February Walleye Lure of the Month: Jointed Wally Diver

Jointed Wally Diver

February Walleye Lure of the Month

The Cotton Cordell Wally Diver is their best selling lure.  It works wonders catching largemouth, smallmoth, crappie, trout, kokanee, and perch.  But there was one fish that the company was really trying to catch: the elusive walleye.  How could they alter this lure in the slightest to make it more appealing to walleye?  The answer was to turn the Wally Diver into a jointed, diver that would jolt and dive around the water.

The typical crankbait trolling speed is just under 1 mph to 3 mph.  But more important than the trolling speed, it is the retrieve cadence and trolling cadence.  For this, we consider the nature of the fish.  Walleyes are notorious for falling in behind a crankbait and following it for a short or for a long distance before overtaking it, opening their mouth and using suction at the same time that they continue to swim toward the intended prey from behind.  So then, it’s the slight interruption of the straight speed that the wally jointed diver has that gets walleyes to strike.

The angler pauses, just hesitates the lure, once or twice during a straight retrieve along a weededge, or anywhere else for that matter.  It’s this change in the steady retrieve cadence that finally gets the walleye to bite.  The new cripped baitfish movement makes the walleye strike even when fish are unwilling to commit to other lures.

February Saltwater Lure of the Month: Boone Sundance Popper

2012 February Saltwater Lure of the Month

Boone Sundance Popper

Over 70 years ago, a young boy in Charleston, South Carolina received a fly-tying kit from his parents.  This boy, Don Boone, had a natural gift for fly tying and was tying beautiful flies by the age of 12.  His father and his father’s friends loved his flies and would pay him small sums to make them flies for their fishing trips.  The more word spread, the more flies young Don would make.  And so, at the ripe age of 15, a business was born.

In 1953, Don moved to Florida and formed the Boone Bait Company.  He joined forces with his wife Vera and his friends Joseph and Arlyne Showalter, with both couples taking equal shares in the company.  Their first factory was an airport hanger on Highway 50 at a small airport in Orlando. The company quickly grew and became appealing to a businessman named Peter Foley from Norwalk, Connecticut who purchased the company and continues to be the president today.  Boone lures are now available in more than 65 countries and hold the distinction of being the first lure company to produce soft plastic baits.

The Boone Sundance Popper is one of Boone’s most popular saltwater poppers today. When worked through the water, it looks like a strobe light because of the mirrors on the body. Thru-wire attached to two triple strength Mustad hooks. The flash from the mirrors triggers the feeding instinct of game fish. The lure is made of solid space-age plastic that will not absorb water and has a stainless steel wire frame. Attached to the frame are added action and color. A Killer lure for Striped Bass.

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February Freshwater Fly of the Month: Pistol Petes

FishingEnthusiast.com's Freshwater Fly of the Month:

Pistol Pete's

The Pistol Pete was created by an ambitious young fly tier named Chris Furia in 1972 on the streams and lakes of Trinidad, Colorado.  Young Chris was getting frustrated with fly fishing, and felt that by adding a small propeller onto the end of the fly, he could give the fly more action and movement, similar to the action he got with his lures.  Before Chris knew it, his fly was a hit amongst his family and friends on their fishing trips, and the legend grew throughout Colorado of these new flies. Soon, a business was born, and Chris became the CEO of the new venture, calling it Hi-Country Flies.

After graduating from college some years later, Christ was drawn to the great North.  He brought his flies out to Alaska and found that they worked impressively well with the salmon, steelhead, arctic char, and rainbow trout that were so plentiful up there. It was up here that Chris was able to fine tune the flies, realizing how truly versatile they could become.  Today, the flies remain one of the most popular flies in all of North America, and are used for everything from bass, crappie, & bluegills to salmon, trout, steelhead, and even some saltwater varieties.  

What makes the fly so popular?  It has to do with the make of each fly.  The propeller attached creates a vibration that as the fly moves through the water, the propeller spins, creating an action and sound that excites the fish into striking even when they are not in a feeding period. Fish them like a buzzbait - pull them slow, let them drop, and let the propeller do it's work. The body contains a combination of peacock herl and maribou, which has the consistency of toilet paper and is difficult to make, but provides a bug like finish.  The colorful tail creates that final taunt and leads to the big hit.

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