Limberneck spinnerbaits 2025
SC53 reply :
Not sure how many of you are familiar with them.
Unfortunately they stopped making them a number of years ago.
They were probably the most weedless spinnerbaits made due to the flexible arm. And they caught fish.
Well I found a guy here in Florida that started making them again. Bought a handful of them myself. New skirt colors as well.
He goes by the name of Redbone Bait Company. Bait’s called the Limber-Blade.
Just wanted to pass this on in case anyone used to use them.
Team9nine reply :
Originals were made right here in Indiana if I'm not mistaken by Bros. Bait Co.
SC53 reply :
Quite possibly Team9.
From what I heard, they were bought out by a large company and eventually stopped being made. Who knows why.
All I can tell you was a lot of guys threw them back in the day and caught a lot of fish in hydrilla, pepergrass and eelgrass.
Team9nine reply :
Just looked it up - I was close. Ken Montgomery of Bros Bait made them in Louisville. I owned several at one time. Found this:
BassWhole! reply :
On 12/16/2018 at 2:57 AM, SC53 said:He goes by the name of Redbone Bait Company.
Does he know BGI owns Redbone®.
SC53 reply :
No idea who BGI is reason.
This is the guys website :
https://www.redbonebaitcompany.com/
Thats what I remember the story to be Team9.
heavyduty reply :
Interesting design.
SC53, have you fished these yet? How tunable are they? Curious if the stranded wire allows for more vibration from the blades. Thoughts on why they are more weedless, is it due to the wire flexing so much that it "shakes" off any grass that catches on it? Fishing grass beds in rivers for smallmouth, this could be useful...
BassWhole! reply :
On 12/16/2018 at 6:46 AM, SC53 said:No idea who BGI is reason.
http://www.biggameintl.com/
SC53 reply :
No relation to that company Reason. Individual owned.
HD, they are hardwired to the line tie, crimped SS wire to blades. They are tune able and run pretty true out of the package.
exactly what you think. The theory is the movement of the flexible wire allows the blades to deflect off the grass making them more weedless.
BassWhole! reply :
On 12/16/2018 at 10:14 AM, SC53 said:No relation to that company Reason. Individual owned.
Yeah, I got that. My point is they own the name.
SC53 reply :
Gotcha.
detroit1 reply :
Help me understand why it's more weedless and puts out more vibration. Neither makes sense to me. On a regular spinrb8, you have a stiff wire protecting the hook..this thing just folds/flops around exposing the hook. The blades will rotate less because the arm is also flopping around, without a stiff anchor point for the blade to fight against. Either mfg. cost or lack of sales killed this bait. But what do I know?????
SC53 reply :
I didn’t say anything about more vibration.
As for weedless, I understand you’re anology and it makes sense but I can only speak from my experience and it seems to hang up less.
JMW53 reply :
I feel the need to comment on this bait, as for the name " RedBone" it is Trademarked as for the font. If you look up the trademark it is Trademarked by different people in different ways. As for the product falling by the wayside did you ever think that Luhr Jensen purchased it to take it off the market. Maybe they were loosing market share. I have tried a Limber-Blade and it seems to produce better than a regular spinnerbait, maybe luck maybe not.
scbassin reply :
I thought there was a company in GA. that made inshore rods called Redbone?
fin reply :
On 12/16/2018 at 9:52 PM, detroit1 said:On a regular spinrb8, you have a stiff wire protecting the hook..this thing just folds/flops around exposing the hook.
I think the bottom part is regular wire.
On 12/17/2018 at 12:12 AM, JMW53 said:I feel the need to comment on this bait, as for the name " RedBone" it is Trademarked as for the font. If you look up the trademark it is Trademarked by different people in different ways.
See Apple Records vs. Apple Computers. It's not so much they are both using the name Redbone, but they are both in a very similar business. It's all about whether the average consumer might confuse the two companies. BGI is huge and probably have a fleet of lawyers that could cause a lot of headaches and expenses for the little guy. They might not win a suit, but they could make his life miserable. Not a good choice for a name.
Team9nine reply :
Naming aside, the Limberneck was a great grass bait because the arm folded, allowing it to sneak through vegetation relatively unscathed. However, that same trait made it bad in wood, where the arm folding would lend itself to hanging on something more solid. Grass didn't pose that problem. Some also thought the bait had better hookup ratios in instances where a large fish might engulf the entire bait, the cable arm easily flexing and compressing. Similarly, it survived attacks from larger fish like pike and mudfish better than most for the same reason. The originals did tend to roll a lot in certain configurations. No idea why the bait went away, other than perhaps it was more niche than others at the time. I'll have to look and see if I have any still sitting around somewhere.
heavyduty reply :
SC53, thanks for sharing. I reached out by email to the owner and going to order a couple to give them a try. I love a spinnerbait bite for smallmouth. Don't know what it is about a spinnerbait to a smallie but they just destroy them when they hit it.
