Favourite Lures

Slidze wrote:
......lefty.......

Oooh I say sir, most vulgar.

i fish alot of shallow weedy venues and for me nothing beats a shakespeare big s or manns 1 minus/super stretch 1 minus, i've had 20's on all 3 lures and although i give the full array of lures in my box a go during a session these 3 just kick the living crap out of the others on any day in any conditions, even at night!!!!

oh and that reminds me i really must order some more manns lures since the last one i had went tree bound in my mates hands 3 years ago lmao

The Big 'S' is now a very crap version of the Original Big 'S' Rob. You can tell the Original Big 'S' lures by the little threaded hole next to the rear treble hanger. I think they used to mount them on a screw for painting. Now the lures are injection moulded and the pattern is a transfer. The lip is different shape, the action is inconsistent, the hangers are now cheap, thin wire and they're just poor by comparison. You can still find the old versions on Ebay now and again and some tackle-shops might still have the old versions hanging around. It's a bit like the Abu Toby. The original Swedish Tobys were excellent but now they're very poor.
The Original Shakespeare Big 'S' was just a copy anyway. The Fred Young 'Cotton Cordell Big 'O' was around in 1967 and they still rate highly in the US. You can buy them here too. The colours are better too.
The 'Rapala Risto Rap' might be right up your street. It's an alphabet lure par excellence. I think it was recently discontinued for some mad reason I can't fathom out but you still see them hanging around in tackle shops. Definitely worth grabbing. It dives a good bit deeper than the Big 'S' but the action is very familiar and it floats like a balloon so you you can crank it really hard to get it down and let it rise again, if you start chipping the gravel.

yes i am aware of the changes to the manufacture of the big s but all i am saying is its still good on the waters i fish when used with a varied retrieve rate

What do you make of the Shakespeare Wobbler Double 'S' lures? I've got one and I'm positive it should catch sometime but so far, it's not raised a sniff. It looks magic to me but the pike must think differently. Maybe I just need to throw it more often. It's not going to catch anything inside my tackle box.

cant say i've ever had the opportunity to use one mate, but i know what you mean about other lures... i have a dozen or so that i havent had a fish on despite them getting repeated use and yet to me when i see their action in the water they should prove irresistible

I remember the early Big S & ABU Toby's well. I caught my only Pike thus far on an ABU Toby in the mid 70's, it was gold & a couple of inches long, fished in a sink & draw style. The Pike was about 4lb & is obviously my PB

Ive just bought 2 salmo sliders but there the 2 3/4 inch (small) ones, one in red and one green, one floating one sinking, for $10 wich is about £6 i think. Are the bigger ones loads better or am i just being picky? Ive been strugling to find the bigger ones for a decent price. Any ideas. Mr Macfarlane Im looking in your direction.

Are these the ones you are looking for ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Salmo-Sliders-pike-fishing-lures_W0QQitemZ260324456495QQihZ016QQcategoryZ1493QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Adie

my favorite lure is the one i catch with on day o really,i prefere wobbin or sink an draw as some say.

micky jones wrote:mark berrisford's pot bellied gliders as above are always 1 of the first i go for

he does do good lures i like the tissue painted ones like you have think ill get a few onwednesday from him ive been meaning to for so long and keep forgetting to do it.

Why the PB's and not some of his others??

ill be going for those, and my reasioning im not a fan of huge shad profiles i think the slimmer profile while although not having the same attraction value at times just leads by the nature of its shape to too many misses

Andy Macfarlane wrote:What do you make of the Shakespeare Wobbler Double 'S' lures? I've got one and I'm positive it should catch sometime but so far, it's not raised a sniff. It looks magic to me but the pike must think differently. Maybe I just need to throw it more often. It's not going to catch anything inside my tackle box.

all i can say about those is my god they are noisy lures

never caught on the one i tried either

Chumley Warner wrote:Ive just bought 2 salmo sliders but there the 2 3/4 inch (small) ones, one in red and one green, one floating one sinking, for $10 wich is about £6 i think. Are the bigger ones loads better or am i just being picky? Ive been strugling to find the bigger ones for a decent price. Any ideas. Mr Macfarlane Im looking in your direction.

Tacklebargains usually have some sort of deal going with their Salmo lures. Failing that, try Sovereign Superbaits.

