|
|
Posts: 714
Location: Rhinelander, WI | Ok I know Jason is not one to toot his own horn…… ok maybe a little on the basement bait board, but I have to bring this up, mostly because I think many of you will find it interesting and I know we are all looking for the next hot bait.
Let me first start by stating, as many of you know, that I am good friends with Jason, and my biggest fish on a Longtale was a 29 incher. So keep that in mind as you read this.
Last night as I was driving home from the miserable Packer Game my mind started to wonder to Musky fishing as I stored my boat the day before so my off season officially started which means I can start reflecting on the past season. I got thinking about Jason’s spinnerbaits and the success many have had with them, especial the number of big fish I have heard about. I was going to email these questions to Jason, just because I was curious. But figured there many be others out there just as curious.
So Jason could you answer these questions? Just round to the nearest 10 would be good.
How many baits have you and Jodi made, so far? Basically how many baits are out there in the hands of fishermen?
How many fishermen have the baits? I know I have about 8 of them, and I am sure there are many people with multiple baits, so just curious how many fishermen would you estimate used the lures this last season?
Now this may be harder, as I am sure not everyone got back to you on every catch, but how many fish over 50 inches do you know about, caught on your lures? How many fish over 45 inches? What are the top three fish?
Now you always talk about self fulfilling prophecies, but my guess is if you look at those numbers it will be pretty impressive as far as ratio of fishermen using the baits to the number of big fish caught. Plus add in the fact that Mike and Dan W. won the Eagle River PMTT with the majority of their fish coming on LongTales I say you have a pretty good design there.
Many people complain because there are no truly new UNIQUE baits coming out, but I will go back to my old stand by. If someone can take an old design and make it better why not market it and produce it. It’s the same thing you did with the Triple D. There were lots of crank baits on the market before it, but the only way to get a good suspending crank before the Triple D was to spend some time with an existing design in the work shop. Now you can buy them off the shelf in almost any tackle shop in musky country. The same thing can be said for baits like the Weagle and Pacemaker.
Anyway Jason and all you musky bait innovators out there, keep up the good work and keep the new fresh twists coming. Many of us very much appreciate it and enjoy it.
Nail A Pig!
Mike
|
|
| |
|
| i know of another very big fish taken last week on a one of Jason's spinners.
54.5 x 25
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | This is sad, really. (sniff)
I used to custom tie all of Jason's bucktails, until he and his wife got good at it. Now I feel lonely. LOL
Seriously, Longtails are quality made stuff, by good folks. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 172
| i think i heard about the same fish Johannes, wasn't it caught in september?
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Mike,
You think TOO much... heh heh.
Quite honestly, I have no clue how many lures we've made and how many people have them. However, I bet Jodi can answer that (ha ha)..... cause she runs the operation almost 100%. All I do is bend the wire for her... and she does the rest... including all the "business" stuff.
As for big fish.... sure... plenty of reports have come in.... but most are just that... reports. And... these reports are still coming in... so I'd only feel comfortable discussing my own personal experiences with LongTale Spinnerbaits until more reports are confirmed (and deemed credible). In a nutshell, they produced big NUMBERS of fish for me in Wisconsin.... and big fish from MN. Now... I ain't gonna say thats a reflection of the fishery... but I'm sure someone else will (heh heh). Quite honestly, its probably a reflection of how I fish.... targeting big fish in MN and "just fishing" here in WI.
As for "new baits".... I gotta play the Self Fulfilling Prophecy card on that one. The hype of new baits gets them some significant playing time by large numbers of anglers..... and if the bait is even reasonably good.... it should produce fish. Once it produces fish... it gets even more playing time.... and the SFP starts to snowball.
So.... is there something unique about LongTale Spinnerbaits? Kinda.... but it ain't a major difference. I'm sure many fish caught on LongTales this season would have eaten a bucktail or some other make of spinnerbait too. But... I do feel that the ability to fish them LongTales faster and with less effort than other spinnerbaits will feed the SFP theory and hopefully make it a productive lure for many musky anglers in the future. Let's face it... I'm lazy... and most of the lures I've created over the years were driven by my desire to GET MORE WITH LESS EFFORT (ha ha). Honestly. But... if you achieve that... it increases a lure's playing time... and again... the SFP is fueled.
