Bagley Lures

[Ern]

Just thought I would ask and see who still use them.  Dont hear anything local about them anymore.  The DB III used to be the lure.  Two tackle shops carried walls of Bagley lures.  Even custom painted.

Now Nothing. 

I still have a box of Honey B's and Bitty Craws that I use for river smallmouth.     

[ranger 361]

Ern, i still use them but the older ones are hard to find, i'm always looking for any of them, i see them on e-bay those guys are nuts for the money they want for them, so like i said i fish with them but i do collect them too, and don't resell them anywhere, if you know anyone who want to sell any let me know, thanks  ranger361.

[cutpullcut]

I still use them ,too.......mid 70s model fry series........bought all my "budget" would allow off of ebay last fall. Matter fact I caught my best and last LB of 09 with an ebay "lead bill crappie" a 24" a few days before Thanksgiving. I like the new small frys and have a few in bream pattern.....would buy some new crappie (as well as other)patterns if I could find them,because I like the  smaller size of the new ones.

[Paul Roberts]

I have 6 or 8 of them I bought in the mid 80s) that have had very little use. Have to look em up to see which models they are.

[Stringjam]

There are some models I like. 

The KB1 (with the short, round lip) from the 80's is one of my all-time favorite small cover cranks. 

The Florida-made DB3's are also great deep cranks for heavy cover.....some of the best for that particular scenario. 

I also like the old B-Flat shallow cranks with the squared lip. 

Early Bagleys are cool but very inconsistent.  I have 3 vintage DB3's and every one of them is very different. 

The vintage Balsa B's are the ones that get all the attention.  The special thing about them is that they have a tighter action than the new ones, and most newer baits of that style.

Instead of the big dramatic roll and wiggle you're using to seeing on baits like the BDS2 or Fat this or that, it's a much tighter wiggle with a lot less roll. 

 

[fishermantony]

I like the design and love the action of the newer lipless cranks.  The older discontinued ones seem to be even better.  Bought 3 small fry in bluegill for $35 on Ebay.  Couldn't pass them up, thought the color was amazing.  I plan on throwing them alot when I know bluegill are a main forage.

[Team9nine]

Love 'em myself, to the point that I rarely even let friends know I have them "in the box". I've got a small collection of about 75 at the moment including DB-I, II, and III's, a majority of which are the lead in the bill/brass variety. DB-I's are my personal favorites. All have been hand tuned and used to only get pulled out on tourney days. Now that I'm in self-proclaimed semi- tourney retirement I've been fishing them more "just because". Pulled one out on a friend last year just to show him why they're so special - whooped up on him good ;D Now he's looking for 'em. Also have several Balsa B's in the mix.

Here's some from my smaller sizes collection:

-T9

[hookset]

Yep a big fan of the db3 here. Team9 if you ever want to sell that one on the far left 2nd pic let me know, the grey ghost looking one with the messed up scale pattern.

[Edro]

My local tackle shop actually has a small section of bagley's in the corner.  The lures look to be from the eighties.  They are old, just never sold(not much business).  I picked up one of every color he had.

[Paul Roberts]

Love 'em myself, to the point that I rarely even let friends know I have them "in the box". I've got a small collection of about 75 at the moment including DB-I, II, and III's, a majority of which are the lead in the bill/brass variety. DB-I's are my personal favorites. All have been hand tuned and used to only get pulled out on tourney days. Now that I'm in self-proclaimed semi- tourney retirement I've been fishing them more "just because". Pulled one out on a friend last year just to show him why they're so special - whooped up on him good ;D Now he's looking for 'em. Also have several Balsa B's in the mix.

Here's some from my smaller sizes collection:

-T9

Show off! ;D

So...what makes them so good?  Is this a Stradivarius kind of thing?

[Avalonjohn44]

Some of my favorite baits... I like doing Ebay searches on Bagleys and using the pulldown to sort by 'Highest First'... Seems like every week there's a single lure selling for hundreds...

I have baits from the 70s 80s, and the recent ones... Out of all the baits, there was a series of recent ones that are my favorites.  B1, 2, and 3s, square bills with two separate line ties so each lure can have a different swimming action... They don't command the high $$$ like the old ones, but these work the best for me.