Big O 2025
slimshad reply :
Anyone still throw a Big O? I picked up a few oldies in great shape. I put new hooks and split rings and they are now in my square bill box. Thinking about tossing them in Guntersville in a couple weeks. Be cool to catch a hog on a bait that is older than i am. I also picked up a huge original Spot. It was chrome but i took all the paint off and it is a bone color now. It has a one knocker sound and feel. Thing is huge. It will also see the Guntersville waters....
scaleface reply :
I have a couple of old ones but dont use them much. They are fish catchers but are a little larger and dive deeper than the old Big Jims I use.
Mumbly reply :
I still throw them for smallmouth (don't have largemouth here sadly) and they work great. Probably a confidence thing but white seems to work best for me, followed closely by perch.
I even have some of the really small o's...not sure what they are called but boy are they tiny.
hatrix reply :
I have a couple square bills with rattles that I use and they kill it. They are tiny like a square A but cast great cause they have weight to them.
Senko lover reply :
I thought you were talking about Okeechobee.
TorqueConverter reply :
I've got a few of the "original Fred Young Big Os" that are plastic reproductions that came out a few years ago and they catch fish but they're not particularly good. The smaller sized CC Big Os seem to get bit more often.
Bankbeater reply :
I use them all of the time. Smokey Joe is my favorite color in water with schools of shad.
Bluebasser86 reply :
I bought some of the old ones awhile back, haven't gotten a chance to fish them yet. The new ones are great baits that I should probably fish more often.
smalljaw67 reply :
For guys that fish for big river smallmouth, the Big-O is a must have crankbait, something to it that the smallies love and smoky joe and chrome/black back are 2 colors that seem to work all the time. A friend on mine had a saying when the bite would be tough during the post spawn period when the water was clear and the fish would be scattered, he would say, "the Big-O will make them go" and it is true to this day.
primetime reply :
If I find the older one's that Wallmart carried back in the day I buy as many as I can. The Big O is still good as it is made today, but I have more confidence in the original one's that Wallmart could never keep in stock and many people will tell you is still the best "little" square bill money can buy..They are not cheap anymore..Like all cordell baits, they are in the $6 Speed trap range, only a few bucks off from Spro etc...I do find that they get more strikes than the larger names many times since they have different colors imo, different action, and they are small....They don't market and advertise baits, Pradco is all about keeping prices down but selling baits that catch fish, let other companies spend money to advertise, they will let Bomber, Booyah, Yum, Rebel, Heddon, Now Bandit, Cotton Cordell, Lindy etc. sell themselves and they do....Zara spooks and Red Fins do not need advertising anymore, or Bombers/Rebels
Cranks4fun reply :
I am not exaggerating when I say the BIG O (medium size cheap plastic one) in the brown crawdad color was my best (I mean absolute best!!!) smallmouth bait in the rivers and creeks in SW Missouri this year (late spring & summer). I caught some on a DT-6, H2o Squarebills, a couple of different jerkbaits and grubs, and quite a few on a Bandit Footloose, but nothing worked as consistently as that bargain bin ($2.97) Big O. I went back to get more in that crawdad color but could only find one. I have found other colors, but I am not sure if they will work as well. I did make one modification to the bait. I put EWG Gamakatsu trebles on them. That bait did not do as well in Grand lake or some ponds we fish, but it is a clear creek killer!
Got a pic below... It is kind of scratched up but that happens to awesome baits!
Catt reply :
soflabasser reply :
Nice looking crankbaits
Big-Bass reply :
That last picture is a Norman Little N in the old style craw...correct?
Cranks4fun reply :
That second picture does look like a "Little N" but it is fatter I think. I think that is the old Jumbo style Big O, but I could be wrong. I don't know if they still make that big 3-inch size. I have a BIG balsa "Original Big O" - re-issue (copy of the originals) that I got on sale at BPS, but I hear they are not fish catchers like the real originals. I have never used that one.
Catt reply :
The eyes tell the story 
WRB reply :
The Cordell Big O lures are all plastic, the original Fred Young lure co Big O was had carved wooden lures. Most of the Cotton Cordell plastic Big O's have the name Cordell molded on one the side.
Tom
Paul Roberts reply :
GREAT plug. I've used the 2" and 2-1/2" for years. They are still a GoTo.
Catt reply :
I have original hand carved
Norman DD Series
Bagley Original DD Kill'r B
Original Fred Young Big O
Arbogast Mudbug
Heddon Magnum Hellbender
WRB reply :
I have a (Bagley ?) balsa 4" Big O type crankbait in Shad color with the nose bug eyes that dates back into the early 70's, need to locate it my stuff, it could be Fred Young and thought it was a Bagley with those eyes.
Nice collection Catt.
Tom
Columbia Craw reply :
Cordell Big O's on the right and Poes original RC 1 and RC3's on the left. I cut my cranking teeth on these baits. Lots of good memories.
Gundog reply :
The Cotton Cordell Big O (3 inch size) is a big smallmouth bait for me on the river I fish. Easily the most of the productive spring time bait for me. Darker craw colors work most because in the spring the water is usually muddy.
KCFinesse reply :
On 11/8/2016 at 7:26 AM, Cranks4fun said:Got a pic below... It is kind of scratched up but that happens to awesome baits!
When I went to school in central Iowa and fished smallies in the Skunk River- I stocked up on that exact color. That guy, the small pointers, white ice flukes and chrome torpedoes probably have accounted for 90% of the conventional gear river smallies I've ever caught. Great little baits!
-Jared
Mumbly reply :
A couple Big-O's and a few teeny ones from the late 80's. The smaller ones are weighing in at 1/8oz (0.124 - 0.130 oz) on my digital scale. Seems like the current small ones are listed at 1/4oz. Are they just made a bit heavier now?
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 11/13/2016 at 7:34 AM, Mumbly said:A couple Big-O's and a few teeny ones from the late 80's. The smaller ones are weighing in at 1/8oz (0.124 - 0.130 oz) on my digital scale. Seems like the current small ones are listed at 1/4oz. Are they just made a bit heavier now?
That smokey Joe in the top right corner used to be the only crankbait I ever had tied on.
Swbass15 reply :
How do these fish compared to a strike King? I was wondering about the action and dive depth, and if they would fit well in to my line up? I fish a desert impoundment with tons of rock and visibility is great in the spring and gets worse as the year goes on.
Cranks4fun reply :
Strike King cranks won't catch anything! Just kidding.. I think they all (crankbaits) have their time & place, but sometimes certain ones shine more consistently for me. Some years a certain crank will really produce and then the next year it is not so hot. There are a lot of guys who love the Strike Kings on here, but I have not used My SK's as much as I have my Rapalas, Bandits, Cordells, H2O's, Normans, etc. I may try them more this spring.
Paul Roberts reply :
On 11/13/2016 at 8:08 PM, Swbass15 said:How do these fish compared to a strike King? I was wondering about the action and dive depth, and if they would fit well in to my line up? I fish a desert impoundment with tons of rock and visibility is great in the spring and gets worse as the year goes on.
The SK's I have (Series, KVD Square) are more buoyant and have louder rattles. The Big O's I have date from the 1980's and they rise slower than the SK's and have a single large ("one-knocker" type) bearing for a rattle. However, I have one that rises slower than the rest. Good to test your plugs and adjust buoyancy.
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