Ok....Be Honest

[pushbutton]

Who has been tempted to buy the Banjo Minnow. Seems to be a springtime right of passage by having so see that infomercial all over the tv guide. Have tuned in a few times for a few minutes and have been tempted....anyone out there bite? any feedback?

[itchmesir]

They still make the Banjo Minnow?... I bought a kit about a decade and a half ago.. who only knows where it is now

[Huntin&Fishin]

well a buddy bought a package before a fishing trip, and we gave him so much greif, well not after the trip, he caught the 3 largest fish on the trip all with the banjo minnow, true story, i need to find a store who sells them not on tv

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Ive seen the kits and Gander.

[hawgchaser]

Vexilarman, Was he using a popeil pocket fisherman for a rod. That would be the icing on the cake.

[genegodawa]

My buddy's son slept in one am so after he woke, he drove a jetski with a pocket fisherman over to the edge of our panfish hotspot to join us. He pulled in a big gill and while retrieving it near the jetski, a musky chased it and just missed.

That would've been quite a sight seeing him pulled around on a jetski by a musky.

[rkhinrichs]

when i was little i wanted the Banjo so bad! but never got it. i would like to try it just to say i have!

[Stringerless!]

My 19 year old buys the banjos every year. Swears by em. And has the pics to prove it.

[itchmesir]

Vexilarman, Was he using a popeil pocket fisherman for a rod. That would be the icing on the cake.

i wanna get a pen fishermen.. just for the helll of it.. i think they still hand out cash prizes for the largest fish in general and largest fish per species

[Mike Wallace]

I still have two Flying Lure kits!

[itchmesir]

I think Terminator is really the only "As Seen On TV" lure that i've actually bought repeatedly.. because they are actually a great spinner.. but now they just seem over priced.. when compared to other spinners

[mainbutter]

There are many jerk-bait soft plastics on the market, banjos are just another incarnation. If you want to present a wider profile, they're a great choice.

[Steve Foss]

I came across an old pack of Banjo Minnows that had never been opened. Still in the plastic. We were sorting through stuff in the storage room at the lake cabin and there it was. Dad must have ordered them years ago.

[PurpleFloyd]

I still have two Flying Lure kits!

Same here.

[Wanderer]

I tossed out all my flying lures. Never caught a thing on em. The banjo minnow has done well for some people Ive fished with though. I don't own any but wouldn't hesitate to put one on.

[goose89]

I got my first kit...it had to be over 15 yrs ago (when they first came out) and caught a couple of really big, shallow cover, sight fished bass. Best part was my buddy I was fishing with was ripping me for even thinking about using one, and was in the back of the boat air strumming his banjo and whistling "dueling banjo's" as I set the hook on the first one. lol. He said it was a fluke, until I pulled another one off some shallow cover that he had casted to with a spinnebait just before. The "genetic response" was a running joke between us, and still is.

I brought them up to LOTW / NW angle for smallies with a guide that laughed at me as well. Well, he schooled my with a regular mister twister, and I haven't used them since.

They have a small niche,but overall, it wouldn't be a "go-to" or first thing I'd try.

[Acemac]

It's just a drop shot rig isn't it?

For some reason I have a hard time trusting babe...

[Deitz Dittrich]

Not a drop shot bait.. its just a soft plastic jerk bait, much like a zoom fluke type bait, but a different hooking method.

[saunasisu]

My father bought the kit a few years back, and when I showed up at the cabin, he's waiting to show me his "great" new purchase. I laughed and gave him a hard time about it. On the very first cast, boom a 27" northern nails it. He was all smiles and proud of his new "secret" lure.

I don't think he's used for the past year or so.

[minnygriff]

I've used them with a ton of success. They proved themselves again this weekend up in WI. Bass were starting to move shallow late in the day Saturday, we could see them but not ignite any interest. I bailed to the banjo and hooked one on my first cast. They are simply a soft plastic with a very intuitive rigging technique. It allows the plastic to respond more naturally and my hook-up ratio is much better than with a Texas-rig or even plain jig. However banjo minnows are not weedless, and I find they lose most effectiveness in water more than 6 feet deep. They work great in shallow sparse cover which I typically focus on. I think if they were sold in 6 packs and weren't tied to an infomercial they'd be more well received from hard core fisherman. I do love that infomercial though.....

[mrklean]

i think if i ever go marlin or sailfish fishing ill pick up the minnow

[TooTallTom]

They're pretty fun to throw way back into the cabbage and twitch. You get some awesome strikes. I've had some success with them but usually only fish them when I'm screwing around and looking for additional entertainment. So, I haven't fished them in about 15 years.

[Huntin&Fishin]

Vexilarman, Was he using a popeil pocket fisherman for a rod. That would be the icing on the cake.

hahaha no i wish defenetly a kodak moment then

[fisherman-andy]

I thought about this for a long time. I too have "Banjo" and even the "Bionic Minnow" lures still in my old tackle boxes. I fished the heck out of them and compared them to my other baits.

Each lure has its own presentation and will catch fish accordingly. Banjo's are better I think for fishing cover and shallows. The life like appeal of the Bionic Minnow is pretty cool too and you can pretty much fish it anyway you like.

But as long as you present your lure/bait accordingly to the waters your fishing I dont think its gonna outfish other baits/lures on the market from my own experience.

Going out and using them at a nearby lake or pond, or catching fish on a trip is not enough proof for me. I have to put some time into the lure itself fishing it to understand if you think it really does what it does. For me its just another cool lure in your arsenal and will catch fish went presented in the right conditions as any other lure/bait. Nothing more, nothing less...