Avalonjohn44

Dang... I guess this is the way these shows are shaping up these days. More and more semi-related stuff, charters and outfitters, but not a ton of tackle... In the 90s the Harrisburg PA show used to have literally dozens and dozens of tackle booths, possibly over a hundred. It has dwindled drastically, last time I went about 5 years ago there were maybe 5 tackle booths and 100s of charter booths (along with the assorted junk like sunsetter awnings, gutter protectors and even Tupperware...) With gas prices sky high might have to skip instead.

I might have to make the trip. After the Harrisburg PA Eastern Sportsman show was cancelled (due to complete idiocy...), I am seriously jonesing for a good expo... Lots of tackle?

I use VMC barbarians, have been happy so far, although I think the eyehole might be a bit small for some of the lures I have put them on.

My head is full of tons of useless info, but every once in a while I can put some of it to good use...

It's an old Punkinseed Knockoff called the Doll Top Secret: http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/2008/07/update-elmer-doll-thompson-passes-away.html

Those are actually Lee Sisson baits. He had his own line for a while. They are very similar to Bagley baits because Lee Sisson was a prominent designer of the early bagley balsa baits. Instead of using balsa for these, Lee used Jelutong wood from Malaysia, it was supposedly as light as balsa and as strong as cedar. That particular model is called the Little Diver 2 (very similar to the bagley b2), and it dives to 6 feet per Sisson's page: http://www.sissonsdesigns.com/Old_School_Baits.html Also some on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lee-Sisson-Lures-Wood-Works-Little-Diver-2-Chart-Black-Bagley-Crankbait-New-/150969335139?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2326793d63

Good day, congrats!

No way. Scatter Rap.

Wow, funny! Very similar.

Will try these out, kind of stoked about them. On a durability note, I've only ever had two rapala bills break on me. One was my fault for trying to melt it and bend it into a new shape, the other was a super old lure that had been through war. I've cast rapalas onto and through rip rap, bounced them off trees and concrete bridge supports with no problems so far. I keep seeing posts about their durability but just don't see it with my lures. I have had durability problems with Mann's cranks, Bagleys (and most other balsa baits) and even Megabass lures (have had two griffons split right down the center) but never Rapala. Maybe I've just been lucky.

So how will we tell if this is tuned properly?

He's killing me. Gander isn't helping, they have a huge selection of Lucky Craft and Spros on clearance that I keep indulging in. Have also begun buying Koppers cranks. The only thing that can stop me from bankrupting myself is spring... Please come quickly warm weather...

I experiment with mend-it, cut apart a lot of plastic worms and fuse them into new baits. I've glued two beavers end to end and then wacky rig them. It works, but gets expensive... I've cut a senko in half and grafted each side onto another senko to make a big X. Didn't work. I glued the flat side of two sluggos together. It didn't work either. I guess the point I'm trying to make is save your baits and mend-it for what they were intended for.

If I use anything, it's a plain white Mister Twister grub. My friend puts half a paddletail worm on the back of his sometimes and it seems to work for him.

List of weird stuff I caught: Fishing rods, minnow trap, crab trap, seagull, snapping turtle, my sister's neck, my own scalp, a purse in a hospital pond (sad), walmart bag, a snag that turned out to be a suberged bmx bike, freshwater clam, and the weirdest: Was going catfishing one night and meeting my friends down by the Potomac River. Off of 193, Difficult Run in VA hits the Potomac about a mile or so from the parking lot. There is a fire/rescue trail that goes the entire way. I had my rod rigged with a big treble hook reeled all the way up to the tip. I came across a copperhead coiled in the middle of the trail. I went to the left of him and he went left. I went to the right, and he went right... I tried to shoo him out of the way with my rod tip and the treble hook snagged him. I walked about a half mile with a crazy mad copperhead writhing around the end of my rod. I got to the end of the trail, and instead of cutting my line and letting the p-ed off snake where we were fishing, I cast the bugger out into the water. He fought for a good while, then, thank God, he worked himself off.

I always wonder when lure makers borrow designs from one another if there is any compensation for borrowing that design. It's good to hear there is at least one instance of this happening.

I think Megastrike sells their own version of that too. I made my own by cutting a senko in half and gluing it to another one with some Mend-it.It had some cool action but didn't catch a gosh darn thing. I liked watching it swim though, neat action, but never even a nibble.

If it looks cool, I buy it. If it works well, I go back and buy duplicates in case I use them all up, or in the case of cranks, lose them. If it doesn't work I put a bunch of them up as a lot on Ebay. I am also guilty of following the hot trends. Sometimes it works out as with the KVD 1.5s which are great, sometimes it bites me in the rear as with Chatterbaits. After the Scatter Rap singlehandedly wins the Classic next week, I'll probably buy a few of those.

Throw everything away and forget everything that you think you know. Just buy a couple of Scatter Shads.

There's a picture of the new 'revolutionary' bait in the original post on this topic, page 4 or 5... : http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/113074-rapala-fishing-changes-forever-countdown/

Or Scatter Shad Rap...

Finally got some concrete info... It's called the Scatter Rap Shad. Bass Pro in MD has a whole empty display ready to be filled. $8.99 there, so a dollar or two cheaper at Walmart. Cupped bill that facilitates underwater hunt action... As I said, the Classic winner will no doubt be throwing one to drive up demand....

So what do we know from this thread? It's a deep diver, that digs very deep very quickly. At one point in its evolution it might have been modular or in a couple of pieces. The bill design is revolutionary, perhaps 'cupped' and may be adjustable. It swims erratically underwater. This could mean it walks under water, hunts, rolls or changes direction, but whether it does this on its own or the fisherman has to impart the action on the bait is unclear. It is also fairly certain that the classic winner will no doubt say this new lure was a big part of his pattern to win thus insuring a mad rush for this bait... So, any guesses? A bill that somehow dynamically changes configuration/position as you swim it? A deep diving suspending lure with a bill that allows it to hunt underwater? A spring loaded bill that changes the lures direction depending on how much pressure is applied with the line? DAGNABIT. Still dying to know what the he11 this thing is!!!

Pink works. Period. If you refuse to throw it for fear of what the other fisherman might say, then you are letting peer pressure make you a less effective fisherman. And possible not secure in your masculinity.. Some will say its only benefits are for sight fishing... Others will say that it triggers some sort of predation response because it resembles an abino minnow. Who knows? I do know that on some days pink sluggos will catch bass like nothing else. The Ribbit frogs that work best for me have a pinkish opalescent belly. My buddy has an old pink Lucky Craft rattle bait that looks 'silly' as heck, but produces as well. And my daughter is partial to pink lures. Bandit makes a few patterns in pinks and purples that she uses, and they work too (when not stuck in her clothing, a tree or my skin...). The color tequila sunrise incorporates pink, and it is another personal favorite.

DOGGONE IT! Somebody just post a picture already! ...or email it to me, and I'll post it if you are worried rapala will be peeved...