Article by Shaye Baker
I like to reminisce from time to time. Most fishermen do. I think back to some of my most memorable moments spent on the water. Growing up fishing with my dad. Some have stuck with me on account of a big fish catch. Others were just great days on the water. All, however, involved one thing for certain—a fishing lure.
Some bait or another was a part of each and every memory. I can think back to a plethora of past plastics and hard baits that I haven’t laid eyes on in years. I remember every color, texture and smell.
Baits that I grew up fishing. Baits that brought in thousands of pounds of fish, or so I like to remember. Everyone who has fished a large portion of his or her life has baits like these. Memories from one manufacturer or another.
For some reason, and all too often, we get away from these baits. We put them away. They take a back seat to the next big thing. In some instances manufacturers halt production. Sometimes the local bait store just stops carrying them, an event prior to the internet that was detrimental to the regular purchase of a particular lure.
Nowadays however, it’s typically a mere brain lapse that relocates a lure to the shelf of relics. Out of sight, out of mind. With the invent of the internet, its possible to find anything, anytime, anywhere. But you can’t find something you don’t remember. No, to jog the memory it takes something as simple as a day spent loafing with your significant other.
I ran across such a lure while milling through a tackle shop in Mississippi with the missus this past week – a Terminator spinnerbait. Now for some who have spent a few more blue moons on the water than myself, these spinnerbaits aren’t that old. I’m showing my lack of age here a little but all the same this is one of my long lost favorites and I was excited to stumble upon it.
This one didn’t look exactly like I remembered however. The head had a new shine and there was a new skirt style with an elongated center portion, meant to work as a built-in trailer. But I could see the trademark, titanium arm that initially set the spinnerbait apart from all others.
As a kid, I remember taking one of these spinnerbaits out of my dad’s tackle box and inadvertently trying to tear it up, as most young boys will do with anything they can get their hands on.
I would pull the arm all the way down and then move my finger, as it would snap back into place. I would pull the blades all the way behind the head and it would rocket back into its initial position again. It wouldn’t bend, and I couldn’t break it, a rarity at that age.
Upon seeing this resurrection of an old classic, I had to have it. I tore it from the packaging as we left the store. I couldn’t wait to get it back in the water. On its maiden voyage, I took it out to my home lake to take a trip down memory lane. Old friend in hand, I started down the bank. The first couple of bites brought back a lot of memories. A couple 3- to 4-pounders created new ones.
A total of around 20 bites in a short afternoon of fishing certainly rekindled an old relationship – one I thought I’d lost. Think back on some of your most memorable moments on the water – maybe growing up fishing with your dad, perhaps a few big fish catches or maybe just a good day spent on the water. Do you remember a lure at the root of it all? If you do, I suggest knocking the dust off.
