"new" red gill lures - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

tlapinski · 03-08-2004, 07:36 PM

did anyone else check out the new red gill lure company at the RISAA show? they look very good. the new owners of the company are now in Westerly RI. not quite the selection of colors of the originals yet, but i liked what i saw.

Red Gills

capesams · 03-08-2004, 07:55 PM

interesting

I was to understand that they are being made in england, imported here by one man an they weren't going to be put into stores, that you would have to buy direct from him....guess I'll send an e-mail.

tlapinski · 03-08-2004, 07:58 PM

from what i understand of the guy at the booth, they moved production over here. they changed the rubber that goes into them. these are very soft, but look to be extremely durable. if you want, i can get you a pack from the rep saturday. he is going to be at River's End.

scarecrow · 03-08-2004, 09:08 PM

those look pretty sweet.

I read in twenty years on the cape about how those lures were introduced into the surf scene.

Frank also describes how weird is was for him to see these lures hanging off a persons rod from the New York.

Pretty interesting, if ya ask me.

rizzo · 03-08-2004, 11:15 PM

I also talked to the new owner at the show. I dont know much about the history of redgills but he said the new ones hes making are exact copies of the originals. All the ones i've come across are a different shape and say redgill on the tail. These ones he had said gilly, and were a little different.

Crafty Angler · 03-09-2004, 12:35 AM

Hmmmm.....

capesams · 03-09-2004, 12:35 AM

AHHH! knock off's....the other one's are the real one's I know of. If you were at the last plug fest you would have seen them. some of them are on e-bay right now.

tlapinski · 03-09-2004, 07:49 AM

not really sure if they are "knock-offs" as in one company copying another's design. the rep at the show said they bought the original comapny and modified things. hey, if they catch like the originals i will be happy.

MakoMike · 03-09-2004, 08:44 AM

I hope they use better hooks than the originals. The originals came with hooks that were guaranteed to break. We lost a lot of fish before we figured out that the first thing you had to do was replace the hooks.

hammer · 03-09-2004, 09:39 AM

I guess I wasn't the only one who spoke to this guy

When I asked about the hooks, he said that he was using a much stronger Mustad hook. Maybe not the best, but a step up from the old hooks. Don't know for sure about the redesign or copy issues, but there are subtle differences in the colors and the texture of these new lures compared to the few old ones I have been hoarding.

JohnR · 03-09-2004, 09:44 AM

They look a little different in the picture but I'd need to EyEbAlL it

...

But my most favorite color isn't offered

mikecc · 03-09-2004, 10:08 AM

I talked with them at the show last weekend I should have the product with in 1-1/2 weeks and they are coming out with more colors in 3 weeks. I'll keep you posted.

Joe · 03-09-2004, 10:58 AM

Did anyone ask the rep what the motivation was for changing it?
The only thing about the original that needed fixing was the hook.

It probably had to do with pollution - some of the old style plastics can't be made in this country or Western Europe anymore.

tlapinski · 03-09-2004, 11:04 AM

the rep told me that they used two different plastics in the originals. the new owners eliminated one of the plastics in the mix. i was very impressed with the new stuff. one issue that was eliminated with the new design is the problem of the old ones altering shape when stored. the new ones do not stay bent after being stored. the old ones would kink and the tail flipper would flatten. i guess that should not happen now.

Notaro · 03-09-2004, 11:45 AM

Last Friday I purchased a bag of red-gills (knock-offs?) from the booth (E-Fishing something like that) and they are black gray and white on the bootom, and a bag od it costs $6.70. I bought them and went home to rig up and the leader won't go through the holes. Are they knockoffs, imiation, or what? I'm not sure. Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but they are redgills or not? I got a feeling that I have wasted my money on a crappy product.

theSURF121 · 03-09-2004, 12:48 PM

And all this time I've been stashing them away like gold.

I hope they're as good or better than the older product. Then again, what would I do with a few hundred obsolete red gills?

rwilhelm · 03-09-2004, 12:59 PM

Notaro what lb test leader are you trying to get in there? Sometimes I had problems with the line not going thru the hole try and make a clean cut, if there is any bend in the line it will not go thru.

Notaro · 03-09-2004, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rwilhelm
Notaro what lb test leader are you trying to get in there? Sometimes I had problems with the line not going thru the hole try and make a clean cut, if there is any bend in the line it will not go thru.

30-40 lbs test seagar fluro leader. i used my hunting knife to dissect it. make a hole through it with a long needle?

capesams · 03-09-2004, 01:10 PM

I use long shank sst hooks made for saltwater streamers, they have a small eye an 20#[at the most] leader.

Stroth · 03-09-2004, 01:11 PM

notaro:

i bought a pack of the same ones you are talking about----they are different than the red-gills...

the red-gills were around the corner---different package (package says red-gill on it)

the ones from e-fishing are knock-offs. i thought they might make a good cod teaser. I haven't tried to rig one up yet though.

i bought a couple packs of the red gills also. I bought them more out of curiousity than anything else. The red gil is one of those lures that has so much lore attached to it. I thought I got a great deal, now I'm not so sure?

seemed a little fishy to me that a couple of dudes would have boxes and boxes of these lures that are wicked expensive and wicked hard to find

So--what did I buy? Red-Gills? Knockoffs? Or both?

Notaro · 03-09-2004, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stroth
notaro:

i bought a pack of the same ones you are talking about----they are different than the red-gills...

the red-gills were around the corner---different package (package says red-gill on it)

the ones from e-fishing are knock-offs. i thought they might make a good cod teaser. I haven't tried to rig one up yet though.

i bought a couple packs of the red gills also. I bought them more out of curiousity than anything else. The red gil is one of those lures that has so much lore attached to it. I thought I got a great deal, now I'm not so sure?

seemed a little fishy to me that a couple of dudes would have boxes and boxes of these lures that are wicked expensive and wicked hard to find

So--what did I buy? Red-Gills? Knockoffs? Or both?

I think they are knock-offs! Damn, I am such a amauter shopper. I should have bought some stuffs better than those like flies or important items, but they were expensive. The real redgills are slender and accessible with leader insertion. Oh well, I guess that we got duped?
Maybe you might have bought a both of kinds.

Stroth · 03-09-2004, 03:14 PM

I did buy both kinds, maybe my rambling post wasn't clear.

I actually bought 2 packs of the Red-Gills (the say red gill on the pack) and a pack of the other ones sold by e-tackle.

Just re-read the thread---sounds like I bought a new version of the old red-gill and a package of knock-offs.

Notaro · 03-09-2004, 03:34 PM

I got it. Well, I dunno. What color did u buy?