Wiggle Warts

[Guest]

I just finished painting a group of vintage wiggle warts. (olive/brown/orange)

I get these baits from various places and they are not easy to find.

Sometimes its luck, other times its Dad's tackle boxes, many times a client with a few extra, or most of all Ebay.

This brings me to the topic of pre-rapala or new "original. Which ones run right is the question.

The problem is that they usually never run true and require tuning, lip shaving, & various configuations of O-rings & snaps.

Normally, I use a #6 round bend treble hook on the rear hung from a #2 O-ring. The belly hook is real tricky as it tries to flip up and grab the bill or rear treble. This becomes a real pain to fix on the water. I typically use a #6 gamakatsu round bend magic eye (RBME) for the belly hook. This a a short shank treble that I hang from a #1 O-ring. So, basically its a smaller hook hung from a smaller o-ring.

Then, do I want a snap or and O-ring on the bill? This depends on the mold.

If it has a pre-sunk hole then I opt for an O-ring or I like a snap on the regular bill design.

I havent tried oversized hooks because I figured they would tangle constantly, which I have no tolerance for.

This absolutely drives me nuts when they get all tangled up. Meanwhile, I'm running the trolling motor full throttle just to hold the boat on windy chunk rock banks.

What size/brand treble hooks do ya'll prefer for these finicky little suckers?

[gotmuddy]

I havent had a problem with regular old wal-mart ones. As for hooks I prefer mustad triple grip because they are light wired.

[tjulianc]

I just bought some Mustad Ultrapoint Triple Grip hooks. They have the wide bend. So far just using them as the rear hook. Haven't tried them on a Wart yet. Hopefully give it a try this weekend.

I've been trying to win some pre Rapala Warts on Ebay but I keep getting outbid.

I love the olive / orange combo, great looking lures.

[moguy1973]

Yeah, I was thinking the Mustad Ultrapoints would work good also. In a size 4 on the square bill ones and size 2 on the divers...

[Guest]

Ebay is the biggest gamble, b/c you never know what your gonna get with old lures.

I bid on the ugliest dirtiest looking pieces of crap that nobody wants, then repaint them.

In fact, I was bidding on a lot of 10 and got outbid within hours.

So, I might take Muddys advice and try the walmart version before sinking any more money into ebay.

As for the triple grips, I've had trouble with the EWG getting tangled. Maybe I need to revisit those hooks.

[rangerz21]

I like that color nice job

[Guest]

I've caught crawdads since I was a kid.

All over arkansas, from the Mississippi Delta to the Ozarks, one partiular species has an olive/orange checker pattern.

2 of the 3 warts were chrome baits, with transparent orange sprayed over the chrome.

Orange Flash was my intention for those overcast/windy/rainy days that are so good.

Ya'll should photo your local crawdads and post them up.

Gives me some new ideas

[Al Agnew]

The weird thing I've found with Wiggle Warts and other crankbaits is that matching the color to your local crawdads doesn't seem to be any better, and sometimes not as good, as having a generic brownish crawdad color. In Ozark streams, for instance, the most common crawdad is the golden crayfish, which is a yellowish olive with very strong, distinct, very dark brown bands, and small points of reddish orange here and there. But the bass actually prefer another crawdad species, which is a very indistinct pattern of darker and lighter grayish olive. I've painted lures to match both, but I catch more fish on a color pattern that has a rather rich brown back, coppery sides, and light tan belly with darker brown to black bands. On the other hand, I've taken the old brown crawdad pattern of Wiggle Warts and simply given the back a shot of olive green spray paint, and have done much better with it on reservoirs like Pomme de Terre than I did with the brown crawdad as is.

And I absolutely detest orange bellies on crankbaits. I'll paint or scrape off the orange on any crankbait I buy.

[MoSportsmen]

Old inside joke with a buddy of mine. He imitates an old codger in his bass club.....

"wana catch fish?......take the G** D*** BBs outa the wigglewart"

Never have tried it, always thought the rattle was a good thing. Anybody ever taken the G** D*** BBs outa the wiggle wart?

[Guest]

The weird thing I've found with Wiggle Warts and other crankbaits is that matching the color to your local crawdads doesn't seem to be any better, and sometimes not as good, as having a generic brownish crawdad color. In Ozark streams, for instance, the most common crawdad is the golden crayfish, which is a yellowish olive with very strong, distinct, very dark brown bands, and small points of reddish orange here and there. But the bass actually prefer another crawdad species, which is a very indistinct pattern of darker and lighter grayish olive. I've painted lures to match both, but I catch more fish on a color pattern that has a rather rich brown back, coppery sides, and light tan belly with darker brown to black bands. On the other hand, I've taken the old brown crawdad pattern of Wiggle Warts and simply given the back a shot of olive green spray paint, and have done much better with it on reservoirs like Pomme de Terre than I did with the brown crawdad as is.

And I absolutely detest orange bellies on crankbaits. I'll paint or scrape off the orange on any crankbait I buy.

The creek behind my house is full of those "golden crayfish", they have no orange except for a couple miniscule dots..

but I'm not very familar with the "lighter grayish olive" crawfish.

Gray belly, Copper Sides, and Olive back with dark brown bands??? maybe

As for the brown crawdad color, those are sold at the local tackle shop.. No need to paint that color, unless its an old lure