Chris

To me it looks like a black weapon hook made of Sheffield steel they where imported from England. Gary Klien was the poster child of that company. The company was based in California they made jigs, spinnerbaits and hooks. That looks like one of the first attempts at a wide gap off set hook. It came out in the 80s early 90s the company is gone but they still make the hook in England. Maybe someone else has picked it up as part of their product line. If it is the same hook it is made from the best materials bar none. It is the same stuff they make knives out of. It is real hard to straighten and hold a great edge.

Depends on what your trying to do. You can do it on purpose which positions the line at a specific pull point to give the bait a different action. It can kill some action which can be good in cold water or change the vibration pattern which can be good for pressured fish. You can use it with topwater lures which also changes the action. With an R bend spinnerbait if you are using braid it keeps the knot where it should be. It just depends on what your trying to do. With a Rapala floating minnow or any jerkbait for that matter it changes the swimming action depending on where the knot is. (when you tie to the bait not split ring) your just using the other knots to hold your pull point position.

either fish the thick shallow cover or fish deep where the front will not effect the fish as much.

why not just get some glow in the dark paint and paint one?

The guy that brought the bait to tv invented a system. a means to deliver a bait in such a way that the lure appears to swim. The lure was invented originally in china yes china (same as many on the market) the system of nose hooking the bait was his idea. does it work yes the system of nose hooking a bait and creating a hinge point does cause the water to create the side to side motion of swimming fish. it is like a flag on a pole with wind blowing. When you shake the rod as you pull the lure it accentuates that motion. The new design of the jointed lure is this guys idea because the china lure took some technique to make it work right. The cork screw nose hinge is an old idea and the rubber bands for the weedguard is the same thing dentists use for braces. The new weighted eyes where invented by gatortail worms that has been motified with a dropshot clip and made from lead (they use them for streamers) which is also his idea or invention. with any lure or system it is up to the fishermen and skill level as to how well it works.

back off the fish and give them time to chill out an hour or two. Mark the area if you want with a weight, fishing line and bobber. scale down your offering to a 4 inch worm (could also use a dropshot rig)or a small bass assassin (it swims on the fall) so does a 3" senko. something slow falling light and easy to eat. Rapala works well also because it is silent and small. You got to hunt these fish not just fish them.

I grew up fishing grass(anything that is a weed in the water) and there is a little technique to it that makes it productive. You also need to understand that the bottom line for most of the shows on TV is that they are paid to sell you the idea that what they are using is something you can not live without. Now how many lures can you use in grass and how many of those lure companies are going to dish out the cash for them to sell the idea to you. It is more "pro" to use lure xyz then lure abc or technique xyz than abc. Look at who sponsored the show and then you understand what lures they are selling you and why those lures work in the areas they fish and why they don't use them in the grass because they foul up. TV shows have changed in many ways from teaching you how to fish to buy this because it catches more fish. They either lack the teaching aspect or they override it with the marketing aspect. Now lets teach you something. When you fish grass key areas that hold fish are: when two different forms of grass meet (or many forms), a change in depth, points of grass, cuts in the grass or depressions, thick areas, where the grass lays down to form overhead cover(broken by wind), where hard cover meets grass, change in bottom like a transition of sand and mud, break lines where it is to deep to grow because of a drop off, new growth, places where the grass is free floating and pushed into an area because of wind, old growth that has topped out and formed overhead cover.

Location: tight to cover in most cases they will also be tight to shore. Sound: with flip baits look to lures that displaces water or pushes a lot of water. This is a form of sound. With moving baits, displacement is also a big factor along with vibration which is also water displacement. A tight vibration travels a shorter distance than a thumping vibration. Meaning that they can hear a thumping vibration from a longer distance which helps a fish track it down better. Color: you are now dealing with water that has mud, sand you name it floating and suspending in it which effects how color is seen under water. Now take into account depth, clouds, current, which changes the amount of light that penatrates the water which inturn changes the perception of the color you are using. without light there is less light reflecting off the color so colors appear dull or changes to either dark or light shades depending on the amount of light being filtered out and the amount reflected. Rattles: rattles do aid in helping fish locate the lure in muddy water mainly with plastics and flipping baits with moving baits vibration is more important. location: fish are going to be tight so where you put the bait is everything. 6 inches away from the target can mean no fish.

Ok I'll go the other direction. It makes a big difference. Color is everything in a fishes world but not in the respect that you might think. If I am fishing green water in green grass with a green lure what is going to contrast my lure against the green water and grass? How is my lure going to stand out so that the fish can see it. If it blends in then the only way for the fish to locate it is if it moves or gives off a vibration long enough for the fish to track it down. Think of fish as a color blind animal and all they can see is shades of grey. What is going to make the fish see your lure?....contrasting colors. Example..I like junebug worms. Junebug is made up of black, grape, green flake. Depending on which background i place the worm depends on which color is seen. Up against weeds if the green flake is a different shade as the weeds then you will see the flake. If not then the purple will be the most seen color or it will appear black. Redshad green flake is another great color. Red, black, green. I was fishing one time with this redshad green flake worm and the fish stopped hitting it and I turned the lure over and had the red face up and caught 3 more fish from the same spot. either the sun angle changed or the depth or how clear the water was but something caused that color to be seen more so than another. To many fishermen they say that color makes no difference but then again look in their tackle box and ask them why they buy so many different colors.

