Banjo Minnows

[Fishin Mission]

Re: Banjo Minnows

My son uses them to catch Pickerel. They work very well. The minnow has a very realistc and lifelike action.

 

[Dewey]

Re: Banjo Minnows

I too have had great success with the banjo. The key is the dying minnow presentation. Little or no weight and then jerk, jerk, jerk, reel slow to pick up the slack and then jerk, jerk, jerk. Catch Bass like crazy. The down side is they get ripped off the cork screw. never tried them for any other fish.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Banjo Minnows

Some lures are made to catch fish.<br />some lures are made to catch fisherman.<br />I do have a set of banjo lures. my son<br />got them for my birthday.

 

[Scoop]

Re: Banjo Minnows

The big present everyone wanted at the wife's family christmas was the pull-string lure that makes the tail flutter. We have all seen it catch bass.

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Banjo Minnows

That came back? I had both the fish shaped one and a frog whose legs kicked. I picked up a bunch at a local Wal-Mart on discoint for about $.50 each. I ended up taking the hooks off and giving them to kids one Christmas as bath toys.

 

[ShawnQ]

Re: Banjo Minnows

This thread appears to have started a long time ago, but someone revived it...so I figured I'd add to it.<br /><br />I have had tremendous success with the banjo minnow. I have probably caught ALMOST more fish on it than any other lure, second only to bass assassins used for Saltwater Speckled trout. I have caught more largemouth bass on it than any other lure, for sure. My largest bass on it was 11lbs 9oz in a private tank here in Texas.<br /><br />For the bass, I usually use a chartreuse small or medium banjo, and let it die...they always hit it on the fall. It is amazing when used in clear water, because you can see the fish looking at it, so you know which way to move the lure...very easy to entice the fish, even though they are finicky.<br /><br />Other fish I have caught are (saltwater) redfish, speck. trout, a few snook, and a small tarpon. I recently got back from florida for the holidays(I'm in from Texas), and I was suprised to say the least. I caught a 26" snook, a 28 and 27" red, and several trout, all on the same color, black/silver, medium sized. I was fishing tierra verde/desoto area, off the bank and in my relatives private canal.<br /><br />I love the lure, and have ordered several off of the website.<br /><br />However, what I have recently been doing is using other soft plastic lures with the same 'corkscrew' type of rigging. If the lure is soft enough, it will move VERY reallisticly, like the banjo. Works well with worms also!<br />Give it a try, especially for bass.<br /><br />Shawn

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: Banjo Minnows

We say a tv commercial for these the other day, and I've always taught my son that most of the stuff you see sold on tv is junk. He says to me... "i know the stuff on tv is crap, but i really want these!" lol... I don't really know a whole lot about fishing, so I wanted some opinions on this. After reading this thread, seems some love them, some hate them. any more opinions?

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Banjo Minnows

I love the claim of "The only lure the fisherman controls" . Never fished the banjo minnow so cant say weather good or bad. I use soft jerkbaits, jerkin minnows and fluke type baits, just about the same as the banjo minnow. If the soft jerk bait bite is on I am sure those things will work, but I would not expect it to preform miracles if the pattern is something other than that.

If someone gave me a few I would give them a shot.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Banjo Minnows

Never fished the banjo minnow so cant say weather good or bad.

Come on now, we all know that these are all you have in your tacklebox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel exactly the same way as you do.

Will they catch fish? Absolutly, under the right conditions!

Funny that this should come up at this tim, My fishing buddy just ordered these and we are going fishing Saturday. He is going to try them and I am going to throw a fluke rigged similarly. I will let you all know how we do!

 

[aspeck]

Re: Banjo Minnows

My bet is the fluke will outfish the minnow, but I have been known to be wrong ... once or twice!

My feelings on them is that they are an over-priced gimmick bait (but then isn't that what most baits are, some type of gimmick to make a fish think it is something it is not?). I wouldn't spend the money on them, but if someone gave them to me, or if I found them on sale for $5, I would try them.

 

[Hogsed03]

Re: Banjo Minnows

Not sure about the "as seen on T.V. Banjo lure" but I have tried the flying lure, my dad always talked highly about them so I started using them. They work pretty well once you learn how to use them. I believe if your fishing on a heavily fished lake anything new will probably work as long as you use it correctly.

 

[hankll]

Re: Banjo Minnows

I was suckered on them Banjo minners, I bought 2 packs, opened only one and was like too busy rigging to actually fish,, geesh! Never got a bite. Hey Champion I'll sell you mine, real cheap!

 

[LORDY611]

Re: Banjo Minnows

I got them from my kids as a birthday gift and never had any luck. I use a different brand of soft plastic worms exclusively now and have great luck with almost no talent on my part. Save your money.

