August Trout Fly of the Month!

Check out the history of the August Trout Fly of the Month: The Jock Scott!!




August 2010
Jock Scott
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"
Chinese Proverb








John (Jock) Scott, born in Branxfolmes, Rocburgshire in 1817, created this enduring pattern in 1850. Jock Scott was a Fisherman to Lord John Scott of Kirkbank. It is reputedly the most famous, and most killing of flies. A proven pattern on British and Scottish waters, it is a timeless design that is now used to fish salmon and steelhead in waters all over the world.
The Jock Scott is one of the butterfly patterns of the Victorian era and it is considered a masterpiece in harmony and proportion.


Design

Tag : Round silver tinsel
Tail : Topping and Indian crow
Butt : Black ostrich herl
Body, in two equal halves : First half golden yellow floss, butted with black herl, and veiled above and below with six or more toucan feathers; second half black floss
Ribs : Fine oval silver tinsel over golden yellow floss, broader oval silver tinsel or flat silver tinsel and twist over the black floss
Hackle : A black hackle over the black floss
Throat : Speckled gallena
Wings : A pair of black white-tipped turkey tail strips (back to back) over these, but not entirely covering them; a mixed sheath of "married" strands of peacock wing, yellow, scarlet and blue swan or goose, bustard, florican, and golden pheasant tail, two strands of peacock sword feather above, "married narrow strips of teal and barred summer duck at the sides, brown mallard over, a topping over all
Sides : Jungle cock
Cheeks : Blue chatterer
Head : Black varnish

August Saltwater Lure of the Month

The History of the August Saltwater Lure of the Month:

August 2010

SHORTY SPOON

The Hopkins Spoon was first hammered out by hand from a knife handle in the 1940’s by Robert Hopkins, an avid saltwater fisherman with an itch for a better lure. It was Hopkins’ aim to create a lure with two key characteristics. First, Hopkins wanted the lure to cast unusually well into the wind. He succeeded wildly in this. Hopkins also needed to create a lure that would land a number of different saltwater fish. Mission accomplished. Two lures, the NO=EQL and the Shorty (enclosed), successfully followed on the coattails of the initial “Robert Hopkins” experiment.


It’s true that Robert Hopkins’ original spoon was crafted from everyday cutlery. However, today’s Hopkins Spoons have come a long way, undergoing a rather complicated manufacturing process. First the spoon is forged from stainless steel. Next it’s plated with copper, then plated with nickel, and finally the spoon is chrome-plated for the finest finish possible. All of this hard work pays off the very second the Hopkins Spoon hits the water. Whether cast, trolled, or jigged, the Hopkins Spoon emulates a wounded or sick minnow with an action that drives fish of nearly every species out of their heads.

Featured lure: Hopkins Shorty Spoon
Created by: Robert Hopkins
Created: c. 1940’s
Manufacturer: Hopkins Fishing Lures
Type: Spoon

Technique:
Cast the Hopkins Shorty Spoon and slowly retrieve allowing the lure to evoke its unmatched life-like minnow action. The Hopkins Shorty Spoon is also deadly when jigged over areas holding bait or large fish.

August Freshwater Lure of the Month

Check out the history of this month's Freshwater Lure of the Month!

RAT-L-TRAP

"Often Imitated, Never Duplicated”

The Rat-l-Trap was invented by Bill Lewis in his small workshop in Boyce, Louisiana 30 years ago.  This lure is notable because it was the first crankbait of its kind in two respects.  Lewis designed his lure with a built-in rattle chamber and, more importantly, the Rat-l-Trap was the first crankbait to boast a lipless design.  These innovations allow the Rat-l-Trap to create a loud, unique underwater fish-attracting rattle and to display a tight wiggling action at nearly any speed.

Bill Lewis got his start selling the lure from the trunk of his car throughout Louisiana and Texas.  He knew immediately that he had a hit on his hands.  The Rat-l-Trap rapidly became one of the most sought after lures on the bass fishing circuit.  Today, the lure is a mainstay in most anglers’ tackle boxes and is fished successfully in saltwater and freshwater alike.

This made-by-hand lure has proven itself effective on big bass, stripers, and other game fish in all types of water.  It has been so successful, in fact, that nearly all recognized lure manufacturers now sell their own variation of this unique lure -- quite a compliment to Bill Lewis's ingenuity.  It’s interesting to note that there has not been a single change made to the Rat-l-Trap original design since its introduction, although Bill Lewis Lures has released several different versions of the original.  This truly classic lure can be found in a number of different sizes and dressed in literally dozens of colors.

The First Blog

Thanks for coming and visiting the FishingEnthusiast.com blog!  This blog is being created to help update customers on important new products or fishing gifts, to post the histories of the Lures of the Month as they get selected, and to just plain talk fishing!  Enjoy the site!