SC53 reply :
My pleasure HD.
I only hoped to pass on info to everyone in case they knew about them or wanted to try something different.
I wish we had smallies down here.
Post up if they work out for you once you get to try them.
Tuffy reply :
New to the board, 1st post...
The main concern here should not be if Redbone has been sold, it's that unless Redbone or whomever the entity
is that is offering or making these baits has a licensing agreement or has purchased the patent/ trademark to the Limberneck which is now held by Rapala's parent company, they are infringing and will be served a cease and desist order once Rapala catches wind. This could be tomorrow or 5 years from now, but rest assured it is coming.
I was a staffer with Bros. Bait Co. from 1988 until they sold to Luhr Jensen. Great people that I genuinely miss.
At the end of each season , one could send their Limbernecks in and have them re-skirted/tied for .15 cents each... Who does that today ? !!!
After Bros Bait Co was purchased and Jensen in a few short years discontinued the Limberneck, I tried to buy the patent from [Phil ?] around the year 2000 to no avail, and was offered a licensing agreement ,which I passed on. Why would anybody build the lure back up to potentially have it jerked out from under them ?
When I heard that Luhr Jensen had been sold to Rapala, I inquired again about purchasing the patent and was told a RESOUNDING NO ! Yet I'm told there are absolutely NO plans of ever reviving the lure.
I have boxes of Bros bait co, and the Jensen version Limbernecks, so it's not like I'll ever need to buy another, still..... I'd like some custom Oklahoma and Indiana bladed ones made and will likely check into Redbone sooner than later.
Quality looks good, but I'm not nuts about how the flexible cable is affixed to the main body, it's not as small or trim lined as the Limberneck and this will likely catch more weeds.
There was another guy making dead nuts copies of them on ebay for while, maybe 2 years back ?
I contacted him with this same story, and suggested that he contact his business attorney for advice, Really great guy, and about 4-5 months later he was off the radar, which is sad because his were exact replica's of the Limberneck save for the lead head.
The cable arm, blade holders , even the same bearing , even the crimp was spot on.
A-Jay reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 8:37 PM, Tuffy said:New to the board, 1st post...
The main concern here should not be if Redbone has been sold, it's that unless Redbone or whomever the entity
is that is offering or making these baits has a licensing agreement or has purchased the patent/ trademark to the Limberneck which is now held by Rapala's parent company, they are infringing and will be served a cease and desist order once Rapala catches wind. This could be tomorrow or 5 years from now, but rest assured it is coming.
I was a staffer with Bros. Bait Co. from 1988 until they sold to Luhr Jensen. Great people that I genuinely miss.
At the end of each season , one could send their Limbernecks in and have them re-skirted/tied for .15 cents each... Who does that today ? !!!
After Bros Bait Co was purchased and Jensen in a few short years discontinued the Limberneck, I tried to buy the patent from [Phil ?] around the year 2000 to no avail, and was offered a licensing agreement ,which I passed on. Why would anybody build the lure back up to potentially have it jerked out from under them ?
When I heard that Luhr Jensen had been sold to Rapala, I inquired again about purchasing the patent and was told a RESOUNDING NO ! Yet I'm told there are absolutely NO plans of ever reviving the lure.
I have boxes of Bros bait co, and the Jensen version Limbernecks, so it's not like I'll ever need to buy another, still..... I'd like some custom Oklahoma and Indiana bladed ones made and will likely check into Redbone sooner than later.
Quality looks good, but I'm not nuts about how the flexible cable is affixed to the main body, it's not as small or trim lined as the Limberneck and this will likely catch more weeds.
There was another guy making dead nuts copies of them on ebay for while, maybe 2 years back ?
I contacted him with this same story, and suggested that he contact his business attorney for advice, Really great guy, and about 4-5 months later he was off the radar, which is sad because his were exact replica's of the Limberneck save for the lead head.
The cable arm, blade holders , even the same bearing , even the crimp was spot on.
18
Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~
Interesting first post.
A-Jay
Jigfishn10 reply :
It kind of reminds me of the spinnerbaits from ko man chi made by Dr. Spinnerbait, except he used the aircraft cable throughout the whole bait. Still have one and was a great concept. Not sure if it's even available anymore.
Good luck in your pursuit @Tuffy. If you plan on staying here, head over to introductions.
NittyGrittyBoy reply :
Welcome to America, where your not allowed to make similar spinnerbaits and sell them because a big company bought the idea.
Burns me up.
Tuffy reply :
Thanks for the reminder... Introductions complete.
Nah, I don't mind the guy making the lures one bit... I thought about it, but don't need any hassles in court.
It sort of ticks me off when you can't get the lure because some suit has decided he/she can't make enough on it, but still holds on to the idea for dear life..
Then again , they have every right to, and I'd be just as much a dink about it if I owned it... Difference is I'd be selling the buh-jeepers out of them, as clearly there is still enough interest in this great lure !
