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Posts: 791
Location: WI | Everyone who has fished Muskies for a while has a bait in their box that is irreplaceable. For me I have a weighted suick that caught my first fish over 40 and better than a dozen since. I believe I've had it for 16-17 years. I think I would die if I lost it.
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | The other is my first Trophyseeker lures lil beaver I made about 10 years ago. If it rains the lil beaver gets wet.
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Posts: 638
Location: S.W. WI | My Custom size Spickers. Crazy good for me.
This pic was a good mid-day stretch from a few yrs ago. Started my affair.
I have many, but one type and color rules for me.
- Hopefully I have enough to last many more yrs.
Jon
Edited by Rudedog 3/10/2014 8:32 PM
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Posts: 405
Location: WI | Has to be my 7.5" Soft Tail Phantom in Canadian Crush. Never caught a fish on it, but my Son gave it to me for my Birthday. |
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Posts: 1405
Location: Detroit River | That's a though one but I would have to say it's one of the baits in this pile.  
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Posts: 1082
Location: Aurora | It's the pink one I bet. |
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Posts: 696
Location: Northern Illinois | Hey that's a bait ball! |
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Posts: 300
| I have a 6" green reef hawg that if I lost I don't know what I'd do. If I can't get fish to move, I strap it on and usually within a half hour, I've located a fish or two. |
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Posts: 1157
| Super Shallow Manta in Pearl Tiger catches fish year after year. |
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Posts: 118
| An uncle of mine had a similar Suick that boated him countless fish. He would soak it in the livewell for a couple of hours so that it would take on water and work the way he liked it. The lure broke off foul hooked in a muskies face on LOTW one year. For the next few years every time we'd head back out there he would search the shores of the island they were fishing to see if it turned up somehow. It was almost as though he lost a little part of himself that day. |
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Posts: 455
| I have a bunch of Marge baits I paid 40 bucks for in the early 90ies. Someone sold one on ebay for 175$ so now I`m almost afraid to use them. |
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Posts: 98
| I actually lost my best two producing lures this last year. One was a marabou with a badly beat up and chipped blade and almost no hair left that snapped on the cast. And another was a Suick that I caught a good amount of fish on. If it wasn't for 40 degree water I would have gone in and tried to get it off the log by hand. Even with a lure retriever, couldn't get it. Bad luck this year...probably won't catch as many fish without those
Edited by buddy lite 3/11/2014 8:00 AM
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Posts: 1086
| Here's Murphy's Law for ya:
For years, I've had one specific, absolutely non-replaceable crank bait that was my go-to crank bait. Countless fish on that bait. If I had to even try to guess how many fish on that specific one crank bait? I don't even dare guesstimate or speculate how many it could be. Dozens. Multiple dozens. There was just simply something about THAT bait! I have dozens of this same make, model, size, type and brand of bait in various different colors and even dozens of the same color that, that one specific bait was. But not a single one of these other baits has produced the numbers of fish that that one specific bait produced time and time again, over and over again.
I'm a FIRM believer, that you can have a few dozen of the same bait, but no two of those baits are anything alike. I'm a FIRM believer that it all has to do with the ingredients that all came together to make that one specific bait that gave it that extra special mojo. It had to do with the specific kind of and density of plastic used that day that bait was being made, how thick or thinly it was poured, it has to do with the type/kind of material the internal rattles were made of and how dense that metal is and the size and how many rattles were put in the bait and how the sound was made when making contact inside that specific plastic and then the tolerances of the joint in that jointed bait and the weight of the split rings and the weight of thehooks....as an all encompassing, combined and total finished project and how all of those materials worked together. Like a rock band in concert, working together to produce their sound.
I've tried to replicate these other dozens of baits to produce the way that other bait did. Different bends to the hooks, different hooks, different split rings, with and without the use of a split-ring on the eyelet to connect the line to the bait...I can sit there and rattle them all in my hand, holding the hooks tightly against the body of the bait so that I'm only hearing the sound and tone of the internal rattles against the plastic. They all sound distinctly different from each other.
