It happens every
year. As winter fades and temperatures
start their slow climb into spring, I
get the uncontrollable urge to shop for fishing tackle. 
There are really two reasons for this. First is to restock all the favorite "tried and true" lures that I rely on year after year to consistently
produce fish. Second is because I am a
true "gadget nut" when it comes to fishing lures. I love to look at all the new lures that
manufacturers introduce, without fail, every Spring. The beginning of 2007 was no exception.
While shopping at
a local Ankeny, IA outdoor retailer, I came across a series of peculiar lures being introduced for the 2007
fishing season by a manufacturer known as Dunwright Tackle Company, of Big
Lake, MN. The new line of tackle is
marketed under the name "Lifelike Lures". Just one look at the lures of this series leaves no doubt in your mind that these lures were
intended to catch big fish. Big fish as
in Northern Pike. I can truly say that I
had never seen a lure quite like these. The Lifelike lure came in three different varieties with different sizes
in each variety. The lures resemble
either a Pike/Muskie, Panfish, or Lizard. As of the time of this writing, the company has introduced even more
lures in the Lifelike series for the 2008 fishing season.
The Lifelike
lures can best be described as a soft plastic crankbait, however, I found it
just as easy to fish them as a twitch bait or as a trolling lure as well. Each lure in the Lifelike series is made of a
soft plastic that Dunwright calls FORMULA-X. The company states that FORMULA-X allows the lure to stretch to many
times its original length with the material being resistant to cuts, making
this soft plastic much more durable. Anyone who has fished with soft plastics for toothy Esox like Pike and Muskie can tell you the value in having a
durable lure. Having planned a fall trip
to Northern Minnesota for some big Pike action, I eagerly purchased a few of
these interesting lures to give them a try.
I began fishing with the 8" Stressed
Pike. I was immediately impressed with
the quality of the lure and the sharpness of the hooks. The body of this lure is segmented and the
action imparted by this manufacturing technique is incredible! While gliding the lure in the water next to
the boat, I had to tell myself that it
was indeed my lure I was seeing and not a real fish! Weather this day was perfect for catching Pike. Temperatures had been stable for several days with air temps in the mid
60's and water temps. in the upper 50's. There were a few clouds and the light
winds were causing just enough surface disturbance to make it difficult to see
into the water. I began fishing by
casting the 8" Stressed Pike along deep reed edges and over weed beds with
a moderate retrieve. It wasn't long until....BANG! A 28" Pike decided to make lunch out of
my lure in a most decisive manner. After
landing the fish, I observed several places in the lure where the fish had
bitten through the soft plastic. Each of
these areas appeared as a simple
puncture in the FORMULA-X material. This
particular bait caught several more Pike in the 18" to 28" range and
held up unlike any other soft plastic I have fished.
During the
overnight hours of our second day fishing, the weather took a decided turn for
the worse. We awoke to low clouds, air
temperatures in the low 40's and rain being driven by a very gusty North
wind. Looking out at the lake we could
see a moderate chop, and you guessed it...not a single boat on the water. Our plan was to allow the boat to drift and
cast submerged weed beds in medium depths. Any type of trolling would have been impossible. Because this was a post-cold front condition, I opted to try the Lifelike Lizard in Cisco
Shad color. I wanted a lure that could
be fished slow to entice the hard to get strike often found during post-frontal
conditions. I found the Lifelike Lizard
to be just as well constructed as the Pike/Muskie model. The Lizard has a long tail that gives the
lure a very unique action when retrieved. Another amazing feature of the Lifelike Lures, is when left to sit
still, the lures will suspend. I fished
the Lizard suspended directly over the weedbeds with a slow twitch-stop-
twitch retrieve. Again, it wasn't long before I had boated a
nice 10 pound Pike. All the strikes from
the Pike caught that day, (and missed as well), on the Lizard were incredibly
aggressive. This is just the opposite of
what you would expect while fishing in a post-cold front condition.
The only negative
I found while fishing the Lifelike Lure series, was related to Lizard. The Lizard has only one treble hook and a
long tail which occasionally leads to
missed fish from short strikes. The
lures are competitively priced with others in their size and category. One note: The FORMULA-X material dictates
that the Lifelike Lures be stored away from other soft plastic baits. Tackle box plastic is completely safe.
All in all, I
would say that Dunwright Tackle Company has hit a home run with the Lifelike
Lure series. The incredible action,
durability, and fishability of these lures make them a must-have for any Pike
or Muskie fisherman. You can visit them
at www.Dunwrighttackle.com.
