Fish Fry One & a Half Inch (1.5") Crank Bait
Tiny crankbaits loaded with fish-catching talent! Built with sturdy "thru-wire" construction, hard peafoam and razor sharp treble hooks which are as good as any treble-loaded crankbait in the world. The Fish Fry hosts a holographic, natural life-like finish that will attract all species from bluegill, crappie, bass, walleye and even carp.
From the first field test of the Mini Fish Fry, it proved its worth on
multiple fish species which succumbed to its charms. testing began on a
warm day in early September 2007. Only a dozen prototype lures had been
created for the original tests. Six of them in Shad finish, six in a
Perch pattern.
'Bobber' Anne and I decided to try this new lure
on the upper Mississippi River, which is rather shallow, rocky and hosts
both fast and slow waters. This part of the Mississippi contains
multiple species of fish. Walleye, smallmouth bass, rock bass, catfish,
bluegill, northern pike, muskie and a wide variety of roughfish swim
beneath its waters.
Using a five-foot lite spinning rod
loaded with four-pound monofilament line, we began to troll above the
lift area where water depth reached five to six feet. Knowing this, we'd
added a #8 shot a foot above where the line is tied into a tiny lure.
To allow the lure freedom in its wobble, we'd tied a #12 snap-swivel,
one with a round clip, to line's end and snapped the Mini Fish Fry to
it. The split shot would take the small lure down to about four feet of
depth.
We'd traveled less
than a hundred feet when the light rod snapped backwards by a hard hit.
After a tough fight, the landing net swung under a 12 1/2-pound channel
catfish. It was the first fish the Mini Fish Fry had captured.
Yes,
a bit unusual but very understandable. All species feed on tiny fish
fry which crowd our fishing waters, especially those which have just
emerged from the egg yolk stage.
Our
second fish ended up being a seven-pound carp. It was a battle I'll
never forget. What pleased me was the fact that this new lure's #14
treble hooks held so well. After months of testing, it became evident
that these tiny trebles held and never failed, no matter how large the
fish.
Note: The angler needs a needle-nosed pliers to get the small hooks out much of the time.
Our
testing was confirmed on that very first day with literally dozens of
fish landed. The oddest of them were a pair of redhorse suckers that
sucked the small lure in as its nose kicked up silt off the bottom in a
large eddy. Other notable fish taken on day one of our field testing was
a 4 1/2-pound smallmouth and dozens of its children in the 9 to 14-inch
size. A five-pound walleye and numerous small walleye between 6 and 18
inches were also taken. Our bag included bluegill, rockbass, a small
pike and even a yellow bullhead.
At
this point, it was obvious Gapen's had a winner. Fourteen more months
of testing the new Fish Fry line of lures in two sizes, as well as a
dozen colors further showed us we had a winner. We'd gone from some of
the largest lures in the world to the smallest crankbait with great
success.