There was something about the song that bait would sing under the water...the vibration and cadence it gave off naturally when moving in the water when trolled. It didn't matter if I ran that bait deep, shallow, fast or slow....that bait flat-out produced.
I was wracking up the numbers on this one specific bait, season after season. To the point where if I put someone in my boat that had not yet caught a muskie, I put this bait on and it produced. I had so much sentimental value in this bait. When times would get slow out on the water, this bait would produce. This bait was beaten, mangled, chewed, scratched, marred up, hooks twisted in so many different directions but I did not dare replace them! As I KNEW that would then change the dynamics and composition make-up of this bait and alter it to the point if it then being rendered a "new" or different bait. Just couldn't do it.
The Murphy's Law part of this story?
I was out fishing by myself one night. Waiting for my brother-in-law to arrive. I was out fishing in an area within a short distance of our pier, waiting for him to call, that he was on the pier, ready to be picked up. I boated three fish, on that bait, prior to his call. Fully amped up, thinking this would be the start to a great night out on the water. His call came in, I turned the boat towards that side of the lake to get him picked up. I VIVIDLY remember me mentally saying to myself, in my head, "I can NEVER lose this bait!"
That. That was THEE kiss of death!
I should have NEVER mumbled those words in my head nor spoke them out loud. I should have never let that thought roll through my head. As I knew I had something special.
I kid you not...I no more mumbled those words in my head and as I was headed towards that side of the lake....30 feet of water....that bait still trolling behind the boat, gets ripped on once again and the drag singing! I couldn't believe it! A fourth fish and one on the way to pick up the bro-in-law? You gotta be kidding me? Come to find out....and I still to this very day, do NOT understand what, where or how......but that wasn't a fish. It was a snag. A snag? A SNAG? In 30 feet of water?! 30 Feet of water on this specific lake, in that specific area that I know like the back of my hand and have fished over the past 20 years and I know there are no snags in this area of the lake. There are no stumps, there are no sunken trees. There's nothing but flat bottom in that entire area and basin. What in THEE world was I snagged on??? I was running that bait that night only 10 to 12 feet down...in that 30 feet of water.
I had to call the brother-in-law back on the phone, to tell him to wait a second, I'd be a minute or two, till I could get this snag to come free. Moved the boat over the top of the bait, had the line vertical. It wasn't moving. Wasn't budging. Reversed the direction the bait/line was moving in at the time of the snag, still couldn't get it to budge. Moved back over the top of that bait, line once again vertical and I kid you not....it was like something down below just simply cut the line. I wasn't even pulling on the line with any amount of force. I was just getting the boat over the top of the bait, getting ready to reach for the lure retriever to send it down. In that time..."tink" goes the line.
Bait: gone.
I sat there, completely speechless. Dumbfounded. HORRIFIED!! I was so beyond angry and frustrated, words can't describe. I didn't even know how to process the situation nor did I know how to act!! I thought it was all a bad dream. Not real.
Flat calm night, no wind. Boat sitting flat still. My first immediate instinct was I Waypointed the spot on the GPS!
Picked the bro-in-law up from the pier, he and I went out....not a single fish contacted nor boated that night. If my boat didn't have the distinct smell of muskie slime in it and on the bump board and on my hands, he'd think I was lying to him that I boated fish prior to picking him up.
I kid you not, the brother-in-law and I came back the next day with the underwater AquaView camera and searched that entire area at that GPS Icon/Waypoint and found NOTHING but flat bottom. Nothing that could have been snagged on. Just as I knew it to be as I had fished that area over and over and over again over the past couple of decades to know, there was nothing there to be concerned about snagging. To this very day, I will NOT remove that Icon on my GPS. I have the Heart icon placed right there, to be a constant "headstone" "grave marker" reminder of what went down in that area and never came back up.
