June Walleye Lure of the Month: Storm Thunderstick

June Walleye Lure of the Month

Storm Thunderstick

The abundantly versatile ThunderStick was introduced to the angling community in the 1980’s by the Storm Manufacturing Company.  It’s just one lure in a comprehensive line of premium lures sold by the world famous luremaker.  Back in 1965, Storm’s charter product was the innovative, if not unusual, ThinFin.  By the late 1990’s, Storm had established seven popular product families: ThinFin, Hot’N Tot, Wart, Chug Bug, Mac, Pygmy, and, of course, ThunderStick.  Many, if not all, of Storm’s products have been “renovated” as a result of the company being acquired by Normark, makers of the legendary Rapala minnow.  Although much of the Storm product line has been updated, we’ve seen many of the new products and can report that we’re excited about fishing them all.

Storm offered the original ThunderStick dressed out in a dizzying 65 different color combinations, and, incredibly, the company continued to introduce new colors regularly.  In the highly automated world of lure making, it’s worth pointing out that each of Storm’s baits were hand painted and clear coated to ensure the highest quality finish.  Storm’s roots are in freshwater fishing, but the company did make a saltwater ThunderStick (enclosed) specifically designed to withstand the unique punishment saltwater deals out day after day.  Although replaced by a freshly updated ThunderStick, the original still lives up to its reputation as an all-around fish taker, and, according to rumor, it’s becoming rather collectible.

Created: Late 1980’s

Manufacturer: Storm Lures (now owned by Rapala)

Technique:

Storm suggests trolling or retrieving the ThunderStick at a steady speed.  A property that makes the ThunderStick so desirable is its ability to be retrieved at very high speeds without taking anything away from its wounded minnow action.  Experiment with different speeds as a practice.

If you notice that the lure does not track properly, tuning might be necessary.  To correct this, firmly grasp the ThunderStick and bend the connecting loop in the opposite direction the lure is swimming.  Needle-nose pliers work great in this situation.  Remember, a little force goes a long way here.