Bottom line is... get your LongTales wet and you will get bit. Will you get bit more than if you used a different lure? I cannot answer that. You will have to decide for yourself. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 714
Location: Rhinelander, WI | What a weiny cop out answer. The SFP works for you because you have a bunch of Longtales and through them almost exclusively this summer. That’s not the case with the rest of us who added them to our arsenal as just another tool for specific situations. And when you look at the numbers of big fish caught by it appears everyone except me, it’s pretty impressive even if you want to stick with the SFP theory. I think you nailed why the bait is successful, especially on big fish. Deeper..Faster..Cleaner! Basically you can fish it in all the situations where you can fish a bucktail, use the right blade and it will go deeper than a bucktail, plus you can run it through some weeds if you slow it down, you can slow roll it down a rocky break, or weave it though a stump field. It will sang in stumps more than a long armed spinner, but its far better than a bucktail.
If a bucktail is a wrench, with different styles equaling different sizes. Than the Longtale is a crescent wrench, one lure can be used in multiple applications. All on one cast if one chooses. The versatility keeps it wet longer and gets the bait to places where big fish live.
You can side step the issue if you want, but there are not that many Longtales in the hands of fishermen yet. And the number of big fish is pretty impressive, How many fish over 45 inches did your group get on Longtales on the trip to Vermillion, and what 2 or 3 fish over 50. I don’t believe all those fish would have hit bucktials, if I did I would not have spent as much time as I did tossing your lures this summer, to no avail for me I might add.
There are other crescent wrench type lures out there, the Triple D is a Crank Crescent, the Suick is a Jerk Crescent, and the Weagle is a Surface Crescent. All baits that can be fished at multiple speeds, under multiple conditions. And except for the Weagle at multiple depths.
So don’t answer my original questions, but I still believe it is far more the SFP.
Nail A Pig!
Mike
Edited by MRoberts 11/21/2006 8:48 AM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Mike,
I'll agree that LongTales can go faster and deeper than other spinnerbaits.... but the versatility stuff you mentioned is applicable to most spinnerbaits. So... you are simply describing the power of A spinnerbait... and not necessarily the LongTale.
As for the numbers of big fish caught by a few anglers.... well... I guess my friends are just good fisherman??? Heh heh. I say that... because most LongTale owners are friends or acquaintences.
I appreciate your ideas that LongTale Spinnerbaits are unique and their success goes beyond the Self Fulfilling Prophecy (SFP), but I'm not convinced.... yet. I just feel they are a quality custom lure.... and their success in 2006 reflects the ability of spinnerbait fisherman across the country.... or the introduction of the spinnerbait to already good anglers. Give a good angler another good tool... and they will catch fish. Pretty simple.
I still feel that there are no magic baits. But the good one's are often versatile and can cater to each anglers own personal style.... which gets them more playing time.... and satifies my SFP prediction. If you throw a Shumway Funky Chicken all season... and I throw a LongTale all season.... I bet those baits will produce the most fish for each of us. The question we will NEVER be able to answer is whether one spinnerbait produced more than the other for reasons beyond angler influence (and luck?). I don't think there is anyone on the planet that could argue one lure is more productive than the other (for any lure and not just spinnerbaits). Sorry Mike, maybe I'm just being humble.... but I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression.
Yes, I feel LongTales are a quality tool capable of catching big muskies.... and I'm very proud of that. But... I'm not gonna try to create any hype over the notion that they are something more than that.
|
|
| |
|
| Are you making your own bodies? I mean, are you pouring your own?
If you are, I have to make one comment.
First of all, I love the baits. Quality lures with lots of hair...that's the way that I like them.
Here's my request. I hate the hooks. Plain and simple, there are better spinnerbait hooks out there, and they are the ones with the round bend and long shank and are more like a Siwash hook. Long shank, round bend and better penetration and easier to sharpen than those hooks that are on there now. You can still tie the trailer portion with no problem just by dressing the shank of the hook with thread first. That also leaves room for a plastic trailer if you choose to add one.
Now don't anybody get all pissy about it, I've got 10 of his lures, I just think that there are better hooks available than those bronze oens that he is using now. The wider gap leads to better hooking chances. Get rid of the thick bronze and get in to the thinner, but still as strong or stronger, nickel I believe they are.
Just a suggestion, and I think that the change of hook would make a great lure even better. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Cool.. thanks for the feedback.