I still to this day, can't get another one of these baits to produce like it.
I no more mumbled the words "I can never lose this lure" and bam...not 10 seconds later, it was GONE forever!!! That there...is Murphy's Law.
The only way I'm able to move forward was knowing that that bait, was a mass-produced, store bought bait. Not a hand-made, home-made, custom, high-end, high-dollar bait. So...eventually...maybe one day...I'll get some combination working with one of these other dozens of baits just like The One...to get it to produced somewhat like that one did...
That was my most priceless bait in the box for me.
Edited by MACK 3/11/2014 8:35 AM
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Posts: 455
| First off you did the rite thing. Great baits should be fished until the end. Never retire them or save them for special situations. I have a lure I call Frank Sinatra (Blue eyes). He has caught fish in three states and two provinces yet I still bust him out on local lakes on average days. I don`t want to go down with bullets in my holster. Sounds like you got an anchor rope. People break them off or they come loose. The rope floats and is a great lure catcher. A guy Todd I know pulled one up and it had a Plow, Franky bait, Depth raider and a Wiley on it. Score! |
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Posts: 216
| We caught an anchor rope last year that was in just shallow enough water and during the day,that we could see the dingy yellow rope it was attached to.pulled hard on it and couldn't rip it free. Water was too cold for getting in.We lowerd another rope down with some weight and hooks and pulled up a 10" cinder block,no extra lures tho but didn't lose any either.also hooked some filter fabric that was up under a shollow bridge, that stuff is tough!! Had to do a headstand while my buddy held my feet,wet to my armpits in 30* temps,had to cut the stuff with a fillet knife. Not super speacial lures but fish catchers nonetheless.both were 10" jakes |
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Posts: 1086
| A few seasons back, fishing this same basin, 30 feet of water, yes, I DID indeed snag an anchor rope. Scared the livin' crap out of me. At that time, been watching way too many CSI shows.
Was out by myself, late at night. Had a massive rip on the line, drag screaming! Really got the heart racing till I realize it was a snag. I never yank hard on snags. I don't want to break the line of course, but moreso, I don't want to break a rod nor bust a reels internals/gears. Realized I was snagged hard on something. Again, only running the baits about 10 to 12 feet down in 30 feet of water. Again, confused as to what I was snagged on. Realized i couldn't budge it. Wrapped the 80lb braided line around the boat cleat. I know better than to pull on it with my bare hands, ie, cutting fingers/hands or cutting off a finger.
Eased the boat into gear, started to move forward, watched my GPS...realized I was pulling whatever it was. Stopped the boat, boat out of gear, shut the motor off. VERY quiet out there on the lake late at night by myself now. Unwrapped the line off the boat cleat, then wrapped the line around a planer board to wind in the line and bring up the snag that way. It was at that moment, I realized that tactic was indeed working and I was bringing up the snag.
Still no clue what I had on there, I started to panic a bit, heart racing, thinking to myself...(again...watching waaaay too many CSI shows on TV at that time  ) "Do I WANT to see what I'm snagged on? Am I prepared to see and deal with what I could be snagged on?" My brain went to: dead body. Because of all the TV shows I was watching. I could sit there with the planer board in my hand and raise and lower whatever it was quite easily and feel whatever it was "bounce" at the end of the drop.
Brought it up and sure enough...snagged someone's junk nylon type anchor rope that obviously busted off on them and that rope was floating up, suspended in the water column and one hook on my bait snagged that rope! Talk about lottery-winning types of odds/chances. Brought up what ended up being a brand new 15 lb boat anchor...the rubber coated kind...BRAND NEW! Still had the price tag on it! LOL! I still use that anchor in my boat to this day.
