Off-brand lures

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

Sorry the pic is fuzzy (took it on my BlackBerry in bad light), but these are the old plugs I'm talking about. These things are 15-20 years old, and were heavily used by my MIL.

[IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_bKySdrQ8G1M/SpX3yvPxr-I/AAAAAAAAA_w/X1zauSI0naE/s640/IMG00145.jpg[/IMG

Given the age those look to be in great shape

This makes me think of my grandma. She lives in Meadow Lake (well, on a farm just outside of ML) so location might be a factor here...but I digress. Last time I was up there I was hoping to do some fishing with her, but things just didn't work out. We were going to do some river fishing, but after heading out all the places we stopped at the water was WAY too high and there wasn't any shoreline to fish from.

I did take a look in her tackle box though, and basically it was an old tool box with some random junk in the bottom, and a few rusty spoons and some brown old jigs with ancient plastics on them that look like they've seen better days. I was really shocked because I know of many times she's caught her limit within an hour or two (during the right time of the year) many many times with this gear.

I guess it just goes to show that looks aren't everything! I'm sure experience plays a part here too. Hopefully I'll be going there again around the end of next month...if I think of it I'll try to take a pic of two of the tackle in question just so you can really understand how bad this stuff looked.

[4D7]

Dollar stores sell the red devils for 1 dollar and i've caught lots with them, again they arent as heavy as the name brand lures.

[Cal]

I used to have a bunch of those plugs that you have pictured DA, I had some realy old ones that were made of wood. They caught fish very well, didnt dive very deep but they had a weird zig-zagging action and made alot of noise if you fished them like a popper. I think plastic versions are still popular with sal****er fishermen. And those cheap spoons that you were talking about that you see hanging on racks do work, when I was a kid I used to buy them as I had little money and my parents rarely bought me fish hooks.

[RedHeadedFisherman]

[QUOTE=Geezle;377010]That's kinda where I'm at too.

As for the plastics...I have no idea. Today I was at The Wal and took a look through their fishing section and picked up two packs of 15 single tail plastics for $.97 each, one pack of black and one pack of yellow. I think the brand is Rattlesnake? I have no idea if they're any good or not, but I have lots of 'em now!

I also picked up some of those (yes brand is Rattlesnake) in white 3' curlytail.. works well out at PCR for the 'eyes

[impatient_hunter]

Originally Posted by Tweedsider

Caught my biggest Pike to date last week on a Pelican spoon, with the Maple leafs all over it, the one I chuckled at when my girlfriend picked it out!

18lbs 8oz

There is a Len Thompson spoon that is a canada flag. When I got it I thought that was a hook that looked good but wouldn't work. I have now gone though 3 in the last 5 years and by the time I had lost them there wasn't much paint left.

[RedHeadedFisherman]

Originally Posted by impatient_hunter

There is a Len Thompson spoon that is a canada flag. When I got it I thought that was a hook that looked good but wouldn't work. I have now gone though 3 in the last 5 years and by the time I had lost them there wasn't much paint left.

i have that spoon, still in original pack lol got it for a B-day present 18 years ago lol

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by RedHeadedFisherman

I also picked up some of those (yes brand is Rattlesnake) in white 3' curlytail.. works well out at PCR for the 'eyes

Good to know

Given the lousy luck I've had fishing the NSR around here, I'd really like to hit PCR some time for some more guaranteed action

[DarkAisling]

Well, I was wrong. Those plugs I posted the pick of aren't Canadian Wigglers. They're manufactured by a lure company in Kelowna, which is apparently still in business but is pretty low-key. My MIL can't remember the exact name, so I'll refrain from posting it.

Those $1 spoons might be worth checking out for the kids I fish with. I don't normally buy from dollar stores, as I'm very suspicious of the manufacturing practices involved in producing items for that cheap, but it is hard to pass of a Red Devil for a dollar!

My MIL's tackle was full of stuff that sounds like it fits the description of Geezle's grandmothers tackle box . . . with the plugs I posted the picture of being the rare exception. The rod my MIL gave us was "junk" too. According to the stories we hear, it certainly didn't limit her in her fishing.

Maybe there's something to the saying that the size of an angler's tackle box is an inverse relationship with the skill of the angler? If these seasoned ladies can catch their limits on what appears to be junk (for the most part), maybe we just need to improve our skills and buy the cheap stuff.

[WayneChristie]

you might want to check out some of those old lures your relatives have online, some old original fishing gear can be worth big bucks to a collector, especially old wooden plugs ! might have something worth enough to pick up a whole new outfit. Id have a really hard time selling something like that though, especially with the sentimental value. but they do catch fish!

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

Those $1 spoons might be worth checking out for the kids I fish with. I don't normally buy from dollar stores, as I'm very suspicious of the manufacturing practices involved in producing items for that cheap, but it is hard to pass of a Red Devil for a dollar!

Well, I was just at TFH to check out their sale, and I actually grabbed two spoons off that rack. They're in this pic just below the Len Thompson's I picked up .



They're hammered nickel and hammered brass, so no paint to wear off, and they were definitely heavier than the painted ones on the rack. For the price they're disposable.

I also got a few random bulk jig heads, just to see what they were all about. Some of the types seem better than others. I noticed on a couple of the round heads I got, you can see marks on them from the casting. We'll see how they hold up

My MIL's tackle was full of stuff that sounds like it fits the description of Geezle's grandmothers tackle box . . . with the plugs I posted the picture of being the rare exception. The rod my MIL gave us was "junk" too. According to the stories we hear, it certainly didn't limit her in her fishing.

Hah...you should see the old beat up rod my grandma is still using!

For as technically advanced as fishing has become, sometimes you just can't beat the basics!

