11/27 Huron trip

We finished November with a bang today. 3 man limit of 5-6 pound fish
and released another 20. Husky Jerks outperformed bandits and P10’s. Anything orange was hot today. 55 back unassisted at 1.8.

I learned a few things this year. You don’t need a mono or fluro leader for trolling cranks, straight braid works just fine. We caught just as many if not more fish without the leader. I also didn’t realize you should only use a snaps for cranks, not swivel snaps. The swivel snap takes away from the action of the lure.

This is my 33rd year fishing Lake Erie and I am still learning. Thank you to everyone who shares their knowledge to make us all better fishermen and women.

Tight lines!

JimAttachment 7554

Yes braided with a snap to the lure works fine. Don't let anyone tell you different.

i've been useing stren 12 lb. yellow/gold line right to the lure for the last couple years with no slow down on bites...doesn't seem to bother the fish.

Thats a nice looking cooler of fish along with some good info on the snaps. Been fishing Lake Erie for a long time but only trolling the last 3 years. Always something new to learn and one of the reasons I read and try to participate on this site.

Baha299

Thanks for post Jim,didn't see you post as many trips this year compared to years past.I have read the same from the best trollers,no leader needed even if using hi vis line right to crank.Yeah,your right that snap to cranks is better than swivels too.

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Originally Posted by itsbob

Thanks for post Jim,didn't see you post as many trips this year compared to years past.I have read the same from the best trollers,no leader needed even if using hi vis line right to crank.Yeah,your right that snap to cranks is better than swivels too.

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Thanks Bob. The reason I’m not posting as often is because a lot of the time I am getting info from some of my friends and I don’t want to give information that isn’t mine. I didn’t receive any intel for this trip, so I was good to go. There are some damn good captains on this site and I’ve learned a lot from them.

Yeah Jim same here.A lot of the time I get fishing location from others that I'm not privy to post.But I will post the other info like type of lures,colors leads and speed that is helpful to others.I too am learning new things trolling every year.It's the small details that can make a big difference in how much you catch.Never be so rigid to not try something new.It always amazes me how many different ways people catch fish.

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Originally Posted by Eyezcrazy

We finished November with a bang today. 3 man limit of 5-6 pound fish
and released another 20. Husky Jerks outperformed bandits and P10’s. Anything orange was hot today. 55 back unassisted at 1.8.

I learned a few things this year. You don’t need a mono or fluro leader for trolling cranks, straight braid works just fine. We caught just as many if not more fish without the leader. I also didn’t realize you should only use a snaps for cranks, not swivel snaps. The swivel snap takes away from the action of the lure.

This is my 33rd year fishing Lake Erie and I am still learning. Thank you to everyone who shares their knowledge to make us all better fishermen and women.

Tight lines!

JimAttachment 7554

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Thanks for the report and nice job on the fish. The main issue with running braid is that it doesn't work very well with most clips on in-line planer boards. It slides right through my off-shore clips. Not to mention that I like to grab the leader and just flip in anything under 4 lbs to keep it out of the net. If I did that with braid it would slice my hands up. It also doesn't provide the same shock absorbing characteristics that mono does. Now when I am casting or jigging, braid is the bomb. I also like it for running Dipseys. But not for trolling cranks, IMO.

As far as DDHJ's go vs Bandits, it all depends on the day. DDHJ's have a narrower bill, hence a tighter wobble. They land in between a Flicker Minnow and a Bandit. I took a grinder to some of my Bandits and made them narrower as well.

You can see the difference in the photo below. The standard one is on the left. I made some just a bit narrower, and then others even narrower yet. On Saturday, I caught fish on both, so it was hard to tell which worked better. But it does give me variations of wobble to play with along with the various patterns, etc.

Attachment 7562

Thats a great idea on grinding the bill to change the action on the lure.First i heard of someone doing that with their cranks.I have a difficult enough time storing and organizing my cranks.Adding cracks that you have custom ground must make for another layer of organizing your gear.

This was my first time fishing the DHJ14’s. They seem to be a better made lure than the Bandits. I know the Bandits are made in China. Rapala makes lure in a couple different countries, I’m not sure where the DHJ are made, but they seem better quality.

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Originally Posted by itsbob

Thats a great idea on grinding the bill to change the action on the lure.First i heard of someone doing that with their cranks.I have a difficult enough time storing and organizing my cranks.Adding cracks that you have custom ground must make for another layer of organizing your gear.

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I ended up doing it out of necessity initially. When I first started making baits (for myself initially, then selling them) I had a hard time finding blanks that were any good. Most of the ones that I found had bills that were too wide and not shaped correctly. They ran ok at slower speeds, but when we got to the summer, we found out that they didn't run worth a crap. They pulled too hard and were super touchy to tune.

After a couple months of searching and sampling, I finally found a supplier that had blanks that worked really well. The ones that I use now are pretty much identical to what you would buy in the store, only better, because when I get them, I dip the whole thing (bill included) in KBS Diamond Cote, which makes them really durable and smooths out any imperfections in the seam between the two sides. I dip the body again after I paint them, or coat them with epoxy, depending on the pattern.

Here's a comparison of the older blanks on the left and the newer blanks on the right.

Attachment 7563

Here's a picture that shows how I modify the older ones:

Attachment 7564

If anyone on this site bought baits from me prior to mid April of this year, it is likely you have the older blanks. If you do, go to my web-store and send me an email to let me know. You can ship them back to me and I will repair them for you for free. I have already reached out proactively to most of my customers that bought the older blanks, however, I may have missed a few. You can choose either Standard or Narrow, or some of each. I am only offering this for the older blanks, not the new ones, as they run fine as-is. When people spend that kind of money for custom baits, I want to make sure they have baits that actually run right. Cheers!

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Originally Posted by slimshady

I ended up doing it out of necessity initially. When I first started making baits (for myself initially, then selling them) I had a hard time finding blanks that were any good. Most of the ones that I found had bills that were too wide and not shaped correctly. They ran ok at slower speeds, but when we got to the summer, we found out that they didn't run worth a crap. They pulled too hard and were super touchy to tune.

After a couple months of searching and sampling, I finally found a supplier that had blanks that worked really well. The ones that I use now are pretty much identical to what you would buy in the store, only better, because when I get them, I dip the whole thing (bill included) in KBS Diamond Cote, which makes them really durable and smooths out any imperfections in the seam between the two sides. I dip the body again after I paint them, or coat them with epoxy, depending on the pattern.

Here's a comparison of the older blanks on the left and the newer blanks on the right.

Attachment 7563

Here's a picture that shows how I modify the older ones:

Attachment 7564

If anyone on this site bought baits from me prior to mid April of this year, it is likely you have the older blanks. If you do, go to my web-store and send me an email to let me know. You can ship them back to me and I will repair them for you for free. I have already reached out proactively to most of my customers that bought the older blanks, however, I may have missed a few. You can choose either Standard or Narrow, or some of each. I am only offering this for the older blanks, not the new ones, as they run fine as-is. When people spend that kind of money for custom baits, I want to make sure they have baits that actually run right. Cheers!

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You're a good man. Bravo 👏

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Originally Posted by buckeyezip

You're a good man. Bravo 👏

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Thanks for the reply. I have had people tell me that I am nuts to fix them for free. Even some of my customers that bought them have told me that. However, I know that I would not be happy if I bought them and paid good money for them and found out that they didn't run right. Especially when I am selling them to people that I consider to be my friends. Whether I know the person or not, if they are walleye fisherman, they are part of the "family". At the end of the day, it is my reputation as a lure maker, a fisherman and a person that is on the line, so I will make it right. Period.