The other snag. We never had a clue what it was. As we searched for hours in and around that GPS waypoint/Icon area and never found anything. If it was an anchor, you'd think we'd have seen it with the video camera or seen the rope. Nothing. Nothing was out there. Clean, flat bottom lake. To this very day, it remains one of life's great mysteries...one that ended a great run with that bait. Murphy of Murphy's Law...I must have royally ticked that dude off in a previous life!
Edited by MACK 3/11/2014 11:27 AM
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | I had a loon topraider it caught me some nice fish, including my biggest. It just sounded so good.. Until my brother lost it. Stan Durst painted me up a couple new ones, one belongs to my dad now and I kept one. So I would have to say my Stan Durst topraider!!
Edited by JakeStCroixSkis 3/11/2014 11:50 AM
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Posts: 153
Location: MN | What kind of crank bait Mack? |
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Posts: 365
| --- wooden 9" weighted Suick in the "Bronze Perch" color pattern --- jim |
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Posts: 386
| $4 rizzo wiz that I've glued back together 20 times! |
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Posts: 299
| ToothTamer - 3/11/2014 12:05 AM
Must do alot of jigging the river about all there good for.
Actually....they have so many more applications....Muskies will smash it casting them in open water, down breaks and burning back to boat. They are even better in Saltwater, under bridges, below docks and hook lots of species in the salt. The Bondy Bait is one of the most productive baits on the market. Simplicity at its finest.... |
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Posts: 965
| Have a MX6 with 50 fish on it and 5 of them were 50"-53.5". scared to loose it every time it goes in the water.
Jeff Hanson
madisonmuskyguide.com |
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Posts: 720
| Thanks for mentioning the Bondy Bait but I'd have to quote Bill Dance..."The number one lure in the box is confidence" Heard that 20 or more years ago and never forgot it. |
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | ErockEsox - 3/11/2014 7:11 AM
An uncle of mine had a similar Suick that boated him countless fish. He would soak it in the livewell for a couple of hours so that it would take on water and work the way he liked it. The lure broke off foul hooked in a muskies face on LOTW one year. For the next few years every time we'd head back out there he would search the shores of the island they were fishing to see if it turned up somehow. It was almost as though he lost a little part of himself that day.
Funny I think this bait works better and better the more waterlogged it gets. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I have a double ten a buddy gave me that I believe has 9 or 10 fish over 50" on it now... he gave it to me w at least 3 to 54" and then I got 4 or 5 over 50" on it to 53, 2 over 50 in about 5 casts one nite and then I let a buddy use it his first night in MN w me and he bagged his PB 51.25" on it.... um yah, that buddy kicks himself every time he see's it
It has the mojo...
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Posts: 1038
Location: North St. Paul, MN | Has to be my 6" walleye phantom. Caught my biggest MN musky, biggest pike (42"/Lac Seul), and biggest smallmouth (20"). When thngs get slow I clip on old reliable and fish show up...muskies, pike, and smallies! |
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Posts: 1405
Location: Detroit River | Sidejack - 3/10/2014 11:28 PM It's the pink one I bet. Nope. It's the pearl with red flake, the vomit, the pearl, the black with purple flake, & the perch. ;-) Oh & that pile is only about half of what I have currently. |
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Posts: 538
Location: northern indiana | I've got a custom modivator I never go anywhere without! |
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Posts: 58
| I've said it before, and ill say it again a Black Sucker Hellhound, don't know what's so special or different about this one bait but all it does is catch fish!!! And when absolutely nothing is happening at all, I can always rely on that bait to at least get fish to move on it. Like was said in earlier posts don't think another of the same would work as well it's just something about that particular bait! Will never get in the boat without it again, until she leaves me, which I hope never happens because I beleive I would have a good bit more fishless days without it!!! |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Zib - 3/12/2014 10:19 AM
Sidejack - 3/10/2014 11:28 PM It's the pink one I bet. Nope. It's the pearl with red flake, the vomit, the pearl, the black with purple flake, & the perch. ;-) Oh & that pile is only about half of what I have currently.
