I looked in my bags and sort of realized that I have a lot of "old school baits": jitterbugs, Lucky 13, Rebel popper, Hula poppers, Rapala wooden cranks, Rattle traps ànd Cotton Cordell Lipless, Arkie Jigs, Daredevil and silver spoons, Creme worms .... Does any one else have old school stuff they fish a lot?
Other than the 13's, spoons and Crete worms, I own and use them all when the times right.
Mike
The reason you still use them, they still work. When I'm river fishing for smallies early or late in the year, I still use Tadpollies.
I fish a lot of discontinued baits .
Define old school, 25 years ago is 1993. With the exception of the Ned rig nearly every presentation falls before that time period.
Tom
I guess stuff that has been around 40 years, Tom. That would be my late teens. Before Whopper ploppers, Ned rigs, etc.
Jitterbugs
Devils Horse
Torpedo's
Pre-Rap Wiggle Warts
Creme Scoundrels in natural nightcrawler
Original Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps (pretty sure I own over 200 of them)
On 6/27/2018 at 12:38 AM, thinkingredneck said:I guess stuff that has been around 40 years
That old I fish Wiggle warts , Bomber Model A's and Long A's , Norman Deep Little N's , Rogers Big Jim , Rebel Deep Wee R , Original Lunker Lure , Manns Jelly Worms , Fatz Gizzitz , Larew Salt Craw , Pico Pop , Dalton Special and many more . A lot of these lures are still being manufactured .
I had even more old school baits than I thought. Fits the profile, I guess.
On 6/26/2018 at 11:35 PM, thinkingredneck said:I looked in my bags and sort of realized that I have a lot of "old school baits": jitterbugs, Lucky 13, Rebel popper, Hula poppers, Rapala wooden cranks, Rattle traps ànd Cotton Cordell Lipless, Arkie Jigs, Daredevil and silver spoons, Creme worms .... Does any one else have old school stuff they fish a lot?
got 'em all...except arkie jig...fish rattle traps and creme worms a lot...others once in a blue moon...use a buzzbait (lunker lure) instead of a whopper plopper...
good fishing...
Everyone has forgotten where the Whopper Plopper design came from, it's a modern version of Roberts Mud Puppy lure.
40 years ago is going back to 1978 before the majority of today's bass anglers were born and into the vintage lure category.
I have been fishing the jig design continuously since 1971 so I am OldSchool.
Tom
My 2 favorite topwaters are the zara spook and the smithwick devils horse. I think the spook came out in 1922 as the zaragosa. It was changed to the zara spook in the 1930s I think. The horse came out in the 1940s. These still catch fish for a lot of people. Most all of the modern lures are just slight variations on old designs. The old one will still work.
Got a devils horse and a Sammy. Also some Mann's jelly worms, and little george. Caught my biggest bass ever on one 30 years ago.
I fish with a lot of "older" baits in certain categories. Most of my medium diving cranks are Bomber 4As, 6As, and Fat Free Shads. I consider them to be classics but younger anglers call them old school. I also have a lot of discontinued lures not made anymore like the Heddon Dying Flutter prop baits as well as some early 90s Smithwick Rattling Rogues that were discontinued until KVD won a classic in 2005 with one, they have since reintroduced it but they didn't bring back all the color patterns and they work well as the fish don't see enough of them to get conditioned to them.
My topwater arsenal consists of a Rebel Pop-R, a Rebel Crickhopper, a Hula Popper, a Tiny Torpedo, a Heddon Spook Jr., and a Jitterbug.
I never catch dick with them either.
Most of the classic stuff still holds up well, even as companies tend to overshadow them by selling new products. The Fat Rap and Fat Free Shad (the whole series) crankbaits are some of the best ever made. Heddon's Spook and Torpedo series are still excellent producers. The Sluggo became the soft plastic jerk bait, but I have no doubt the original would still catch fish, and the classic Culprit ribbon tail worm has probably boated as many bass as any other lure.
I forgot about jelly worms! I still fish those (and sniff them too every time I open them).
After 55 yrs my techniques are the same...the lures have changed!
On 6/27/2018 at 4:58 AM, Turkey sandwich said:The Fat Rap
How could I leave out the Fat Rap . I use them an awful lot .
Fliptail worms and lizards
Not necessarily old school baits, though I did just buy an original Arbogast Muskie Jitterbug, but more so old school techniques. I still troll spoonplugs regularly, fish Sliders the way Charlie Brewer meant them to be fished, throw hair jigs ala Westmoreland, Gee, Sias, Kennedy, and Crawford, and even some Nightcrawler Sectets and Lindy Rigging mixed in now and then. I also pull out the old Fish Lo-K-Tor from time to time and just run a flasher.
