fishing with the banjo minnow

[jmoyer198484]

i just bought the 006 banjo minnow and was wondering if it was worth the money,havent caught anything yet,but i only tried it once,anybody used this lure before? is it true it only works on clear water? is it worth using in a bass tournament or a waste of time? any info about it please?

[brendanc]

Here's a couple of older posts about the Banjo Minnow:

Post on Banjo Minnow #1

Banjo Post #2

Banjo Post #3

Do they work... yes, like anything else, they have a time and place... The Banjo Frog is really good. There are many "fluke-style" lures out there (soft plastic stickbaits) that will produce under the right conditions. Weightless plastics in general are deadly and are always a part of my tournament arsenal...

BC

BTW - Check your PM's and email, I sent you a note...

[jmoyer198484]

but like other [soft plastic stick baits] but can u fish them any other way but weightless,and if so what kind of weight do u use with the banjo minnow? ex: split shot,bullet weight? or will a weight mess up the action on these type of lures?

[brendanc]

A weight is going to change the action of any soft plastic... sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse... (would you agree?)

Cartain rigs like a mojo or carolina rig will have less impact on action when compared to something like a texas or shaky-head rig.

For something like the Banjo minnow, I would look to insert a nail into the body of the lure, so that it will sink faster, yet the action will be almost exactly the same when you twitch it.

Check out this post about senkos, we talked about nail weights... you could do the same with the Banjo Minnow:

Post on Senkos & Nail Weights

[jmoyer198484]

that sounds like a good idea, i would of never thought about that,i will defenetly try that,one other ? i cant seem 2 figure out is the floating worm? is suppose 2 actully float or sink slowly,because i cant get it 2 float, what do i do?

[brendanc]

3 Questions:

1) What brand floating worm are you talking about?
2) Which hook are you using? (Be specific)
3) What type of line and what pound test is it?

BC

[jmoyer198484]

haw river [6inch hi floating] bumble gum color, i have tried different types of hooks from thin wire worm hooks 2 regular bait type hooks, mainly mono,[10 pound test]

[brendanc]

I've never used that brand, so I'm not sure how well they work. There are floating worms that actually float on the surface. If you have too heavy of a hook, they might get pulled under and line diameter makes a difference. Sounds like you've already checked the obvious thing out though. 10 Pound mono will not pull a worm down.

According to their website these worms are "neutrally buoyant", so they would suspend, not float. Just like a suspending jerkbait, you would pull it down to a depth, and it should basically sit there. They do make mention of using it as a top-water lure, so I'm guess you might need to wacky rig it and us upward pulls to keep the bait near the surface. When using "trick worms" if you just cast them out and do nothing, they will not float. Try casting the worm out and twitch the worm to the surface (holding your rod tip in a high position). When you get the worm to break the surface, stop and drop your rod tip so that you put slack in your line. It should float then...

Something to try (if you already haven't)

BC

[brendanc]

Hey Jason,

Check this article I found:

Trick Worm Tactics
written by Don Wirth

"Three top pros discuss when and where they fish the floating worm. Take careful note -- each of these competitors has won thousands of dollars fishing these buoyant baits."

Article on Fishing Floating Worms