95. Shipping was right around $5 and they came quickly and I had an easy time tracking them USPS. Shipped same day i think. Father and son owned business they say. If they do last as claimed the price is more than acceptable.

What I really like is the profile. These look like little minnows. They have two legs and these legs move like the legs on regular baits. Not stiff like the body, but look to be very exciting when pulled. I think they will make a great baitr for my trolling operations. Expecting big things from these baits. Not sure if they are a paid up sponsor here but I think they are.

Pink head- white body- t=yellow tail
White head- purple body- yellow tail
Yellow head- orange body, yellow tail

1/32 - 1/16 - 1/4
Under spins and regulars

I have been doing some odd jobs and went to a home to service an A/C unit. Turns out small world he is a member of my fishing club. Then I recognize him as the guy what had the secret hush puppy recipe, and was cooking next to me. Then he starts showing me his jigs. Man is 90 plus years old. I looked them over with a very attentive eye. He had homemade RoadRunners with curly tail baits. Pinks and greens seemed his go-to colors. The main thing for me wasn’t the head or the colors, it was the blades. Willow Leafs smaller than what I have now, which is size #1. Probably an “O” size maybe smaller still. A tickler of sorts it seemed to me. But I know for a fact that that old man can catch him some specks. So I am thinking small willow leafs will do best.

BTW- His wife ridiculed me for calling the fish- crappie. Said I was a yankee. I saved her the lecture about how Robert’s favorite was the Army of Northern Virginia, and I grew up there, and quite properly they are indeed a crappie. It’s French Canadian you know. Craw-Pay if you need to know how to say it right.

I can’t wait to start trolling my shad baits. Let me know if you have questions. I hadn’t heard of these before, so maybe they will be new to you. Thought I should share.

[DockShootinJack]

Great read. After reading I am anxious to see how well they work for you

[DrNip]

Frank is a good guy and another great bait maker from Oklahoma. He used to post on here a lot back in like 2014 or so.

[Redge]

Frank is a good guy and another great bait maker from Oklahoma. He used to post on here a lot back in like 2014 or so.

X2! Franks a really great guy. Makes awesome baits.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

[Micanopy]

The baits are stiff, but them tails waggle with the best of them. Nice concept. Plastic lures that stand up to more than just casual usage. I would be amazed if some of my fish don’t go to shredding on the thing. A few always seem to do more damage than the others. Here are my jigs without the blade enhancement. All glued up tight to the heads.



I gather they rely on Fakebook for business. That is OK I guess.

They ask for commentary after the lures have been fished. Good or bad and I got a bad right out of the bag. The Candy Corn orange bait. Look at it and then look at the white one. I really wanted my baits to have a beer gut and look like shad. That things is more tubular. It’s OK as I still want to use them, and who knows might be a whole bunch of skinny minnows swimming around out there. LOL

You can see the three colors I chose, and those heads are 1/8th ounce, EC571- 1/0 size hook, 3d Chinese eyes. I wanted to try another type of UV top coat to capture the eyes. I searched and found a UV cured shiny fingernail topcoat. Very nice. Really quickly starts to cure. Very shiny. I wish I had coated the entire head it is so shiny. Anyways the fingernail polish styled brush is perfect for me. I do not glue the eyes, rather attach, position, apply top coat to capture and seal in place. I only got the stuff onto a hook eye once. Easy to fix before applying the light. The fact that it is cured by application of UV light, I could align dozen or so in my clamp and do both sides of the head and the top, making certain that there is not an excess of this topcoat stuff by revisiting heads with the brush, then freeze everything using the flashlight. I held light for about 5 seconds and the topcoat was not tacky, sticky or anything other than “set”. Backyard deck all day cure followed. Nice finish even if I didn’t take my time prepping the poured head prior to painting. Oh and no baking needed as resin will encase the paint and provide a ……. topcoat. I always wondered if baking the jigs doesn’t damage the temper of the wire that was formed into the hook. Anyways not baking unless I am going for the Jungle Jim Effect !

I am moving towards having several small tackle boxes aboard containing just a certain type/style of lure in them, and in a limited color scheme, and in 3 different weights. One box will be just for this beautiful shad bait. Like this.



