Kickin’ It Old School

Prompted by the Eirie Dearie thread, who else out there loves to fish the old school stuff? Either because it works or just to see if it still works?

Who here has tried a Lazy Ike in the last decade? How about a Flatfish? Or a Pulvorizor? How about a River Runt?

I’m on something of a retro kick, so here’s what I’ve tried in the last couple of years:

Flatfish: I can confirm that given the right conditions, the Flatfish still works on walleyes. Like a lot of these old school plugs, the flatfish is not a deep runner and speed control is critical so these seem work best on the slow drift. BTW, I know that the Flatfish is still a mainstream plug for salmon and steelhead, but it used to be a must have for midwest walleye.

If you’re on a shallow lake where the walleyes will come up to hit a plug running at about 5 feet, the combination of action and vibration still produces.

Lazy Ike: I’ve gotten smallmouth on the Lazy Ike, but no walleyes yet.

My father lost what he believes would have been his personal best walleye by over 2 pounds. He had the fish up to the boat and was just trying to net it when the Lazy Ike he was using snapped in half. The fish was only hooked on the back treble and the lure broke halfway between the front and rear hook eyes.

– Pulvorizer (sp?): I’m trying to find a supply of them to fish with. The only ones I have are my dads from the 1950s and I don’t want to fish with those. Very rarely come up on eBay. Were these known in other parts of the country by a different name?

Grouse

I haven’t tried it yet, but I was recently given an old lazy ike and I have been meaning to give it a try. Maybe tonight.

Lot of good baits that were far ahead of their time. For instance, Heddon’s River Runt or wooden zara spook. Pretty obvious that the Lindy River Rocker is an exact copy of the Lazy Ike.

I’m a retro nut like you, grouse.

i know the flat fish work and i’ve only got one yellow one. But it works, especially in the .5 to 1.0 range.

i have a collection of lazy ikes and want to run these. they used to perform great on wing dams in the 60s, but haven’t run them since then. i have red head and a couple of misc colors.

in river runt, i’ve got a frog pattern, but i’m just not much of a bass guy. if anyone wants to do a trade for a lazy ike or similar, i’m game.

i’ve put these lures into my crank case (NOOO, there is no oil in there…) and will be mixing them up.

i’m thinking with modern clips and lines, these lures should have new life. think: we used to run tem on BLACK BRAID and that was NOT a 2# diameter mono braid…

as i posted in the Eirie thread, after about 4 years of being in disfavor, these lures seem to find a new life with the fish. may have to get out my brass daredeveles…

I sometimes use a plain old hook and a worm. That’s pretty old school.

I also prefer to troll for northerns just like my grandpa did his whole life: With a red and white dardevle in the propwash. It still works.

or a lindy slider and a minnow hook.

about as old school as it gets.

i remember when my dad thought using a #4 hook was ‘uppity’…

I like this thread. Brings back memories. Lazy Ikes and Red Eye Wigglers were my all time favorite pike baits as a youth. Castes those things everwhere we could on Big Sandy Lake when visiting the grandparents in the summer. Caught my first 10 lb. walleye on a Flatfish as well.

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I sometimes use a plain old hook and a worm. That’s pretty old school.

I also prefer to troll for northerns just like my grandpa did his whole life: With a red and white dardevle in the propwash. It still works.

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Put that Daredevil on a cane pole and speed troll the weed tops.

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I like this thread. Brings back memories. Lazy Ikes and Red Eye Wigglers were my all time favorite pike baits as a youth. Castes those things everwhere we could on Big Sandy Lake when visiting the grandparents in the summer. Caught my first 10 lb. walleye on a Flatfish as well.

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Ahhhh, the Red Eye Wigler. Another classic.

Your experience with the Flatfish makes me wonder why they ever went out of style for walleye?

My father says that all through the 1960s and into the 1970s in South Dakota and Minnesota, the Flatfish was one of about 3 or 4 go-to plugs. Then everyone quit using them in 1975. Bang, just like that you went from finding them in every tackle box to hardly seeing them. I wonder why?