Most companies began with wood and as the popularity of the lure increased the lure changed to plastic to keep up with demand. at the time most where made by hand which takes time to build and plastic offered a way to build a lure with less time. Many of the new lures that you see and use today where made from wood in the prototype stage and later built in plastic. The problem with this is that the lure made from wood caught more fish and had better action than the same plug made from plastic. the reason for this is that when you make a lure from wood it has more air per volume than the plastic plug. when you look at a plastic lure you notice the joint, rattle chamber, weight chamber, the lock pin that holds the figure 8 for the hook. All of these things take up air and the extra plastic adds weight to the lure also. Now take a good look at that bill that is also a chunk of weight. The lighter the bill, the lighter the lure body, the more air it has and more fish it catches because it has a better action. The reason is that the lure is fighting to dive and fighting to stay at that depth and not float up to the surface. this plus the lip causes the lure to swim and wiggle. Many old companies changed to plastic but many new ones still make them out of wood and are still great lures.

I have been using creme worms for a long time and still love them. Here is a tip for you fish it without a weight on a spinning rod. Use a 6" style and fish it like a banjo minnow. This is called swimming a worm i grew up doing this and it works in a big way. The larger worm works great this way also with a small slip sinker. Make your cast and let the bait fall. This lure has a small paddle on the end and will slightly paddle on the fall. Next take your rod with simi tight line and shake the rod as you pull the line to the side. The bait will swim like a baitfish or snake with the head straight and the tail flapping around. Years ago before culprit came out and other styles this was the only way to make a worm swim because they had not invented the curl tail yet.

I have a idea of a crankbait and wanted someone to build it for me anyone interested? John if ya still making cranks this is something you might be interested in. I want someone who has a store and does this thing for a business because it is new and can take off in a big way. I want you to be able to handle the order rush when it is released to the public. I have three designs and wish to have one produced to field test the market for this new lure class. The main body of the crankbait is made out of wood and wish to keep it that way. This is a patentable idea and nobody has come up with this yet. Interested give me a pm.

You almost have to have an "in" with someone at the big companies!.....wrong you need to have something of intrest to bring to the table that will bring a spotlight to a company. What drives sales is the amount of face time the product or person pitching the product has to the public. Many products in your tackle box or boat are there because someone told you to buy it over another product. This doesn't mean that the product is of better quality than other items it means someone was better at telling you to buy it. What drives public opinion on what to buy or the cool things to have is the pitch man. The more people that tell you that this is better than that tends to change the buying responce of the public. This drives sales and this is the aspect that you need to work on. You must ask what can i do to drive the sales of a product that is different than what others are already doing. It is never who you know it is always what can you do to gain sales.

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hiya

just remember that a cold front positions fish in the cover not around it they will hug the bottom or sit in the heavy part of the cover and have a small strike zone and will not want to chase anything. target the heavy stuff with a jig and take your time working over the area. suspending jerkbaits work well when fish dont feel like chasing anything and you can also dig them out with a crankbait or spinnerbait by making them react to it.

what you want to do is fish shallow and tight to cover and bump it often use larger lures. wide wiggling crankbaits jigs that have bulk like a double skirt with a curltail trailer for your jig, a single colo spinnerbait on a short arm spinnerbait with a pork frog trailer helps push some water. Topwater buzzbaits and prop baits work well also. The key is hitting everything you can with your bait a knock them on the head.

here is another lure body site for you http://predatorbassbaits.com/id85.htm

if your looking to buy a bunch this is the company that makes them but for small amounts the other site is better http://www.landotackle.com/index.htm

I tend to use a 1/2 oz jig from 12 ft to 1 ft depth. I'll tell you why when you take a 1/2 oz jig and crash it into a spot you give the bass little time to deside to hit your bait. What your doing is making the fish bite when it don't want to. 3/8 oz jig is the most popular weight and the bass see jigs fall at the same rate all the time. Don't be afraid to go light or the other extreme. I have gone behind other boats in tournaments and knocked the socks off the fish by power fishing the used water. If you know a fish is there make a bunch of pitches to the same spot sometimes you can tick the fish off to hit the jig. Always hit the sweet spot first then pick it apart then go back to pick it apart some more giving the area time to chill out for awhile. If the spot is stacked fish will move up in the area and is worth the effert to hit it again. Swimming a jig is an art form that is a killer way to pick up fish. Shad color for clear to stained water, black/chart or black/blue for stained to muddy. Fish it like a spinnerbait but give the bass a sec before setting the hook. Fall through winter this technique is killer just remember to slow it down as the water gets cold.

