lure you refuse to lose

[RyneB]

like the title says, do you guys and gals have a special lure that you will go to great lengths too get back from a snag?

I have a Lake Fork Tackle popper in bluegill color that is on its 6th set of hooks, it looks like it's been drug behind a vehicle. I have climbed a tree, walked through muck, swam in frigid water to retrieve it. I bought 5 extras, but none of them have the same action as the original one that is beat up. If I ever lose it, I will be a sad sad man. I don't even throw it in water where pike are present. 

[Outdoor Zack]

I had a rebel super wee r that I loved.  I used to catch panfish and little bass by the dozen with that thing.  I would do just about anything to get it back when I had it.

 

then I snagged a big channel cat with it.  I fought him as hard as I could, but he snapped 6lb. mono, my crank still stuck in his back.  

 

Now i use 15 lb. braid for panfish (with a leader)

[webertime]

Any Carolina Rig... Just hate to re-tie them.

 

[DoDFire]

Any of my modified Bomber Long A's that I use as wake baits.

["hamma"]

I have a custom jig I tied back in  the mid nineties, Its a 9/16 oz. stanley jig that I removed the skirt, broke the extra paint off the weedguard, fanned the weedguard a bit, and proceeded to hand tie a multi-colored greenish skirt on. I did this in lue of a up-coming state fishoffs at the famed Hudson River. During pre-fishing I was waiting at the ramp for my partner to park the truck/trailer when I noticed a crayfish in the shallows that had a greenish hue to it. During said day I had only one area for my choice called Cementon. Just a bit downstream from the catskill ramp, so we went there first, and the only fish I did catch there was on a 1/2 oz black jig I had tied on.

 segway to the first day of the fish-offs. I am lucky enough to climb on a guys boat that he too had Cementon as a area. so we head there right away, we start at the points barge dock, and about 20 feet from the tip of the point theres a huge boulder, the boater tosses a jig and pig in there a few times (while front ending me), before he allows me a shot at it, and I noticed that he was a bit uptight that he got no hits at all. My first flip in? instant "bang" I set the hook on a nice 2+ pounder., Next flip?,.Bang! another fish this time almost twice the size of the first at 4+. The boater is getting irritated and starts moving the boat away, I can pitch too so,..I do so,..Bang! I pull out the two days lunker 6+ bucket. He's vehematley ticked, backs off from the point altogether and says, there's no more fish here we're moving. I protest but to no availe. The rest of the day went as Im  sure you would already figure, he front ends, and blocks me from any fish holding spots as much as possible. When we get to the weigh-in, one of his clubs anglers askes, "hey , Charlie,..how'd ya do?",.he replies "he caught all my fish~!" with a few exlporative adjectives in there. I just smiled as I walked away with a bag towards the scales as he he was slamming hatches and throwing stuff around.

  I made the state team with that jig, and its been a joy to not only tie up a working jig, but even more of a elated feeling when I hear someone say,..'He caught my fish",...I relegated to hang that jig from a shelf in my room, it's there still, and whenever I am to fish the Hudson,...believe me, I tied a few more up the following week, that make the trip out there, but that particular jig? Goes nowhere, it will stay right where it is, for me to gaze upon everyonce in a while and smile, It owes me nothing, but i refuse to fish and loose that jig

[scaleface]

1 hour ago, webertime said:

Any Carolina Rig... Just hate to re-tie them.

 

It takes forever . At one time I thought I had the answer , Speedo Beads . It was a sinker stop and all one had to do is wrap the line around it a few times . One knot . They were not designed well and created a sharp bend in the line weakening it severely . If they would redo those things but smooth the corners off , it would solve the hassel of retying with three knots .

I have two lures that I would go to length to get back . A vintage Rogers Big jim thats is the fish catchingest square bill I have ever used { I found 2 in an antique store and lost one high in a tree }and a Silent red Eye Shad that has a loose weight and is now a one knocker .

48 minutes ago, DoDFire said:

Any of my modified Bomber Long A's that I use as wake baits.

How do you modify them ?  Long A's are one of my favorites as is .

[DoDFire]

I heat the bills and slowly apply pressure to turn the bills down then a quick dip in almost boiling water to expand the plastic just a touch then I change the hooks out to a lighter size so the lure is more buoyant. I also use a little jj's magic on a q-tip and put a faint chartreuse on the bottom. It looks like a Buckeye Lures Wake Up when I'm done.......Bone is the only color I use. I could always buy a wake up from Buckeye but we fisherman love to tinker. When a smallmouth blows up on one it looks like you dropped a bowling ball from 30,000 feet.

[Scarborough817]

i hate losing t rigs because tungsten is so expensive, but i also do not want to lose my custom bull shad it's not the money it's just so good looking

[ww2farmer]

Living in an area with Pike...........I don't have much say in the manner.

I have often given thought to the theory of: "a crankbait that catches a lot of fish is special, don't lose it"..............then I get the bait bit off, tie on another one, and keep catching fish. Maybe I have all the good ones.