 

[Fisherman of Texas]

Re: Banjo Minnows

Eat your hearts out all you doubting Thomas's. Check this out and I used the banjo minnow but it was in open water. My only concern at this point since this bait is brand new to me is how to rig it for further cast and still get the action of the lure. Does anyone have an answer for this?

 

[Fisherman of Texas]

Re: Banjo Minnows

Andy I couldn't stop laughing when I read your post. Your son and mine have learned how to manipulate us haven't they? When my now 32 year old was a little leaguer we would take them out for pizza after games and the restaurant had those machines to play games on. Anyway, one night my son came to me and told me he wanted to play the machine and I told him "boy putting quarters in them machines is throwing your money away. Later he came back to me and ask, "daddy can I have some money to throw away in them machines." Your thread reminded me of that experience. Funny!

 

[RyanBassBoat]

Re: Banjo Minnows

I love banjo minnows... if you swim em right you'll catch some bass. I use the 4 inch shad in green or silver...

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Banjo Minnows

Of course they work. Everything works. Bass are stupid critters. They eat when they're hungry, and don't eat when they're not. If they're hungry, dragging just about anything where they can see it, and it's "fish on!"

That's the beauty of the lure business. Design something, find some bass that are hungry, and you have the latest thing. Pay a tournament pro to say he used your bait and you might even get rich. Maybe. Maybe not.

I caught a nice 3 lb. bass yesterday. I was fishing for sunnies with a 1/64 oz jig and a tiny yellow and orange plastic grub hanging about 18" under one of those tiny little red and white snap on bobbers. I was catching lots of sunnies, but catching sunnies is easy. They're even more stupid than largemouth bass.

Then, my bobber went down hard, so I set the hook. There was that 3 lb. bass on the end of my 2 lb. test line on a little ultralight outfit. The drag worked, and I got to lip the fish into the boat.

A 1/64 oz. jig, with a tiny little hook! Bass are stupid. They'll eat anything that moves when they're hungry. Even a Banjo Minnow. Even a yellow and orange grub that looks like nothing that ever lived.

 

[RyanBassBoat]

Re: Banjo Minnows

haha, you should have been fishin for larries in the first place, not kibs...

but i agree with you, anything will work if the bass is feedin...

but some lures will give you a lot better chance, especially if its presented well. the real sport in bass fishin is gettin them larries and sallies to bite even when they're not hungry!

good story though... the first fish i caught was pickerel and i was using a daredevil with a bobber. hahah

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Banjo Minnows

Well, I was sorta joking, but only sorta. I like bass fishing, and it's the fun of having all those cool baits that's half of the deal. Helps the economy, too.

Heck, if a guy just wanted to catch some bass, no matter what, he'd head for the nearest weed bed with a bucket of nightcrawlers. Hang those fat wormy critters, hooked under the collar, below a bobber about half the depth of the water and hold on to your fishing hat. Bass'll come and grab those crawlers even if they aren't hungry. But that's not fair fishing where I come from.

You mentioned pickerel. I've never caught one of those. But up here in Minnesnowta, we have Northern Pike. Now...there's a stupid fish. They think, "Ooooh! Shiny thing! Eat it!" You just have to find out where they are at that moment. Generally, that means finding where small fish are, and that means weed beds. A trick I've found is to keep a pole rigged for pike around while you're fishing for panfish. When they stop biting, switch poles and cast around. Generally, there's a big Northern cruising around. The panfish all go hide in the weeds, so all you have to do is cast. Stupid pike!

Good eating, too, those pike, once you figure out how to cut the Y-bones out of the filets.

Then there are the muskies. They get big, but they're the stupidest of all fish. They're so stupid they don't even know they're supposed to eat the bait you're hurling at them. They just follow it until it gets to your boat, which they think is a muskie big enough to eat them, so they swim off.

But...muskie fishermen are even stupider than the muskies. Despite the fact that the muskies won't bite, they stand in their boats and cast footlong baits over and over again untill their shoulders get so sore they can't cast any more.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Banjo Minnows

I ordered those banjo minnows years ago off of TV and didn't get to try them but maybe 4 times if that then my tackle box got stolen. Never caught a thing on them. Can't remember how much I paid for them back then.

If it was me I would just buy a fluke and be just as happy, I've seen the fluke work, my brother has caught a few bass on them. I am more of a top water lure, crank bait, and spinner bait type of person anyway. I actually put a worm on a couple of weeks back and that worm didn't stay on my line very long I swapped back to a crank bait, I don't have the patience for worm fishing or bottom fishing of any type.

I would rather jiga pole fish (with a cain pole) then fish with a banjo minnow or worm.