Lindy Darter/Salmo Chubby Darter

[Random guy]

That’s why I like the Lindy Darter, I get rattles and a great swimming action. I also prefer the more horizontal descent or fall of the Lindy Darter verses the downward action of the Chubby Darter. I feel I receive harder more aggressive strikes with the horizontal swimming descent of the Lindy verses the softer nips with the downward fall of the Salmo.

[MikeEiden]

I'll throw in my 2 cents as well. The Lindy Darter has a more subtle action than the chubby darter. I've watched both plenty on my underwater camera trying different types of rod manipulations. Not saying that, they are so different that I almost wouldn't compare the two of them. To me the Lindy darter more resembles a jigging rap but has some wobble and rattles. Just because it returns to the center so quickly after swinging out. And everyone knows how well jigging raps work so theres' no doubt the lindy darter will work for me as well.

I like how easy I can get that wobble on the rise and fall with the chubby darter. Small quivers with the rod and I can get it do its wobbling action without much change in height. And the hit is almost always a thud for me. As mentioned once you rip them and let them fall out to the side it takes longer for them to return to the center.

At first I was disappointed with the lindy's action but after some time I see its potentional (jigging rap style) and try not to compare the them to my salmo's. A buddy of mine had great luck on Lake Winnipeg with the Lindy's last year and not much on the Salmo's. So there's a time and place for both.

[DrStizo]

i find it ironic that most people who do not like or have had much success with them typically only tries them when nothing else will work lmao, but i have to admit i was the same way, i'd put one on, try it for a few minutes and grumble "man this is just like the real weeds gimic"

A trip to Winnie and 1 to URL(another story for another day)changed my mind. I met up with an old friend to fish Winnie (I grew up fishing it so i had my go to lures on), before getting on the ice i called him and asked if i should pick up bait, he said it was covered. To my surprise when i got to his fish house he had only a few good minnows, mostly crappies. I remember thinking "note to self, go grab bait before the night bite" He was using a darter , i put one on reluctantly. Long story short, i never went and got bait. I'm not saying its all i ever use, but it works - it is my go to lure, what i start with and usally end with. Personally i feel confidence in what you are using is key, if you don't think it will catch fish, don't put it on.

i also feel it increases the number of fish the entire house sees on the depth finder's and in the pail.

I tie a small swivel about 18 inches up, if i'm fishing in over 30 ft of water i also have another swivel connected to the o ring on the darter.

Taking my time to vary my technique and paying attention to my camera during the mid day slow time has made me very confident in them.

[buzbunni]

if i'm fishing in over 30 ft of water i also have another swivel connected to the o ring on the darter.

For?

[icekid10]

For?

reduce how much the line will twist.. keeps the lure from spinning.

[bobbymalone]

reduce how much the line will twist.. keeps the lure from spinning.

I think he's asking about why use another swivel if you already have one 18 inches away.

[DrStizo]

it seems when i get around 30 ft, the one swivel does not always swivel and results in line twists, not saying what i do is right, but it works for me. i also add o rings to any chubby or lindy that doesnt come with me one, why? i have no idea but i like it

[slipperybob]

When you thread a swivel onto the splitring of the lure, it gives the lure more freedom of movement, a better line tie point, and reduction in line twist.

You can get line twists simply from the line coming off your reel as well. The swivel a little ways up and away from the lure creats another buffer to address line twists from either direction/source.

Putting the two system together to provide improve line twist reduction whether your results are marginally or not, is still better than either alone. You can even run a heavier stronger leader line is another benefit from utilizing this double swivel system. Sometimes one doesn't need to fully understand what they're doing to simply know that it's working for them. I sometimes get all crazy weird for no good explanation. Just a method to the madness.

[buzbunni]

I think he's asking about why use another swivel if you already have one 18 inches away.

Exactly. Thank you.

[buzbunni]

Putting the two system together to provide improve line twist reduction whether your results are marginally or not, is still better than either alone.

