05-29-2004, 01:03 PM
Every manufactured lure ever created, had at one time or other, certain characteristics that needed to appeal to anglers and yet also be able to provoke strikes. The old saying, "imitation is the greatest form of flattery" , has many examples in the history of lure-creating and continues to this day. Here are a few soft-plastic examples.
Creme began with the first plastic worm decades ago and according to old timers, was stiffer than leather. The worms caught fish based on the action, shape and concept of using soft, molded plastic to catch fish. The earthworm simulation was more for angler appeal, and as everyone knows, fish don't come across too many swimming or bottom-feeding earthworms in their travels.
Decades later the Creme worm was unintentionally honored and improved upon, with a fatter, softer stick that contained salt, a no frills appearance and a unique action - the Senko. (Who knew that people would buy a flimsy plastic worm for $.70 each, tax and s&h not included, half a century later.)
Before the Senko revolutionized worm fishing, Mr. Twister improved up Creme's worms by offering more and brighter colors, a curly tail and increased softness. The worm's segments were still kept for human-appeal reasons, but the design change was more abstract and creative. Rounded segments now emphasized a surface texture, and with the advent of injection pouring, the lure was completely round (versus the early Creme worm, that had one flat side.) The new worm tapered from head to curly-tail adding new visual, action-elements. Billions have been sold and caught billions of fish. Twister went one further and shortened the worm, creating the curly tail grub.
The action tail idea caught on and has been around for a majority of manufactured worms since the introduction of Mr. Twister's Phenom. Ditto came out with the wide/ thick, large ,sickle-tailed Gator Tail worm. Bill Norman created the coil-tailed Snatrix and the u-shaped Augertail whip. Gilraker worms sported the double-S. Riverside and Zoom sported a club-tipped tail in their worms. New designs usually take into account water displacement and hydrodynamics. The paddle tail worm was reinvented by Zoom in it's Speed Worm, but Zoom attached it to a short, Senko-shaped, salt- weighted worm.
Knight had the first skirted-tailed, hollow tube-worm, back in the 70's. (Little did that company know that the design would be shortened into the modern day tube and become a standard soft plastic lure.)
It was only a matter of time when worm designs would expand into other prey species such as lizards and crawfish. Mr. Twister took a smooth worm, added a shaped head, four legs and a long curl-tail and the lizard was born, along with the of story of how bass hate lizards because they eat bass eggs. (Bass supposedly take great pleasure in killing lizards, even though bass probably don't encounter too many lizard-packs eating eggs for breakfast! [laugh])
But then Tom Mann designed the one lure that made the most sense - the form of a Mosquito; the creature bait concept was invented. (It's always been around, but now it had a commercial name.) The Mosquito has a straight- tail whip and wings attached to a 3" tapered body. It was not meant to imitate a species, but instead prey X or species X [/i]. That line of reasoning fostered the Brush Hog by Zoom, the Wild Thing by Strike King and the Hoo Daddy by Gene Larew (who was one of the first manufactures to impregnate plastics with salt.) Who would have thought that jug handles and paddles would appeal to bass and other species? Enough anglers believe in the creature-bait concept and have made it as standard as the lizard design it modified. Strike King later flattered the lizard and tube designs by adding legs to a tube. (They were on clearance racks at Walmart within a year.)
Uncle Josh produced lures made from pork skin and soon plastics immitated the cut shapes, especially trailers.
Body designs have multiplied. Early on, Mr. Twister evolved its Phenom into a pock-marked worm called the Pocket worm. The design did affect the worm's action and softness and worked well. You name it, it's been done concerning body innovations. Fatter (Senko), flattened (Flip Tail, Walking Worm), bumpy (Producto), zippered (Zipper), nobby (Caterpillar Worm), ringed (Ringworm), screwed (Spring Grub), triangular (Slugo and Gator Tail), fish-shaped (Shadow and Fin S Fish) and a few others that have or have not stood the test of time or angler fickleness.
