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Posts: 532
| Myself and Todd Young of Muddy Creek Fishing Guides and PMTT Top Gun Award Winner spent most of the this year designing and testing this new bait. The bait is called the "The Raptor" it is named after the bird not dinosaur. The bait was a joint effort between the two of us, and getting the bait to perform the way we wanted it to took alot time. After many failures, prototypes, tweeks and adjustments we got finally got the bait to run consistantly when we pull a new bait from the mold.
So after months of playing around we got the bait where we want it, all summer we were fishing the "newest" version of the bait (there was several similar versions), and every version was catching fish from late spring up to today. But it wasnt until about a month ago we found the sweet spot just in time for fall.
Last week I got a text midday, that read "We just netted a giant on a Raptor" A little later I got a picture message on my phone of the fish he was not kidding it was a very big musky. Talking to Todd on the phone we decieded it would be best to wait for the digital camera photo not a cell phone pic before sharing the fish and the story of the bait that caught it.
As a bait builder this is the first fish that i know about that was caught a over 50+ using somthing I build under my name. I am pumped that Todd got this fish, he spent alot of time helping make this bait what it is.
This journey has been alot of fun and very rewarding, it is a great feeling when i look back and see the progess and what the results have been.
The bait he caught this fish on already had over 10 muskies caught so it is starting to show a little experience
A few used Raptors from my tackle box
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Posts: 1202
Location: Money, PA | Awesome fish for sure! Congrats Andy & Todd! |
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| where can we buy 1 or 3 of these? |
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Posts: 220
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Way to go guys! great looking bait, heck of a nice fish!
MikeH
Pittsburgh, PA |
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Posts: 186
Location: Waconia, MN | Guest - 10/12/2012 9:40 AM
where can we buy 1 or 3 of these?
I would like to second that, would like to get my hands on one as well, love me some basement baits! |
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Posts: 661
Location: Sussex, NJ | Id also like one of these. How can we buy one? |
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Posts: 532
| Right now we dont have to many for sale, that should change by spring if things go the way we plan. |
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| Nice fish! Sweet looking jerkbait, it looks to be a winner. |
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Posts: 661
Location: Sussex, NJ | Let us know when they are for sale! |
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | Congrats Andy and Todd! I'm sure there was alot of work went into this lure, can't wait to get my hands on a few to throw next season!
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | You have me curious about the action of the lure, is there a video demo available?
Edited by RiverMan 10/20/2012 12:19 PM
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Posts: 532
| Crummy weather will keep me from getting any specific video intended to show the lures action this weekend. But I do have two small video clips from last weekend that shows some of the baits action.
The first ten secounds of the clip is me "twitching" the raptor, figure 8s are kinda wierd for me with dive and rise baits so i do some long boat side twitches.
The second clip is showing how the bait was intended to be used with long pulls, just like many other jerk baits. The bait gets pretty deep for a jerkbait, but in this clip i was working it more shallow because water depth and timber in the water.
The video has lost alot of resolution going through photobucket, FYI
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | Thanks for sharing, kind of hard to see the action in the video. The fish at the end liked it though!!
Jed 
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Posts: 532
| If you watch closely, it is hard to see with the low resolution, at the 1 second mark and the 4 second mark a fish was swiping at the bait as well. |
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Posts: 132
Location: Missouri | Great post, bait and story! |
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Posts: 532
| I recently got another photo from a friend getting a real nice fall musky, figured I would share this fish as well.
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Posts: 532
| I have been painting alot the past 6 weeks to get a few Raptors ready for some small local shows. Its all coming together, got many baits baited. They are all running good. Its is really good feeling to have all the pieces fix together as a result of hard work and planning.
We worked hard to get the bait to be very neutral buoyant. I included a video at the very end of this post, I think we hit the mark. The pool temp was easily in the mid to upper 70's.
I would like to introduce everyone to the "Perch" family patterns painted on 8 inch Raptors.
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Posts: 501
Location: S.Wisconsin | I like them. What shows will these be available at? |
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Posts: 220
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Gonna be at the Butler show??
MikeH
Pittsburgh, PA |
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Posts: 532
| byteme90k - 1/9/2013 10:04 PM
Gonna be at the Butler show??
MikeH
Pittsburgh, PA
Yes, I will be at Butler. I take it you will be there as well? |
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Posts: 220
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Andy - yep...me and my 10yr old boy will be there. haven't missed one yet. Any other shows in the area this year?
Mike
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | Looks great Andy! Ready to get a couple more for next year!
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| I was with Todd Young on lake in PA early last summer, and he asked me to try a new lure he was working on. The fishing was slow. He handed me the lure and we raised a couple little muskies, landed three others, and it didn't take me long to fall in love with what he was calling the Raptor jerk bait. |
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Posts: 532
| byteme90k - 1/10/2013 1:45 PM
Andy - yep...me and my 10yr old boy will be there. haven't missed one yet. Any other shows in the area this year?
Mike
I know Butler isnt a "huge" show but it will be the biggest I will be at this year.
I will be at the Warren outdoor show this weekend. Its an outdoor show.
Then coming up there is a small swap meet I go to in Erie, nice place to bring stuff you dont use, hey its a swap meet.
Then Butler show.
Final show would be Three River Musky Inc show, again a very small show (less than ten vendors) |
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Posts: 220
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | I haven't heard about the 3Riv show...and i am a member.
When and where is it...is this the one that was up at Lake Arthur last year?
