On the Button with Jensen's Lures !
by
Simon Whitehead

INTRODUCTION
I must say that I really enjoyed reading Bob Stone's article about Rebel and Rapala lures and as I was reading through it again, I realised just how well these particular lures have also done for me in a relatively short space of time. I use them regularly and very successfully most of the time and I rate them very highly.

THINKING ABOUT TOP LURES
This led to me thinking about some of my other top catchers and it occurred to me that some of my other lures that I rate very highly have been around for years and years and are still virtually every bit as good as they were when I first tried them out. Here I'm talking about lures from Phil Jensen's company, Luhr Jensen. I mean, which lure angler hasn't heard of or fished with a Bass Oreno or a KwikFish ? Not many of the most successful ones, I'll bet -- personally I never leave home without them!

WOODCHOPPERS
But before I go on to share with you some of my experiences with the above mentioned lures in which I hope you'll be interested, I first would like to mention my most favourite topwater plug, Luhr Jensen's Osark Mountain Woodchopper, an absolutely brilliant top-water twin-propbait. I've tried all sorts of single and double-propbaits but none comes anywhere near the Woodchopper in my experience.

I have to say that I really don't know exactly what it is that makes the Woodchopper so special; maybe it's the fact that its two propellers contra-rotate and that their design sends-out some special super-duper fish attracting vibes as you rip it across the surface, who knows?

Another thing I really like about Woodchoppers is that their blades are made of stainless steel and are really thick and tough and they don't get twisted out of shape. For me this is a big advantage over most other propbaits that have thinner blades that you're always having to twist back into shape and adjust after they get damaged which I find often happens with surface lures.

With Woodchoppers you can fish them in loads of different ways, rip 'n' stop, glide 'n' twitch, stop 'n' start. Sometimes they work best when you rip them really fast across the water; other times they are better if you work them really slowly and gently. You have to try out all the different methods every time you go fishing to find out which works best on that particular day.

BASS ORENO
And you've got to have come from another planet if you've never heard of or fished with a Bass Oreno. These are topwater lures which you can run on the surface or just below it. They don't have very much built-in action and you have to put quite a lot of effort in to get the best out of them but, at the right time, they can drive pike and chub crazy -- trust me!

Obviously its action and silhouette are crucial plus the way you work it of course. I usually get best results when I'm doing quite a steady retrieve with my rod tip quite low, but I've seen a lot of my mates give it some ripping and jerking action and do equally well. It's just which method works best on any particular day. You've got to try them all.

TRAVELLIN' JAVELIN
I suppose you could say that Luhr Jensen's Javelin is probably one of their least well known or used lures and I guess that, without being too unkind, it's not got a lot of advantage over quite a few other similar minnow plugs. I like it though and I always take it with me on my travels. If fish aren't taking lures off the surface then obviously it pays to use a lure that runs below the surface like an LJ Javelin.

KWIKFISH
And if you need an ace all-time all-round catcher that'll dive a bit deeper and has the craziest action you'll ever see, you've got to go for a KwikFish. Jointed or unjointed, these banana-shaped plugs must surely give out some of the strongest throbbing vibes of any lure, hopefully calling fish in from yards away: are we still allowed yards, or must it be metres now?

Big Kwikfish are great for pike and the smaller sizes are absolutely deadly when you're after perch; they go crazy for them. If they don't go down far or fast enough for you, just use an up-trace weight like I do. Kwikfish also come in some quite contrasty colours and patterns which I rate very highly especially if the water's very slightly coloured. If you haven't already, trust me and try some; you'd be KwikFishin' crazy not to !

HEART-STOPPING SUMMARY
So I guess you could say that this Luhr Jensen selection is a bit of an odd-ball bunch with everything from a double-propbait to a throbbing banana-shaped plug, but My God, do they do the business? Oh yes!

With the results that most everyone I know gets with these plugs, they've got to be "Must-Haves" in everyone's lure collection. At times I absolutely guarantee you that they'll give you the most heart-stopping exciting lure fishing you'll ever experience, and I'm speaking from the heart and from my own many similar ticker-quivering experiences.

In fact, sometimes I think that Phil "Palpitations" Jensen ought to be giving away free heart pace-makers with every lure — so why not do like I do, and get on the button with Jensen's Luhrs - you'll find out that it makes very good sense!

Tight Lines and Good Luhr Fishing !

Simon Whitehead

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