Walking the river banks - lures

I have two rivers close to my house in downtown Green Bay - the Fox and East rivers. Both have good walking trails that I regularly walk to get some exercise. The Fox is a world class walleye river because fish from Green Bay come up to spawn. There is some speculation that the next world record walleye will come from here. With all the great fishing there are times when the river is packed with fisherman - particularly in the spring during the spawn and again in the fall for a smaller migration. People lose a lot of baits and if they are floating crankbaits eventually they will break free or the hooks will rust. I frequently find them when out walking especially if I am hunting for them.

Yesterday, I found seven stickbaits and some other assorted lures. I clean them up over the winter and give them away at a fishing derby to the kids. Lures that have been in the water too long and are unrepairable are used for casting practice or get put on my Christmas tree.

Posted as an idea to help pass the time while getting some exercise.

The picture represents some of the lures found this year.

Nice work!

Lost many myself only to find them walking the shoreline on low tide months later. How do I know they are mine? I make them and paint them myself. lol

Nothing fancy just a painted stick with an eye and some hooks.

Green Bay, thats pretty neat. I have a nephew that walks the dam at a lake. It’s amazing the number of lures he finds. Love the idea of giving them to kids.

WTG, bait are not cheap anymore.

We used to use a canoe and get loads along the Potomac and it's feeder creeks.

Yep, when living in TN. I always looked forward to the CORPS to start the fall pull down of Lake Barkley and KY. Lake. (5 FT) Spent several weekends in the boat looking for and finding many lures and tackle. When the lakes dropped enough we would find miles and miles of bait lines that had been left. Figured I had lost enough myself to make it worthwhile.

this year I got hung up at a local lake. Used my retriever to get my lure back and when I did there was another attached to it. Deep diving Crank baits. Best catch I made that day.

Nice.

When we were teenagers we would swim along the river banks at popular fishing spots. Lots of old snags in the water. We would find the line and follow it back to where it was hooked up. At the end of the day our pile would look more like the group of stuff on the left in the op's picture though.

A great morning out looking for lures. The water was down about a foot and no wind after several days of being windy.

Wow

I was beaver trapping at Moraine State Park a few years ago. While in an inlet on the east end of the lake, I gathered up about 50 bobbers that were beached when they drew down the lake for the winter.

When I fish Pymatuning, it’s not unusual for my buddy and I to lose 20 slip bobbers a day to bottom snags. We recover some...the Amish snatch up a few....the rest have to end up in a eastern cove somewhere.

Went down to the river to get some jigs for fishing later this summer. A good day to gather in the crop. Ended up with 95 jigs, a Mepps Spinner, and a crank bait.

There seems to be a theme with what kind of jig/plastics are used. Or the same guy found a ton of snags.

Nice haul.

Those look like first or second cast hangers. I would put a trail cam on the opposite bank and get some footage of people losing their minds. lol

Had a buddy that lived on a popular fishing lake, he sunk a burnt bed box spring in between a couple stumps sticking up where everyone casts, attached a cable on a crank on the bank and cleaned up. Kind of a jerk move, but effective.

I'd lump up somebody doing that!

I used to walk the shores of Blue Marsh Lake in southeast Pennsylvania years ago during the annual drawdown months and found many dozens of crank baits. Now I walk the shores of Lake Hopatcong in northern New Jersey and find many more. Bomber Long A’s seem to be very popular on that lake, they are about 70% of what I find. Most of them are like new but I bought various size treble hooks and split rings to swap out the rusty ones.

Here’s what I found last year:

Some tool did that at a popular spot below a dam here. He was never caught but if he was things wouldn't go well for him.

Dang that's low.

Yup.Thats about a three day haul for me here on the river during salmon running time.

Who even thinks of doing that?Wow!

Loads of Rapalas there

Buddy of mine used to motor along close to shore in fall right after most leaves are down.. Carried a pole with one them limb clippers. Was amazing how many baits he cut out of trees just high enough couldn't reach them by hand. I like to go on the lake early in the morning cruse the shore line look for any odd color on shore. Pick up baits doing that.

Mac

My daughter was involved In some eagle studies. You can't imaging all the fishing lures she found In those nests.

When we were kids we sunk old bed springs In fishing hot spots. You have no Idea how many lures we collected and sold back to anglers.

Nice haul.

Still finding a few. Seems like I find about three per outing lately.

