Sometimes simplicity RULES! - two simple lure designs

[SENKOSAM]

There are two soft plastic baits I designed this year that are similar to old lures made years ago by Heddon and Mann and the mold is something you eat with on a daily basis.

Remember the Shadow by Tom Mann? It was a minnow shaped soft plastic with molded fish details. The small size works great on a jig for bass and panfish; the larger size Texposed for bass and pike. My modification uses a spoon for the mold(tablespoon, teaspoon or slightly larger serving spoon), pouring hot plastic from one end to the other in a narrow stream, allowing it to accumulate at one end for thickness, adding to it while hot to thicken the body. I use clay to contain the nose and body and never repour the thin back 3/4s so as to keep the tail super thin [/b. With sharp scissors I trim the spoon minnow to shape the tapered tail towards the body (no back fin like Mann's). Smaller baits work extremely well on an Octopus hook, dropshot rig; larger baits (3" or more) work on nose hook Octopus or weedless on a worm hook using many presentations.

The overall action beats that of any finesse bait I've ever used and duplicates a suspended or slow moving minnow like no other. The first time I used the 2" size on a 1/16 oz ballhead jig, the lure was hanging over the bow down about a foot in 4' of water. A small perch nailed it and hooked itself! The school was tight in the area and everytime I laid the rod down with lure in the water, perch and sunfish hooked themselves again and again.

I went to a different area, rigged the bait tandem, nosed-hooked with a flash (hair) jig on bottom. A large mixed school of crappie, perch, sunfish and small bass were off a point in 12'. I stopped counting the number of doubles after 10.

The Spoon Turtle, a topwater bait, is made by pouring hot plastic into a tablespoon or teaspoon (for smaller fish). I originally used a large serving spoon, but the bait caught lily pad stems a bit more than the smaller sizes. After the plastic cools, I pull strands of pattern colored silicone skirt material through the rear corners - four per corner. I rig this on a 38 degree mustad swimbait hook with a wire lock I designed earlier this year.

My first cast produced a bass on a weed edge; the third cast produced another which hit it twice on the same retrieve in a weed pocket.

The action is amazing! Picture the plop plop plop wake of Jitter Bug, the sashey of a Spook with a skirt swaying from side to side, flaring when paused and the wobble of a spoon twitched subsurface. This bait blows away topwater frogs and can be worked as fast or as slow as needed according to fish aggressiveness. Also, when worked fast, it makes the noise of a toad running across the surface trying to get back on land. Pike will clobber this bait next spring!

I think one of the most important factors in fishing a lure over a mat of weeds or pads with openings is a lure's profial, noise and action. Larger wider baits like the Silver Minnow Spoon and Grass Hog rigged with pork or plastic were excellent when I used them years ago, especially in thick duckweed over shallow water. But this design offers more action and noise as well as a larger profile that challenges a territorial bass to a duel!

Sometimes simplicity is truly beautiful!

FrankM

[b.Lee]

So where are the pictures? I am very intrigued

[SENKOSAM]

Spoon Minnow

Clay used to contain plastic

Spoon Topwater Turtle

38 degree swimbait hook used with Spoon Turtle

various Delta clips added to swimbait hooks

[b.Lee]

Simplicity really does work. Haha nice job!

[Taylor Fishin 4 life]

I really like the spon turtle!

[jesse1378]

good looking baits.

[SENKOSAM]

I'm experimenting with a few more colors. Soon I will pick out the best looking baits in each size and mold in plaster for mass pours.