Another small tackle box just for paddle tails. Again limited color combinations, offered in three different weight heads. Box for just curly tail grubs, same concept. Box for the heavy weight close combat jigs I like to drag along next to the hull. Box just for my underspin baits, and a box just for my hand ties. Then when I imagine changing out a lure, I can make the choice of what type of bait FIRST - and THEN choose a head weight- and only THEN begin to confuse myself with color choices. Mesmerized at times. Even reduced to this simple set of color parameters, the options are still unimaginably complex when you begin to assemble various combinations from all my baits.

I now keep all of my baits in their original bags, and make sure they stay sealed up, and put the bags inside wooden boxes I find at the flea market. Former silverware boxes mostly. Dark in there and easily accessed and organized. They also get to stay stacked up inside the house and enjoy the cool dry air as no eyesore is ever involved.

It has been windy weather lately and I haven’t had a chance to see if there really are some skinny minnows swimming about, or not. I actually like the idea of these here shad belly baits swimming along without any sort of a blade distracting from those twin tails. Light weight head, short shank hook, trolled way back and see for myself. I plan to compare and contrast and report fully, without bias nor concern for adding any sort of Fakebook wink, just sharing with you folks here. I can email family pictures just fine, and do without some feller in India knowing my dog’s name.

And they better be good as the fishing around here has really sucked lately.

[BuckeyeCrappie]

Thanks for sharing this great read!

[BobC]

Very nice looking and should be killers. Please let u# know how they work.
Bob

[Micanopy]

Very nice looking and should be killers. Please let u# know how they work.
Bob

I sure will Bob. Got a small window of opportunity tomorrow early. I rigged all new baits onto the rods. I like to take some time the night before, and guess at what would be popular come sunrise. Kind of fun. Anyways I did that this evening, and of of the 10 new jigs, 4 of them will be sporting G-Daddy thingies, as seen here. No blades.

Four rods next down the line will be fished close to the boat, two off either side and two swimming in the disturbed water right behind the boat. Rocket Tubes off of center console seat are the holders. These are my heavy jigs and have smallish type plastic baits aboard. One has a flasher blade thingie, the rest are stealthy and sleek. I use heavy jigs because there is an angle off the stern that almost all the fish approach the boat. It is like a 45 degree angle from the stern. This due to leaving TM running steady. The two rods off of either side would work nicely with 1/32nd oz lures, but the line would extend back and into that zone where I land my fish, and every fish would easily foul right there. Especially heavier fish. Using a heavy jig guides the line downwards and I can let out enough line to enter that zone, but it will be too deep to get caught up with a hooked fish. If that makes sense. Heavier also allows me to explore the depths in a straightforward and accurate manner, and do it with ease. Most of the time I just grab the rod and lift the fish straightaway, but sometimes I am running more line off to run a tad deeper.

Buddy of mine that has been trying to keep me busy wants to ride in the boat tomorrow morning, and by then the parts will be in, and so will we.

[Micanopy]

Went this morning, buddy was a no show. Cold air, water is 60 degrees, bite very slow. All my fishing friends are complaining about the bite. Yelled back and forth with a few boats and they had zero bites. Finally I got one.



He hit a Mr Crappie Joker, white with yellow tail.

It is possible that the fish are preparing themselves for the spawn, which is in February I think. Also we have had cold front after cold front rolling through and that plays a role.

My crappie club met today and we served a low country boil. I was thrilled to hear them complaining about how bad the fishing has been. That means it isn’t me floating about engaged in boating misadventures. Nobody is catching fish.

So it would be unfair to try to report on the G Daddy baits under these circumstances.

[Micanopy]

I forgot to mention something. At the previous meeting a member asked me to make him some “gold colored jigs- 1/16th with a large hook- brass colored spinner blade.

Well I made 15 of them and handed them to him yesterday. That was when he decides to get more specific and wants a totally different color head, and now wants blades that are brassy and chrome. I plan to make some very nice Free Style heads with eyes, using my blade design, and trading them for a fishing trip. The other men say that he is a good fisherman. Turns out her grew up right down the road from my house. I am sure there will be lots of things to learn.

So learning how to make jigs is a pretty good deal all around.