Massachusetts Pride......MA Modern Fishing tackle and gear Manufacturers

[DarkSkies]

Hold Fast Lures, Braintree, MA

Met Ralph MacLeod, the guy who started and created the Lilblinkie line of plugs. Has a 46 year background in electronics, and 52 years experience fishin!

His plugs, made of plastic, looked no different than ordinary bomber profile plugs. What's different is how he developed them. His electronics experience helped him to design and make a commercial version of a plug that lights when it hits the water, and has magnetic sealed contacts activated by that water.

So how could that ever work, putting a battery operated lighted plug in a saltwater envoronment? They would be destroyed by salt in a matter of hours, or a day at the most?

Well, Ralph claims no, his process has everything sealed. I don't know how they fish, or if they will hold up, but Ralph claims they will, and he seemed pretty knowledgable in science and technology, and an avid fisherman. Stop by his booth if you get a chance and check out his stuff, plugs priced from $10-15.




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[DarkSkies]

Met Capt Alan Hastbacka from W Chatham, Mass. He makes these soft plastic pieces similar to hogy's. But here's where they differ: theyre molded to have indentations or segments scooped on the sides. What this does is refract the light as it shines through it to project it different ways. So it's almost like having the shininess of a hologram or foil finish in a soft plastic bait.

I imagine it would be good for surface feeding bass in the daytime or full moon, the further down you go the less the light matters. It still looked like a decent idea that could catch fish. to the Capt for having thought of it. The baits are 9-12", priced from $8-10 per pack. The next show he'll be doing is RISSA in April.


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(He had 2 friends at his booth that take ball bustin to a new level, with friends like that you could almost be happier playin Russian roulette with the one-armed man) . Just kiddin, it was cool meetin you guys. So stop by Capt Alan's booth, ask him some questions, and enjoy the one-liners while you're there.

[DarkSkies]

Matt Porter, associate of Capt Jim Hastbacka of Got Stryper charters, Chatham, Ma demonstrates some of the jumbo soft plastic baits they invented and now market.

One might think all soft plastics are the same, but these guys have a special design and pockets in their plastic that enables you to fish bigger hooks and special jig heads for jigging the big girls.

They will definitely be at RISSA in RI, and might be at the Suffern NY show next week, not sure.

[DarkSkies]

We have a thread here called:

MA Plug and Tackle Manufacturers - Back in Time...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...in-Time​

which chronicles MA's Fishing Tackle manufacturing history...
Throughout the years here I have run into some of the folks who are still doing it in MA......


If you are aware of any that aren't up here, please feel free to post.......

[dogfish]

Got stryper and hogys are the snnizz-it for the canal and race. Nice to see them get some publicity. good job dark.

[CharlieTuna]

^^^ x2.

[DarkSkies]

How do you like that Kuzia style bucktail jig?

Someone who pays attention.
Yes I like the Stan Kuzia style bucktails very much. IMO they have a nice sink rate when fishing deeper water and a nice roll to them.





Since John mentioned them, I thought now would be a good time to talk about the Stan Kuzia type bucktail jigs. Stan was a friend of Stan Gibbs. He's known for the style of bucktail jigs he created which was copied by several makers.

Some more info on that here.....
http://canalbaitandtackle.wordpress....om-stan-kuzia/

Buck Tail Secrets from Stan Kuzia

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Canal Bait and Tackle

I am a very fortunate person because I have had the privilege of growing up and fishing with men and women that are now considered to be legends. These fishermen have taught me a lot of helpful tricks. But, the man that has helped me out the most is Stan Kuzia. Stan comes in the store every day and just schools me on how to fish. He is 88 years old and still is down the Canal every day casting wooden plugs. Stan Kuzia is the all-time ranging champ of bottom fishing.

Stan Kuzia is known for creating the Ku-Jig Company. The Ku-jig is the most popular buck tail jig in the Canal area. Sure, Stan hasn't poured a single jig to sell in 20 years, but every single lure company that makes Buck Tails has the Ku-jig mold. You see the names in most tackle stores; Cape Cod Canal Jig, Canal Special Jig, etc... This man created the fascination of the Buck Tail Jig. Everyone in the Canal area uses these lures, so this article is made to give some insight on all the lessons Kuzia has told me.

**(One little word of advice) If you don't lose any Buck Tail Jigs, then you are not jigging the correct way. You need to pay homage to the Canal Gods to catch a river monster, it's just that simple. Give to receive, fishing is all about karma.

These fishermen have been skunked hundreds of times down the Canal. But, they did what every great fisherman does, they asked questions, learned from their mistakes, and used patience to evolve and adapt their fishing game. Fishing is an art form; everyone can learn it and perfect it, but to be perfect you first need to be patient. Kuzia was patient and now the guy is a legend.