There is one big reason for giving minnow
baits a separate chapter from other lip-baits,
and that is not their slim profile but the
way they are fished. While it is true that
they can be worked on a straight retrieve,
most of them are far more effective when
twitched. To a degree, they come midway
between crankbaits and jerkbaits in the
techniques that can be used to fish them
successfully.
Although
there are deep diving versions of some minnow
baits available these really fall in the
crankbait category. In my opinion, putting
a deep diving lip on a minnow changes it
from a minnow bait, so they are discussed
elsewhere. Minnows are shallow workers supreme,
the majority getting down little more than
four feet when cast and retrieved. This
makes them ideal for cranking back over
weed tops. They can also work well trolled,
notably where pike are feeding on trout
high in the water or in any shallow water
situation.
The
gentle rolling action that most minnows
have when retrieved slowly gives off plenty
of flash, which no doubt explains why metallic
finishes predominate amongst these lures.
A silver or chrome minnow bait fished in
clear water on a bright sunny day is as
noticeable as a lighthouse's lamp! And very
effective. I feel sure that under such conditions
pike are drawn from long distances to minnow
baits. Other colours work on minnows, although
harder to find. Fire Tiger variations are
good, as they are on all lures, as are perch
patterns and other naturalistic finishes.
One colour that is rare to see on a minnow
bait is black. I don't know why this should
be because it is a top surface bait colour
- and minnows are almost surface baits.
I have a Maverick which I painted black
with an orange head, and that catches pike.
Why not paint a minnow black and give it
a try sometime?
As
quickly worked search lures, minnows can
be superb. How fast you have to retrieve
a lure for pike to ignore it I don't know.
Someone once said that you can't crank a
lure too fast for pike. This has certainly
been true for me with minnow baits at times.
The speed that pike can attain when chasing
a quickly moving lure is incredible. Almost
as incredible as the speed with which they
can come to a dead-stop. I had one come
racing up behind a Cordell Redfin just as
I lifted it out of the water, stopping right
under my rod tip and looking pretty bewildered!
What to do? I cast out again a few yards
behind the pike and started twitching the
lure really slowly. When it was about two
feet behind the pike it got slammed.
To
dismiss minnows as lures with little action
is to miss the point by a wide margin. Being
lures that attract visually, having little
vibratory appeal, minnows do seem to be
at their best in clear water. Don't discount
them in coloured water or low light conditions
though, because the fact that they always
run near the surface ensures that they present
a good silhouette as they pass over the
pike. Fished in the right way they have
a lot going for them in the pike-attraction
stakes. To get the most out of minnows it
is essential to start twitching them. Not
all baits work in the same manner. The Bomber
Long A, a favourite of mine, is constructed
from high density plastic and so casts into
a wind far better than a lot of minnows,
but this reduces its buoyancy and cuts down
on its roll. The straight version will twitch
quite well and a little deeper than more
buoyant baits. Even so, I prefer to move
it with longer (three feet), but quick,
strokes of the rod tip. The action must
be smooth and the slack recovered quickly.
The lure should hardly stop moving between
pulls. Slowing this retrieve down makes
the Long A veer off to the side, a little
like a jerkbait, yet with a wiggle that
jerkbaits rarely have. I have found the
jointed model to be a poor twitchbait. A
better tactic with the jointed Long A is
the quick-slow-quick-slow retrieve, rather
than working the lure with the rod, I work
it from the reel. This is productive with
the straight version, and with other minnow
baits, too.
Another
dense minnow is the Rebel Windcheater, a
bait that behaves more like a crankbait
all round, diving deeper and having less
roll than other minnow baits being fatter
than a true minnow. The Windcheater was
designed for casting into the wind (surprise,
surprise) and is matched in this by few
other minnows. The Luhr Jensen Javelin is
an almost identical lure, but with a slight
curve to the tail end of the body, kind
of like a chunky Long A. If anything the
Javelin has a more pronounced wiggle than
the Windcheater, resembling more a stretched
Big S in its action. Both these lures are
good trollers and useful twitchbaits for
getting down deeper than standard minnows.
The
Gudebrod Maverick is an unusual minnow,
being short, dumpy and moulded from a high
density foam. At just six inches long and
56g (whatever that is in English) it casts
like a dream. This lure must be just about
indestructible as it has a one piece brass
wire configuration for its line-tie and
hook hangers. Despite its solid construction
the Maverick will only run a foot or so
below the surface when cast, and has the
widest roll of any bait I have come across.
