In the mid 1960’s, “Plugs” (like the Lazy Ike), Mepp’s spinners, Hula Poppers, and Jitterbugs filled slots in my metal tackle box.  In the belly of my box were a few cellophane packs of hand poured Creme or Mann’s Jelly worms. That’s all we needed.

In the early 1970’s bass fishing was becoming a sport: tournaments, magazines and B.A.S.S. decals everywhere. Soft plastics weren’t all that soft and didn’t have appendages. Creative coloring was developed for Western clear-water techniques like Don Iovino’s doodling. Hand pours were cast aside as power fishing and injection molding surfaced. Ignoring soft plastics altogether, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and jigs dominated on the water and in tackle stores. Injection ingenuity; arms, legs, and tails that hand pours could only dream about, impressed anglers.

In the mid 90’s western anglers, taking cues from the east…the FAR EAST…perfected clear-water techniques like drop shotting, spawning the finesse festival.  These techniques don’t demand dangly parts; meaning straight tail worms were back; opening doors for hand pour resurgence. Demand was in dormancy, but hobbyists and astute anglers had never put away pouring pots. Lure Craft, (lurecraft.com) around since 1969, supplies everything; plastic, pots, glitter, coloring, nearly a thousand molds…even custom molds. Serious anglers were making secret baits, out-fishing anything shot through injection cylinders.  Inability to keep up with demand was still a disadvantage. Hundreds of small garage businesses emerged, making fishery specific baits.

Ten years ago, tackle shop owners Shawn and Kim Straley tried their hand at hand pouring, mixing trial and error. Shawn poured worms, fishing with them to fully understand what they were supposed to do.  “I took one of the worms and caught a bass and it got me going...it feels good when you pour a bait and actually catch a fish with it.”  Shawn cooked hand pours in his kitchen offsetting their son’s tournament costs. Mitch proved to be a competent angler winning the LaGrange County Bass Classic using dad’s Poor Boy’s Baits!

Shawn became serious about the bait business when pro anglers Mark Zona and Greg Mangus expressed enthusiasm for his designs. Groundbreaking realistic Gobies and Poor Boy’s Darter line-up, secret for several years, are available in popular colors:  watermelon gold, mango magic, and green pumpkin with purple and gold flake, producing pro tournament wins.
Sealed angler lips were replaced with hooked fish lips. In over 150 stores, including Bass Pro Shops, Gander Mountain, and Cabelas, Poor Boy’s filled tackle boxes! 70,000 inventoried bags of baits avert hand pour availability shortcomings! What started as a part-time pouring has turned into a downpour.

With Poor Boy’s established Shawn and Kim envisioned an expanding hand pour market, with finesse techniques on the rise, and bought Lure Craft!  Tackle shops, weekend anglers and pros making “secret” baits, build bait businesses with Lure Craft. Free from “petroleum odor”, quarts to 55-gallon drums, for fresh and saltwater hand pour and injected plastics, roll out of Lure Craft’s Indiana plant pouring into China, Japan, Australia and across the globe.  Lure Craft/Poor Boy’s “how-to” DVD shares success secrets.  “We‘ve been through the stumbling, everything from how we got started to excise taxes.” In their first year Shawn says more baits were given away than sold.  “We knew they would buy them if they caught fish.” Poor Boy’s Baits have been featured in Bassin', Bassmaster, Fishing Tackle Retailer, FLW Magazine and dozens of other publications!

Lure Craft Virginia customer R&R Custom Baits is developing a strong regional presence for anglers targeting the Potomac River and Lake Anna, VA. In their 4th year, R&R co-founders and fishing partners Robin Yost and Rob Vest watched their favorite baits disappear from shelves or confidence colors discontinued. R&R spent a year experimenting with pouring techniques, making baits for themselves, selling nothing.  

Making something different and better is how R&R competes to keep anglers hooked. “We’re fishermen building baits for fishermen.” Recipe cards create consistent results. At shows, R&R presents products in a variety of rigs in a 10-gallon tank. Their first designed bait, “Hoochie Momma”, comes in unique colors and flexible, durable plastic consistency. Yost chuckles when “discerning” anglers note the hand pour signature “flat” side, opting for rounded injected baits instead. He says fish don’t reject a bait because it has a flat side. Customers buy at Dance’s Sporting Goods and Green Top. R&R’s custom services feature special colors or shapes poured and kept secret…minimum runs of just 100!

Lure Craft, Poor Boy’s, R&R Custom Baits, and others have revived the hand pour market.  Today, several injection companies now include hand pours in their line-ups! Whether for personal use, starting a business or just fishing to win, hand pours are back and here to stay!

Potomac River Bassing in February

OK, it’s cold!  But it’s a great time to get the biggest bass of the year!  Dress for success!  SealSkinz Chillblocker socks and gloves, a breathable rain suit like Frogg Toggs Elite and Maui Jim sunglasses to protect from the winter’s sun glare.

A handful of lures: Silver Buddy, jigged vertically or down drops. I use 14-pound test and a medium heavy Quantum spinnerbait rod. Mann’s Stingray 3-inch avocado colored grubs on ¼ ounce round jig heads. Cast and keep close to the bottom. A 6’10” Quantum spinning rod with 6-8 pound test Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line is perfect for all around use. And Punisher Hair Jigs should do it. Bring along a few Mizmo tubes with a Gerkin insert head with a lift and glide presentation, some drop shot and shaky head HardNose worms for variety. Soaking soft plastics in garlic flavor Jack’s Juice encourages fish to hold on longer.

In the warmest part of the day, you can use suspending Lucky Craft Pointer 78 or Bevy Shad lures.

Bass don’t hibernate!  They don’t eat often, but the good news is they don’t move around much...and they get fat! But you have to slooooow down!

Capt. Steve Chaconas is a Potomac bass fishing guide and BoatUS “Ask the Expert” (www.my.boatus.com/askexperts/) Potomac River reports: www.nationalbass.com. Book a trip or purchase gift certificates: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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