Ice “n” Spoons: A Michigan Original
The Bay de Noc Lure Company, ever hear of it? Does not sound familiar? If you like to ice fish, specially for walleye, I bet you have and never realized it. Because I would lay odds that you have a few of their lures in your tackle gear, like the Swedish Pimple or perhaps a Do-Jigger. Another effective fish catching lure is the Vingla.
The company was founded in 1955, and like many Michigan tackle companies, they led the way into a new revolution in fishing lures. The company isn’t as old as Heddon, or Arbogast (Jitterbug fame), but they hold their niche just like these famous brands. When ice fishing was still in the cradle compared to targeting other styles of fishing, Bay de Noc Lures were the first and only jigging spoon available to the winter angler.
The name of the company comes from its location, in Gladstone, Michigan. Thats the Upper Peninsula for all us trolls under the bridge. Located on Little Bay de Noc, east of Escanaba, the lures were made and tested right there on Lake Michigan.
Made of solid brass, the lures can be made to jiggle, hammer the bottom or flutter on the drop. All effective means to jig up walleyes during the winter. The smaller versions of the Pimple are also effective for perch and crappie. The big boys, 2 oz and bigger for ideal for salmon and northern pike. You might have to get a custom rod built for those lures though.
Here is a discription of sizes and new colors available in their crushed ice series in the Pimple line-up that was announced last year. The copper, yellow and orange ice were all good colors, and looking forward to trying out the purple and green that are new for 2008.
