10 June 12, 2020 VOL.39 • ISS. 13
Uncle Larry’s Lures Provides Spinners And More For Trout & Salmon!
U
ncle Larry’s
Lures are well
known for their trout,
salmon and kokanee
spinners and have been
catching fish in Northern
California for years. Bob
Muhlbeier of Sonora
purchased Uncle Larry’s
from his good friend John Yurkovich last
fall, and plans on continuing the wellknown
brand.
Bob grew up in Lodi and has been
7 Sizes
available
from 1 inch to
6 1/4 inches
SILVERHORDE.COM – (425) 778-2640
Bayside Marine
Santa Cruz (831)475-2173
Hi’s Tackle Box
San Francisco (650)588-1200
Will Fish Tackle
Auburn (530)887-0839
Bloody Frog
Watermelon
Apex Lures
catch all species
of trout
and salmon
Kingfisher Lite Spoons
for Big Pyramid Trout!
Silver Horde Plugs
AVAILABLE AT THESE FINE RETAILERS:
Coyote Bait & Tackle
Coyote (408)463-0711
Discount Mart Bay Tackle
El Cerrito (510)235-2032
Sacramento Pro Tackle
Sacramento (916)925-0529
Fishing & Lures Ltd.
www.hotspotlures.com
1-888-744-2739
fishing all the foothill
lakes and reservoirs
since he was a kid.
He always caught lots
of trout and kokanee
on Uncle Larry’s
spinners, so when
he saw the chance to
buy the company, he
jumped on it!
All of Uncle Larry’s lures are built from
real silver plate, gold plate and copper
blades, not just nickel plate or brass like
some others. The advantage of using the
TROUT
TACKLE!
Gold Star/Yamashita Squid
Dodgers
Fisherman’s Warehouse
Sacramento (916)362-1200
Manteca (209)239-2248
San Jose (408)873-0113
Petaluma Sport & Dive
Petaluma (707)763-0930
Available in
over 60 finishes
including
Glow and UV!
APEX LURES
Big Trout, Kokanee and Salmon
Pilchard
Tui Chub
Ask for them
at your local
Tackle store!
3908
JD Auto Gone Fishin’
Sand City (831)899-1111
Jerry’s Marine & Tackle
Atascadero
(805)835-5414
West Marine
Select Locations
W
hat are the characteristics of the
most consistently
productive trolling lures
for trout and landlocked
salmon?
I’ve spent thousands of
hours trolling for trout and
salmon over the course of
my fishing career and I’ve
had the privilege of fishing
with some of the best guides
and anglers on the West
Coast.
Based on what I’ve seen
the best lures offer vibration, erratic,
unpredictable or “skip beat” action and
a baitfish like silhouette… The Apex
Trolling Lure meets all these criteria and as
a result it is one of my go to trolling baits.
Apex Lures are manufactured by the
Hot Spot Company. Hot Spot is a top
manufacturer of ocean salmon fishing gear
and the original generation of Apex Lures
were designed for ocean kings. These
large Apex Lures ranging up to 6 ¼ inches
remain a favorite of ocean salmon trollers
from California to Alaska and throughout
the Great Lakes.
With large Apex Lures slaying ocean
salmon, it’s not surprising that a member
of the Hot Spot
brain trust came
up with the idea
Coho Killer Spoons
Trout & Salmon Love ‘Em!
Outdoor Pro Shop
Cotati (707)588-8033
Englund Marine
Crescent City
(707)464-3230
Englund Marine
Eureka (707)444-9266
real thing is you get a much better, deeper
flash with silver, gold and copper, and that
came make a big difference in catching
fish. Uncle Larry’s also feature UV colors,
special Glow paint, and even the beads on
the spinners are hand painted.
Bob will continue producing the
successful patterns of trout and kokanee
spinners, Mini Squid lures as well as
the larger salmon spinners and downrigger
ball flashers. Coming soon will
be a complete line of mini spinners
for kokanee, in both single and double
blade designs. A new website is being
constructed right now to showcase the
whole line of Uncle Larry’s products.
For more information, give Bob a call at
(209) 609-7034. Uncle Larry’s Lures are
available at your local tackle shop, or go
online to www.unclelarryslures.com.
of offering smaller Apex Lures designed
for trout and landlocked
salmon. The end result of this
thinking is the Apex Trout
Killer Series and the Apex
Kokanee Special Series.
I run Apex Trout Killers
more often then I run the
kokanee version even when
I’m chasing kokanee.
The Apex Trout Killer
comes in 1 and 1½ inch sizes
and is offered in a bunch
of different color patterns.
Instead of double hooks like the kokanee
version sports, the trout version has a
single J-hook attached via a swivel and
the hook eye also sports a small willow
leaf “kicker” blade. Sometimes I leave the
J-hook in place, but as often as not I swap
it out for a pair of red Gamakatsu octopus
hooks snelled on 12 pound fluorocarbon.
Colors
For trout and kings I like to stick with
standard baitfish colors to start with
and then I’ll go brighter if the fish don’t
respond. If I had to run only one color
Apex it would be watermelon.
When kokanee are on the menu I
break out the pink and orange models in
addition to my beloved watermelon.
For more about Apex Lures, check them
out on the web at www.hotspotlures.com.
Gold Star Dodgers:
A Staple For
Trout And Salmon
by Cal Kellogg
Dodgers do three things that
attract fish and trigger
strikes. They create vibration
and flash. And they can impart
an erratic surging motion to
lures and baits, depending on
how far you rig them behind
the dodger.
It is thought that the vibration
put off by dodgers is similar to
those put off by feeding fish. Fish
like trout and salmon have a strip of
nerves along the lateral line that allow them to pick up and analyze
vibrations in the water around them.
When the lateral line picks up vibrations that sound like fish
feeding, predatory gamefish, being the opportunists they are home in
on the sound hoping to pick up an easy meal.
Over the years I’ve found myself running herring dodgers from
the Gold Star line up quite a bit. Gold Star dodgers feature quality
hardware and consistent performance.
For trout and kokanee, I often go with a 3 7/8 inch Gold Star
Mini Dodger. For rainbows chrome, watermelon and chartreuse are
my favorite colors. When kokanee are the target I usually start the
morning off with an orange dodger. As the sun gets higher I move to
watermelon and then to brass.
One of my favorite dodgers for landlocked kings is the Gold Star 6
inch herring dodger. This dodger comes in a long list of colors. My
first choice is chrome/prismatic tape, followed by glow white and
UV watermelon. For kings I generally run a hoochie or Ace Hi Fly Jr
behind the blade, but at times I’ll run a plug cut anchovy tail or even
an anchovy fillet rigged on a double hook leader.
To learn more about Gold Star dodgers or Silver Hordes full line of
outstanding fishing gear, visit them online at www.silverhorde.com.