Mike
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Posts: 532
| Yes they have had it now for the past 2 years. I have not heard the date for this year but have heard they are having it for 2013. |
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Posts: 360
| I haven't even heard anything about the butler show. I know it usually the second weekend in Feb. |
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Posts: 220
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Feb 16 & 17 |
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Posts: 208
Location: North East PA , 20 mins from Chautauqua | where is there a swap meet in the Erie area ? I live in North East and have never heard of a swap meet in the Erie area ?
Lance McFeely
" THE FERD" |
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Posts: 532
| Lance sorry on the late responce I was at a show in Warren all weekend.
The EPSFA tackle swap is 1-26-13 at the Holy Trinity Social Hall |
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| Nice meeting you guys at the Warren show. Picked up a couple Raptors and they look great! Can't wait to get them wet as soon as the river level drops. Enjoyed Todds seminar and got lots of cool musky tips! See you at the Erie show always some interesting stuff there |
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Posts: 532
| Got a chance to upload some more color patterns.
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Posts: 532
| Yesterday here in PA was unseasonably warm, and like many people in the middle of winter I was starting to get alittle shack wacky. So I grabbed the rod and went to a local hole hopeing for a hungry for a hungry fish. I took two rods, one for live bait hoping for a walleye, the other to throw Raptors knowing theres a chance for a musky.
Well I didnt catch any muskys, only a pair of pike that took a liking to the home made Raptors. Nothing really worth a photo.
Then I got a picture message from my buddy Todd.
The picture is of our friend Dave holding a 37" musky. After a phone call to Todd, I find out that Dave had left Todds house an hour or so earlier and he took a Raptor with him to go fishing with his son. Wouldnt you know it on the 3rd cast he hooks in to this musky.
It isnt the biggest fish in the river, but its hard to complain about being able to fish for musky year round, and having opportunities to cast for them in January. Like all the bait makers that use this forum know, there is a good feeling that comes with hearing stories of fish being caught on a bait you have built by hand. |
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Posts: 532
| Been spending alot of time the past couple of weeks with the air brush in my hand. I finally got a minute to post up some of the more recent patterns I have completed. None of the patterns are earth shattering complex, but I get alot of satifaction at seeing how the paterns all come together.
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Location: MN | Great action; I like the hang. Let us know when you're taking orders. |
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Posts: 1348
Location: Pewaukee, WI | Sent you a PM |
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Location: Money, PA | The jerkbaits are lookin' sweet Andy. |
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Posts: 469
Location: MN | Mak51 - 1/31/2013 11:00 AM Great action; I like the hang. Let us know when you're taking orders. It seems, Raptors are already listed on Andrew's website: http://www.fatazmusky.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=43&osCsid=6eab73023f47d99cb97cb0c21111facc |
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Posts: 532
| About two weeks ago, right before the Butler show I wrapped these patterns up.
At the Butler show it was kinda neat to see the first color people grab when reaching to hold a bait. Even if I knew the person standing in front of me, I tried to guess the color of bait they will pick up. Some times I guess correct, most of the time I was wrong.
Many people (to my suprise) picked up the Shad pattern and the 3 Mile Perch.
The Shad suprized me, because not alot of local water had a shad base, some water in my area does, but not the majority.
3 Mile Perch started as a screw up of mine so I ran with it. When I finished the pattern, I thought "This is what a perch would look like if it lived in the water around 3 Mile Island". A simple perch pattern with fluorescent green profile and fluorescent orange belly, I didnt think it would be one many people would grab first to look at, but I was wrong.
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Posts: 532
Location: Ogden, UTAH 10 minutes from pineview reservoir | got my raptors the other day and man they are awesome and look sweet! Gonna put some big tigers in the boat this season!
thanks for making a sick bait~! |
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Posts: 11
| That Tropical Perch looks good! |
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| Great lure, Great action. I caught my first musky casting on this lure and can't wait to use them this season. |
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Posts: 496
| #*^@ they are looking good ! |
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Posts: 1224
Location: Okoboji | whats the rise rate on these?
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Posts: 532
| Slow, I have never timed it. There is alot of factors that play with rise rate, type of leader, length of leader, water temp, if current is present...
The bait was designed to be close to neutral buoyancy but due to factors like I mentioned above we are not calling it neutral buoyant, just a slow float as you can see in the video. |
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Posts: 2097
| I caught a mid 30's trolling last weekend but my net man dislodged the bait while scooping the fish. Another use of the bait. |
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Posts: 339
Location: Maryland | The smaller one in my opinion rises way to fast. so i put on some of the weighted tape i got and now it suspends alot better. I have not thrown the bigger one much yet but it seems to rise a lil slower. Might need to put some tape on it also but cant be sure. I have had a few follows on the smaller gold rapala i got a few months back but no takers. I thing the lure will be killer here soon when the water warms a lil and can use it more eratically... Now some of these new patterns you have out like that blood sucker i will be placing an ordr soon.. |
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Posts: 532
| The 6 inch version is a little different than the 8 inch version that this thread is about.
In testing just 3-5 grams difference in the 8inch raptor can make a big difference in whether it floats at a medium rate and sinks.
Now take the 6inch raptor which is 1/3 the volume it is even more finicky with just a few grams difference. The 6 inch is also a bait that is ment for more shallow water/spring fishing, yes it works great all year round and multi species anglers would love this for bass, pike and shallow walleye. So we wanted some hang time with it, but to have it be as neutral as the 8inch we felt wasnt super necessary with the intended location use of it being 5 foot deep and shallower.
But again there is many variables on the rise rate with these baits. If you rig a heaver steel leader the 6 inch may sink, it is very hard to tell with everyones setup being different
Edited by anzomcik 3/26/2013 4:43 PM
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Raptor Jerkbait