Constantly twitching this lure as you crank
it back will get it to work quite a bit
deeper though, and this is true of all baits.
Standard seven inch minnows. Top to
bottom: Original Rapala Minnow (balsa).
Bagley's Bang-O Lure (balsa). Ryobi
Big Dixie (also available under alternative
names from other manufacturers). Bomber
Long A (17A). Bomber Long A (17J). Bill
Norman Blue Fin (repainted in "cartoon
perch"). Cordell Red Fin. Whopper Stopper
Magnum Hellcat (discontinued).
There are two main ways of making twitched
minnows work for you. The first is to use
them as surface baits. The lure is cast
out and left for a second or two. Then you
take up any slack and 'pop' the bait with
a snap of the wrist. This causes it to dive
and create a splash on the surface. The
lure will return to the surface close to
where it was initially. The more buoyant
the lure the closer to its initial position
it will resurface. Cordell Redfins are extremely
buoyant, hollow bodied, minnows with as
much roll as the Maverick. Great for surface
fishing like this. Work the lure slowly
back pausing between pops, and maybe running
the lure from time to time, especially when
fishing in patchy weed. Pop the bait in
the clear patches and run it over the weed
tops. Or the other way round, depending
on where you think the pike are lying. Deeper
diving/less buoyant minnows can be fished
in this way too, but they travel further
forward, and dive a little deeper on each
twitch.
Twitching
a lure a second time before it begins to
float back to the surface will drive it
deeper still. Repeating this in rapid succession
will get the lure down below its standard
running depth. In this way it is possible
to retrieve minnow baits four or five feet
down, instead of their more usual two or
three feet. I am now getting into a most
effective retrieve, where the lure moves
forward all the time while being continuously
twitched. This works summer and winter,
but overall retrieve speed is critical.
For a slow retrieve deeper running lures
should be used. As a rule it pays to work
lures slower in cold water, and quicker
in warm water. This is a response to the
pike's cold blooded nature. But as with
everything in fishing it is only a rule
of thumb. If a winter pike is extremely
hungry, and finding food hard to come by,
it might well be prepared to chase a fast
moving bait.
For
slow twitching the 6" Grandma is an excellent
choice. Sometimes called the Magna Strike
Gladiator, this lure is almost universally
known as the Grandma - so that's what I'll
call it! Although flat sided this bait can
still be fished like a minnow, but because
it has a little more wiggle than most minnows
it can also be fished like a crankbait.
The 7½" Grandma is one of the few
jointed baits I have found that works when
twitched. If you want a high profile twitching
minnow, then go for a 9" Grandma even on
small, confined waters. The entire family
is excellent, as are all the Magna Strike
lures that I have used, although they do
have an annoying tendency to leak. Grandmas
run deeper than standard minnows, which
is why they can be worked more slowly. Because
of their additional wiggle, they can be
successfully fished with a combination retrieve.
Run straight for a few feet or even yards,
then twitched a couple of times before running
again. The take will often come as soon
as the lure is twitched. Even if cranking
this lure, and many others for that matter,
I like to give it a twitch or two as soon
as it splashes down on the cast. I feel
that this burst of activity helps alert
pike further to the lure's presence, as
well as getting it below the surface and
the lip biting the water for the retrieve.
If you are anything like me you will get
a lot of takes on these initial twitches.
When casting across a drain, for instance,
this will get you a lot of takes close to
the far bank. It also works in open water.
I recall fishing Bough Beech and changing
to a nine inch Grandma in Fire Tiger (surprise,
surprise) after much fruitless fishing with
just about everything else in my boxes.
First cast it got hit within five twitches.
"Yes, monster city", I thought. No, an eight
pounder! That's the way it goes sometimes.
Pausing
the retrieve from time to time and allowing
the minnow to float upwards is a good tactic,
giving it a twitch as it rises is an even
better one. A twitch before starting to
crank never goes amiss either. Less buoyant
lures might actually hang, suspended, in
the water when you stop cranking. Hence
the term "suspending lures". If you look
at most of these baits it will be apparent
that they are generally minnows. The big
problem is that they almost all smallish,
being designed to be fished without a wire
trace for walleye and bass, and the addition
of wire upsets their critical buoyancy and
they sink. When I talk about minnow baits,
I mean baits of at least six inches and
usually seven inches or more. Being slim,
and light, smaller minnows do not cast too
well, and offer a small silhouette or profile.
