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.

Join the Fun at www.FishingEnthusiast.com!

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.

Join the fun at www.FishingEnthusiast.com!

January Freshwater Fly of the Month: Dave the Fly Guy's Foam Flies

January Freshwater Fly of the Month: 

Dave the Fly Guy's Foam Flies

As I was searching for my next Freshwater Fly of the Month in my local Cabelas Sporting Goods Store, I ran into a problem: Fishing Enthusiast was growing too quickly and demanding so many flies each month that Cabelas couldn't keep up! I approached one of the employees of the store with my problem: Can they order them in bulk?  Where can I get hundreds of flies made every month?  The gentleman I spoke to pulled me to the side and said, "Take my card. Call me tomorrow when I'm not at work." 

So I did.  It turns out that this employee, Dave, was a world class fly tyer on the side - what a stroke of luck! Dave ties flies for fly fishermen, lodges, and fishing stores all across the country, right from his basement.  He ties hundreds of variations of flies, and tests each and every one of them on his own fishing trips, only selling the best ones. Dave mentioned to me that with years of practice, he considers fly tying to be similar to the martial arts - your hands become so fluid and the motion becomes so natural that when he gets going, it is poetry in motion.  With his state of the art machinery, Dave can tie as many as 60 flies per hour - one every minute!

This particular fly is one of Dave's favorites.  The foam flies are designed to sit right on top of the water as you lightly make the fly dance on the top of the water, attracting fish not only with the light and fluid motion, but also the eyes that are glued on (the little noise making eye is a bonus to attract based on sound).  Pay special attention to the base of the fly - see how the string is tied so it doesn't go diagonal throughout?  That is one of Dave's specialties that you won't anywhere else.  In Dave's eyes, if you throw this baby out there and haven't caught something in your first 3 times, then you may never catch anything.  A bold prediction, but worth a try! 

Let me know how you like the flies so I can pass the good word on to Dave!

www.FishingEnthusiast.com

January 2012 Saltwater Lure of the Month: The Super Pogy

January 2012 Saltwater Lure of the Month:

The Super Pogy

The pogy, or Atlantic menhaden, are small, oily-fleshed fish, bright silver, and characterized by a series of smaller spots behind the main, Humeral spot.  They tend to have larger scales than Yellowfin menhaden and Finescale menhaden.  They spawn year round in inshore waters off the Atlantic coast, with the highest spawning rates near North Carolina in the late fall.  They serve as an important link between plankton and upper level predators  Because of their filter feeding abilities, menhaden consume and redistribute a significant amount of energy within and between Chesapeake Bay and other estuaries, and the coastal ocean.  Because they play this role, and their abundance, menhaden are an invaluable prey species for many predatory fish, such as striped bass, bluefish, mackerel, flounder, tuna, drum, and sharks.  


With this in mind, Bomber set out to make an incredibly durable, high pitch lure that would mimic the movemeny of the menhaden to attract the fish mentioned above.  The lipless rattle bait that they created in 2010 is extremely versatile.  Designed for long casts, slow to blisteringly fast retrieves, the Super Pogy is destined to be a deadly effective bait for fishermen on a huge variety of species.  The hooks are saltwater grade, and the high pitch, panicked prey vibration is just what you need on a quiet day on the water to lure the fish out and get a huge bite.  In the world of lipless baits, there really is no equal.


Enjoy and Happy Fishing!


www.FishingEnthusiast.com  

January 2012 Walleye Lure of the Month: Lindy Shadling

January 2012 Walleye Lure of the Month: 

The Lindy Shadling

The Lindy Tackle Company dates all the way back to 1968, when it was founded by the members of the Nisswa Guides' League located in the Brainerd Lakes Area of Minnesota.  Their goal was simple: to create a revolutionary new walleye fishing product that the world had never seen before called the Lindy Rig.   The lure they created was an instant hit.  The Nisswa crew went to demonstrations, fisheries, and seminars in the upper Midwest, soon the Lady Rig by the thousands!  The Lindy Rig has since been joined by the Dingo Jig and the Spin Rig as the top lures produced by the Lindy boys.

Soon Lindy outgrew the ability of it's founders to continue to finance the growth, so it was sold to Ray-O-Vac in 1973.  Ray-O-Vac had just purchased Mille Lacs Mfg., so they merged Lindy and MLM to create their Fishing Tackle Division.  After a few years of experimentation, the tackle division decided to stream line their efforts and focus solely marketing to the fastly growing niche of walleye fishing.  The company is credited with identifying walleye fishing as a market and also with developing many of the walleye fishing methods and products which dominate the arena to this day.

The Lindy Shadling is a lure designed with incredible attention to detail.  The Shadling successfully emulates both the basic patterns and subtle undertones of a variety of common baitifish species.  The secondary hues flash as the shadling swims and triggers savage strikes from all species of gamefish.  Add to that the ultra-realisitc holographic eyes and predators don't mistake the Shadling for anything other than real prey.  Lindy's cutting edge pull-point technology ensures the Shadling will track true out of the package every single time. It's tight wiggling action does not need to be tuned and will reliably perform at the highest trolling speeds needed for gamefish.

Join the fun! Sign up at www.FishingEnthusiast.com

January 2012 Freshwater Lure of the Month: The Daredevle

January 2012

Freshwater Lure of the Month:

DARDEVLE

The creator of the Dardevle, Lou Eppinger, was making his living as a taxidermist in SE Michigan at the end of the 1800’s.  When Eppinger’s business hit somewhat of a slump, he decided to sell lures alongside his taxidermy services in order to help make ends meet.  As the tackle end of his business grew, Eppinger soon began to experiment with lures of his own design.  While on a fishing trip in the Canadian woods, Eppinger took along a spoon he had handcrafted back in Michigan.  He was pleasantly surprised with the results.  Eppinger particularly liked the longdistances he could cast his lure—even into a stiff wind.  On top of everything, Eppinger’s prototype actually caught more fish than any other bait he fished on the trip.

After quite a bit of tinkering, Eppinger’s first lure made its official American debut in 1912.  Initially Eppinger called his lure the Osprey.  Eight years later, Eppinger changed the name of his wonder-lure to the Dardevle after the Marines, who had been nicknamed the “Dare Devils” for their feats of bravery in the first World War.  Today, Eppinger’s trademark red-and-white stripped Dardevle is perhaps the most recognizable and omnipresent lures ever to hit the fishing scene.  Alongside his trademark paint scheme, anglers will find dozens of color and size combinations.  Although all the colors have their fans, FE is partial to the classic red-and-white.

Featured lure: Dardevle

Created by: Lou Eppinger

Created: c. 1912

Manufacturer: Eppinger Manufacturing Company

Type: Spoon

Technique:

While this lure is not considered to be the most versatile of all lures, as many anglers will confirm, it’s highly effective when others simply are not.  The Dardevle can be relied upon to be a good selection for a broad number of species when fished with a consistent, moderate to rapid retrieve.  If you haven’t used the Dardevle while trolling, you could be in for a surprise.

www.FishingEnthusiast.com