Brad S Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Anybody use them/like them in fresh water or salt? Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishpocalypse Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Don't do it! Super fluke + 3/0 EWG = Fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastorshane Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 I agree, super flukes work so much better and practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spnrbatr Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 if they are being advertised on an infomercial don't waste your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie525 Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 when you get over 5 free accesories dont try it, or they take a payment off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DADDY CARP Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Don't do it!Super fluke + 3/0 EWG = Fish Make your own! Use old ballpoint springs & screw them into a Fluke or bait (worm, craw,liz. etc.) at the nose. Form an eye in the spring just large enough to force over a # 3/0 to 5/0 hook. Use on a Carolina rig with 3'-6' leader & watch the action. This is about all the Banjo Minnow is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braided Line Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Banjo Minnos and the ever popular......Helicopter lure, which I believe was a Roland Martins idea, should both be placed in the Got-Cha Hall of Fame. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Banjo Minnos and the ever popular......Helicopter lure, which I believe was a Roland Martins idea, should both be placed in the Got-Cha Hall of Fame. banjo minnows actually work though! (a friends mom bought them when we were kids) no better than a fluke or a senko however so i wouldn't actually buy any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin70 Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 "So good it's been banned from tournaments".....That was a red flag for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smirkplug Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 I have dreams of fishing those waters they show fish being caught on those infomercial baits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 I find myself defending this bait more than I should. The "original" banjo minnow (before all the add-ons) is a nicely designed & effective bait. It's achilles heel is that it was indeed marketed via late night infomercial, which only thru popular opinion, instantly makes it a "rip-off" Any of you dismissing this bait actually fish one? or are you just passing on the comments you hear. Just curious, because I have fished them & every knock-off or similarly designed bait and they have been productive for me. The infomercial may have turned off alot of people but the owners are laughing all the way to the bank. The question asked was: Anybody use them/like them in fresh water or salt? Answer: I have & like them, however there are other variations from other manufacturers that produce just as well. I personally like the "Scattering shad" from Renosky, very similar in design, however it has a skirted tail. You also dont need to rig it like a Banjo, simply rig it like a normal bait. They are becoming harder to find. The Zoom Fluke as mentioned before has a similar design, however I find the girth of the fluke deters the action, they swim more like a darter rather than "swimming". They are available everywhere. The helicopter lure, I have, in the original packaging bought at a yard sale. I keep it around for when I need a good laugh & consider it a novelty item. Roland Martin will promote anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad S Posted March 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 redg8R Thanks for actually answering my question, I was getting tired of coming back to this thread only to find another person (apparently having never used them) telling me that they were a rip off. Fact is, I did some research online and found at least 50 people at different sites that have used them in fresh water and swear by them. They were anglers, not people trying to sell them. Who says you have to use the hooks they use on the informercial? Fact is, if a person were to watch the fishing show "The hunt for big fish" with Larry Dahlberg they'd see him catching lots of very nice, large fish of many different species on a lure he made called "Mr Wiggly", which is VERY similar to the banjo minnow, he just rigs them differently (with a treble hook). They have great action and I'm confident that the banjo minnows will be effective on striped bass and fluke (summer flounder) in salt water and I plan to give them a good workout this season. Just wanted to know if anybody online at this site had tried them in salt water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 redg8RThanks for actually answering my question, I was getting tired of coming back to this thread only to find another person (apparently having never used them) telling me that they were a rip off. Fact is, I did some research online and found at least 50 people at different sites that have used them in fresh water and swear by them. They were anglers, not people trying to sell them. Who says you have to use the hooks they use on the informercial? Fact is, if a person were to watch the fishing show "The hunt for big fish" with Larry Dahlberg they'd see him catching lots of very nice, large fish of many different species on a lure he made called "Mr Wiggly", which is VERY similar to the banjo minnow, he just rigs them differently (with a treble hook). They have great action and I'm confident that the banjo minnows will be effective on striped bass and fluke (summer flounder) in salt water and I plan to give them a good workout this season. Just wanted to know if anybody online at this site had tried them in salt water. i think its babe winkleman's show where he's catching big pike on them also... he's got it in the opening credits.... mabye it was al linder... wisconsinites all sound the same:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 I didnt mean to come off rude & it's true that alot of infomercials use deceptive marketing such as starved fish in test tanks & private stocked ponds, however the banjo will catch fish & I believe there is some nugget of truth to the instinctual eating of crippled prey. It's demonstrated throughout the animal kingdom. wounded prey requires less energy to catch. The Banjo "style" of baits has produced fish for me when nothing else would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Bait Co. Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 My buddy had a few of thoes helicopter lures. He had caught a 5 pounder on one. He has a photo with the helicopter hanging from the hawg mouth. He did catch quite a few fish with them. So if anybody has any let me know he's looking to buy more. He lost the ones he had in battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimsbane Posted April 24, 2008 Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 I know, I know, I'm a sucker but i bought some too. Know What? They Work! I use em in salt water for speckled trout either with a cajun thunder rig or without. Chartreuse and white seem to be the best in my neck of the woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernReb Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 I know Im a little late on this, Im new here and I figured I'd chime in. I bought some of these and the little buggers actually work. When Im out on the lake and Im getting skunked, I pull out some of these and bam, I start getting bites. I love them. I even caught a nice size Pike on one of their Trout Lures. NorthernReb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 (edited) They worked alright for me but then they were a gift from my wife. I used nothing but the Banjo's for a week but the cost of them actually made more sense to me to rig fluke the same way and I can make the spring parts on my wire forming tool. The only two of the informercials that I bought and used myself were the Flying Lure by Alec Langer and the Zebco Indestructible rod. I love the flying lure it really does work!!!! Great for folks who can't skip jigs up under docks!! ME. Every rod I've ever let my nephew use until he bought his own got broken. I saw the show where they used a PVC pipe and put the rod in and used compressed air to shoot it at a brick wall. I figured what the heck, and bought one and I'll probably buy him another, they're that good a rod. Fatman Edited June 13, 2008 by Fatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Bait Co. Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Fatman do you have a picture of the flying lure you can put up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernReb Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Hello Fatman, you mean the Zebco Indestructible rod actually worked? I was so afraid to waste my money on one. Now I might have to look into it. My wife is gonna love me. LOL LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad S Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 I finally got to try the banjos out on striped bass and here's my report: There's an area near where I live here in Rhode Island where people (including myself) have been snagging and live lining adult bunker/menhaden/pogies (whichever name you prefer) very successfully for big striped bass for the last month or so, so I saw no need to use the Banjos and, to be honest, I didn't have to much confidence in them, but as the water's warming up there've been days where the bass won't even take a live lined "pogie". I had two days like that in the past week or so, and I pulled out some of the large 9" Banjo minnows and guess what? They worked and worked well both times!! They don't cast very well, but I trolled them off my kayak with sweeps of the rod tip and the bass were slamming them. I wonder how well they'd work on a "good day" instead of as a last resort when the fish don't seem to want anything? I didn't use the hooks that came with them, I used a couple pairs of pliers to bend some salt water jig hooks that I had around to make some jumbo "worm hooks" and texas rigged the banjos with a "hitchhiker" on the eye of the hook. This eliminated most of the short strikes I was getting when I had nose hooked them. Using braided line you can feel the rapid beating of the tail as you sweep them and then drop the rod tip back to prepare for another sweep, so they act very much like a darting baitfish. I.M.O. they're great, and I'm looking foreward to finding some effective ways to fish them down deep where the big striped bass usually lie. Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 i work at bass pro and we sell the crap out of the banjo minnow kit, its literally one of our best sellers. I have used the baits myself(my mom got them at a goodwill store, hm look at that) and I think they did catch fish pretty well. they have great action but their one flaw is that the hook is way up front. Too many short strikes for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad S Posted July 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 (edited) Miles I don't know what kind of fish are in the waters you fish and I'm no expert but in my experience LMB usually inhale the whole lure so I don't know why you'd be getting so many short strikes from them. Have you tried texas rigging them? Brad p.s. On second thought, striped bass feed very similar to LMB and I was getting some short strikes with them also until I rigged them differently. Edited July 18, 2008 by Brad S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Northern rib Yeah the Indistructable is a really nice rod!!!! Make sure you keep the sales receipt and card that come on the rod, cause if it ever breaks you just send it back and get a new one shipping is $5.99 but that's cheap for postage. Here's the site for the Flying Lure, I'm still trying to make a mold for the jig heads but I'll get it right sooner or later. Fatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rev. taz Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 love my banjo..... I fish with 12 rods on top of my durango, and 3 big ass tackle boxes in the back, and usualy a few kids with me..... 2hen all else fails, the banjo minnow has actualy been pretty good too me..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
