Gone but not forgotten............

[N Florida Mike]

The first one was Creme worms.The polka dotted black/ white ones were deadly in the home lake in the 70s.Then I moved on to manns' Jelly worms.Caught lots of fish, and my PB on them.Then, I moved on to culprits and fished them mostly in the 80 and 90s.Producto tournament worms also.

The Cremes are long gone.

Ive still got maybe 2 dozen old jelly worms from the day,and a whole side of a box with culprits,a nd a few tournament worms.

I decided to try nothing but these worms in the lake one day a couple weeks ago.

Very strange,but I got skunked.

All I could think of is that all the scent is long gone,but that shouldnt matter that much? I got one follow on a tournament worm thats all.

Going to try them again though.

[the reel ess]

15 hours ago, WRB said:

A-Jay, Put the Chigger craws in the flea market!

Tom

Fish won't drop the Chigger Craw even when you let them know you're on the other end.

 

Yeah, we tend to build our arsenal around what works at a particular place and ignore the rest. But everything works somewhere, sometime. I like to mix it up and learn new baits. I get a kick out of catching a fish for the first time on a bait.

[fishwizzard]

I  haven't been fishing long enough to have forgotten anything, but man I am taking notes, especially about the beloved worms of yesteryear.  I am going to give the t-rigged worm a good go this season and already have some Productos, Jelly Worms, and Culprits, so I feel like I am on the right track.  

[crypt]

Mister Twister phenom worms,grubs etc.

[the reel ess]

3 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

I  haven't been fishing long enough to have forgotten anything, but man I am taking notes, especially about the beloved worms of yesteryear.  I am going to give the t-rigged worm a good go this season and already have some Productos, Jelly Worms, and Culprits, so I feel like I am on the right track.  

Most likely, you'll catch fish the first day. I doubt a better bass bait has been invented.

[Fishin' Fool]

Hula popper and jitterbugs for top water with the invention of Zara spooks and whopper ploopers lol

[mrmacwvu1]

I was just getting ready to post hula popper and jitterbug

 

one that I have not seen mentioned is the rooster tail spinners

 

used to kill the smallies

[RoLo]

"Gone, but not forgotten"

 

Humph!  That harkens to my youth 

 

Roger

[the reel ess]

3 hours ago, Fishin' Fool said:

Hula popper and jitterbugs for top water with the invention of Zara spooks and whopper ploopers lol

I bought one of each last summer to get back to basics. Caught one on the Hula Popper. Nothing on the J Bug yet.

[Fishin' Fool]

3 hours ago, mrmacwvu1 said:

I was just getting ready to post hula popper and jitterbug

 

one that I have not seen mentioned is the rooster tail spinners

 

used to kill the smallies

 

Beat ya to it

[whitwolf]

Mann's Augertail worms. Black.....It was my go to when Rebel quit making the ringworms. I use mostly Zoom plastics now and think all the time about throwing an Augertail. 

 

Bomber crankbaits. I have a ton of these baits and they have sat Idle for many years. They caught so many fish, It was unreal.

 

Great thread!

[RoLo]

"Gone But Not Forgotten"

 

Pretty much describes my youth.

 

Roger

[wdp]

I used to love to throw a Tiny Torpedo back in my high school days.

 

The problem with a lot of these old skool baits like the jitterbug, hula popper, tiny torpedo, etc. is that they're made with some really sub par components by today's standards. Cheap, terrible hooks, crummy hook hangers, etc. It's like these companies been making these baits the same way for 40+ yrs. I mean c'mon mayne, join the 21st century and make some improvements to your lures & use some higher quality components. You might sell more of your lures. ?

[IndianaFinesse]

2 minutes ago, wdp said:

I used to love to throw a Tiny Torpedo back in my high school days.

 

The problem with a lot of these old skool baits like the jitterbug, hula popper, tiny torpedo, etc. is that they're made with some really sub par components by today's standards. Cheap, terrible hooks, crummy hook hangers, etc. It's like these companies been making these baits the same way for 40+ yrs. I mean c'mon mayne, join the 21st century and make some improvements to your lures & use some higher quality components. You might sell more of your lures. ?

True, but I bet that's what rapala said when they "fixed" the wiggle warts.

[riverbasser]

I could name brands but pretty much any ribbon tail worms. I have many,  but trick worms and all the new designs like the ultravibe have taken there place.

 

Zara spook used to be the only walking bait I threw. The sexy dawg just works so effortlessly and has much better hardware. I still have some spooks but they don't get wet.

[wdp]

33 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

True, but I bet that's what rapala said when they "fixed" the wiggle warts.

Lol. Fair point. I was just reading that wiggle wart thread earlier. But that appears to be more of a mold change issue that reduced the hunting action of the bait. 

 

My beef is the cheap hook hangers & poor quality hooks. Don't think putting some decent split rings & maybe some Gammy hooks on a Jitterbug is gonna change the action of the bait. ?

[IndianaFinesse]

13 minutes ago, wdp said:

Lol. Fair point. I was just reading that wiggle wart thread earlier. But that appears to be more of a mold change issue that reduced the hunting action of the bait. 

 

My beef is the cheap hook hangers & poor quality hooks. Don't think putting some decent split rings & maybe some Gammy hooks on a Jitterbug is gonna change the action of the bait. ?

I agree with the hooks and hook hangers, I change them out on jitterbugs to.  I tried using the stock hooks and hangers, but it seemed I only landed every other fish because of them.  I just found it ironic thinking that people were probably saying that storm should clean up the edges of the wiggle warts mold, but when rapala did clean it up, they ended up ruining them.