The majority of my minnows are seven inch
jobs, and they catch me plenty of pike of
all sizes.
The
suspending concept is not to be ignored.
Certain baits, particularly balsa minnows,
lose a lot of buoyancy through the use of
a heavy trace. Bagley's seven inch Bang
O Lure is one such, and an excellent twitching
minnow with a superbly lively action. Sadly,
this is a hard to find lure which I believe
has been discontinued during the writing
of this book. I suggest you spend a little
time tracking some down.... then buy in
bulk! For a seven inch minnow it has a very
slim shape and looks quite a bit smaller
than a lot of minnows. Nonetheless mine
catch more than their fair share of pike.
Like all balsa baits it is prone to hook
and tooth damage, but that's the price you
pay for superb performance. Wooden lures
can be doctored to become neutrally buoyant,
or nearly so, by drilling holes in them
and adding shot or lead to weight them.
This is a critical procedure, and not one
which I have summoned up the courage to
try on any of my wooden minnows. However,
hollow plastic baits can have holes drilled
in them to allow weighting with vegetable
oil, water or split shot, which is a more
reversible option than doctoring wooden
baits. The hole can be sealed with epoxy
- which is almost permanent - or a self
tapping screw to enable a change of loading.
For speedy on-the-water alterations the
plug from a bubble float can be used, or
preferably two (in two holes) to make for
easier draining of the water. Make sure
they are a very tight fit in the holes though,
or the lure may take on water when you don't
want it too. Using water as ballast has
the disadvantage that it can cause the hook
hangers to rust, unseen, from inside. Draining
after every outing should alleviate that
problem.
Minnow variations. Top to bottom: Ace
Magnum Minnow, 8". Rapala Magnum (floating),
18cm. Nilsmaster Invincible, 18cm. Luhr
Jensen Javelin, 5 . Rebel Windcheater,
6". Storm Shallomac (repainted), 5½".
Gudebrod Maverick (hand painted), 6".
Weighting
lures in one of these ways can reduce
the action somewhat, but adds running
depth and casting distance. Putting shot,
beads or ball bearings in a hollow lure
obviously makes it noisier. If this gives
you confidence then fair enough, there
are few rattling minnow baits on the market.
The few that I am aware of have only one
or two rattles. Should you be interested
in experimenting with weighted minnows
it is a good idea to try it out on the
cheaper baits, Bill Norman's Blue Fin
is one that works well enough before the
operation, and is good when doctored too.
Care must be taken as the weight will
shift in the lure altering its balance
on the retrieve. If you intend to twitch
the bait this actually makes its action
more erratic and unpredictable, but if
running it there is every chance that
it will fish differently on each cast.
Not
only can minnows be bought as (or turned
into) neutrally buoyant baits, there are
a few sinking minnows on the market. The
usual way of fishing these is as 'countdown'
lures in the same way as spoons. However,
they can be twitched to good effect. Of
course, they don't float to the surface
when you stop them, but sink to the bottom.
Lacking buoyancy they can be used to fish
deeper, or slower than equal sized floating
baits. It can also be worth trying them
in running water for fishing upstream. There
are not many sinking minnows that spring
to mind. Rapalas are the obvious one, and
Abu have produced them at times. I have
only a couple of sinking minnows, but they
are another of my under-used lures.
It
is perhaps worth noting that not only the
Bang-O, but some other good minnows, have
suffered the ignominy of deletion from the
catalogues. I mention this because one all
time favourite lures suffered this fate.
The Magnum Hellcat, originally a Whopper
Stopper lure but latterly in the Heddon
range. What made this minnow so good is
hard to pinpoint, no doubt it was in the
combination of its buoyancy and lip shape.
Whatever, there is a noticeable difference
in action between the Whopper Stopper models
and the Heddons. Probably it has something
to do with the type of plastic used. The
same has happened to the Abu Hi-Lo adjustable
lipped crankbait. When production was switched
from Sweden to the Far East there was a
slight change in performance. But back to
minnows.
What
soon becomes apparent among the minnow family
of lures is that, although each manufacturer's
bait looks very similar to another's, they
all have their useful characteristics. Of
the seven inch plastic baits available at
the time of writing, Redfins run shallowest,
then Blue Fins then Long As. Magnum Hellcats
come between the Blue Fin and the Long A.
