Yet Another Wart Thread..

[dtrs5kprs]

Back when Storm was still using the silver beaked hooks, I asked the PR person(or maybe it was by Gary Storm himself) why they used 'em. She said that it was to help the Warts go through timber better. I think the change in hooks came for two reasons-- steelhead fishermen on the coast wanted a better hook and the trend in the tackle industry at the time was that trebles should be round-bend VMCs.

I also talked to a Rapala manager just after the purchase, and he was appalled by the "quality" of the Storm lures. I know the Finnish engineers wanted to make everything "more consistent" in the baits they made, and that's why the Madflash series was created.

If they were so appalled, they should not have bought the company and jacked up a great American bait. One more example (see hybrid cars and roundabout intersections for others) of why European ideas should remain an ocean away.

Has been what, 10-12 years now? Shocking there are still any true original warts still out there to purchase. Think the Brad's Wigglers are about as close to the original as any other options. Dave Storm has a company called Dave's Ka-Boom, but they only have the walleye baits...hot-n-tot, thunderstick.

[kjackson]

I think the Finns wanted a challenge. Really, it was more of an extension. Buying Storm gave Rapala gave the company a recognized brand that fed into a different segment of the tackle market, and since expansion was what the company wanted, and Storm was available...

I've not fished the Brad's wart version, but I am interested in Luck-E-Strike's wart series. You would think an Ozark company would make a good one, but I'll let better fishermen pass judgement.

[gabe]

A friend had some old Warts custom painted and several would not run right after the paint job. Too much clear coat or paint changed the weight. Just a heads up.

[Guest]

A friend had some old Warts custom painted and several would not run right after the paint job. Too much clear coat or paint changed the weight. Just a heads up.

Did they test run each bait before sending off to be painted?

or did they assume it was the paint and clearcoat?

I got 10 pre-rapala wiggle warts in a trade a couple years back.

Only 3 of them ran properly.

[dtrs5kprs]

A friend had some old Warts custom painted and several would not run right after the paint job. Too much clear coat or paint changed the weight. Just a heads up.

This can definitely happen, especially if the painter is using a heavy clear like Devcon epoxy or some of the tabletop finishes. It can be due to added weight, but also because of the clear building up where the front of the bait becomes the lip. Can really build up there on a wart due to the design of the bait. Essentially, it changes the shape of the body where the water will flow past it, just as if the bait had been reshaped with something like bondo, or in the opposite, over-sanded.

Other times it is just a re-tune issue. Line ties and hook hangers can bend during the paint process. Even with a good job, the baits dimensions will certainly be slightly different. If by "right" your friend meant exactly as prior to painting, then he had expectations that are pretty high. If it is a good paint and finish job the bait should still be "tune friendly".

[Guest]

This can definitely happen, especially if the painter is using a heavy clear like Devcon epoxy or some of the tabletop finishes. It can be due to added weight, but also because of the clear building up where the front of the bait becomes the lip. Can really build up there on a wart due to the design of the bait. Essentially, it changes the shape of the body where the water will flow past it, just as if the bait had been reshaped with something like bondo, or in the opposite, over-sanded.

Other times it is just a re-tune issue. Line ties and hook hangers can bend during the paint process. Even with a good job, the baits dimensions will certainly be slightly different. If by "right" your friend meant exactly as prior to painting, then he had expectations that are pretty high. If it is a good paint and finish job the bait should still be "tune friendly".

+1

very good points.

[mixermarkb]

Just dropped my baits off. I'm going with 3 of each in PBJ craw, watermelon red craw, olive craw, and then I'm having him work up a version of V-86 phantom green craw with purple accents instead of the orange. I'm not sure why I'm so into the little bit of purple in a color pattern, but I sure like it even if the fish could care less!

I can't wait till they are done!

[troutgnat]

A lot of good points thus far. Someone mentioned the pre-Rapala days and hit the money on the head. I mentioned this some time ago on this forum under a wart thread.......Here's the deal: I was a rep for Rapala/Storm at the very time of the turnover and witnessed this first hand. Understand this....The Rapala guys(staff and company) are from Minnesota. They are walleye guys NOT bass guys, at least at that time anyway. We all know the unique action of those warts from that era and unfortunately so did they. At the time they were all about new production and "consistency". The wart was discontinued and re-manufactured if you will to cater more to the walleye guys who wanted a better bait which tracked true for better trolling. That had a lot to do with it. And they wanted better walleye paint schemes. It wasn't actually said but they wanted more sales and felt that there were more top end sales and bigger clients with the Northern walleye market. I was at the Rapala meeting at their headquarters and saw this "New" wart demo'd in a swimming pool and all I heard was the word "tracks true" and how it was "sonic welded" to be absolutely waterproof. How it now had a separate "molded" lip that was precisely inserted into the bait to assure that it was centered to track true. If you recall on the original warts they actually came in two pieces and were glued right down the middle thus sometimes not being exactly centered leading to their sometimes unique action. And of course I heard the word walleye plenty. Anyway, enough with the hype but there's some history for you witnessed first hand.

