Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

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scarkner
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Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by scarkner »

OK... the title is maybe a little tongue in cheek...

Some of you know that I am a dedicated (addicted) inventor, never satisfied to leave well enough alone.

Last year I bought a real-looking mouse lure and found that it was absolute fantastic at getting fish to strike, but the actual hook-up rate was awful. I likely caught 1 fish in 50 that would strike. They seemed to always just hit the tail. Also, with this mouse (and many of the hollow-body frog lures) they tend to sink, especially if you have a metal leader on them.

This weekend I tried out a modified version of the lure and it was absolutely unbelieveable!!! Caught more fish than I could count until a monster pike snapped my line like it was thread.

Since i had to build another one I decided to take photos and share. Let me know if you build it and do well.

This modified lure solves several of the shortcomings of the original:
1) Won't sink, even when waterlogged
2) Has a stinger in the tail, orientation keeps hooks above the water surface so still very weedless
3) Has stabilization beads on the hooks, so if it leans one way, they bring it back on level (like a pontoon boat)
4) Beads also glow, havent tried it at night yet...
5) Bright yellow corn grabs extra attention and keeps nose up when using a metal leader (add more corn for longer/heavier leaders).

Here is most of what you need (glow beads not shown).
Lure, soft closed-cell foam (packing material, whatever), glow beads, floating carp-corn foam.
Image

When used out of the box, the lure works well in terms of buoyancy, but gradually takes on water and sinks. I find many strikes occurr when it is sitting motionless (like it is tired out) but the lure tends to sink if you don't keep reeling it in and squeezing it empty every time you reel in.
Image

Here is the lure sitting on the bottom of my container (hard to tell with the clear water) when you squeeze the air out of the body.
Image

Modifications:
Remove the weighted plug from the body. It is glued in, but not too strongly so you can work it out with your hands or pliers. It is OK if body tears a little, but I found most came out cleanly. I rotated the body around the hooks to get them out of the way. Instead of using weight to keep the mouse upright, I am using the beads on the hooks. Also, the hooks themselves tend to be bottom-heavy so the weight isn't needed to keep it upright.
Image

Now cut a strip of foam that is about 50% wider than the mouse, and same length, I also rounded the front end to roughly match the mouse's nose profile. Fold it lengthwise and push it into the hole. It is tough to do, little soap helps. Once it is inside it kinda springs open and sits against the top of the mouse body.
Image

Rotate the hooks back into position, put the stinger hook over one of the body hooks, and embed into the top of the tail, leaving some slack since the tail is stretchy and you want it to wiggle. Then thread a glow-bead over each hook. The soft beads seem to be best for this as they sit in the curve of the hook and have better buoyancy. Finally, put a hole in a piece of corn and push it over the nose ring. I have also attached a barrel swivel to add weight and show that it really keeps it's nose up.
This picture if of a fully water logged mouse, yet it still sits up great in the water and really attracts fish attention, especially if you reel it in bursty, so it appears to be getting tired. Quite often I will have sunfish pick at it until something larger comes up and hammers it from the depths.
Image

I am also open to suggestions!

I did think of using hotglue injected inside it. The buoyancy is good, but I felt it would be much too hard, it would prevent the main hooks from ever working. The soft foam inside doesn't seem to impact the occasional hook-up on the big hooks (from larger fish). But the vast majority of fish are caught on the stinger in their lips.
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by Moosebunk »

Is this kind of lure tweaking and thinking that might actually make those lures worth their hefty price tag. 8)

Well done, I "like" this. The foam insert makes it gold man.
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lape0019
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by lape0019 »

That's pretty neat Scarkner.

I never thought of trying this but now you have given me some ideas. I would definitely use the inserted foam but not sure about the beads on the hooks. Have you tried it without them? I imagine buoyancy would still be alright. Also, I like your stinger hooks idea but I would probably try something a little different.

I would try something like this and try and texas rig it into the tail.
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lake_For ... TFRHK.html

Glad to hear it worked out for you though. Nothing better than tinkering with something and then it pays off huge for you!
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by scarkner »

lape0019 wrote:That's pretty neat Scarkner.

I never thought of trying this but now you have given me some ideas. I would definitely use the inserted foam but not sure about the beads on the hooks. Have you tried it without them? I imagine buoyancy would still be alright. Also, I like your stinger hooks idea but I would probably try something a little different.

I would try something like this and try and texas rig it into the tail.
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lake_For ... TFRHK.html

Glad to hear it worked out for you though. Nothing better than tinkering with something and then it pays off huge for you!
The beads are actually important or it tends to roll to one side or the other. Might be OK without them if you are actively reeling it it. I haven't tried actually fishing without the beads, but like the look of the mouse sitting up straight. Who knows what fish like to see?

As for the hook you showed, that's brilliant! Even better and less finicky than the stinger. Won't sit back quite so far and is probably quite a bit heavier, but I like the center position a lot.
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by CBB »

That is a great mod to the lure and as long as it works for you that is what counts in the end.
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WhitESOX
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by WhitESOX »

Cool lure hack, scarkner.

I think we all have those defective / unlucky / poor performing dogs in our tackle boxes that we mean to toss in the trash or bequeath to the kids but don't for some reason. My floating mouse is among those dogs, but not that brand. I might try that foam suppository and tail trailer hook, thanks for sharing.
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doublest
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by doublest »

Like your idea, but I just can't visualize how you are attaching the treble stinger to the tail.
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by Walleye'm Fishing »

'Love it! I fish some monster brook trout lakes and I always wanted to try a mouse just to see if I could entice a beast to strike. Fly fishermen use mouse fly patterns all the time for large brookies with great success... I'm sure that if I put in my time with your setup, a beast will eventually surface... What's great about your setup is that it floats at all times and you added that oh so important trailer hook. :handgestures-thumbup:
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Jul0682
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by Jul0682 »

Awesome mod, I'd have to look into that for mine :)
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by toobinator »

These hooks are available at Paddletales in 2 sizes
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lake_For ... TFRHK.html

Have sold them for years and the hookup ratio improves greatly.

Ed
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lape0019
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by lape0019 »

I knew I had seen them somewhere locally :D
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Re: Best Fishing Lure Ever - Pike and Bass

Post by azabache »

WOW ! Great mod. Does it only work on the LT. mouse or can you mod others / similar products with similar results?

Azabache & Junior
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