Thanks for having me aboard...Ice is just about off the lake we are on , man I can't wait to get out and fish !
NittyGrittyBoy reply :
If a company was still producing the bait, and an individual copied it to a tee and starting selling it cheaper. Then yeah that's low
But for individual, to start making a product similar to one that has stopped being produced sourcing different materials. Why should a big company come in, shut that individual down, because they "purchased" that idea.
So for the other hundreds of tackle that's been copied year after year it's ok?
Hopalong7 reply :
Back in the mid to late '80's I made an almost identical bait myself. On a trip to Tennessee I found a spinnerbait with the flexible cable and loved the idea. The bait was made by some local there and the bait itself did not impress me at all but the idea of the flexible arm did. I took the idea home and went to work on it and in the end built a bait which looks almost exactly like the Redbone bait pictured above. I sold a bunch of 'em in the Virginia- N. Carolina area for a number of years. I called my bait the LIM-BR-SPIN. One day a good friend who ran a local tackle shop called me and told me that there was a lady in his store from Bros. Bait Co. that needed to talk to me about my bait. She showed me their bait along with a copy of the patent they held for it. After several discussions with her and another man at the company we came to agreement that I would quite making the bait. They seemed to be very nice and reasonable people and agreed to no litigation if I quit. They even allowed me to sell my remaining stock as long as I didn't produce anymore, which I haven't....well...almost...you still might find one or two in my boat. As discussed before, there are numerous advantages to the design.
btw I'm a newby here and lovin' what I see., Walt
fin reply :
I'm surprised none of the foreign manufacturers have copied it. Maybe they have.
Fishes in trees reply :
I remember this bait. As I recall it worked good. I had a couple of black ones and I'd use a black or brown pork frog as a trailer. Over time, the cable broke and at the time I didn't know how to repair it. Now, I have a few ideas AND I have an abundance of old spinner bait frames that I could sacrifice. I'm wondering if rather than a cable, some other fiber might work. What degree of flex is necessary to bend the blade back over and slightly behind the hook? I don't know - I'm thinking 80 or 100 lb fluorocarbon leader material, rather than braided wire leader. I wonder what strength the braided wire leader that they're using is. I'm thinking I'd like a half ounce bait, rather than the 3/8 sizes shown on the Redbone web page. It looks like they are using ball bearing swivels - which is what I'd use. I wonder what would happen if I called them up and said, "I'm thinking about copying your bait for my own use, could you tell me the particulars, just to save me research time . . .."
Thanks for this post, I'm recovering from a torn minuscus and I'll be off work for a week or so - maybe, something to do in the shop.
BassWhole! reply :
The cable looks to be about the same diameter or slightly larger than the main wire. It probably tests to high 200 lbs test, maybe a bit more, but the flexibility is more important than the strength. Nylon or fluoro would have to be much larger to offer enough stiffness, 80-100 wouldn't be nearly stiff enough (IMNSHO). Maybe I'll get a reel with a T wing, and spool it with some fluoro and get one of these baits for the trifecta of solutions looking for a problem...
I'm gonna make one for S&Gs and see what happens.
Hopalong7 reply :
Back in the mid to late '80's I made an almost identical bait myself. On a trip to Tennessee I found a spinnerbait with the flexible cable and loved the idea. The bait was made by some local there and the bait itself did not impress me at all but the idea of the flexible arm did. I took the idea home and went to work on it and in the end built a bait which looks almost exactly like the Redbone bait pictured above. I sold a bunch of 'em in the Virginia- N. Carolina area for a number of years. I called my bait the LIM-BR-SPIN. One day a good friend who ran a local tackle shop called me and told me that there was a lady in his store from Bros. Bait Co. that needed to talk to me about my bait. She showed me their bait along with a copy of the patent they held for it. After several discussions with her and another man at the company we came to agreement that I would quite making the bait. They seemed to be very nice and reasonable people and agreed to no litigation if I quit. They even allowed me to sell my remaining stock as long as I didn't produce anymore, which I haven't....well...almost...you still might find one or two in my boat. As discussed before, there are numerous advantages to the design.
btw I'm a newby here and lovin' what I see., Walt
I use (excuse me, used), Surflon 80 lb test nylon coated which mikes out at about .039 inches. This also very close, if not the same as the Limberneck used. Theirs may have been slightly bigger but not coated if the old memory is working (which it usually isn't anymore). I've still got a few of theirs laying around somewhere, I'll see if I can find them and compare. I agree, strength is no issue, flexibility is the deal.
Walt
Hopalong7 reply :
Found a Limberneck. Memory was good. Mikes at .037 inches, but is not coated, so the actual cable is a little bigger. It is little noticeable difference in flex factor. Hope this helps.
BassWhole! reply :
I'm going with stainless 1.1 mm, and I'm doing away with the crimp, cause I hate picking grass and goop from lures. Why are we doing this again?...
Hopalong7 reply :
I always covered my crimp with a short piece of shrink tubing.
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