First Confidence Bait?

[exiledguide]

Wayne seems like there was a time BigO and Shad Raps couldn't be bought but were rented with a huge deposit required in the maybe early 70s or was that just a Stag beer fueled fishin' tale?

Fairy tale = Once upon a time

Fishin' tale = Guys this is a no bulls### story

[Old plug]

Wayne seems like there was a time BigO and Shad Raps couldn't be bought but were rented with a huge deposit required in the maybe early 70s or was that just a Stag beer fueled fishin' tale?

Fairy tale = Once upon a time

Fishin' tale = Guys this is a no bulls### story

I remember that time very well. I thought they were nuts then and I think there just as nuts today to get hooked on that kind if stuff.

[fishinwrench]

"Rented crankbaits". Yeah right. Pffft!

I think that legendary tale was carried over from the old ads in F&S. I have my doubts about the reality of it.

[bfishn]

Rapala still states it as truth on their "history" page;

"Word of the Shad Rap’s amazing ability to catch fish spread like wildfire. Tackle shops sold out across the country. Resort owners and mom-and-pop bait shops rented out Shad Raps by the day. And even by the hour. (Yes, it was that good.) Twenty years later it’s still one of fishing’s most successful lures."

[LarrySTL]

Renting crankbaits was true at least in some places, and at least for a short while. In the early 70's there were some pretty good size draw tournaments out of Cape Fair on TR and 100 + boats wasn't unheard of. One summer, and it had to be '72, ' 73 or '74 because I was living in Columbia Mo, there was one of those night tournaments ln a weekend when the lake was way way high ( I'm thinking that was '73).

A lot of folks were catching good fish in the flooded timber on 45 degree banks by running big shallow cranks through the branches in the hour before dark and the hour after dawn. People were renting imitation Big O's with a $ 20 deposit and I think it was $ 10 rent for one day/night. I was going to rent one, but I was a broke college kid and didnt have the extra money. I was in the tournament and I drew a guy with a 135 on a no-name stick steering boat; they started 100 + boats just downstream from CF dock with a literal shotgun start. The Water Patrol stopped the shotgun starts after that tournament.

FYI one of the Tulsa guys won fishing 20 + feet deep on a worm on that big channel swing just inside the mouth of Aunts Creek.

I suspect, just as we saw with the Umbrella recently, the rentals lasted only a short time until everybody and their dog got their own version of a Big O onto the market, and there have always been a large number of lure makers/inventors/tinkerers around TR. Also the rental baits I saw were poor plastic knockoffs, and it wasnt long til Cordell bought the Big O and started mass producing it.

[Old plug]

First thing that come into mind with me when i hear these fantastic lure stories is where when and how and by how i nean the way it was worked.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I don't know about the Shad rap, but the original story was true. The hardware only got something like 5 (?) a month and of course they were suppose to be deadly.

I remember the Big O story and I believe it was true early on, but they were all handmade then.

[Kee sims]

Senko wacky rigged or a crankbait in red or orange.

[Wayne SW/MO]

It's funny what you get on a large forum like this when you put "first" in the title. I haven't even gotten around to trying some of the later one listed.

To address Mitch's post "I bet we would be amazed regarding what constitues a bait becoming your confidence bait. I bet one memorable fish is all it takes!", that wouldn't be what I considered a confidence bait. Mine would have to be the one that I would generally start with, or the one I would go to if the reported hot bait failed.

[RSBreth]

Probably a finesse worm on a split shot rig or small 1/16 or 1/8 ounce texas rig. I remember throwing them around docks and stumps and catching tons of Bass that way. Funny that I was using the same thing this past weekend at Beaver Lake and it still works when the bite is tough.