[Geezle]

I forgot to ask earlier, does anybody have experience with the BangTail spinners?

[DarkAisling]

Originally Posted by Geezle

I forgot to ask earlier, does anybody have experience with the BangTail spinners?

I don't . . . but I'm sure you'll review them for us

Originally Posted by Geezle

They're hammered nickel and hammered brass, so no paint to wear off, and they were definitely heavier than the painted ones on the rack. For the price they're disposable.

It looks like you made your money stretch pretty well. I didn't see the hammered ones when I was looking. The would certainly solve the problem with the paint.

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

you might want to check out some of those old lures your relatives have online, some old original fishing gear can be worth big bucks to a collector, especially old wooden plugs ! might have something worth enough to pick up a whole new outfit. Id have a really hard time selling something like that though, especially with the sentimental value. but they do catch fish!

I don't know if these are old enough to have any collector value. I'll try checking into it though. We've gotten over "sentimental value." We took two loads to the dump earlier this year: they were full of stuff we've been hanging onto for sentiment. Sentiment can turn into clutter really fast! We have a serious clutter problem in this little house, and have a couple more loads to take to the dump. If it hasn't been used in a year . . . off to the dump it goes (unless it is worth selling). We haven't used those plugs . . . but maybe we should have when we were fishing out at Koocanusa as they have caught Kokanee in the past.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

I don't . . . but I'm sure you'll review them for us

It looks like you made your money stretch pretty well. I didn't see the hammered ones when I was looking. The would certainly solve the problem with the paint.

I'll definitely review the BangTails...just gotta locate some fish to try them on first!

And I'm all about stretching the money...if you knew my wife you'd understand

[Geezle]

So what about "Budget Line"?

A while ago I was at CT and needed some line for tying on weights. After a quick look through what they had, I grabbed a spool of Red Wolf brand "budget line" that appears to be made by Pure Fishing (Berkley)

Now I'll probably never put this stuff on my spool, just because I'm really unsure about it, but it's handy for when I need to tie something up.

Oh yeah, this stuff was $3.99 for a 600yd spool of 10lb test.

[WayneChristie]

Ive used budget line in the Bow for years, with whitefish under 5 pounds you really dont need to be too fancy, and its cheap to replace a few times over the summer. wont perform as good as big name, but if you change it every few weeks who cares? Ive also left it on the reel for 3 or 4 years, never did have any major issues with it. Im not a fishing gear snob, just someone who learned to make do with what I had. still using the cheapo spoons, this one caught me 21 pike today for a dollar, can you really complain about that? and its till in my tackle box for next time, if the fish arent fussy why should I be???

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

Ive used budget line in the Bow for years, with whitefish under 5 pounds you really dont need to be too fancy, and its cheap to replace a few times over the summer. wont perform as good as big name, but if you change it every few weeks who cares? Ive also left it on the reel for 3 or 4 years, never did have any major issues with it. Im not a fishing gear snob, just someone who learned to make do with what I had. still using the cheapo spoons, this one caught me 21 pike today for a dollar, can you really complain about that? and its till in my tackle box for next time, if the fish arent fussy why should I be???

Yikes, that spoon has definitely been chewed on!

I won't say I'm a fishing gear snob either...I grew up using whatever my dad passed down to me for the most part, and always had a good time at it.

The main point of this thread is to see what's worthwhile and what's not. I like to stretch my dollars, but I don't want to just throw money away on 'crap'...I guess I'm trying to find somewhat of a middle ground

Good to see that the budget line isn't complete garbage. Now that I know this, I'm sure some of that line will end up on my spool at some point...especially since I have 600 freakin' yards of the stuff! I'll probably pick up another spool only lighter...around 4lb test for when I try using a fly with my spinning setup

[WayneChristie]

if I was going to use 4 pound, or 2 pound which I do sometimes, Id spend a bit more and at least get trilene or another name brand. the crappy stuff is ok since if you buy 10 pound it should be at least 8 or so , but I wouldnt trust the lighter stuff that much. I always used 8 pound knockoff for whitefish, I figured worst case it would be at least equal to 5 or 6 pound of the good stuff.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

if I was going to use 4 pound, or 2 pound which I do sometimes, Id spend a bit more and at least get trilene or another name brand. the crappy stuff is ok since if you buy 10 pound it should be at least 8 or so , but I wouldnt trust the lighter stuff that much. I always used 8 pound knockoff for whitefish, I figured worst case it would be at least equal to 5 or 6 pound of the good stuff.

Hmm...more info to chew on...

I'm assuming that with the setup I have in mind I'll be mostly going for goldeye, so nothing too huge.

I could get a decent spool of 4lb, use that to spool up my new light ice fishing setup, and then keep the rest for the fly thing, since I really shouldn't need that much anyway.

Actually that's what I'll probably end up doing.

Thanks for the tips

[WayneChristie]

no prob, always happy to throw in my 1/2 cents worth . going to try and get a pike on 4 pound this weekend, on my microlight, will be using trilene for sure

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

no prob, always happy to throw in my 1/2 cents worth . going to try and get a pike on 4 pound this weekend, on my microlight, will be using trilene for sure

Nice, good luck with that!

[WayneChristie]

had one on it at PCR but it was way too big, best Ive caught in this local lake is 11 pounds, figure I can handle that or anything less. or die trying LOL

[Cal]

I've used that red wolf line for many years, its kinda like the berkly Xl line that comes in the red package. Its soft and managable but gets chewed up when fishing around rocks and logs. I switched to berkley big game line this year and I realy like it, its not realy pricy as far as line go's but for what a couple hundred yards of it costs you could probably buy enough red wolf line to last you a couple years.