Help with Lure Id

[FISH PIMP]

Does anyone know the name and the maker of this lure. Pic is of the bottom of the lure.

Thanks for the help,
Pete

[CaptMikeStarrett]

Kinda looks like an early Thin Fin.. just a guess..

Capt Mike

[Spot77]

Never seen one, but I like it! Be sure to let us know if you figure it out; I'd like to try a few.

[FISH PIMP]

The reason I ask is the lake I live on in NW Virginia just about everytime I go out I see fish breaking the surface in roughly 30 to 50 feet of water. I have thrown just about everything at these fish. They go back down just about as fast as they come up to the surface. Last Saturday I took my father in law out and we saw some fish breaking the surface. We go over after they go back down and throw an assortment of lures at them with no luck. At the end of the trip it happens again so we go over and my father in law tied on his mystery lure. The lure floats and dives down about 5 feet and swims very erratic. He threw the lure a bunch of times with no luck. As we decided to head home he retrieves the lure fast up on the surface quickly just to get it in so we can head home and thats when a fish slammed the lure in 50 feet of water. The lake has Hybrid Striper's in it and that was what we assumed it was but as the fish neared the boat I realized it was a real nice smallie with 2 other smallies the same size maybe a bit bigger were trying to grab the lure from the hooked fishes mouth. We get the fish in the boat and it was approximately a 4 lb, 20 inch smallie. Now that I have a piece of the puzzle figured out with these breaking fish I figured I would ask if anyone new the maker of this mystery lure. Thanks for all your help guys and info would be greatly appreciated.

Pete

[Salmo trutta]

Smallmouth breaking water on the surface, now that is cool. And not little ones either. I never knew they did that until I saw some Bass master classic on Oneida lake in Oswego county NY. the guys were litterally hunting for birds and breaking fish to score on some impressive size smallmouth, just like we do on the bay for schoolie stripers. They mostly caught theirs on rattle traps and jigging spoons.

cool looking lure, sorry, have no idea what it is. Some sort of spoon with a really nice finish. Probably home made or a small company because the paint doesn't look perfect, more like sticker maybe?

[uncle phill]

Hot Shot Thin Fins had a bill - this looks more like a spoon to me (curved) than a crank.

[FISH PIMP]

Finally found the info I was looking for. The name and make is called Renosky Crystalina Crippled Shad. Thanks for all the input guys. I did go back out on the lake Tuesday just before dark and sure enough big fish taking bait off the surface. I threw a bunch of topwater and flukes with varying retrieves with no luck. Someday I hope to get these fish figured out.

Pete

[JPritch]

Maybe try a real bait....minnows, worms, etc.... might entice them? I have no smally experience, just throwing out ideas. Better yet, if you can figure out what they're hitting, and find something similar to use, or even catch and use what they're hitting.

[JAL]

Two thoughts:

Have you tried a small (3-4") true suspending jerk bait? I've used these in Deep Creek on smallies with very good luck. A 'pause-jerk-pause-jerk-deadstick' retrieve can really trigger strikes. After a few jerks, allow the suspending jerkbait to deadstick (suspend motionless), really imitates injured bait. The key is a good suspending jerkbait like a Lucky Craft pointer or the suspending YoZuri Crystal minnow. It needs to suspend level and stay motionless under the surface several feet and not float up. I've had several trips were the suspending minnow will catch well when traditional cranks or spinnerbaits aren't nearly as productive.

Another idea since you caught fish when retrieving the lure in fast. Try a 1/2 or 3/4 oz spinner bait, but take off the factory blades, downsize the blades, but use a Willow leaft style? Why, smaller blades = smaller profile, you can 'burn' the spinner bait in, the Willow leafs won't push the Spinner Bait up to the surface (like the larger cupped Colorado style blade) on a fast retrieve with a heavier 1/2 or3/4 oz size. You can cast this a mile to surface feeders, and literally real as fast as you can or just keep the blades from breaking the surface.

Just a thought and worth a try for a situation with finicky Smallies.

[FISH PIMP]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll give the ideas a try over this weekend and let you know how I make out. Once again Thanks

Pete