Two more that I’d submit for classic status:

– The jointed floating Rapala in the gold and black color and silver. This one was a killer on wingdams on the Mississippi.

– The Fat Rap – This plug was a revelation as it was the first plug that dad and I tried that easily ran to a depth below where the common plugs of the day ran. I remember it cost over $2 when it came out in 1976, a shocking amount for a plug back then, but it was worth every penny. It wasn’t the first deep-diving plug, but it was one of the best.

Grouse

I never stopped useing Lazy Ikes or strip-ons.

i’m still using jointed floaters in just about every pattern. actually outproducing my shad raps…

Do they still make Beno’s? Those were special when I was a kid. If a lure works good I use it. Concequently it eventually gets lost so I really dont have old lures laying around.

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I never stopped useing strip-ons.

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Woooah, big fellah. Hey, too much information there. I mean,this thread is about fishing. What you get up to in your personal life, well, hey that’s your business…

Grouse

#7 and #9 original floating raps – both jointed and straight. black/gold, black’silv, and blu/silv. Still super reliable and my go-to baits behind the riggers or leadcore. For pike, Doctor Spoons, Red Eye Wigglers….. For bass…… who can overlook a jitterbug?

All of the above still have a place in my box…..and they all still get occasional use, and they still produce.

T

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I never stopped useing strip-ons.

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Woooah, big fellah. Hey, too much information there. I mean,this thread is about fishing. What you get up to in your personal life, well, hey that’s your business…

Grouse

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Its a lure Infamous one,you would know that if you ever read something other than the bottom of your scotch bottle.

Red Eye – Need to put them back in the main box. Also Dr. Spoons. Don’t forget the Spoon Plugs: best part is these are still available new.

Still use the Prescott spinners and the old Mirror lures

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Its a lure Infamous one,you would know that if you ever read something other than the bottom of your scotch bottle.

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Sorry about that, didn’t know that was a lure. Thought you were talking about something completely different there.

I didn’t understand the scotch comment, so I Googled it. Turns out those b@stards in Scotland have gone and stolen my name for a brand of blended scotch. Blended! Yeah, as if the name ripoff wasn’t bad enough, then diluted me as well.

They’ll be hearing from my lawyers.

Grouse

Anyone actually catch a bass on a BASS-O-REENO??…and why wad Red/white such a common color for the lures of the day?

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Anyone actually catch a bass on a BASS-O-REENO??…and why wad Red/white such a common color for the lures of the day?

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Right Here

I grew up slinging Bass-O-Renos, nothing more exciting as a yougnster than to watch a bass blow up on one.

I am bent on catching a big walleye this fall on the old Bass-o-reno, A tribute to Grandfather and father.

Ok, I did some google and ebay research and found the correct spelling.

Anyone ever use a Pul-v-Riser or remember seeing them? Invented by Lynn Pulver from Iowa?

My dad has about a dozen of these including a super-rare jointed one. They VERY occasionally come up on eBay.

Grouse

Grouse

They were made in my hometown – Swea City, Iowa. I have seen a few of them. If I remember correctly I believe he put a patent on them in 1952. A local nature center has an antique lure display that I believe has several of his included. I went to the same church as Lynn for quite a few years, one heck of a guy. Sadly, he passed away just a few months ago.

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Anyone actually catch a bass on a BASS-O-REENO??…and why wad Red/white such a common color for the lures of the day?

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I haven’t caught a Bass on one, but I did catch myself in the bASS with one when I was a little kid.

Dad and grandpa weren’t looking, so I snuck into grandpa’s tackle box and got the biggest lure I could find and tied it onto my Zebco 33 and ran out to the dock to try and catch the biggest fish in the lake.

They soon discovered my hyjinks when they heard me bawling my eyes out and found the old red and white Bass O Reeno buried firmly in the seat of my pants.

Out the rump not in the rump.

Depending on the color, the Pul-Ver-Iser can be a real $$ maker. I had one in the original box and got $85.00 for it at our antique shop.