Sure Shad

[Bggeary]

Yes they where!

[Hotfire]

And don't forget Reef Runners The Wobbler, Captain's Princess and Bar Bumpers. There were so many different types!

[M.A.D. Eyes]

Green and white Parrish pea, my all-time favorite back in the day followed by the big johns! Lots of fish and memories made with those. And to add, back then I always used a 5foot2inch, medium casting rod, berkley bionix, and as a matter of fact, I still have it and several other short casting rods.

[M.A.D. Eyes]

Oops sorry, make that medium heavy berkley bionix.

[PZeiler]

Hotfire - Yes - the Sure Shad I am using were made by the Veselka Tackle Company. I have been using them more over the past few years.

[Hotfire]

Pzeller-

The 5/8 oz. chartreuse with a green overspray was what I used 99% of the time. It was an absolute walleye magnet. I loved that lure more than any other. It sure makes me yearn for the good ol' days!

[RobM1969]

I just wanted to say that I love this thread. I still keep a box full of weight forward spinners on my boat and one of my crank bait boxes still has a couple of Wiggle Warts and Hot-n-Tots in it. I like to pull them out and tell my boys about how me and my dad (who died before they were born) used to hammer the walleye with these baits back when I was their age. We've even caught a few fish on them in the past couple of years.

Now, I have a 15 year old who ties his own worm harnesses and imitation Weapons/Mayfly rigs and begs me to take him to Hi-Way Bait or Erie Outfitters to buy more hooks and blades. He'd fish every day if he could. Just like me at that age.

The way we fish for walleye has changed over the past 30 years. Fortunately, some things, like dads and sons fishing together and telling stories about the "good old days" haven't changed at all.

[Lucky Duck]

I too love this thread. More importantly is that these weight forward spinners still catch lots of fish. When I got my son out fishing a few years ago and we did a lot of trolling, that was fine. But on the days we threw weight forward lures, he was in love.I have several friends that enjoy throwing the weight forwards in stead of trolling. I still make the Lake Erie Hellion lures and we paint and dress those lures in several different colors. We still throw Erie Dearies and some of the golden nuggets too. I guess I am going to have to pull out my old green and my tooth marked orange Hot and Tots and see if they still have that effect on todays walleye.

[troy1976]

Love reading all this. Grandpa used to take me out once a week and we threw gold nuggets. no question made several thousand casts with one of those over the years. I threw one saturday for a while just to say hi to gramps, whom Im sure was looking down and smiling. only problem was he didnt send any fish my way... love working the swing and the count. who needs all this technology lol.

good luck all

[Hotfire]

Ahhhh... The swing and the count. I remember the days of the first fish hitting the net and everybody on the boat asking, "What was the count?" and "What color are you using?". We would would zero in on those suspended walleye and the color of the day.

This thread really takes me back!

And for the record... at 20 years old I was once the youngest charter captain on the lake (at least according to the directory of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association).