Has anyone been successful with storm deep thunderstick crankbaits, and the jr version too?

thundersticks have VMC hooks which i believe is what rapala runs as well. apparently thundersticks have barbarian VMC and rapala has pyramid point VMC.

im huge on lures with rattles, especially up in the Q. schools of cisco apparently make that noise, and rattles for sure help in dingy water or when the sun isnt that bright or at night. 90% of my cranks have rattles and the rest rarely see the water.

In Fisherman had an article on cranks without rattles and they were really only used on lakes where fishing pressure is heavy and rattle lures are the main bait, so fish get turned off the lures with rattles. the fishing pressure up in the Q is minimal, so i dont view them as useful.

as for thundersticks specifically, ive used them and had some success, but i didnt really think i was getting the most out of my time in the water. i fish in north/central wisconsin and the Q and i prefer shad shaped lures. they outproduce minnow lures from my experience by a fairly healthy margin. they have a larger profile, so fish can see them more easily. they displace more water so fish feel them more easily. they have more surface area to project sound vibration, so fish hear them better.

on a more positive note, i have considered trying out storms deep jointed minnow stick. the body is a bit taller and the joint being closer to the tail makes me think this would be a really good bait.

what color patterns did you end up getting?

the original thunderstick, or the madflash paint patterns?

those all sound like good choices for colors, except... the trout... personal issue with that one, just ask MT

jr thundersticks have worked very well on SB. Typically cast (they cast well with a longer rod and no more than 8# test, usually use 6#) to rock piles and around mid lake humps and saddles between islands. Also in swift water below falls and rapids. I have had good success trolling deep thundersticks in @ 15' along rocky shorelines for walleye early and late in the day. I am partial to the perch pattern. Better take a few because NP seem to like them very well and will do a good bit of damage to the lure. Battle scarred thundersticks bring back good memories. Presentation depends on time of year/water temp. Report back on your results.

J

JChief wrote on May 25^th, 2011 at 12:12pm:


I'm on board with everything Chief has to say. Good advice. I too am partial to a long rod with 6lb test. You can generally make a nice long cast with such outfits. I also like the perch pattern near the bottom early and late on rocky shorelines for Mr. marble-eye. And yes, the pike are quite partial to a perch pattern crank on 6lb test. Probably the only difference is I'll fish deeper starting July 1st and focus on 25 to 29 ft of water for the walleyes even right at dark.

I judge every lure and every presentation by how big fish react to it. I hope that doesn't make me some sort of snob. The bigger fish are just more of a challenge is all I guess.

As per Chiefs post earlier in this thread..........you are quite likely to have faster action and catch more "eater" size walleyes in 15' from July onward. Personally, I find the big boys are quite a bit deeper for the most part.

So do cranks with rattles catch lots of fish? Yup.........but how many really big ones? The same with firetiger vs. natural. In my book (and I could be wrong) if you want to catch lots of mediums throw a smallish rattling firetiger crankbait. Want the big boys? Throw a big quiet perch or a trout. But like I said, I could be wrong.....and in fact there will be times my choice is the wrong choice given the conditions.

I will add one caveat.........I love firetiger for big northerns

mastertangler wrote on May 25^th, 2011 at 9:14pm:


Seems Northerns are especially interested in lures with a bit of red/orange. Firetiger cranks seem to take more NP than other colors patterns in my experience. One of my favorites for grass snakes is a Mepps Musky Killer with orange Colorado blades and black and red skirt. Love to fish them for fun.

J

Are you tripping in July Jax or getting married in July (or maybe both! ) I can't remember.

Should we get into some fine details.............? Why not, it is a forum after all. My disclaimer is thus......I might be wrong

I like your lure selection but mostly for casting purposes. I know darn tootin well that a lot of damage can be done with shad raps but agin I like them for casting or perhaps trolling in june.

If your going in July or later where's the big lures? Where's the lures that hit 25'? One thing I have learned about the fish in the savage north......they like it big.

Are you running straight power pro to the lure? Any leader?

It would be interesting to me to troll side by side with you for comparison sake. I think if you are running straight power pro to the lure it is costing you some big ones. But again that is just my bias and conjecture and without trolling side by side with the same lure I have only my suspicion to base it on. And of course you wouldn't know either. A dozen 8lb'ers could of swam up to your plug and turned away at the last second due to line visibility and you would be no wiser.

First you don't want to hurt the little trouts and now your worried about banging your lure on the bottom. This is a side of you I hadn't expected. The future Mrs. Jax is a lucky lady to have such a tender hearted fellow .

