Buck Magnet

If it wasn't for these two lures, the past week of fishing for me would have been horrible. I have never really been a fan of fishing with soft plastic baits, but my buddy told me to try the Berkley Gulp worms as he was having some luck with them. I picked up the Silver Flake sinking minnows instead and they have performed amazingly. I used them at the farm pond and was pulling out bass after bass out. I then went to a local trout stream and fished a deep hole below a dam, which really showed me how great these lures work. I pulled out several very nice smallmouth, a nice largemouth, and even landed two 17" brook trout. I had another fish on that I never saw, but it felt bigger than any other fish I have caught with the exception of a 40" muskie that I landed. It made short work of my 6lb Berkley Fireline and it is still swimming in that hole today.

The Manns Hard Nose frogs were more of an impulse purchase and I really didn't plan on having much luck with them, but they have been killer for me. I have been pulling more smallmouth out on these than any live bait or other lures that I have tried, and Sunday even while fishing another trout stream I landed a bunch of smallmouth on it and even had a strike from what was either a decent northern pike or a small muskie that had swam down into the stream from the lake. I have some pictures on my camera that I will put up later. I am planning on going fishing again today so hopefully I will get some more pics to post this evening.

I just wanted to let anybody who is looking at trying some new lures out a little info on these two baits as they have been performing great for me.

il coyote

I bought some Mann's plastics earlier in the year. I don't know exactly what they're called, but theyare very similar to the Zoom Fluke. I am a huge fan of the fluke rigged weightless on 8lb. line in a spinning reel, but I think the hardnose may be a bit better as far as durability.

With that weightless setup the lure falls REAL slow, and can get torn up pretty easily. But man does it work for bass.

virginiashadow

Hey Buck...I used to smallmouth fish with Berkley worms all the time in the Rappahanock River in Virginia. I used to Texas rig my soft plastics as that would help my baits stay free from getting hooked while they moved through the quick river waters.

I fish soft plastics 99 percent of the time. I love the finesse game when I am fishing. I liken it to bowhunting. One technique that used to really work for me was, throw the soft plastic at a 45 degree angle up stream, right above a rock or grass bed. Buzz the line right past the object, then just let it sink naturally. Just keep a little tension on the line and let it sit for 6-8 seconds. Sometimes, you just feel the line moving and just give a quick jerk to the side, not up, and the you will nail a good one! Good luck.

Buck Magnet

Thanks guys,

I got a chance to hit up the streams today and I fished almost entirely with the Manns Hardnose Frog with amazing success. I pulled out 3 Northern Pike between 22-24", a few largemouth, and a mess of smallmouth with the biggest in the 20" range. I did throw some banjo minnows and picked up a small smallmouth, a Zoom Fluke and missed missed a big smallie with that. The frogs have just been money for me. I have some more pictures, but I havn't downloaded any image editing software since my computer crashed, as soon as I do I will post some pics.