Unless that extra hardware frightens off reluctant fish.

Thanks for the clarification DrStizo.

I feel that one swivel is sufficent for me in all circumstances, but hey, whatever puts fish on the hook for ya is good in my book.

As we often hear round these parts: Fishing with confidence is one of the most important factors in terms of getting fish on the hook.

[Rick]

Here is a Lindy Darter Video put out by Jon Thelen showing the wounded baitfish action of the Lindy Darter:

More videos at HSOshow.com™

[popriveter]

Tonight, I caught a limit of 8 and 9" crappies that were VERY active. They were hitting a swedish pimple tipped with a wax worm and they were hitting it hard. Once I had my crappie limit, I was hoping to add to my perch and sunfish total, but didn't want to risk foul-hooking a crappie that I couldn't keep, so I decided to finally give a chubby darter a shot in a "can't miss" circumstance.

I tried a hot perch colored chubby (smallest size), made it glow and worked it every way I could think of and it produced 1 light hit/no hookups in 20 minutes. I dropped the pimple back down the hole and pulled out 2 more fish in less than a minute.

This tactic was meant to build my confidence in chubby fishing. Wish it worked.

[Ed Carlson]

Did you tip the #3 Chubby Darter with a Waxy, it appears they wanted larva/waxies?

Try it again, on a "minnow bite", they primarily imitate minnow forage.

I was out last night, on a "Good" walleye spot..and I achieved a whopping...Nada..Zip..just lookers on anything I tried to feed them. Spoons, Chubbys, Buckshots, Macho Minnows..still buckets of Nada...just look-n-leave fish. Not that many lookers either, preaty slow. Some days, it is what it is...why? Can't say really...just is.

[fishin4fun85]

gonna test out my chubby darter tonight...let u all know how I do

[fishin4fun85]

didn't mark a whole lot of fish...did get one to take the chubby but spit it out before I could set the hook....I believe if there were more fish around I might've had better luck. who knows.

[Random guy]

Now yesterday we had the Lindy Darter up on Lake of the Woods and it was a must have with the saugers and walleyes for us. The bite was dead and I mean ultra dead until we started ripping those Lindy Darters in that stained water. Most of the fish that came into it would chase it and hit it hard on the fall or drop. I even had one walleye pop it deadsticked as I was eating my lunch. Now the fish that wouldn't go for the Darter where an easy pick up on the deadsticked or very lightly jigged minnow head as they descended back down.

My thoughts on it as little as the fish were moving yesterday we would have not had any of those fish if it was not for the rattle and flash of the Lindy Darters going pulling them in.

[bassfshin24]

Hey Jonny P...what color lindy darter were ya using? I guess you can keep that to yourself if ya want to. Ill be up on LOTW in a week. Never fished it before so really lookin forward to gettin up there.

[Random guy]

I ran the Red Glow until the sun got high and bright then I switched to the Redtail color and that fizzled by 3 pm and back to the glow.

[popriveter]

Finally caught fish on my darter yesterday. I was fishing crappies and they were biting really light and I couldn't get 'em on an ice jig, but a #3 hot perch darter tipped w/a waxy worked, as did a swedish pimple with a squid tentacle. Even got a little bass on the darter.

I tried the squid on my first outing this year due to circumstance/lack of preparation time. It produced very well, so I'm continuing to use it and am really happy with the results.

[Ed Carlson]

Good to hear. Bites change minnow/bug bite. Bait tipping often works, especially with larva on panfish species.

You will figure out more each time you use them, keep on it.

[LeeMB]

Had a good afternoon on lake Winnipeg on the small LT shiner color. Marked 14 fish and caught 18 walleye. Some of the fish I caught I didn't even mark. Overall they were smoking it prety hard.

[Ed Carlson]

That is common with all "Hog Caller" lures.