Click HERE for Tacklebargains 'Salmo' page.

Click HERE for Sovereign Superbaits 'Slider' page.

Cheers for that mate, tacklebargains has a "Whatever you spend on these lures, we will include the same value again (at RRP) of FREE Lures* - so spend £20 and get £20 worth of FREE lures, etc. etc. " deal. Dont think its like for like though. Oh well Ill find out in 3-5 working days

...and let us know what my little link brought you...

My missus sorted it out for me but apparently ive got a 12cm floater coming. the pattern on the lure was non negotiable but i know it was one of the perch designs. should get about £7 worth of free lures too but unsure what they might be.

how do you rate the smaller 7 and 10cm ones in relation to the 12cm?
any perticular design? ive got the red and green tiger coming in the smaller ones so looking forward to giving them a go.

The smaller versions work just as well, which is rare for lures. Normally lures vary in their action when the size has been altered but the sliders just keep on sliding, regardless of size.

Been using a few Cora Z "king of Jerk" lures recently and theyve been working a treat which I forund odd as they look like theyve been made by a cave troll. If these sliders are better than them Ill be overt moon.

I like the look of that one. I've got a couple of Cora-Z lures already and they're alright so they are. Might have one of those myself.

I would advise giving them a go. I find the white/red head ones work the best on my local river in Lincoln. Theyve been out performing all my other lures/spinners/etc of late.
One problem Im having is that they are marked up as "floating" which they do for about 2-3 hours of constant use and then they become sinkers...permanently. I dont know if this is due to the material used or my constant use but its a bit of a pain as you can imagine. Any ideas on how to sort this out? There are no obvious places for water to get in but, as usual, I could be wrong.

Has this happened to more than one? Very occasionally, you get plastic injected lures that allow water in somewhere but it's usually fairly easy to remedy. If the lures can't be dried slowly and naturally, you could drill 2 holes. One to let water out and one to let air in and once the lure is completely dry, you can plug the holes and epoxy over them. Oh yes, that would be a perfect time to add/remove rattles and check the buoyancy. If you really have time to play around, you could try for a neutral buoyancy suspending lure, rather than a sinker or a floater or somewhere in between, slow/fast sinker/riser type of thing.

Andy Macfarlane wrote:Has this happened to more than one? Very occasionally, you get plastic injected lures that allow water in somewhere but it's usually fairly easy to remedy. If the lures can't be dried slowly and naturally, you could drill 2 holes. One to let water out and one to let air in and once the lure is completely dry, you can plug the holes and epoxy over them. Oh yes, that would be a perfect time to add/remove rattles and check the buoyancy. If you really have time to play around, you could try for a neutral buoyancy suspending lure, rather than a sinker or a floater or somewhere in between, slow/fast sinker/riser type of thing.

playing with veg oil has been a steep learning curve for me lately (its bouyant, but less so than air so you can slow the rise down of plastic lures greatly)

Andy Macfarlane wrote:Has this happened to more than one? Very occasionally, you get plastic injected lures that allow water in somewhere but it's usually fairly easy to remedy. If the lures can't be dried slowly and naturally, you could drill 2 holes. One to let water out and one to let air in and once the lure is completely dry, you can plug the holes and epoxy over them. Oh yes, that would be a perfect time to add/remove rattles and check the buoyancy. If you really have time to play around, you could try for a neutral buoyancy suspending lure, rather than a sinker or a floater or somewhere in between, slow/fast sinker/riser type of thing.

Its happened to the 2 most used and the 3rd looks like its going that way. Ive had em hung to dry out so if that fails ill got the tools out. cheers mate

noodle wrote:
playing with veg oil has been a steep learning curve for me lately (its bouyant, but less so than air so you can slow the rise down of plastic lures greatly)

Oh yes, forget that one. Yes, that also works a treat and it doesn't rattle, if you prefer quieter lures. Oil also is more viscose so it doesn't move around so much so you don't have weight rolling back and forth inside the lure, which can affect the lure's action. Very good too mate.

10 out of 10 for that tip.

Been catchin' with pound shop lures lately!!

£1 for 2 lures.....both rattlin', jointed floatin' mid depth divers

My fave lures at the mo