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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | I bought a 6" dawg today and tail is twisted more and theres more of a curve in the belly. Has anyone else noticed this?
Edited by Schuler 7/1/2004 8:07 PM
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Posts: 2061
Location: Belgium | it's like that since last year. I don't think it's an improvement at all. Dito for the 9" ones. The 12" ones seem to be the same as before but they do have the internal steel wire frame. |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | I am REALLY hating the newer Dawgs. The solid wire sux because once it's bent from a fish or a snag, you never can get them straight again. also, I've had 2 of them that the tails broke off at the seam on a cast. If anyone from MI is reading this, PLEASE start making these baits with the quality they once were made with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Posts: 354
| I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!! I loved the old dawgs! The new ones have got that #*^@
weight in the inside. You guys are right, once that things gets bent they are almost impossible to get "tuned" again. I can tune creeper wings easier than a bulldawg. That isn't right.
Another thing: the old dawgs had this nice back end wiggle to them. On a straight retrieve they would almost walk themselves back and forth. Very nice. I've got two old school dawgs left and I'm afraid to lose them. I wish MI would go back too. Maybe they could have
a classic line? Just an idea.
Bill C. aka the greenduck |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | Shot them an E-mail this morning, dispaying, or venting if you will, my feelings. There is a link on thier web page. Maybe if we get enough people to complain? I'm not trying to start a revolution, but, the squeeky reel gets the lube! |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | I just got a reply from Brad @ MI. He said that the reason that they went to solid wire was that the seven strand was breaking, thus caused fish to not only be lost, but to be lost with hooks in them as well. I can see the point. I'm thinking that the plastic has to be hot, and seven strand will get brittle if exposed to heat. He also said that the new dawgs are now injection molded, because he could not keep up with the demand by hand pouring them like they used to. I guess whenever a company starts to mass produce anything, the quality begins to suffer. Brad was very polite in his response, and thanked me for my business. |
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I will never buy another Bulldawg until they find a way to make replacement tails. I had one and the first cast a 2# Northern took the tail off. Way too much money to have a greaser ruin it with one bite. |
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Location: Pewaukee, WI | It's not too much money when you tag a 30lb'r!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Tail replacement is easy. Just get a big twistertail of choice. Cut off the appropriate lenght to match what was taken off. Match it up with the bulldawg. Get a propane torch that you'd use to sodder pipes with (about $10 at Home Depot) and GENTLY blow the flame over both the twistertail and the bulldawg in the general area where they are to merge. You want a little of the plastic to get liquid again. Once you get this far pull the heat away and let is set-up. Repeat on the other side and your done.
I wonder if they could go to a heavier 7 strand as I'm not a huge fan of the solid wire either.
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| Treats
Agree w/ you on the seven strand. Wonder if we could get them to make a run of sevenstrand models for those of us who don't like the solid.
BrianF.
Twin Cities |
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Posts: 2061
Location: Belgium | what I especially don't like about the new ones is the fact that they changed the shape of the body and tail. It's rubbish. They had an inbetween model that featured the solid wire and still retained the original shape and that one has produced for me. I'm looking for older ones now because mine's beyond repair. But the hollow belly and thinner and slimmer tail on the new ones is not all that. Also, the wire bending problem is really bad. Once it's out of tune, it's #*^@ near impossible to get it tuned properly again. They work, no doubt about it but they don't fish as pleasantly as they did before. |
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Posts: 389
Location: Presque Isle Wisconsin | Interesting discussion since I use a LOT of soft Plastics and the Dawgs have been good producers for a lot of people;however they often required rerigging the hooks for better hook ups and the tail bite offs are always going to be a problem.There are so many other alternatives available in soft plastic lures now that are relatively inexpensive,can be modified easily in several ways,and produce VERY big fish. Just to name a few that work well: Huddleston deluxe-Castaics-Charlie baits-Storm Wild eyes,Shammi Lures,Optimums etc etc etc. The action on any soft plastic bait is always in the back end and on many if not all of these baits a completely different action,and even sink rate,can be accomplished by changing tail styles with cheap readily available substitutes like gapen tails or many other styles that we have added to bucktails for added attraction. The large 10" Charlie Bait works great with the standard shad tail but is a stone killer with the replacment of a large lizard like tail.This lure has a hard plastic shell in side the front of the body that makes for better hook ups and lure longevity. It can be worked close to or even on the surface and down to mid depths on a countdown method. All of these baits work as well or better for many applications than the bulldawgs
and have taken many large fish including 40#s from Wisconsin waters. I do like the twin fin model from Muskie innovation just have not had the opportunity to toss it much yet this year(any reports) Dont get hung up or discouraged if you dont care for the new dawgs. There are many options that work as well. |
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| I too noticed the difference in the new ones and the solid wire. Caught a 33" during the Eagle River PMTT and bent the wire. I didn't even realize the new ones had solid wire versus the 7 strand until that little dink fish bent it all up.
I had a tough time trying to get it straight again.
BTW, whoever mentioned it, I haven't had a dawg in 4 years that had the nice little "wobble" on the straight retrieve. I think it must be the way the lead ball is positioned in the head. |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | I fish the dawgs a lot, and don't have a problem with them. In fact 10 of the 13 fish in my boat last week were on dawgs. I do use only the magnum bulldawgs however, and fish them differently than a lot of people. I fish mine with rips and pulls, and very seldom do a straight retrieve all the way to the boat. The solid wire can be a pain, but I have had no problems tuning them so that they work again. Tuning must be more of a problem for those who straight crank them. One nice thing about the solid wire is you can tune them to run shallower or deeper depending on if you bend the back of the dawg up or down. Just because they don't fit the way you are use to fishing them doesn't mean they are junk now. Adapt to the new design and make it work for you.
I agree replacent tails would be nice, but until then I will be continually making "Frankensteins". The one problem I have with the mag dawgs is they quit making the solid black ones opaque. The black is now more of a translucent smoke color, and that I do not like.
The dawgs are still a great lure, and all the better for me if some of you quit using them!   |
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| Divani,
I totally agree with your analysis. The Bulldawg, up until they started using the new injection mold, was the most versatile most productive lure I had ever used (Seven strand/ Solid wire...didn't matter). The old body style, really danced and darted much better when you pumped and jerked the bait in as Cisco Kid explained. I have never straight retrieved a dawg so I can't comment on that. Every tackle shop I go to the first thing I look for is old dawgs. They're getting harder and harder to find. I have given the new ones a good shot but they simply do not have the action. Plus the new colors don't compare to the old. Unfortunatley when I finally run out of the old models I don't know what to do. I use dawgs 90 percent of the time. Guess I'll have to start using Magnums more often as they are not yet all injection molded.
concerned dawg lover.  |
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