06/06/2026
It was a hard couple of weeks, we got a lot of new color combinations tested and 102 fish in the boat.
It was really neat getting to put a face to a name with those we were able to meet on the water and a very good experience in general.
I pushed pretty hard to keep baits presented in different locations, speeds and depth and I fell like we had some good things happen that proved to be repeatable and we’ll be spending some time focusing on those.
I know every year is a bit different, conditions are always changing and predictable outcomes are only possible with stability.
One of the things that really stuck out this year was the number of people that said “you’re catching them on what????”
This has been going on for years and yet people are still reluctant to do what it takes to properly place a bait where it needs to be.
That’s ok though, everyone has their own way.
Several of the days there, I talked to so many folks that had 1, maybe 2 good fish, yet we had 7-8-10, etc.
Some had fished for 2-3 days and never caught a fish.
To me this spinnerbait presentation is possible in a couple of ways and both key on how the Walleye are positioning themselves in relation to the forage.
It’s also the reason I think it’s well worth the money to spend a day or 2 with a guide and pay attention to details.
Big Eye Spinnerbaits offers some great colors, all have their place and time. Jason and Shawna put a lot of time into the combinations that exist and work very well to this day. In particular, the original Alewife kicks some serious butt, consistent regardless of conditions-it’s always a good choice.
Some of the new colors over the 2 weeks produced fish, some days better than others, well worth keeping on the shelves.
I have a gentleman I’ve only known for just over a year that I shared a couple of baits with to give them a run just to see if he had similar results to what I was having.
We both use very similar presentations and I believe I’ve found a color combo that is as consistent as anything in the fleet, maybe a bit better.
I wasn’t targeting Mac with this bait but they like it anyway.
This is a second version of the Oahe Smelt Plus. I added some 1/100” strands of opal to both sides-very vague, not big flash-and this bait caught nearly 70% of the fish boated.
It also sports a silver front blade, gold rear.
They are hand-tied, which takes a lot of extra time.
I’ve posted a couple of pics of this bait and am struggling with going to market with this because of the time it takes to properly tie it up.
I will however, build some of these on a custom order basis, but they will be a bit more expensive and I haven’t figured out where that will fit in.
On to other items!
I was ask by several why I didn’t carry silver-gold combos in all colors also. Simple answer is I can’t predict what will be ask for and it’s hard to add so many different variations, but if you message, call, text whatever, I’ll build you any combination you want, It’s just hard to know (and stock) on speculation.
I want to say thank you to all that have ordered and helped with different parts of this, we are still learning about what will be the most requested and keeping parts in stock to build them all.
Long post, I’ll say thanks again for helping make this continue to grow, we want to do all we can to keep up and build this way into the future!
Kenny
