Favorite Old School Bait

[Vinny Chase]

Pre-rapala wiggle warts - especially the bone color

[Drop Shot Maniac]

Probably more suited for the "timeless" category, but the Heddon Baby Torpedo. It's likely my all-time favorite lure. I mostly drop-shot these days, but when I fish topwater this is the only lure I use. My grandfather first taught me how to use it when I was a boy - cast it, ease the slack out while letting it sit until all the ripples are gone, then bump/reel it with an alternating pace, then let it sit some more. I have great confidence with this lure because I feel like I know just how to work it. It's caught many a nice bass for me, and there's nothing more fun than catching a nice one topwater.

[LgMouthGambler]

Red Devil Spoon?

[WCCT]

The original Berkley Power Worm. I know they still make them, but I haven't used one in years. Not sure why to be honest with you, but I used to wear them out on a 4 or 7" black worm with a small brass bullet weight and a glass bead. I also grew up fishing the Mister Twister grub that they no longer make. It had a nice thin, wide tail. It seemed like I could catch them anywhere with these simple baits. Makes a guy wonder why we all go to the newest, flashiest baits instead of these old classics.

[whitwolf]

Bill Norman Snatrix......The absolute best plastic worm I fished.

[Bigbarge50]

heddon river runt and headon meadow mouse.

The real old meadow mice that were fuzzy are the best. FInd it hilarious now people are getting way back into mice imitators and people are spending 30 bucks on mice swim baits and pradco is sitting on those fuzzy meadow mice. Think they stopped making them in the 80's. Action is amazing on them. Literally sitting on a gold mine.

A jointed river runt has insane action.... and the suspending model was well ahead of its time. Def would love to see them make a comeback.

[Vinny Chase]

Berkeley Tournament Craw. The only replacement I have found to make me feel better about them being DC is the 3" crazy legs chigger craw.

[jorilo]

The Mud Bug.

[NoBassPro]

pradco is sitting on those fuzzy meadow mice. Think they stopped making them in the 80's. Action is amazing on them. Literally sitting on a gold mine.

Pradco didn't buy heddon until the 80's. I wouldn't know if they took old lures and lure designs with them or not, but I am certain there is almost nothing left of the original Heddon plant, a portion of it is now a small museum and most of the rest is used to manufacture shower stalls.

[Bigbarge50]

Thanks NoBassPro,

My father went on ebay and bought about a dozen meadow mice back in the 90's, though most were not the "fuzzy" ones. Glad I am stocked up on them.

Something about that lure...... and the river runt..... guess it is the way the plate was on front, gave them a very wide wobble. The white mouse in the water literally seemed to turn a near full 180 degrees per turn. Throw in that soft tail they have.... dynamite shallow water action.

My father loved the medow mouse and runt so much he searched high and low of a "modern" replacement. He got us a whole bunch of spence scouts in the 90's which had a very similar wide wobble. Looked the other day..... appears strike king stopped making them a few years back. Figures huh.

I laugh at how many lures are now gone or now different. I own probably about 10 jitterbugs inherented from my father (as well as a few I have used since I was a kid) and have owned storm stuff since I began fishing. I did not know classics such as the jitter bug, wiggle wart, and chug bug are now different in some way. The storm stuff I have loved (NY PB came on a chug bug pooping next to lilly pads) and have fished the doors off of, having to replace hooks several times over the years.

My chug bug's paint is pretty rough now and I have a wiggle wart who's bill is wearing down from all the bottom cranking..... should I not replace these because the new ones are not the same?

[NoBassPro]

My chug bug's paint is pretty rough now and I have a wiggle wart who's bill is wearing down from all the bottom cranking..... should I not replace these because the new ones are not the same?

I can't really answer that. Prior to Rapala purchasing Storm, Hot N Tots and Wiggle Warts were our top cranks for steelhead and salmon in the rivers, while Rapala's were our go-to cranks for bass and pike. We were excited about the merger until the following year's salmon run. Even after they brought back the original series Storm baits, I haven't really had the same success with them. I also haven't been able to fish near as much, which may be a large part of the reason. That, and the L. Michigan salmon fishery has undergone some changes since then.

[urp]

Shakespeare quit making the Flapjack sometime in the 70s. Similar to the Lazy Ike it was bigger, ran wider, deeper and slower than the Ike. I still have a half dozen and its a killer. And then there's the timeless Jitterbug...

[paangler13]

jitterbugs, devils horse, and white single spin spinnerbaits.

Jim

[oldhippie]

zara spooks work great on the tennessee river,as well as the big ledge buster spinnerbaits!!

[IntroC]

Bagley Grass Rat and the Rebel Minow Slvr/Blu back in 4.5 inch. They still make them in the 3.5 version but thats just a little small for my taste. Suprises the heck out of me that you don't hear more about Rebel Minnows as far a mionnow baits go. These things catch fish like its going out of style.