Knee re-hab going OK I guess. 6 miles on the bike yesterday and 6 today. When I pulled up to the bikepath I noticed a guy fishin in the rim canal that goes around the "Big O". That is pretty common........I watched him for a second or two and watched him connect with an average sized bass.

I watched some more and what caught my attention, even from far away, was the action his topwater bait had. Hmmmm......"Now that looks good" I thought so I ambled over.

I had never seen a lure quite like it. It was a prop bait but it had clear plastic props. I absolutely loved the sound and fuss it made. He caught another 2 fish while I was standing there.

I have already placed an order. The smaller size should be dynamite on smallies while the bigger size should kill the snook. The eyelet to tie to is a little fat so either heavier line (10lb min) or better yet a fas snap in the large size will give 8lb test better physics to tie to. I'm pretty high on this lure and think it will be a slay-em lure.

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The best secret lure has a fuse on one end. Oops, wrong thread...

How does that joke go?

The old cracker hands the game warden a lit stick of dynamite and says......."Are you going to talk or are you going to fish" ;D

its no wonder your knees blow out, what with all the fishing lures you must carry around

Mad_Mat wrote on Sep 16^th, 2011 at 12:19pm:

its no wonder your knees blow out, what with all the fishing lures you must carry around

I know right? I'll never learn........

My first canoe trip into the boundary waters I know we had enough tackle to open a bait store. My partner was worried about sitting for long periods (back issues) so we did a route with lots of portaging. We spent all day going from pothole to pothole and carrying all this stuff.

It was late August and by the time we stopped and set up camp it was almost dark with hardly no time to fish. What a trip :-[. My feet fell apart with blisters and a bear swiped both our food packs. Basically a fiasco. But I learned a lot. The following year I picked up a solo (my buddy couldn't make it that year) and did the Hunters island route in the Q. Still my most meaningful trip.

I still bring a lot. 2 years ago on a basecamp trip to North bay I had 4 rods. As it worked out I was glad I had them as 2 rods went down almost immediately with eyelet issues. I have since settled on 2 rods and eyelet repair.

I am, however, sensing a shift in priorities. I still have unfinished business in WCP next summer and while I intend on fishing it will likely be done with only a handful of lures. "Dang the torpedos, full steam ahead"   

mastertangler wrote on Sep 16^th, 2011 at 1:00pm:

Mad_Mat wrote on Sep 16th, 2011 at 12:19pm: its no wonder your knees blow out, what with all the fishing lures you must carry around I know right? I'll never learn........ My first canoe trip into the boundary waters I know we had enough tackle to open a bait store. My partner was worried about sitting for long periods (back issues) so we did a route with lots of portaging. We spent all day going from pothole to pothole and carrying all this stuff. It was late August and by the time we stopped and set up camp it was almost dark with hardly no time to fish. What a trip :-[. My feet fell apart with blisters and a bear swiped both our food packs. Basically a fiasco. But I learned a lot. The following year I picked up a solo (my buddy couldn't make it that year) I still bring a lot.

No wonder your buddy couldn't make it... ;D

yea, I'm lookin for a new "buddy" to lug all the stuff.........you want to volunteer? I'll buy you a hamburger on the way home :-*

Sure, if you will haul my junk.

Old Salt wrote on Sep 18^th, 2011 at 8:38pm:

Sure, if you will haul my junk.

OK.......just not crazy about haulin those funny looking red candles. :D

The company must be in my neck of the woods as they showed up already. That was fast. Just as I thought, the smaller one should be awesome for smallys. I am considering slapping an Owner white feathered treble on the rear to make it super-awesome ::).

I'll be giving them a good trial run this winter. The bike trail runs along the lake and I usually stop and make a few casts before turning around. If the lure sucks and is designed to catch fishermen I'll lay it out. If all it catches is small ones I'll lay that out to. But if I get any bucketmouths over 5 I'll post the pic (if I can ever figure out how to reduce the size :P) Anyway, IMO topwaters can account for trophy fish when other methods fail and besides, what could be more fun than to see a big smallie savage a topwater? Plus it is super easy to fish....throw it out and give it a yank.....When the water explodes just look at your watch and count to 2 before you react. 

The tango prop got a test run this afternoon. Just as I suspected it's a bang'em lure. I popped about a dozen bass. Most were small but I did lose one that was fat and surprisingly wimpy probably at 4lbs and caught a double with one at 3 lbs and one at 2lbs. That was fun.

But then "it" happened. I caught my biggest bass in over a decade. No boga with me but it was a chunk and my best guess is right at 7lbs. A dandy. Then I cast out and caught a smaller feisty one which I got careless with and ended up with a hook in my index finger. Bummer. Fortunately the fish behaved and I was able to remove the fish without damage to the finger.

I biked the 6 miles back to the truck. When I arrived home I crimped the barb down and slid the hook out. If I would of had my pliers on me plus the boga and a camera all would of been perfect. Oh well, live and learn.... (seems like I'm doing a lot of that lately, hmmmmm :-? ).

Needless to say I am hooked  ::) on the tango prop. Neat lure. The counter rotating blades cause the lure to flash sideways and then wobble back and forth a bit when it re-settles. I think the smaller size with the addition of a blood red feathered hook on the rear would be killer deluxe for big smallys in canoe country.

I like a bit of red so a red treble with white feathers would be ideal.
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Don't come crying to me when Mr. Pikey takes it away  :'(  I understand its an expensive lure, but releasing another 5 lb pig while your buddy is watching is, as they say, priceless ;D.

More fun this afternoon. This could get addictive. Not as many today but nicer ones all on the Tango.

I have noted a design flaw. The rear plastic "prop" is oversized and the diameter extends beyond the diameter of the hook. It could impede the lures hooking ability and indeed I lost several nice ones today including one that could have exceeded yesterdays big mama. Rats!

The solution is to really let them have it and turn down with the lure. Easier said than done when it gets blasted!

The other thing I'm not crazy about is the lure is an absolute gator caller. If I cast in one spot for more than 10 minutes invariably a gator just appears and the dang thing is looking right at me. This has happened 3 times so I know they are hearing the lure and getting interested. Creeps me out when they are looking at me and go down.

AL

maybe you could put on a new rear hook that is a tad bigger tahn the prop ... increasing hook sets. Whoa, gators love it

Wally13 wrote on Oct 11^th, 2011 at 4:51pm:

AL maybe you could put on a new rear hook that is a tad bigger tahn the prop ... increasing hook sets. Whoa, gators love it

Yea that was my first thought but it would have to be huge. The props on these things are rather big. Plus they are stiff, no flex. Still, it can take some big fish and I wouldn't hesitate to employ one even with the disadvantage.

The other thing I noticed is the clear plastic props remind me a bit of fins, they have that same transparency. I have stopped taking my rod biking at least until they cut the grass around the canals. There is some big ornery snakes around these parts and I would hate to get hit 12 miles from the truck. Kinda creepy walkin next to the water in waist high weeds.