Banjo Minnow

[Ketchup]

Just flipped on the tv and look what i get to watch. A 30 minute segment of The Banjo Minnow. I didn’t know it was still around.  They have put together a well made advertisement.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

I bought and used them when they first came out.   They work!

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

12 hours ago, Ketchup said:

 They have put together a well made advertisement.  

 

Does that mean you bought some?  LOL

[snagged in outlet 3]

Was the banjo minnow introduced before the fluke?   I feel like it was.  

[fishinwrench]

As I recall the Lunker City Sluggo was the first soft jerkbait. Berkley followed up with the Power Slug. Then came Zoom with the original Fluke (which was a long-thin little thing).....that evolved into what is still the Fluke now.     

I'm not too sure that the Banjo minnow didn't pre-date them all.....but it wasn't what you'd consider a soft jerkbait.  More of a modified Sassy shad.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

As I recall the Lunker City Sluggo was the first soft jerkbait. Berkley followed up with the Power Slug. Then came Zoom with the original Fluke (which was a long-thin little thing).....that evolved into what is still the Fluke now.     

I'm not too sure that the Banjo minnow didn't pre-date them all.....but it wasn't what you'd consider a soft jerkbait.  More of a modified Sassy shad.  

I whacked some stripers in RI on sluggos in the Atlantic.   Absolute stellar day when everything aligned.   Even the guide was giggling.   We hammered them for 8 hours.  

[Ketchup]

3 hours ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

Does that mean you bought some?  LOL

Haha. Ya know if I didn’t have a boat storage full of other random purchases, i may have considered it. 
 
On a side note, i did pick up a like new Abu Garcia Roxani baitcaster at an estate auction yesterday for $11.00.  $200 at BP.  

[Seth]

I never bought any Banjoy Minnows, but a buddy did and we caught a lot of fish on them. There are several guys that I know that swear by a nose hooked fluke, which is essentially what the Banjo Minnow is. Dad bought me three of the "TV" lures when i was younger as presents. They were the Helicopter Lure, Flying Lure and I believe the Swimming Image. The only one that really didn't work for me was the helicopter lure. It got bites but I could never hook the fish. Probably wasn't using proper tackle. The Flying lure caught a lot of fish for me. IMO it was just a backwards rigged tube anyways. The swimming image came with a hard swimbait/wakebait and a bunch of soft plastic bodies. The soft plastics didn't do much for me, but I hammered fish on that hard swimbait until it fell apart.

[gotmuddy]

On 9/10/2023 at 6:10 AM, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I bought and used them when they first came out.   They work!

I remember seeing that ad in the mid 90s and convincing one of my parents to buy them for me. They really worked good and had great action.

 

1 hour ago, Seth said:

 The only one that really didn't work for me was the helicopter lure. It got bites but I could never hook the fish. Probably wasn't using proper tackle. The Flying lure caught a lot of fish for me. IMO it was just a backwards rigged tube anyways. 

My dad bought some helicopter lures, the only thing I ever caught was a giant bluegill out of a pond.

 

the flying lure on the other hand is maybe the best dock-fishing bait ever made. not only does it skip forever under a dock, but then it goes away from you once it starts sinking.  The guy that invented it was really smart.  I bet they would be excellent in rivers for getting under laydowns and stumps and things if you were prepared to lose a bunch.

[Mitch f]

I was at a trade show about 4 years ago and talked to one of the guys who was part of the banjo minnow when it was hot. He said in its peak they were  averaging 2 million in sales per day.