I use whatever technique I feel will be most effective when I am fishing, and this includes techniques that are considered "old school".
in the 70’s i was throwing Shysters, Mepps Minnows, Little Cleo’s and pre-rigged Creme worms. like some of the others, the names have changed but i still play the game the same way.
What I consider old school is catching a fish and using it as bait to catch a larger fish, and that works best when fishing catfish or pike.
I remember throwing the orange with black dots lazy ike, that was the lure
As for the Hula popper I still have those and I'm going to tie one on and use it this weekend
On 6/27/2018 at 4:21 AM, RealtreeByGod said:My topwater arsenal consists of a Rebel Pop-R, a Rebel Crickhopper, a Hula Popper, a Tiny Torpedo, a Heddon Spook Jr., and a Jitterbug.
I never catch dick with them either.
Oh, and my PB (which was only like a 4ish pounder) was on a 1/4 ounce Beetle Spin.
The only hard lure that I have total confidence in is a mepps in line spinner, gold, #3 or #4. Works well every time.
I started fishing jigs using a hair jig called a Doll fly that dates back to 1939, in 1955.
In the mid 60's a local jig called a barrel head or football head with a wire weed gaurd was being made by Bill Haddock and sold in SoCal tackle shops with or without vinyl skirts. I really like the football jigs but started fishingvSan Diego lakes with Florida strain LMB and 3/0 size Mustad hook on 1/2 oz jig wasn't strong enough, plus the football jig was horrible fished in brushy flats common in San Diego lakes. Worms were more effective in the brush.
I set out to design a viper head jig that worked good in both rocks and brush that used a 5/0 Eagle Claw 530 hook and made a mold in 1971. I used this same mold since then, updated hooks to Gamakatsu 114, 5/0 over the years and estimate I have over 4,000 jigs from this mold to date. Everyone of my giant bass caught on jigs were caught op using this same jig that weighs without skirts or trailers 7/16 oz., well over 300 DD bass. Old School rules.
Tom
I fish a lot of old lures, I also fish a lot of new lures. I don't break down my tackle by age.
On 6/27/2018 at 1:08 AM, scaleface said:That old I fish Wiggle warts , Bomber Model A's and Long A's , Norman Deep Little N's , Rogers Big Jim , Rebel Deep Wee R , Original Lunker Lure , Manns Jelly Worms , Fatz Gizzitz , Larew Salt Craw , Pico Pop , Dalton Special and many more . A lot of these lures are still being manufactured .
Much the same for me also. Color patterns on the lures have changed some. Bomber use to have a greater selection at one time. I still use the older and newer Rappy Wiggle Warts. Mr. Twister and Manns were more readily available than today, with better options. I do fish my older stuff still.
On 6/27/2018 at 12:26 AM, WRB said:Define old school, 25 years ago is 1993. With the exception of the Ned rig nearly every presentation falls before that time period.
Tom
I don't claim to know much about the Ned Rig but is it really that different from Charlie Brewer's Slider Worm and the techniques he promoted that dates back to the early 70s?
On 6/28/2018 at 12:21 AM, Tennessee Boy said:I don't claim to know much about the Ned Rig but is it really that different from Charlie Brewer's Slider Worm and the techniques he promoted that dates back to the early 70s?
Charlie Brewer's original slider jig is a horizontal worm presentation and like Ned, Charlie was from the mid west or Indiana finesse fishing anglers. The Ned rig is more of a Senko verticle falling presentation with little rod action where as the slider is more like a split shot presentation or dragging a jig. I could add a darter jig is very similar to a Ned rig along with slider jigs. Very hard to isolate a new lure or presentation today from something in the past decades.
Tom
On 6/27/2018 at 1:00 AM, fishballer06 said:Jitterbugs
Devils Horse
Torpedo's
Pre-Rap Wiggle Warts
Creme Scoundrels in natural nightcrawler
Original Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps (pretty sure I own over 200 of them)
Lemme hold some rattle traps! Freaking things are $6 now
On 6/28/2018 at 2:42 AM, TnRiver46 said:Lemme hold some rattle traps! Freaking things are $6 now
Right? I remember paying $3 for them in the 90's.
I remember in the early 00's buying a bulk lot on eBay of 100 of them without hooks for like $60 shipped. I wish I had bought more of them now.
I have recently discovered the joys of old school floating worms for any and all bottom contact worming At this point all I really use are Jelly Worms and Producto Tournament worms.
Arbogast Mudbugs
Cordell Water Scout
Fliptail Worms
Norman Big N
Just to name a few.
Got some Mann's Jelly worms from the 70s, and culprit worms from the 80s. That's about it.
On 6/28/2018 at 7:17 AM, fishwizzard said:I have recently discovered the joys of old school floating worms for any and all bottom contact worming At this point all I really use are Jelly Worms and Producto Tournament worms.