[Scott F]

7 hours ago, RyneB said:

like the title says, do you guys and gals have a special lure that you will go to great lengths too get back from a snag?

I have a Lake Fork Tackle popper in bluegill color that is on its 6th set of hooks, it looks like it's been drug behind a vehicle. I have climbed a tree, walked through muck, swam in frigid water to retrieve it. I bought 5 extras, but none of them have the same action as the original one that is beat up. If I ever lose it, I will be a sad sad man. I don't even throw it in water where pike are present. 

I see several posts where guys go to great effort to get lures with ultra realistic paint jobs. So why is it that the lures with all the paint scraped off catch so many fish?

[scaleface]

23 minutes ago, ww2farmer said:

Living in an area with Pike...........I don't have much say in the manner.

I have often given thought to the theory of: "a crankbait that catches a lot of fish is special, don't lose it"..............then I get the bait bit off, tie on another one, and keep catching fish. Maybe I have all the good ones.

A  crankbait that runs so true it goes directly under the rod and under the boat then turns around and comes back is a good one . You'll know on the first cast . 

4 minutes ago, Scott F said:

I see several posts where guys go to great effort to get lures with ultra realistic paint jobs. So why is it that the lures with all the paint scraped off catch so many fish?

Because they have " it " . Whatever " it ' is .

 

 

 

 

 

[crypt]

any of my Manns razorback pigs. will go in the water for them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Scarborough817]

7 minutes ago, Scott F said:

I see several posts where guys go to great effort to get lures with ultra realistic paint jobs. So why is it that the lures with all the paint scraped off catch so many fish?

i think this gives a little more weight to the theory of action and profile over colour

[fishinfiend]

lucky craft sammy i have had for at least 3 years and have caught hundreds of fish on. I have gone swimming at least a half dozen times for it.

[fishballer06]

14 minutes ago, fishinfiend said:

lucky craft sammy i have had for at least 3 years and have caught hundreds of fish on. I have gone swimming at least a half dozen times for it.

Swimming for a topwater lure???   

[IndianaFinesse]

Just about any lure I own.  I go swimming for ned rigs, senkos, jigs, just about anything is worth attempting to retrieve in my mind.  The hardest I've ever had to try to get my lure back was when I got a whopper plopper stuck 20 feet up in a tree, no idea how I managed to cast it that high on accident.  I tried climbing the tree, but I couldn't get that high because of how thin the branches were.  So I broke it off, drove home, grabbed an extendable tree trimmer, and drove back to where the whopper plopper was stuck in a tree.  I managed to get it out by climbing part way up the tree and then cutting the branch off that it was attached to.  The only lure that I own that has the undefinable "it" is a magnum pop-r, that thing always outfishes the exact same pop-r, even though almost all of the paint has long since been scraped off.

[jr231]

Any lure I'm afraid to lose I've either had for a long time or I can't get anymore. In which case it gets retired . Whichever lure I choose to fish will be fished fearlessly. 

I'm not one of those megabass suckers tho so the most I'm losing on any one bait is like 12 bucks. But usually more in the 6-8 range. 

[Mike L]

I have a ghost Sebile Magic Swimmer that I'd go swimming for if I ever lost it. 

 

Mike

 

[Scarborough817]

13 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I have a ghost Sebile Magic Swimmer that I'd go swimming for if I ever lost it. 

 

Mike

 

i'm so on the fence about these i really don't like the shape but multiple people have told me they like them 

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, webertime said:

Any Carolina Rig... Just hate to re-tie them.

 

Pre-tie a couple on the cardboard from a toilet paper roll.  Ready to go!

 

[IndianaFinesse]

2 hours ago, webertime said:

Any Carolina Rig... Just hate to re-tie them.

 

Another thing that works well is to wrap a few pre-rigged ones around sections of foam pool noodles, that way you can stick the hooks into the foam to prevent tangling.  Or roadwariors' toilet paper roll idea would work to.

[A-Jay]

9 minutes ago, Scarborough817 said:

i hate losing t rigs because tungsten is so expensive, but i also do not want to lose my custom bull shad it's not the money it's just so good looking

Super Sweet Paint job ~

Fish here would be All Over that one.

Although without some special precautions, I fear it may vanish.

A-Jay

[Scarborough817]

Just now, A-Jay said:

Super Sweet Paint job ~

Fish here would be All Over that one.

Although without some special precautions, I fear it may vanish.

A-Jay

this is why i love my home waters so much i am blessed with only having largemouth and smallmouth, if i travel to any lake that i fear may have some teeth in it i will use a wire leader 

[Catt]

I believe!

If every lure I buy catches me one fish it has done its job.

Now I do own some antiques & prototypes that will never see water again!

[Scott F]

For me, I have a few lures from back in the sixties that I caught fish on that have a sentimental value, but they are long ago retired. While I certainly never like losing lures, and I'll make a reasonable attempt to get one back that has been snagged, If I'm not prepared to lose it, I won't tie it on. I don't place that much value on a bait. If they quit making it, I'm sure I'll find something else that will work.