Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

[Mark_VTfisherman]

I posted a while back about a big Muskie- as unlikely as it seemed- biting off the head and bill of a Storm Jr Thunderstick. It happened; no fish, broken lure.

OK - strange things happen right? But having a second storm lure that has caught walleye in the past break off the bill behind the line tie (a deep-diving rattling bait) I am starting to feel... suspicious of the Storm lures. It got caught on a raft of floating weeds, and when I got everything cleaned up, I slapped it into the water to clean the remnants but all I had left was the bill!

I have always thrown and dragged Rapalas. Donated a whole lot to rocky-bottomed Lake Carmi, and had line cut by some big Pike, but no Rapala has ever failed by breaking.

What is your mileage with Storm? Although not as consistent as the Rapalas have been, sometimes the Jr Thunderstick and Deep Jr Thunderstick does the trick when other stuff won't. But the bodies are hollow plastic and with these breakages, I am concerned. I tried to find the lure on Storm's website but apparently the color and style are discontinued now too. Too bad cuz it did catch some big walleye.

What has been your experience with lure breakage in the Storm line?

 

[John_S]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

While I have some Storm lures, including Thundersticks, haven't used them allot and don't remember any breakage with them. On Rapala's I have had the whole lip come up missing on rare occasions. Damaged other lures on casting impacts with rocks and bridge pillons, which then failed afterwards. When a big muskie is caught on bass/walleye lures, you need to play and prey. The basic hardware, hooks, spit-rings, etc are not sized for muskies. I have had allot of split-ring failures on muskies. Usually happens during a straight line surge when I have got them near the boat.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

I don't have any Storm but have casted a Rapala DT-6 and the body seperated from the bill. Since it's a balsa lure, it floated and I found it. Super glued it back and it held up so far. The bill of most carved wood lure is normally glued to the bill cavity so they're bound to fail sometime.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

well i USED TO think I have caught some big fish but you guys make me think I have been hooking goldfish or guppies! Never had a split ring fail, but I have bent some hooks on Rapalas. Interesting food for thought.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

Guppies LOL. The fish I'm after eat 12" stocked rainbow trout. I've straightened split rings and bent 5/0 4X VMC treble hooks on them before... I always replace my big fish lure split rings with #5 heavy's, haven't had one of those fail yet.

 

[IWELD]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

I've used Storm- Wiggle Warts for years in a particular lake, mostly trolling and have caught everything from Musky to bluegill on them and have never had one come apart. I've straitened a lot of hooks and had several stray casts into rocks but i have yet to have one separate. All in all I think Storm makes some awesome lures.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

What is with MO and Wiggle Wart? what makes it so effective there?

 

[John_S]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

Even the more expensive lures have failures. I used a Lucky Craft wakebait quite a bit this year. The feathered tail is almost a bare treble, and the front treble is missing a hook. that was probably damaged by pliers getting the hooks out, though.

My most memorable lure failure was on a muskie that was around 42-46" in length. We caught a 40"er just the day before in the same spot (see below). The hook split-ring gave way on a straight line lunge away from the boat. The rest of the jigging spoon came back to me.

IMHO: Good size walleyes don't stress tackle that much. They may roll and wrap line around them selves, but not lungers. I have had large smallies put more stress on tackle. I have had them straighten wire on cheap no-name spinners.

 

[IWELD]

Re: Big breaks- Storm Lures that got away.

What is with MO and Wiggle Wart? what makes it so effective there?

I use them in Lake Palm de Terre. It has good clear water and and most of it has a rocky bottom which is good for trolling with the wiggle wart. You can set the depth just to where the lure bounces on the bottom with out getting snagged. Which is almost impossible in other lakes around here that have a lot of tree stumps and muddy bottoms. Were usually out for White Bass but the conservation dept. keeps the lake well maintained with walleye and muskie which both hit the wiggle wart frequently.