Man, those tournament worms are money !! Got a few left from the 80s too.
On 6/29/2018 at 8:35 AM, N Florida Mike said:
Man, those tournament worms are money !! Got a few left from the 80s too.
They are so good. I just got two 20 packs of the 8" ones in Grape Starfire and GreenPumpkin w/Red Flake. I hope to have run through them by the end of the summer!
Jitterbugs---used them 50 years ago---use them now---still work
On 6/29/2018 at 9:00 AM, fishwizzard said:They are so good. I just got two 20 packs of the 8" ones in Grape Starfire and GreenPumpkin w/Red Flake. I hope to have run through them by the end of the summer!
Did you order them online or pick them up at a store?
On 6/30/2018 at 1:49 AM, N Florida Mike said:Did you order them online or pick them up at a store?
Online from Producto. They were running a 20% off sale, might stull be going on.
On 6/26/2018 at 11:35 PM, thinkingredneck said:I looked in my bags and sort of realized that I have a lot of "old school baits": jitterbugs, Lucky 13, Rebel popper, Hula poppers, Rapala wooden cranks, Rattle traps ànd Cotton Cordell Lipless, Arkie Jigs, Daredevil and silver spoons, Creme worms .... Does any one else have old school stuff they fish a lot?
CC Spots? That's my favorite lipless. But to be really old school, you'd have to pull out the Bayou Boogie. It's still being made.
https://www.heddonlures.com/product/bayou-boogie-3/
Jitterbugs, Cordell Spots, and Storm Sub-Warts are some of my go to baits!
On 6/27/2018 at 12:26 AM, WRB said:Define old school, 25 years ago is 1993. With the exception of the Ned rig nearly every presentation falls before that time period.
Tom
Chatterbaits, glides, hollow body frog variations. castable a rigs. ultra deep cranks... imo the sport has evolved.
I didn't even think of it until I was out on Wednesday, the Bagley Bang-O-Lure! I use them quite frequently in the summer, I use them as a subtle topwater, they are balsa and while they create a disturbance they don't make much noise.
One of the best days I ever had was 16 bass that weighed 98.87#, they were all caught on a Hildebrandt Snagless Sally, white with a gold blade, & an white Uncle Josh kicker frog.
36 yrs late I still throw one ????
On 6/30/2018 at 4:29 PM, clh121787 said:Chatterbaits, glides, hollow body frog variations. castable a rigs. ultra deep cranks... imo the sport has evolved.
Don't recall a Chatter bait design prior to 2000. Snag Proof hollow body frogs were popular in the 70's, swimbaits were big in the 80's, A-rigs? called spreaders or umbrella rigs of various sizes gave been around for over 50 years. Glide baits....Perry record bass was caught on either a Creek Chub Wiggle Fish or Fin Shiner, both would be considered single joint glide baits today and Huddleston 1st wooden single joint swimbait is a glide bait today. Manns 25' deep diver and Bagley DB3 dredge in the 80''s, Rebel Spoon bill, Whopper Stopper Hellbender, Bomber waterdog and 500 series all dive as deep as any lure today.
The sport and lures we use have evolved, no debate there!
Tom
On 6/30/2018 at 11:58 PM, WRB said:Manns 25' deep diver and Bagley DB3 dredge in the 80''s, Rebel Spoon bill, Whopper Stopper Hellbender, Bomber waterdog and 500 series all dive as deep as any lure today.
Yep, the Mud Bug crossed my mind. Some of those old plugs pulled harder then the bass did!
Tom
On 7/1/2018 at 12:07 AM, WRB said:Yep, the Mud Bug crossed my mind. Some of those old plugs pulled harder then the bass did!
Tom
Before I got my Little Green Box we trolled Hellbenders & Mudbugs to locate bass. After I got my Little Green Box I found out those Hellbenders & Mudbugs were catching bass of structure.
Mann's Little George
I regularly use Hula Poppers, Jitterbugs, Rebel 3.5" and 4.5" minnows (solid and broken back), Original Rapala floater and jointed and Mepp's Aglia and Black Fury. All work excellent.
Pork frogs. Just found some new old stock. I was almost out.
When it comes to bass, I don't have a lot of older lures that I use. About the only ones are popper style, though I haven't been terribly successful using them so far. I so some really old jerkbaits that were probably hand made, but I never use them due to sentiment. My uncle has some old Devil Horses though that he's always sworn by. They actually still sell that lure, I have seen it in several shops, so it probably works pretty well. To me it looks basically like a jerkbait turned into a twin torpedo instead of a bill in the front. I use teeny torpedoes, spoons, and size 3 anglia spinners when fishing for trout in rivers though, those tend to work pretty well but the torpedoes and spinners are somewhat difficult to cast, especially in tight quarters. Spoons tend to cast a lot better, but get snagged more often.