Zib, You are a Sick, Sick man. You should get some help....Ha,ha.. |
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Posts: 1082
Location: Aurora | You guys had me at red flake & vomit.. |
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Posts: 20
| Mine is an orange harrasser with a copper willowleaf blade. A close 2nd is a black Kickin Minnow. |
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Location: MN | Lake Vemilion guide Dave Swenson made a bucktail with a single fluted Indiana blade, three/four deer hair body segments, and lots of weight so it was easy to cast in the wind. He gave me one and it had mojo; over the years countless Vermilion skies fell victim. Unfortunately it now sits in a watery grave off of Arrowhead; one bad backlash and it was gone. I've tied my own but they just aren't the same.
Edited by Mak51 3/12/2014 10:34 PM
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Posts: 866
Location: NE Ohio | BLACK KICKIN MINNOW? i have never seen one of those! did you paint it yourself? i have great luck with the orange 10" er. PIC? |
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Posts: 20
| Black sharpie=black Kickin Minnow |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | That's easy, its a Stan Durst custom painted Jake (Stump Knocker) LOL
Stan, I thought you'd enjoy this photo - Cedar Lake July 2012- ~10 FOW. I hoisted this beast off the bottom! I have no clue how it managed to get lodged like that. But I was ready to take a swim!
Anybody want to guess the weight of this waterlogged beast?
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 3/13/2014 11:41 AM
(Cedar Lake Trip 020A.jpg)
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Posts: 216
| It's defiantly trophy class I'd guess 50lb. What kinda line did you yank that up with 80lb power pro ? |
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Posts: 1405
Location: Detroit River | Top H2O - 3/12/2014 5:35 PM Zib - 3/12/2014 10:19 AM Sidejack - 3/10/2014 11:28 PM It's the pink one I bet. Nope. It's the pearl with red flake, the vomit, the pearl, the black with purple flake, & the perch. ;-) Oh & that pile is only about half of what I have currently. Zib, You are a Sick, Sick man. You should get some help....Ha,ha.. Just because I spent both of my kid's college money on musky gear doesn't mean I need an intervention.
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Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Brozz88 - 3/13/2014 1:11 PM
It's defiantly trophy class I'd guess 50lb. What kinda line did you yank that up with 80lb power pro ?
I used a 9' custom rod built with xxxHeavy St.Croix blank, 65lb Power Pro, 80lb fluoro leader & a Shimano 400TE.
If you think it 50lbs out of the water, you have no clue about the guy holding it! LOL!
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 3/14/2014 7:11 AM
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Posts: 319
Location: Tomahawk,Wis | Would be a 6" Bobbie bait over 10 yrs old repaired so many times no original wood left.. $$ in the bank. |
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Posts: 866
Location: NE Ohio | R Swain - 3/13/2014 7:47 AM
Black sharpie=black Kickin Minnow
nice idea! i'll be giving that a try 4 sure! thanks for the tip! |
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Posts: 1247
Location: On the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY | I have a Legend Plow in Golden Sucker color from the first batch ever made, it has been retired since it caught a 55"er in 1999 to add to the other 11 big girls it caught. |
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Posts: 455
| Bring that sucker out of retirement Larry. You can`t take it with you. Did you ever get any on that Marge bait I gave you? I still have the original cats eyes tuff shads you gave me. Those are real nice. |
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Posts: 12
| That's a great story. Can you repair baits also? I have a mangled double d that I get action on just about every I fish. Ever since I caught my last 48" it just won't work the same. Too many holes. |
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Posts: 455
| Once the big one puts the wammy on a good lure it is hard to coax it back. Still worth the effort. Every once in a while you can bring them back. |
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | You can fix almost anything. Unless the part that's broken is the part of the bait that imparts the action. By the way I always wondered what an M & G stood for. Very good. |
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Posts: 175
Location: Alexandria, MN | Black and orange Inhaler Buck. STILL catches fish. As does the yellow and gold one! |
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