August Walleye Lure of the Month: Rapala 07 Floating Silver

August Walleye Lure of the Month: Rapala 07 Floating Silver Lure

In the 1930's, Lauri Rapala had a very simple revelation: wounded fish get eaten by big fish, so all he needed to do was to create a lure that resembled a wounded minnow.  Such a simple thought process, but it is one that has transcended generations and helped to catch millions of fish.  The Rapala Original Floater was originally made of timber, and has since been updated to what is included in this month's selection.  It's easy to use, durable, and most importantly - it catches fish!

Used as a trolling lure, it is easy to maintain a consistent speed.  Also because of the balsa wood construction, you will find that it has a nice, rolling action through the water, further enticing the fish.  If you are lure casting, simply cast it out and pull it back in.  

As a variation, if you see fish flashing at the lure but not striking, try this: cast it out, increase the tempo of the retrieve, and add in short, sharp stops that get the Rapala minnow darting and weaving, darting and weaving.  This may "wake up" the fish that were previously not interested, and get them to chase and try to catch the lure with a new life to it.

For more info, check out FishingEnthusiast.BlogSpot.com to watch a video put together by Patrick Brennan on best practices of fishing this beautiful lure!

Features:

*Swimming Depth: 0.6-1.8 m

*Available in classic and bleeding patterns

*Can be fished top to bottom

*Balsa Wood Construction

*Natural Minnow Profile

*Run Fast or Slow

*VMC Hooks

www.FishingEnthusiast.com

August Freshwater Lure of the Month: Hula Popper

August Freshwater Lure of the Month: The Hula Popper

Fred Arbogast was born in Akron, Ohio in 1893.  As a competitive caster, Arbogast had earned has name by winning several world casting titles.  However, it was by inventing fish-catching lures like the Jitterbug that Arbogast secured his legacy.  The Hula Popper and the Hawaiian Wiggler were two other highly successful (and quite recognizable) lures Arbogast designed over his career as a luremaker.  Today, Arbogast, Inc is one of the oldest lure manufacturers in the industry, and, in our opinion, one of the best at giving lures attention-grabbing names.

In the late 1930’s, Fred Arbogast initially intended upon creating a diving plug when he began work on this month’s Freshwater Lure of the Month selection.  Anyone that has fished the classic Jitterbug knows that it’s the farthest one can get from a diving plug.  The Jitterbug’s unusually wide lip, the lures most prominent characteristic, was actually what kept Arbogast’s prototype from diving.  The lip created such a distinct surface action that Arbogast realized that he had something with potential on his hands after all.  Be it irony, fate or otherwise, the Jitterbug’s failure as a diver was quickly transformed into blinding success for the lure named after the dance craze.

Featured lure: Jitterbug

Designer: Fred Arbogast

Created: c. 1930s

Manufacturer: Arbogast, Inc

Technique: 

Cast the Jitterbug into thick lily pads, stumps, or similar cover, retrieving with short jerks and pauses.  A slow, consistent retrieve will also produce spectacular results.

Selected Reading: (Read more about this month’s selection online: http://www.fishingenthusiast.com)

My Secret Fishing Life : by Nick Lyons

From the Back Cover:

Beyond his life as an English professor, book publisher, and writer, Nick Lyons has always had a "secret fishing life," a deep and abiding passion for fishing, especially with a fly. In this, his eighteenth book, he fishes in "riskier waters" than he has ever fished in before-and has caught his greatest prize.

Book Description:

Nick Lyons has long been acclaimed as one of our preeminent fishing writers, praised for his great stories, philosophical and literary insights, self-deprecating humor, and ability to capture the passion that drives people to stand for hours at a time in a river, often in vain.  My Secret Fishing Life is his most personal collection, an intimate look back at his own life and career as an angler, publisher, husband, father, and English professor.

August Saltwater Lure of the Month: Snapper Slapper

August Saltwater Lure of the Month: Snapper Slapper

www.HooksPlus.com

Hooks Plus and Snapper Slapper have combined forces to present a dynamic new line of fishing lures to satisfy any saltwater fisherman's offshore needs.  The Snapper Slapper that is featured as this month's Saltwater Lure of the Month was designed to simulate a squid on the prod.  It includes a phosphorescent head and planing wings, and a stinger hook that is absolutely deadly to fish that are quick strikers.  

There are many different ways to fish the Snapper Slapper - jigging, casting, and trolling are the three most popular ways.  If you are casting, try tip jigging and long casting it off of the back of your boat.  As the Slapper hits the water, try to immediately engage the reel and watch as the jig swims back toward the boat with a relatively tight line.  The hit will come as it is coming back to the boat.  If you are trying to use the lure as a jig, tip it and fish it from the top of the water column to the bottom, stopping every 10-20 ft while lightly raising and lowering the rod tip.  Then, let the bait fall another 20 ft. until you feel the bite.  For those of you who want to Troll, try pulling it along the weed lines for dolphin.  This can be done with or without bait.  If you are slow trolling at 3-5 knots, try trolling with a whole sardine on the short hook.  It's a great trick!

The newest Snapper Slapper features a cool new "Snap-It-On" system that features a line of interchangeable hooks and pre-assembled rigs.  Go to their site and check it out!!

www.HooksPlus.com

Check out the Snapper Slapper in Action!!

August Freshwater Fly of the Month: Hair-wing Royal Coachman

August Freshwater Fly of the Month: Hair-Wing Royal Coachman

For an amazing reference on flies and their tyers, please check out FlyAngelrsOnline.com !!

The August Freshwater Fly of the Month selection takes us back to an old time - where modern fly tying capabilities didn't exist.   The Hair-wing Royal Coachman was a fly tied in the spirit of early times, with just the materials that existed.  Flies back in the early 20th century often took months or even years to be improved upon - a much slower pace than the improvement seen using todays modern counterparts.  But these flies were tied with tied by passionated fishermen, who endlessly tested and improved upon their own creations, trying to find that perfect look and feel that would make the fish jump out of the water.  The Wulff Royal Coachman (or Royal Wulff as it is popularly called today) was just one of those flies, tied by Q.L. Quackenbush.

Q.L. "Quack" Quackenbush was a member of the Beaverkill Trout Club, located in the Catskills.  In 1930, the group was trying to improve upon the Royal Coachman, because they felt that the fly's wings were very fragile.  So, Quack asked one of his partners in crime in the club to try and find a substitute for the fragile white mandarin (duck) fan wings.  They asked their supplier for any part of an animal that may contain a stiff, white, kinky hair that they could use.  They struck out with that request, but he did provide some impala tails: "Perfect!" They thought.

As a name, the Beaverkill Trout Club settled on "The Quack Coachman", after it's creator. The name as since evolved, with the name changing to Hair-wing Wolff Coachman, to Hairwing Royal Coachman, to it's commonly referred to present day name, the Royall Wolff.

This is a must have for any dry fly box and can be an extremely effective fly on the water.  

Hook: TMC 100, sizes 8, 10,12.Thread: Black, Pearsall's Gossamer Silk.
Wing: White Calf-tail, split and posted.
Tail: Coachman Brown Barbs, or Golden Pheasant Tippet (shown).
Body: Peacock Herl, with center portion using Red Pearsall's Gossamer Silk.
Hackle: Coachman Brown, Rooster Cape.