Something you haven’t seen before – talk about a great lure!

[Fish_Eye]

These spectacular wooden imitations of a blue runner were dynamite for catching just about anything with a mouth in Panama.

They were created but Sal Stanzione (originator of the Hooligan tins) and had been tested over the 2002 season with great success. Sal landed a 34-pound striper from shore on one of these amazing lures. In Panama we caught: hounds, jack cravelle, horse-eye jacks, bluefin trevally, and a big sail. I have footage of two big porpoises approaching and then staring at the lure as it s-l-o-w-l-y dropped under the surface. You could work them exceptionally slow (which was the ticket for stripers in NE) with an enticing swagger, or you could jerk the rod and get them to walk the dog, you could rip them through the water and skim the surface with a fast-as-you-can retrieve, and were killer on bonito when high speed trolled at 12 – 15 knots! Sal has worked on various types of wood ranging from mahogany to bass and has spend months working on the delicate issue of weighting and balancing these. The fact that the leader passes through the lure was instrumental in hooking and then landing a big Pacific Sail. The lure slid down the leader and when the sail did its tail dance and head shaking, my video revealed how the lure was thrown back and forth with little chance of opening a big hole where the hook was set.

Moral of the story for all you plug builders, “Think outside of the box!”

The lures weighed in at between 2 and 6 ounces.