Many innovations have not been just smoke and mirrors - they did get fish and anglers to bite and seemed to never-be-wanting, as the next universal lure. They say that about the Senko today, and who knows how it will be flattered in the years to come (though there are presently a million copies sold!)
FrankM
[signature]
Creme began with the first plastic worm decades ago and according to old timers, was stiffer than leather. The worms caught fish based on the action, shape and concept of using soft, molded plastic to catch fish. The earthworm simulation was more for angler appeal, and as everyone knows, fish don't come across too many swimming or bottom-feeding earthworms in their travels.
Decades later the Creme worm was unintentionally honored and improved upon, with a fatter, softer stick that contained salt, a no frills appearance and a unique action - the Senko. (Who knew that people would buy a flimsy plastic worm for $.70 each, tax and s&h not included, half a century later.)
Before the Senko revolutionized worm fishing, Mr. Twister improved up Creme's worms by offering more and brighter colors, a curly tail and increased softness. The worm's segments were still kept for human-appeal reasons, but the design change was more abstract and creative. Rounded segments now emphasized a surface texture, and with the advent of injection pouring, the lure was completely round (versus the early Creme worm, that had one flat side.) The new worm tapered from head to curly-tail adding new visual, action-elements. Billions have been sold and caught billions of fish. Twister went one further and shortened the worm, creating the curly tail grub.
The action tail idea caught on and has been around for a majority of manufactured worms since the introduction of Mr. Twister's Phenom. Ditto came out with the wide/ thick, large ,sickle-tailed Gator Tail worm. Bill Norman created the coil-tailed Snatrix and the u-shaped Augertail whip. Gilraker worms sported the double-S. Riverside and Zoom sported a club-tipped tail in their worms. New designs usually take into account water displacement and hydrodynamics. The paddle tail worm was reinvented by Zoom in it's Speed Worm, but Zoom attached it to a short, Senko-shaped, salt- weighted worm.
Knight had the first skirted-tailed, hollow tube-worm, back in the 70's. (Little did that company know that the design would be shortened into the modern day tube and become a standard soft plastic lure.)
It was only a matter of time when worm designs would expand into other prey species such as lizards and crawfish. Mr. Twister took a smooth worm, added a shaped head, four legs and a long curl-tail and the lizard was born, along with the of story of how bass hate lizards because they eat bass eggs. (Bass supposedly take great pleasure in killing lizards, even though bass probably don't encounter too many lizard-packs eating eggs for breakfast! [laugh])
But then Tom Mann designed the one lure that made the most sense - the form of a Mosquito; the creature bait concept was invented. (It's always been around, but now it had a commercial name.) The Mosquito has a straight- tail whip and wings attached to a 3" tapered body. It was not meant to imitate a species, but instead prey X or species X [/i]. That line of reasoning fostered the Brush Hog by Zoom, the Wild Thing by Strike King and the Hoo Daddy by Gene Larew (who was one of the first manufactures to impregnate plastics with salt.) Who would have thought that jug handles and paddles would appeal to bass and other species? Enough anglers believe in the creature-bait concept and have made it as standard as the lizard design it modified. Strike King later flattered the lizard and tube designs by adding legs to a tube. (They were on clearance racks at Walmart within a year.)
Uncle Josh produced lures made from pork skin and soon plastics immitated the cut shapes, especially trailers.
Body designs have multiplied. Early on, Mr. Twister evolved its Phenom into a pock-marked worm called the Pocket worm. The design did affect the worm's action and softness and worked well. You name it, it's been done concerning body innovations. Fatter (Senko), flattened (Flip Tail, Walking Worm), bumpy (Producto), zippered (Zipper), nobby (Caterpillar Worm), ringed (Ringworm), screwed (Spring Grub), triangular (Slugo and Gator Tail), fish-shaped (Shadow and Fin S Fish) and a few others that have or have not stood the test of time or angler fickleness.
Many innovations have not been just smoke and mirrors - they did get fish and anglers to bite and seemed to never-be-wanting, as the next universal lure. They say that about the Senko today, and who knows how it will be flattered in the years to come (though there are presently a million copies sold!)
FrankM
[signature]