There are others, too, such as the Dixie
Minnow marketed by Ryobi which is similar
to the Bomber being moulded in a dense,
clear plastic and also available under other
guises. The Storm Shallomac is a six inch
bait that is fairly buoyant but manages
to dive a little more than many minnows,
while the Top Gun from Bagley's is also
six inches in length and a very buoyant
plastic bait. Mann's do a minnow bait guaranteed
to run at one foot or less, the Stretch
1 minus. This is by no means a complete
list as just about every major lure manufacturer
lists a six or seven inch minnow lure. By
building up a collection from different
ranges you will have a selection of minnow
baits that will cover a range of running
depths, and with varying actions.
There
are fewer and fewer wooden minnows around
these days, and the Bang-O apart the king
of the heap is the ubiquitous Rapala - as
world renowned as the Mepps is in spinner
terms. Another that springs to mind is the
Nils Master Invincible. This lure is unusual
in that it has a squashed look to it, almost
as if it had been sat on. There is also
a slight curve to the body, which, in part,
may account for its deeper diving capabilities
compared to more traditional minnow baits.
For some reason I owned none of these two
renowned baits at the time I began writing
this book, so I borrowed a few off my pal
Martin McDerby for the purpose of taking
some photos. Naturally I had to give them
a whirl while I had them! The Original Rapala
has a very tight wiggle, and a subtle action
when twitched. I am not going to say that
it is the minnow that appeals most to my
tastes, unlike the Floating Magnum Rapala
and the Invincible. Both of these are made
from a harder wood than balsa and have more
pronounced vibrating wiggles, and wider
twitching actions. I may have had none of
these two baits when I started writing this
book, but you can bet your life I'll have
some now you are reading it!
The
list of minnow baits is almost endless,
recently I have come across a range made
in the former Soviet Union - in Lithuania
I think. These Ace Minnows are also made
of a harder wood than balsa and have larger
lips. The result is a minnow that casts
well, and dives deeper than most - to around
eight feet or more dependant on the particular
size of bait. Even so they twitch quite
nicely, and although the colours are basic
they catch pike - which is what matters
in my book. Like Grandmas, they troll well
too.
When
fishing over or along weed there is always
the chance of fouling the bait up.
A stronger than normal twitch should pop
the lure free in most cases, but use an
upward movement of the rod to prevent burying
the bait deeper in the weed. There
was one occasion when I had done this and
saw that the Bang-O was trailing some pondweed.
Nothing will take the lure with that hanging
off it", I thought, and made another snap
to rid the lure of the weed. As soon
as the lure moved a pike came from nowhere
and hit the bait, weed and all. Always
expect the unexpected! Another interesting
incident occurred recently, also when I
was fishing a Bang-O. I had lifted
the bait out at the finish of a retrieve
when a pike struck in the ripples under
my rod top. This has happened many
times in the past, and I have mentioned
it elsewhere. This time I felt that
the fish was catchable, and a short cast
parallel with the bank to my left turned
the fish half way back as I twitched the
bait. At the end of the next cast
I let the lure float to the surface and
lie there, even though I hadn't seen any
sign of the pike. The next thing I
knew the Bang-O was dancing about under
the water - pike attached!
The second fish of the day, before it
had come fully light. Both pike took
a home-painted perch pattern Maverick
cranked back quickly in very shallow
water.
All minnows share a most appealing trait,
they are very good hookers. This is because
of their universally slim profile which
doesn't mask the hooks. For some reason
that I cannot fathom, tradition seems to
dictate that minnow baits between four and
six inches are fitted with three trebles,
while the seven inch lures have only two.
There are a few exceptions. Admittedly the
two hooks are larger in size, which is a
form of compensation. Not only are the hooks
not masked, but the slim body shape does
appear to slip easily into the pike's mouth.
Tackle
for fishing minnows is pretty much the same
as for fishing spinnerbaits. There is a
case for using a slightly stiffer rod as
this aids in twitching the lures. Twitching
baits is less tiring with baitcasting gear,
so this is what to use with all but the
tiniest of minnows. As most minnows are
shallow runners, and you will mostly be
fishing them over, rather than through,
weed the only advantage that a braided line
will offer is to aid hook-sets at the extreme
of the cast. This can be a help as a lot
of takes will come during the first three
twitches of a bait, particularly when making
long casts to pike-holding cover. Then again
a number of takes will come right under
the rod tip so have the drag set right,
or be ready to hit the free spool button.
When fishing drains and canals I have had
pike shoot out from under my feet to hit
minnow baits. A stealthy approach has ensured
that they haven't drifted out to deeper
water before I've made my first cast.