They Freight Train my Salmo Zippers too. Very often I see a Flash or feel a wicked Thud on the outside of the Vexilar cone on the drop. Or, the lure never hits the bottom of the line on a jigging motion and dead weight is waiting there on the next jig.

Ripper Baits are a Hoot, gota love them!

[Zenit]

Haven't bought any of the Lindy copies yet. I noticed that Cabela's has all of their Salmo offerings priced down to $5.99 to match the price of the Lindys. I'm sure I'll pick up one or two of the Lindy Darters just to see how they compare, but I've had success with the Salmo offerings and tend to take a dim view of obvious copycats trying to cash in on someone else's success.

I've had pretty good luck with the #3 Chubby Darters on all varieties of trout and jumbo perch; the #3 Salmo Red Tail Shiner is my "go to" lure when nothing else seem to attract the trout. The #3 Hot Perch has worked well for me; haven't tried any of the holo designs yet, but do have a couple of each of the Yellow Green Perch and the Silver Black Red Shiner coming in my next Cabela's order arriving this week.

One thing I do like about these style of lures is that if you get into a bunch of perch, the CDs seem to trigger the big fish to be more aggressive than with, for example, a Pimple or a Lindy Rattln' Flyer. I've noticed with the walleyes on Mille Lacs, that even when the bite is tough, working the normal action and once every minute or so letting the CD drop right down to bottom and 5 or so seconds of stirring up the bottom seems to trigger even lethargic fish; I've watched walleyes on UW video stare at CDs working vertically like they were staring at a TV test pattern, but a little bit of dust up on the bottom and that first rip and drop above the stirred up bottom sediment after that seems to get their attention.

[Random guy]

I'm sure I'll pick up one or two of the Lindy Darters just to see how they compare, but I've had success with the Salmo offerings and tend to take a dim view of obvious copycats trying to cash in on someone else's success.

Now to say a copy cat that is cashing in is a grand misrepresentation. The Lindy Darter is just the results of another case where thousands of anglers whom became fond of a product but desired some changes to make a decent bait a great bait. Such as rattles, better paint jobs, better swimming action or even better hooks for that matter. Lindy stepped up and porduced such a product, why other companies refuse to make theses changes is beyond me. Just as the new Lindy Spinner Rigs or Crawler Harnesses; hundreds of companies have made spinner rigs and crawler harnesses but Lindy took it to the next level. By listening to the anglers and making major improvements through endless hours of research and development they now have hands down the best out of box spinner rig on the market. To be honest I think the difference between the Chubby Darter and the Lindy Darter is worlds apart.

[Zenit]

Now to say a copy cat that is cashing in is a grand misrepresentation. The Lindy Darter is just the results of another case where thousands of anglers whom became fond of a product but desired some changes to make a decent bait a great bait. Such as rattles, better paint jobs, better swimming action or even better hooks for that matter. Lindy stepped up and porduced such a product, why other companies refuse to make theses changes is beyond me.

Well, that is your opinion; no disrespect intended, but I would say that is a very naive opinion. I've never heard of anyone that has successfully used the Chubby Darters say "gee, nice lure, but it would be so much better with a rattle." Why would Salmo change them? They sell out almost every year, most folks I know that have them swear by them and (like me) pick up a few new ones or replacements every year. The popular sizes and colors fly off the shelf, almost every season - what would be the point of changing something that is obviously working?

Sticking a big dollop of marshmallow creme on top of a Big Mac just because someone thought it might taste good, and then calling it an entirely different creation "worlds apart" doesn't change the fact that it still is a Big Mac. I guess the reason for that odd comparison is because your interpretation reminds me of the McDonald's/McDowell's bit in the movie, "Coming to America" ("They have the Bic Mac, we have the Big Mick; they have the Golden Arches, we have the Golden Arcs.")

You make it sound like Lindy tore it down and completely re-engineered what was a less than perfect product in your view - therein lies the "grand misrepresentation." It is an obvious copy, and to deny this by claiming a few different bells and whistles doesn't make it as such is disingenuous at best.