I like the cranks with rattles for larger walleye when fishing the windward shore or windward side of a reef.  The size I use is more of a function of the depth I want to reach.  Usually in these conditions the fish are up shallower, less than 15' for the most part.

I think the rattles help the fish notice my lure better in the noisier conditions I find where the wind is pounding the waves against a shoreline or reef top.  I've boated a lot of 4+ lb. walleye with a midsized Lightnin' Shad deep runner (no longer in production, unfortunately).  Believe me, I went on a spending spree when they got discontinued and started to hit the bargain bin to clear them out.  I think I hit every tackle store in a 20 mile radius.   

I'm usually running it in the bottom 2-3 feet of the water column.  As long as I bang bottom occasionally, I know I'm hitting the right depth.

Color, to me, is almost the last thing I'll consider.  Sometimes it can matter a lot but often it's much more about lure action and depth.  My partner and I will switch baits and colors a lot until we find the hot lure for the conditions, never running the same lure or color as the other until we gradually dial in on the lure of the moment.

For sure, the warmer the water the more I tend to use baits with rattles.  When the water temp has the fish active, the rattles will call 'em in from a good distance for a look-see.  When the water is colder, I tend to go with balsa baits a lot more and slow down.

On a few occasions, we've found it effective to have one rattling crank on and a balsa bait on the other line.  Seems like the rattler wakes them up and the balsa sticks 'em.  When we both go to balsa, the bite dies off.  Doesn't happen often though.

jaximus wrote on May 26^th, 2011 at 5:27pm:


That is VERY sad.    It's not nearly enough! 

Better go back and crunch the numbers again.

You know Jax I don't really lose as many lures to pike as you might think. Hard baits can be a little different than soft plastics where they seem to just inhale everything and nip you off. I probably catch 70% of my pike bites that pop a crank. Perhaps it is because I am partial to a longish crank especially for walleyes. Although my fav fell out of production (the large fat rap in perch on 6 lb test).

SD made a ton of good points IMHO. Being aware of how much noise is generated by waves and surf can effect lure choice for sure.

Invisileaders.......is that an oxymoron? I want you to have 3 lures that you are willing to "expend", no leader! Preferably large deep divers. I trolled last summer the first week of July on Basswood day and night. I lost zero (as in 0) lures to pike using 6 and 8lb mono exclusively. My average walleye was right at 5lbs. I caught very few under 4lbs and my biggest was 6.5..........The point being you can fish for walleye or you can fish for pike but it's counterproductive IMO to try and cover all your bases with the addition of a leader for fear of losing a lure.

Now what's up with using FC at night? Then you can get by with rope for line. I usually tie a uni knot for my FC to Power pro connection but it can be rather delicate work in the lighter pound tests. Plus without the stretch of a long piece of mono which acts like a shock absorber, it's surprising how easily a 3' section of light FC will part ways with you. On my last off shore trip a guy turned me onto a knot called a "slim beauty". I liked it very much. Looks to be supreme. I was tying it with 80lb test........I will be interested to experiment with it on lighter line. Check it out.

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against all my instincts, i will try trolling without a wire leader and try a fluorocarbon or mono leader. its not just pike, but also snags. with powerpro/fireline you can generally pull the lure free by bending the hooks or getting unhooked from the log/rocks. i dont know if mono/fluoro could do that.

she promised to never touch the canoe trip because its a 'tradition.' she likes the outdoors, fishing and canoeing, but cant do it for as many hours on end as i can.

i actually have tried the % of shoe money for fishing stuff. i got a big old 'yeah right' as she bought her wedding shoes on my card.

Women are easy peasy Jax. Just warm the massage oil in the microwave (be sure to test it) and while your rubbing her back start talking about all the things you want or are going to do. If your not to fast, you can have what ever lures you want or go on just about any trip you want............."but honey you said just last night that it would be OK, don't you remember" .

Works every time .

Oh, and don't listen to ST, he'll just get you into trouble .

earlier i mentioned my concern for the lips of lures breaking off from running into bottom. apparently this guy was having similar issues but with a specific model of crank

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ive never used that crank before, but from my experience with thundersticks, their lip is substantial enough to make it through running aground

ive been curious about those things. i wondered if anyone has had good/bad experience with them. for trolling plugs and tossing cranks, you dont really need a swivel, so those would cut down on the clutter around the lure.

Edited by kingfisher: See new topic about
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