The original prototypes had nickel hooks... and most guys quickly suggested I go with bronze. Personally, I like the nickel hooks for durability and they seem to hold a point better.... although they are more difficult to sharpen initially.
As for gap size.... I feel the #8's are plenty big. And... considering that I am not about to modify a mold to accomodate a hook "new to me", then I guess I won't be able to employ your suggestion. At least until I make my own mold... which is not quite our ambition at this time. If I were to go retail... then I'd definitely consider it... but for our small basement bait operation... I don't plan on it. Lastly, I have not had any issues... and am actually very impressed, with the hook penetration of the bronzed hooks we use. Heck... I've even been punching the rubber stop through the roof of their mouth... so penetration doesn't seem to be an issue at the moment.
We do offer a "single shot" model with a plain trailer hook for those that like grub trailers.... but the hooks are still the bronzed Mustads. Also, do they make a nickel trailer hook with the smaller eye-loop? All the one's I experimented with had a larger loop... forcing me to go with vinyl tubing to fix the hook in place... which I did not like.
But... I'm alway looking to improve... so if you can tell me the brand and model # of the hooks you are talking about... I'd love to experiment with them. I'm guessing the wide-gap hooks you mentioned are like those found on J-Mac jigs and Lil' Hustler jigs? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 172
| I like the current hook style/size/setup.
The only drawback is the bronze doesn't hold a point as well as the nickel or tinned hooks.
I wouldn't change the size or arrangement, it is a proven setup that hooks and holds very well, even big fish over 45 inches...
-m |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Mike,
I just checked with "the boss" and according to her records.... there are 56 LongTale Spinnerbait owners. Yup... that's it.... but what did you expect from a Basement bait biz? But, I now realize what you were hinting at with your original question. I've only gotten feedback from maybe 25% of those people... and their results were amazing. Just running down the list of catches that I am aware of and it is pretty impressive..... 54+, 52, 51.5, 49, 49, 47, 46, and a boatload of 45's. Toss in all the "first musky" reports and "personal bests" and I guess the output of those lures is something to take a closer look at.... considering those fish were caught from about a dozen people.
Toss in a tournament victory and a few "money fish" and I guess these baits are competitive, ay? It appears that I've just been viewing LongTale Spinnerbaits as a QUALITY product with the advantage of custom requests..... so I've been hesistant to believe that LongTales were possibly more than that. Toss in that many of the guys first fishing with them are very good anglers... and I was even more skeptical. But... if these baits are good enough for them.... then I guess they are a darn good bait???
And... if there really is something to the "New Bait" syndrome... than I guess LongTales could still be deemed a "new bait" for 2007.... considering that not many people had them in 2006 and people can still "cash in" on them next year? But, I seem to think of a new bait in the sense of whether it offers that angler something NEW... rather just being a new release. So what is "different" about LongTales? Mike already pointed out that they run deeper, faster, and cleaner than most blade baits. The custom options allow for unique blade combos that can really exploit certain aspects of blade fishing. The #8 Willowleaf is by far the best burning blade I've ever encountered... and not many lures offer them. The #10 Colorado really got attention this year due to several of the Big Bucktail guys..... but these blades really rock on spinnerbaits too.... especially after dark and in cooler water. The short-arm combined with a longer main shaft allows for a nice horizontal helicopter that adds a unique "pause" element to a blade that was definitely new to me. This same arm configuration really accents the long, slender profile proven to be favored by musky. Most spinnerbaits are short and bulky... mocking more of a panfish type forage rather than something like a cisco, whitefish, or sucker. And for the early season guys or those fishing action water... the smaller Hot Shots offer most of the above in a more durable package than most "small baits" on the market.
I'm a guy that always needs to try and explain WHY stuff works... but I guess you can't argue with results... even if you can't explain why. All I know is when I look back at where LongTale Tackle was at the start of 2006 and where it finished up.... I get pretty excited about 2007! Thanks Mike for making me take the time to reflect. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 714
Location: Rhinelander, WI | Thank you Jason, I was getting ready to bust your chops again, but you confirmed exactly what I was thinking without having the numbers. Pretty cool!! Now I ask myself why the heck did I bring it up on the internet! I look forward to another summer of tossing your lures in all kinds of different situations.
Nail A Pig!
Mike
|
|
| |
