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Posts: 1939
Location: Black Creek, WI | The BELIEVER is certainly not a new lure, but it is new to me. I have owned a straight 10 inch Beleiver for 3 or 4 years now and probably have only cast it a few dozen times (did raise a beauty with it on LOTW though). Only way I knew how to use it was just cast it into heavy weeds and use a slow, steady retrieve to thread it through. This technique bored me, but should I stick with it?? Confidence can be a big factor... and, quite frankly, just straight crankin' a lure doesn't give me much confidence.
I just impulsively purchased another 10" straight model and realized I have a lot to learn about this proven fish catcher. Anyone care to give me a lesson? I'm most interested in casting techniques. Also, are there any differences between my "old" and "new" Believers? My old one seems to have lots of small BB's for a rattle and the new one has a few larger rattles that have more of clunk sound.
Any help you can offer on where, when and how to use this lure would be greatly appreciated. I'd hate to see yet another perfectly good $17 lure get hung up on my "wall of shame". Thanks.
jlong |
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| Jason, I resurrected my 10 inch straight believer last season and managed to catch one and move a bunch more on it. I was using it as a slow moving top water lure.
Don't know if that is the way you are supposed to do it, but it seemed to work for me. The lure is so bouyant that the minute it gets below the surface I seemed to do nothing but fight to keep it down there, so I thought if the lure wants to be on the surface so bad I'll just leave it there! Good luck with it. God bless.
John
Oneida Esox Guide Service
www.oniedaesox.com |
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Posts: 5874
| Jason,
Hopefully DougJ will weigh in on this one. He always has a Believer ready to go in his boat. I believe Dick P refferred to it as Doug's Crescent Wrench! Uses it as a CrankBait, as well as a Jerk Bait, and a Topwater while casting. He also trolls them, but I'm quite sure you're not all that interested in that topic. LOL |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I too am in need of some coaching on my believer approach. I had a good discussion going with Dougj last year, but lost all of the emails we had going. I do remember him telling me to hang a larger bell sinker from the front hook for added help getting down, as well as some more clunk. i think he told me to do that with the jointed ones too. |
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Posts: 5230
| This is one of the best lures out,that nobody uses.Reel it in get it down a litlle bit.Sometimes a straight retrieve, or jerk like a jerkbait.Fish seem to nail this bait when other lures do not get bit.The jointed bait is also an awesome bait,used as a topwater bait.0723
Edited by 0723 6/30/2003 3:36 PM
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | I don't want to change the subject here but Does the Homer LeBlanc Swim Whizz preform the same?
I have a couple of each. I had a nice fish follow to the boat and nip (no hooks tho) on the 8 the other day. The same lure brought a fat 40 into the boat later in the afternoon trolling a longline with no weight.
Cast Troll Twitch Jerk .. it is a pretty universal bait. Remember the "if you could only take" posts? It was popular there. |
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Posts: 129
Location: Bemidji, MN- | I've had my best Believer success reeling an 8" jointed slow and steady as a topwater - sort of like a fat gal swaying back and forth. |
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Posts: 20281
Location: oswego, il | I just posted this on MC:
I put a 1/2 oz beel sinker on the tail of a straight 8" believer and it really changes the action and makes them extremely erratic. You can hear the sinker hitting the bait 75ft away and the bait will run just under the surface and pop the surface frequently.
I also put the sinker on the middle hook and it ran pretty erratic as well and ran a bit deeper. The weight really throws the lures swing a bit wider and makes it get crazy.
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Posts: 1939
Location: Black Creek, WI | Do you just straight retrieve the Beleiver with bell sinkers or are you twitchin' them too?
Also, where and when are you guys catching fish on these lures? Forgive my ignorance, but these extremely bouyant lures are challenging for me... like the Sledge too. Since most of the lures in my box have been "doctored" to suspend.... I need to add a few more bouyant baits again. Obviously I've chosen the 10" Believer and am totally lost on how to effectively use it. Thanks for your help guys!! Much appreciated.
jlong |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | First off there is a difference in the Believers. Drifter Tackle Co. has changed the way that they manufacture the lure. As is pointed out above, the old style has smaller rattles in them than the new style. But that isn't the only difference. If you look at the new style you will notice that the shallow eye attachment is a smaller diameter than the deep eye. Not sure why that is, but it also helps tell the old from the new.
Another difference between the two is that the new ones have a little more weight in the nose of the lure than the old style. If you fill you bathtub and put one of each style side by side in the tub you should notice that the new style will sit a little more nose down in the water. It is my understanding that the change was a result of fishermen using a bell sinker on the front hook hanger to get the nose of the bait down farther. Of course it's Doug Johnson that started the trend and I had nothing to do with it. I purchased a couple of the new style over the winter but do to illness in the family I haven't been out fishing yet, so I haven't tried them to see of the extra nose weight helps or not.
I use both the jointed and solid lures. I use mostly 10 inch baits but do have a few 8 inchers. I like the 8 inch solids as a twitch bait. I mostly troll the jointed lures but at times I will use it as a serface bait in place of a Hawg Wobbler(which are great baits also) For trolling purposes attach the lure to the deep(top) eye to get the bait down to 15 or so feet. When trolling adjust your speed until you notice the widest/hardest thump in your rod tip. That's the speed that gives the lure it's widest swing and best action. To fast and the action tightens up, to slow and id doesn't wobble enough. I do use both jointed and straight lures for trolling.
It's during casting that the 10 inch solid really shines. Hook the bait up to the shallow eye (bottom eye), cast it out and start to work it like a jerkbait. Give the bait a couple of short sharp hard jerks but don't really move it forward. The nose of the bait will dip under the water and the tail will dance in the air, making all kinds of noise and throwing water. You now have a twitch surface bait, dancing around in one place. After doing this a few times jerk the bait down under the water and start to actually move it forward. If you time your jerks right you can get the bait to "walk the dog" under the surface (note: you might have to experiment with "detuning" the shallow eye in order to get it to walke the dog, just use small bends on the eye and don't bend it way out of tune). Continue this for a few feet and then let float back to the surface and do the surface dance with it again. Then jerk it back under the water. As the bait nears the boat you can stop the jerking and go to a straight retrieve and speed it up and then go right into your figure 8. So in one cast you have used it as a surface bait, a jerk bait and a crankbait. As Dick P. says it's a crescent wrench. One lure does it all.
It's amazing how weedless this bait is. It's a great slop bait. Cast it out into a pocket in the weeds. Jerk it down into them, when you feel the bait about to hang up, stop your retrieve and let it float back up over the weed patch crank it lightly over the weeds and then jerk it back down into the next weed pocket. It can do this because of the bouyancy and the wide diving lip on the nose. The lip pushes the weeds to the side and the bouyancy helps keep the lure up over the tops of the weeds. Doing this you can work it through the weeds like a Suick but it hangs up even less.
In order to get the 10 inch solid to dance and wobble it's best, use your stiffest rod and a good low strech superline. It gives the best action and you won't wear yourself out trying to work the bait like you would with a softer bucktail rod. Be willing to experiment with the bait and your retrive. You'll be amazed at what you can get them to do. They are truly one of the most versitile baits on the market.
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | great reply fishpoop. |
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Posts: 20281
Location: oswego, il | Jason, I twitch the lure hard for sure. With the weight on the tail I twitch down and with the weight in the middle I twitch up.
These baits are weedless, especially the 6" jointed model. The hooks seem to stay in the wake of the bait and the weeds really never get to them. |
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Posts: 5874
| TTT for DougJ |
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