Not too long ago There was a posting and a link about a tournament angler who was very successful using nothing but a chrome and black devils horse.

I found the article fascinating.

If I recall correctly someone on the boards knew him and was going to invite him to join the forum, or at least make a posting as to his technique with this lure.

I've got my order into BPS for one, but I sure would like to hear from the maestro.

Any updates on this?

Thanks,

avid.

I live in the area that Top Water Charlie fishes and I have seen him on one occasion fishing in the Juniper Springs Run during a tournament on Lake George or a nearby lake. I have heard about him before and have heard stories that Top Water Charlie was some sort of fishieries biologist that works for the FWC and he would do the testing of water to determine the bass population for certain lakes that connect to the St. Johns river as well as other lakes in the area, becuase he knows where the fish are and that a devil's horse will intice a bass to bite even when it is not hungry he fishes it very slow and deliberate. The devil's horse drives bass crazy and they will hit it just to try and chase it away. I know from exerience that the Devil's Horse is one amazing lure. There are some modifications that need to be made to make a devil's horse really work.

1. Take off the front prop

2. Replace the back hook with a bigger hook (this will make the back sit a little lower in the water)

3. Turn the rear prop around

While the chrome and black is a great color there is a better color combination that smithwick no longer makes (supposedly) and is very rare to find. I will not tell what that color is.  I have three of these lures and one is still in the original package. When a local tackle shop somehow got these in stock he was selling them $15 each and he couldn't keep them on the shelves. They are well worth it.

I looked all over my area for um cant find um i have ONE that i bought at a yard sale along with about 10 jitterbugs and a few other topwaters the Horse i have is wood and is sorta like a firetiger.One last resort to find um near me is to head over to Greentop  

top water charlie is infamous in n. fla. for his prowess catching bass on a devils horse.he just won a extreme sr. tx. on orange lake w/ a very good tx. angler named dusty mcdivitt.they had 29+ w/o exemptions(orange is a slot lake).he modifies his d.h..he made the d.h. famous on rodmans.

i dont think you'll get him on a forum

I've heard of the modifications that CFFF mentioned.

Are these the same mods that big fish charlie makes?

somehow, I can't help but think that he has a bunch of lures all modified slightly differently that he uses based on conditons

Yo, CFFF I don't get it.

If the color is d/c'd what's the big secret?  

and even if it wasn't ..............what's the big secret?  

I'm sure somebody else on this forum knows what color i'm talking about. It is a legendary color that I search for on ebay and local tackle shops. Sometimes you can get luck and find some on ebay but i'd like to be able to get them a little cheaper than with a bunch more people bidding on these items. I can't stop somebody else from divulging this information but if i can find a picture of one on the internet I will post it on here.

Avid I'm fishing the ABA Nationals in November on Harris Chain and Topwater Charlie will be there. I will do my best to get him on BR. I meet him on Kentucky

Lake last year and talked to him for about an hour ( He is fascinating ) he is not

short for words either. He gave five or six DH's away while we were talking.   He kinda reminds me of George Welcome and that is he knows a lot about his territory. our tournament  starts on 11/4 and ends on 11/11  and I will let you know what he says.

AF310B chrome/ blackback/ orange belly?

Avid I'm fishing the ABA Nationals in November on Harris Chain and Topwater Charlie will be there. I will do my best to get him on BR. I meet him on Kentucky

Lake last year and talked to him for about an hour ( He is fascinating ) he is not

short for words either. He gave five or six DH's away while we were talking.   He kinda reminds me of George Welcome and that is he knows a lot about his territory. our tournament  starts on 11/4 and ends on 11/11  and I will let you know what he says.

Outstanding.

Truly in the spirit of sharing knowledge and information that has made bassresource.com the absolute best bass fishing site on the net.

I really look forward to report.

I'm particularly interested in the basic modifications he makes to virtually all his lures.

But anything this sage of the devils horse has to say will be pearls of wisdom I'm sure.

A big avid   to you dude.

this thread's making me want to pick one up now.... ;D

That color code now is: Chrome/Black Back/Orange Belly - AF131OB

Charlie Orme from Ocala, Florida is quite famous among Florida anglers and a force to contend with if you enter the same tournament he's in.

If you take off the front prop, you basically have a longer skinny torpedo lure. You can bend props to get better action. I am wondering what is the exact type of retreive because on most top water lures the action/retreive or cadence is the the real trigger to strikes, not color or modifications.

a friend of mine that has fished w/ him has shown me some mods he has done to some of his from ideas he got from twc.repaints for different bodies of water.bigger props ,different hook configurations.they look nothing like a store bought dh

here is the image of the elusive color

don't know what makes this so good but it is.

this is the smallest version that I have seen smithwick make. It is only about 3 inches long.

On the original thread I posted a short interview with Charlie but I don't think too many people saw it.

It's the last post.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1190653401/0

 I have fished a Devil's Horse in one form or another for a long time, a REALLY great bait. The deal of removing the front prop has been around almost as long as the bait itself. I'm not really sold on it myself, but I've been wrong before . I have always used the 1/4 or the 3/8 oz. I was at a yard sale and bought several lures. One was a Devil's Horse that looks like it has never been used (not a favorite color). The thing about it, it is the largest I've ever seen. It is shaped more like the 3/8, but it is almost 6 1/4" from the end of one hook eye to the other (about 5 3/8" of wood). Am I the only one that hasn't seen one this large or is it maybe made for northern waters where they have Musky or something :-? :-?...

                                             As Ever,

                                              skillet

here is the image of the elusive color

don't know what makes this so good but it is.

this is the smallest version that I have seen smithwick make. It is only about 3 inches long.

Thanks for the pic.

I do believe the pattern is pretty easy to paint.

I've got my sharpies ready.

I haven't been this excited about anything since Betty lou.......

well,  NEVER MIND>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  

here is the image of the elusive color

don't know what makes this so good but it is.

this is the smallest version that I have seen smithwick make. It is only about 3 inches long.

Hate to be a pain,

but how's about a look see at the underside of that bad boy.

Thankee dooooooooooood

Just a little update on the amazing devil's horse but this past weekend me and my fishing partner fished the Classic for our local tournament and won with 10.69 lbs. We exclusively threw the devil's horse all day without ever changing it up. We caught at least 2 or 3 limits of fish and they were hammering the bait all day. bass just absolutely hate this lure and have to strike it. my fishing partner threw some other top water lures at our one spot we fished all day and couldn't get a bite. oh yeah we won $800.

Just a little update on the amazing devil's horse but this past weekend me and my fishing partner fished the Classic for our local tournament and won with 10.69 lbs. We exclusively threw the devil's horse all day without ever changing it up. We caught at least 2 or 3 limits of fish and they were hammering the bait all day. bass just absolutely hate this lure and have to strike it. my fishing partner threw some other top water lures at our one spot we fished all day and couldn't get a bite. oh yeah we won $800.

They hate it cause of the eyes sorta like that kid in 3rd grade with big huge ears had to pluck um  8-)