[wdp]

15 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

I agree with the hooks and hook hangers, I change them out on jitterbugs to.  I tried using the stock hooks and hangers, but it seemed I only landed every other fish because of them.  I just found it ironic thinking that people were probably saying that storm should clean up the edges of the wiggle warts mold, but when rapala did clean it up, they ended up ruining them.

Funny thing is, after reading that wiggle wart thread I started thinking I maybe still got a few old ones somewhere. I might have to go see if I can dig em out & go fish em. Ha ha. 

[smalljaw67]

9 hours ago, whitwolf said:

Mann's Augertail worms. Black.....It was my go to when Rebel quit making the ringworms. I use mostly Zoom plastics now and think all the time about throwing an Augertail. 

 

Bomber crankbaits. I have a ton of these baits and they have sat Idle for many years. They caught so many fish, It was unreal.

 

Great thread!

 

I still use a lot of Bomber cranks, in fact they make up most of my mid depth cranks. The Bomber 6A and 7A along with the Deep Flat A and Fat Free Shad Fingerling make up the bulk of my 8' to 10' cranks with the rest being Rapala DTs and a few Wiggle Warts. And you are 100% correct, they still catch a lot of fish!

[scaleface]

9 hours ago, whitwolf said:

Mann's Augertail worms. Black.....It was my go to when Rebel quit making the ringworms. I use mostly Zoom plastics now and think all the time about throwing an Augertail. 

 

Bomber crankbaits. I have a ton of these baits and they have sat Idle for many years. They caught so many fish, It was unreal.

 

Great thread!

I have an unopen pack of Auger-Tail snakes .

 

Same with me on the Bomber Model a's . They are not getting much playing time but they sure catch fish .

 

6 hours ago, wdp said:

Lol. Fair point. I was just reading that wiggle wart thread earlier. But that appears to be more of a mold change issue that reduced the hunting action of the bait. 

 

My beef is the cheap hook hangers & poor quality hooks. Don't think putting some decent split rings & maybe some Gammy hooks on a Jitterbug is gonna change the action of the bait. ?

The Arbogast  Mudbug is a great lure with terrible hooks and no simple way to change them out . 

[the reel ess]

8 hours ago, wdp said:

Funny thing is, after reading that wiggle wart thread I started thinking I maybe still got a few old ones somewhere. I might have to go see if I can dig em out & go fish em. Ha ha. 

I've got one several years old, but probably not the real deal because I haven't caught a thing on it. I also don't fish rocks much so it doesn't get wet much.

 

There is something completely different about Bomber A's. They just react differently. When they strike a rock or limb, they careen off of it rather than dig in and continue the same action against the object. I think it's more natural looking because shad don't run into rocks and bang their heads against them. Bandit 100 is similar, but less, if that makes sense. Rebel Deep Wee R. This was my fisrt crankbait. Silver with blue back. As deep cranks got deeper and deeper, this one became less attractive. You could buy one brand's line of cranks that went from 3' to 20' deep.

 

I don't use cranks much anymore because I mostly fish weedy places so I've switched it to lipless cranks, which reminds me...Bayou Boogie. I wore fish out with that and a Mepps Mino Comet as a kid. They even caught crappie when they were around. Those really cheap inline spinners I used to see on cards of 20 in the local stores tackle section. My dad used to call them Shysters. They caught everything that swims, but really mopped up on white bass.

[Snipe Hunter]

I still throw a firetiger 3A Bomber in tidal water and still catch fish on it. I still like the action, casting ability of a "Sluggo" over just about any other soft jerk bait and I've consistently caught bigger fish on them. I still think the Hank Parker Classic spinnerbait with the gold Indiana blade is the best spinnerbait I've ever used and I don't have any now. The two best days I ever had with a crankbait was with a Poes (Silver/ blue back) coffin bill. Best tournament  I ever had was with a Chrome and Blue rattle trap. I still like throwing a rattle trap to find active fish. I've probably caught more fish on 4 and 7" pumpkinseed power worms than any other worm.

[roadwarrior]

Original Rapala

Rapala Husky Jerk

Rapala X-Rap

Lazy Ike

Devil's Horse

Zara Spook

Sluggo

Mizmo Tubes

Larew Ringworm

Roboworms

 

I'm going to put these all in a separate tackle box and fish them this spring!

 

[Fishin' Fool]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

I've got one several years old, but probably not the real deal because I haven't caught a thing on it. I also don't fish rocks much so it doesn't get wet much.

 

There is something completely different about Bomber A's. They just react differently. When they strike a rock or limb, they careen off of it rather than dig in and continue the same action against the object. I think it's more natural looking because shad don't run into rocks and bang their heads against them. Bandit 100 is similar, but less, if that makes sense. Rebel Deep Wee R. This was my fisrt crankbait. Silver with blue back. As deep cranks got deeper and deeper, this one became less attractive. You could buy one brand's line of cranks that went from 3' to 20' deep.

 

I don't use cranks much anymore because I mostly fish weedy places so I've switched it to lipless cranks, which reminds me...Bayou Boogie. I wore fish out with that and a Mepps Mino Comet as a kid. They even caught crappie when they were around. Those really cheap inline spinners I used to see on cards of 20 in the local stores tackle section. My dad used to call them Shysters. They caught everything that swims, but really mopped up on white bass.

 

When I catch fish on a lipless on St Clair my dad always asks me if it was a Bayou Boogie. I think he still thinks it's 1984.

[tholmes]

Johnson's Silver Minnow spoons. I've caught a lot of bass on these in the past, but haven't tied one on for a long time. I don't really know why. I think I'll dig 'em out this spring and give 'em a try. 

 

Tom