I tried to tell them more than once about our market here but in the grand scheme of things the accounts in my tri-state territory were just pennies on the dollar to them. If anyone recalls a distributor U.S. Plastics out of Eldon, MO and a gentlemen by the name of Lou.....I wish I remembered Lou's last name but it slips me. Lou sold more warts in this part of the country than probably anyone combined. He knew the wart well and the value of it. Let me tell you I lost a dung load of sales after the conversion and funny thing is.............I had virtually every one of my accounts screaming for these warts, I mean screaming for them. And I was able to get them very few orders. I kept getting told they were sold out. Can anyone guess where they went so fast????? You all remember those $1.99 wart bins at the Springfield Bass Pro Classic?.............Yep Bass Pro got virtually all of the old warts. They hoarded them all for the big man. The only good thing I got out of the whole deal was a sample account that afforded me a whole 370box full of original warts. Oh, and sorry their not for sale.

[troutgnat]

Someone mentioned about the getting the paint off of those clear warts. A scotch brite pad or steel wool will be your best bet.....Don't do the sandpaper thing. Acetone does the job quick but you must be careful to much of it and you will weaken the plastic too much. Do not dip into acetone but put acetone on a rag and be prepared for the elbow grease. A lot of these baits did have the white bodies. You won't find the clear underneath those! The dead give away to those that have the clear bodies is the lip. If you have one with the clear lip, well then the body is also. I've repainted quite a few of these as well. Be easy on the layers of paint. I top coat mine with the Devcon 2-ton epoxy(2 part/30 min cure. Do not use the 5 minute version you are asking for a world of hurt. I use one coat only and immediately put it on a turner and then very carefully apply a little heat from a hair dryer or heat gun to allow the epoxy to "level" on the bait if you will. It will also help rid of any possible air bubbles. Leave it on your turner overnight. I'm no expert but this is what I do and it works though I'm sure others have great methods too. And as someone said before "It's an original wart, they won't all come out perfect". Your altering what once was, the key is test one ahead of time and get one that runs good before the re-paint it will better your odds.

[Guest]

A lot of good points thus far. Someone mentioned the pre-Rapala days and hit the money on the head. I mentioned this some time ago on this forum under a wart thread.......Here's the deal: I was a rep for Rapala/Storm at the very time of the turnover and witnessed this first hand. Understand this....The Rapala guys(staff and company) are from Minnesota. They are walleye guys NOT bass guys, at least at that time anyway. We all know the unique action of those warts from that era and unfortunately so did they. At the time they were all about new production and "consistency". The wart was discontinued and re-manufactured if you will to cater more to the walleye guys who wanted a better bait which tracked true for better trolling. That had a lot to do with it. And they wanted better walleye paint schemes. It wasn't actually said but they wanted more sales and felt that there were more top end sales and bigger clients with the Northern walleye market. I was at the Rapala meeting at their headquarters and saw this "New" wart demo'd in a swimming pool and all I heard was the word "tracks true" and how it was "sonic welded" to be absolutely waterproof. How it now had a separate "molded" lip that was precisely inserted into the bait to assure that it was centered to track true. If you recall on the original warts they actually came in two pieces and were glued right down the middle thus sometimes not being exactly centered leading to their sometimes unique action. And of course I heard the word walleye plenty. Anyway, enough with the hype but there's some history for you witnessed first hand.

I tried to tell them more than once about our market here but in the grand scheme of things the accounts in my tri-state territory were just pennies on the dollar to them. If anyone recalls a distributor U.S. Plastics out of Eldon, MO and a gentlemen by the name of Lou.....I wish I remembered Lou's last name but it slips me. Lou sold more warts in this part of the country than probably anyone combined. He knew the wart well and the value of it. Let me tell you I lost a dung load of sales after the conversion and funny thing is.............I had virtually every one of my accounts screaming for these warts, I mean screaming for them. And I was able to get them very few orders. I kept getting told they were sold out. Can anyone guess where they went so fast????? You all remember those $1.99 wart bins at the Springfield Bass Pro Classic?.............Yep Bass Pro got virtually all of the old warts. They hoarded them all for the big man. The only good thing I got out of the whole deal was a sample account that afforded me a whole 370box full of original warts. Oh, and sorry their not for sale.

+100 to you

thats an awesome story and explains a lot about the "new" rapala wiggle wart