Banjo Minnow

[Jimi]

I try not to buy into "as Seen on TV" crap, but cant help myself from considering the Banjo Minnow. Seems like a cool lure. Anyone tried these?

[BobG]

A very good friend of mine used Banjo's with remarkable success on largemouth bass in the west Worcester county area. But, in recent years he's been using the Gary Yamamoto salt worm baits almost exclusively. :brow

[rockfisherman]

I try not to buy into "as Seen on TV" crap, but cant help myself from considering the Banjo Minnow. Seems like a cool lure. Anyone tried these?
They work GREAT. They were out before a lot of the new soft plastics...I don't see the diff between them and the other soft, suspending plastics that are out there now, tho.

They were dyanmite on stocked trout...large ones...trout, that is.

I did add a stinger hook to them...that helped a lot.

[moxie]

The banjo was developed by Wayne Hockmeyer. Wayne was convicted
of bucket stocking white perch in Moosehead Lake in the mid 80s.
When he built Northern Outdoors in The Forks it wasn't long till
Indian Pond was poluted with smallmouths. Indian Pond was well known
as a blue ribbon brookie and landlock pond. Smallmouths took over and
Wayne placed an add in Bassmasters mag stating "THE BEST SMALLMOUTH
FISHING IN MAINE"
He was not convicted, but it is a common belief in the area that he
is responsible.
I wouldn't **** in his mouth if his teeth were on fire.
MOXIE

[MAKO13]

Didn't know that, drama aside they are AWESOME lures. I have to wonder why they decided to market them as an infomercial lure (#$119)

Honestly I haven't used them much in freshwater, but the few times I have (at Wachusett) I got some nice smallmouth.

I have had the most success with them in saltwater, I have caught a lot of stripers, you can actually cast them onto a flat without seeing bass and the fish will come out of now-where to grab them (seen it with my own eyes).

All that being said I don't think you have to get "the banjo minnow" specifically, I would think most soft plastics (like a Fin-s-fish for example) would work the same if rigged the same way. I read something on the boards earlier last spring that some other company sells a set up to rig any plastic that way - with the corkscrew, so the hook isn't actually in the plastic

-cheers

[albacized]

They now sell the kits at Dick's Sporting Goods. I bought some back in the late 80's/ early 90's and have yet to use them (I think they're up in the attic, but I'm not sure).

[fleshfly]

Wow Moxie, that is some great info. I think you are putting it Mildy that the Banjo Minnow should be black listed. Any insight if that joker had any doings with lake umbagog. Don't mean to distract to much from the post.... I have been intrigued by that marketing ploy myself, but always thought it was some sort of scam or rip off. I imagine if it was around earlier in my BASSIN days I would have traded in everyone of my Mann's Electric Grape Auger Tails

[Mike M.]

I saw an OLD fishing show with that guy that invented the banjo minnow in the 80's and they were fishing the Manns shadow. Seems to me his banjo minnow is nothing more than the shadow with a ton of useless accessories.

[Jimi]

The "kit" does come with useless stuff. I want to try to rig other plastics in the same manner, see what kind of action I get. All that aside, anyone who tampers with an ecosystem for his/her own personal benefit is a scumbag and not a true sportsman.