mackkie Posted on: Dec 30th 2008 at 15:14:34 I haven't used crank baits very often, and was wondering the best way to fish these baits, what time of year, how to work them, etc. I bought a number of different depths from 2 feet up to 16, some lipless as well, what conditions determine when to run deep, and when to go shallow, obviously summer the bass hide deeper. Do you target drop offs or a shelf in the lake to run along? Thaks guys! What time of the year: year round unless the water is ice Best way to fish a crankbait/how to work them: I tend to use a graphite rod 6'6" for my short game in cold water because the bite is light and a fiberglass rod 6'6" to 7' for most of the rest of the year. I use a 5 to 1 gear ratio reel for the most part and a 6 to 1 reel for lipless canks. I don't like 4 to 1 reels like David because I have a hard time catching up with fish and tend to loose to many thats just me. Short game I use 14 lb line deep baits ten to eight lb line. I use 14lb if I am fishing around cover trees and such but 12 lb if the area is clear and I don't need to worry about breaking off. Learn the vibration of your crankbaits and mark them it helps. If the bait has a thump to it that you can feel in your rod/reel/hands mark it for stained to muddy water then figure out the true depth and mark that also on the bait. If the bait has a high pitch tight vibration mark it clear to stained water then figure out the depth it runs. I am a color person so I also weed out my baits by color and choose my baits by color and how clear the water is. For now keep it simple white black back for clear water chart black back for stained. To figure out the true depth you take a given object that is at a known depth and try to hit it with your bait given a long cast. I say this because companies tent to stretch the truth of what depth the bait runs make sure you use ten lb line for all of the lures. (note all lines that say ten lb test line most have different thickness depending on company the thicker the line the less depth the lure will run)How you work the bait is up to you. I tend to use stop and go a lot if I am using a plastic crankbait and not ramming it into something. I use stop and go because with a plastic bait they have a machanical action this changes the vibration pattern. If I am fishing in and around cover bouncing it off then the change of vibration comes when it strikes the bottom or object. With a wood bait I just reel most of mine are tweaked to give it a search pattern or weird erratic action on its own. You take the front line tie eye of the bait and bend it a little at a time to find a sweet spot each time you bend it a little cast it and watch the bait. After you fool with it awhile you will hit the sweet spot and the bait will spook underwater. <--incase you where wondering if you are worried about messing up something just tune the bait to run straight. A perfectly tunned crankbait will swim the deepest and give off the most vibration and catch the most fish. Vibration is key because if you can feel the vibration of the bait then you can also feel the lack of vibration when a fish takes the bait. If you make a cast and don't feel the thump vibration of the bait till it is close to the boat then you need to change something lure, line, rod something yes it is that important. I bought a number of different depths from 2 feet up to 16, some lipless as well, what conditions determine when to run deep, and when to go shallow, obviously summer the bass hide deeper. Do you target drop offs or a shelf in the lake to run along? Thaks guys! I first figure out how muddy the water is. The muddier the water the more the bass tend to hang shallow and close to cover. They also will suspend at a given depth away from cover at times but still shallow. So how clear the water is determine what depth I target and time of the year. Water temp is another item I use to narrow my search. Most of the year I catch most of my fish in 10 ft of water or less. Even in the winter at 40 degree water. I have caught fish right up against the bank with ice on the shore. I fished a tournament and caught fish all three days up against a rock bank parallel to the bank in 1 1/2 of water 95 degree summer. (my point is that you can have a book with rules to go by but the bass make their own rules and can't read) Anywhere that you can find deeper water close to shallow water can hold fish year round. If conditions turn bad they can change depth easy. They have a shallow area to use to feed and spawn if positioned right. don't limit areas just because someone says to fish them in summer spring fall and such because if the bass has everything it needs to survive and the feed don't run away they might hang out there most of the year.

When you bounce a crankbait off of cover you are doing two things one is that the bait will change directions the second is that the bait will change vibration pattern. Normal healthy shad swim from point A to point B at the same speed and direction for the most part. Shad being chased by bass or spooked by bass hall butt in any direction bang into things and change their swimming pattern. Baitfish that have issues from being sick or hurt also throw out an odd vibration pattern that fish pick up on. They also swim different than healthy baitfish. Bass have an instinct to chase down the sick an injured and will pick out that shad from a school. You can catch bass with a crankbait just chucking it out and reeling it in. You begin to open a new realm when you start fishing the bait and making it act like a baitfish should act around a hungry bass.

short and sweet yes I do except bass pattern lures and crawfish pattern lures. I still like G finish topwater lures like tiny torpedo and pop R and spook. The shad dot if for nothing else gives a bass a bulls eye.

Sure you can catch fish in the winter Always remember that the water is cold and so are the fish so they are not going to chase a lure that fly by them. You gotta slow down take your time. I catch a lot of fish on swimming a jig in the winter. Fish it like a curl tail grub and just swim it back to shore. Reel it just fast enough to keep it off the bottom. Crankbaits can be killers in the winter. You need to pay close attention because the bite is not bone jarring. Jig and trailer, spinnerbaits both work well in the winter. The one time of the year that I feel that scent does help out on moving baits is winter because you are slowing down the lure.