[RiverMan]

I have a pointer (100mm I think) and can't see any difference in it from any other jerkbait, other than an unreal paint job. Looks like it could be reproduced quite easily unless there is something inside that I am missing.

Jed

[Nathan]

Jed,I think they are talking about that multi jointed job they have out...at least thats what I was talking about...Nathan

[RiverMan]

Oh ok, the snake looking thing, that is a really cool looking bait. I have never had my hands on that thing but would love to try to reproduce something like it. Give it a try Nathan, bet you could come up with something close.

Jed

[Nathan]

Hey Jed...thanks for your vote of confidence...look at my first responce at the top of the page..Nathan

[RiverMan]

The "flure" is a cool looking bait. Is the head of the bait wood, lead, foam? Also, is there a body to it the bait or is everying behind the head of the bait, feathers and such? Thanks!

Jed

[BassNator 1]

Here is what an Alewife looks like!

[Nathan]

Thanks Bassnator...Is that a olive color on the back?..
Jed, The head is made of wood,and rattles.The body is made of Icelandic sheep wool,and different colored flashabou for accent.Ther is a thin wire shaft that runs through the bait to the back where the second hook is attatched.It looks funny in the picture,but when wet the body takes on a fish shape.The bait has the mechanicle motion of a cranbait,with the natural flowing motion of fur...you can't replicate that with a typicle jointed bait.
Too be honest it hasn't sold well....YET..it's too funky looking!!..Nathan

[RiverMan]

Nathan,

That really is an ingenius looking critter you have built, the job looks to be excellent and you can tell there is a considerable amount of labor that went into the bait. It might be something that will have to be demonstrated to get people to buy.

Best Regards,

jed

[Soupysayso]

Nathan, thanks for the quick response and I'm sorry it took longer than expected to get back to you about alewifes. I've done internet searches trying to find you a good picture to go with. I had some GREAT pictures on my other computer that I used for painting up some mod-baits, but the harddrive took a dump and now I can't find them. The picture posted of one gives the general idea but I'll try to verbally explain and if I locate a pic I'll post it. The back of the alewifes here is a smokey grey-blue, thinking civil war uniform or better yet the citadel's uniform color. They have silvery sides with a distinct gold spot at the rear of the gill plate (just looks like somebody took spray paint and put a touch at the back of gill plate and part-way onto body. The belly is a pearl white. The smokey grey-blue back fades into the silvery sides pretty high up on the baitfish and the pearl white fades about 1/3 of the way up horizontally. Some of them, at least the dead ones I've picked out of the water and put in my boat, seem to have a golden stripe that runs from the gill plate spot to about the tail down the middle length horizontally.

If you could see the pods of bait here and read about my ideas below you'd know why I'm so high on your lure. There's literally hundreds of thousands of these rascals roaming around on top early in the morning and late at night. During evening tournaments, these pods will actually follow my boat around knowing that my boat will keep predators away, it's amusing....they trail me like I've got them caught in a net. I've modified some standard baits and vintage baits to match the hatch. Currently, I use a canadian wiggler, which is stamped brass and plated in various colors, mostly silver. I add some paint and tie up a feathered treble. It gives me a whipping action that is devastating here I boat a limit of 14inchers in about 10 minutes in June and July. It allows me to crank slowly and I can dredge the bottom at 30ft. Also, I play around with a vintage bait called the "beno" for imitating the lucky craft live pointer. It has a flatfish/lazy ike face with several tails attached. I've learned that the cup face gives off a great action and that has been the idea behind nearly all of my designs. People doctor up the old "blue striper" for the sashaying action. I've personally seen very large bass come out of 80ft of water after a blue striper that only goes 2-3 feet down, simply because of paint scheme and sashay action. This year the bait was smaller and the blue stripers didn't work due to being 4.5 inches long not including the tail. So I've made my own copycat mod, smaller of course! I believe the flure will have the whipping sashay action I'm looking for and I should be able to "slow-roll" it 40ft down or deeper if necessary. These fish will suspend 60-80ft down over 100 ft of water in the fall. I know how frustrating it is to fish a tournament where the bass are that deep and you can't reach them with a crankbait. Jigging spoons and tailspinners put me to sleep! Have you ever seen Waterland's armored swimming jig? Might give you additional ideas (netscape required). www.specialtytackle.com

As for stripers, the state record came from here, I believe it was 54lbs., took more than 8 hours to boat, and these guys spend weeks tracking one fish! I don't want to catch stripers on my bass gear. I hooked a pair of 10lb lake trout while fishing for bass and it took me 15 minutes a piece to get them to the boat so I could get my bait back without snapping my 844 loomis. The stripers will strip your reel faster than lightning and there's nothing you can do about it. We're talking ocean gear for those suckers because if you don't turn their heads in the first 30 seconds, they're in the standing timber that tops out around 80feet in 180ft of water. I hooked a 20lb'er once on the Potomac river and he had me halfway to D.C. from the Mattawoman before I knew what had my bait. Guys use 13-15 inch rainbow trout as bait at Raystown, but stripers have been known to steal most any bait if you put it in their face. The smaller bait up's my percentage that what I hook will be a bass. I'm off on a tangent but you get the idea.

Oh, as a side note Nathan, if I start catching fish like crazy on the custom flures, I'll post the pics and I'd be more than happy to rep./distribute your lure here after I win a couple tournaments with it, need to keep it a secret for a little while. Guys here are fanatical once word gets out about a bait that is working, money is NO object to them. Similarly, if I ever see more dead alewife's, I'll grab them up and take some photos. Let me know how your process moves along and I'll try to correspond closely with you and of course pay you for your work. I'd like to start with 3 for now, til I'm sure they're what I'm looking for. If you could vary the weights so that I can work multiple depths and conditions easily that would be fantastic! This is, of course, assuming that your head is lead, I'm not 100% sure. If so, 1/4oz, 3/8oz, and 1/2 oz ought to do the trick to start. If I need to go heavier I'll get back in touch for more! If they're not lead, that's fine too....but the search will continue for that "super deep crank". I think that's about all for now. Thanks again for the quick response.

[Soupysayso]

Oops, just read that the head is made of wood. Sorry about that. I'm still interested though. Thanks!