Nice thread Green Bay

lots of money if you had to buy them ,

Friend sent me this video the other day because he knew I used to pick lures. Makes me want get back in river again haven't done it now seriously for many years. Before everyone went to just using trolling motors keep their boats in place. Knew few spots guy could dive pick a dozen nice anchors or so ever trip. People still anchor but not like they did years ago.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27FuozgxxMI

Mac

Was his name Furd Turgeson? Lol

Mac thanks for posting that video. I know where that is and was actually out there watching them dive that place the day they filmed it.

Brian

nice haul. Those walleye get a lot of baits tossed at them. I know that area...been to GB a few times.

This is two mornings of spending some time outdoors. Figured I would since the fur market is down. I found close to five hundred all together this year.

Going to say fire tiger is a popular color?

Yes, and people fish a lot of Berkley Flicker Shads.

It took some effort but I picked this one up today. I have know about it since June but I needed some special equipment to get it. Today was the day. For those of you who fish: https://leelures.com/products/flaptail

Have a good one.

Very cool! I thought I was going to cash a big paycheck in a walleye tournament out of green bay in 2000. I found some good fish in the Fox River not far below the Depere dam, and I was in 19th place out of 250 boats after the first day. A cold front came through on day 2 and moved the fish deeper and I dropped into something like 38th place but still won about $2000 if I remember correctly. First place paid $400,000.

Fun place to fish.

Some real Nice finds

Way to go.

That is awesome. Fun to make some money while doing something you enjoy. A friend of mine is a guide who also does several walleye tour events. He ends up buying a lot of what I find.

Nice find

The bottom right lure is or was the go-to lure for ice fishing on Lake Winnipeg

I was down at the river one day and kept getting snags. I knew there were no rocks there so I went home and got into some grubby clothes and went in. The snag was a sunken tree about 10 inches at the root ball. It was covered in lures. I pulled it as close to shore as I could and was out in the water pulling lures off of it when some dirtbag walks up and starts to try to pull stuff off. Since most of it was in the water, and it was just below neutral buoyancy, I was able to pull it out of his reach and cuss him out.He tried to hand me some sort of BS excuse, but wisely left before he got more than a rusted out jig.

Bed springs the best.... you shouldnt be fishin my hole anyways

I remember years ago when the salmon run was a big thing on the Muskingum River in Michigan , below the Tippy dam , someone did that at a boat launch .
It was on the south side of the river below the Saw dust pile hole .

LOL, haven't bought a bobber since I was 12, 60 some years!

This is a normal find in an hour after work.

Lol.

Nice

What A pile

It has been awhile since I have posted to this link too. The lures you see here are about half of what I found in August. I have been working on a book which explains how I find them. The book has taken me almost two years to write but it is almost done. I am waiting for the artist to finish the cover. I go down to a local river about twice a week and it is pretty rare not to come back with $30 or $40 of lures.

A few

You could start a business reselling lures

Nice finds

I actually do resell them. I clean them up and replace the hooks. I sell most of them for $5.00 which is a really good deal.

Stop telling people. You'll soon have company. Lol

I found these on Dec. 2, 2023 in Titletown, USA. Air temp 32.

Get on you tube watch the videos of Ed the diver see all the stuff he plucks from the water.

I know Ed. We are getting together in several weeks to do YouTube short.

Did you ever do the youtube video.i would like to see you do one think it would be interesting to watch.

Here’s 3 hung in a sycamore

Here is a link to our first interview link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BINb5R-LajA

Lure trees are one of the ways I describe in my book. Nice finds.

This was my best day ever. I found all of these in one day. All the various components of the system came together at the same time.

Wow! Great finds Green Bay. Love jerk baits.

Someone asked me if I am still out finding lures. The short answer is yes. I go out at least once a week and sometimes more. There are lures out there just for the picking guys.

I'm still watching and enjoying your post. I haven't done the lure picking thing for a while now. When Im by the river though I'm always looking.


Mac

"Never Forget Which Way Is Up!"

I used to do a little lure hunting at a local lake. Finding those colorful little fish-getters was a great way to get out and spend some quiet times on the shorelines.

When my daughter was working for the DNR she was doing eagle research. They would climb the trees and check out the nests. Those nests were full of fishing lures. A fish would get caught break the line and end up dying and the eagles would take them up into their nests. I got lots of very nice lures.

You can follow along on my journey via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lurehunter

When I was a kid, I was heart broke when I lost my very favorite bobber, several years later I found it floating at another lake, miles away!

Over the years I've found quite a number of metal lures such as daredevils, doctor spoons, red eyes, etc. while metal detecting in the water.

Cool Story.

Why buy when you can hunt for them LOL

That is my way of thinking. People who trap could earn / save hundreds of dollars a year by picking up lures. It also gives you a real clear idea of what fur bearers are in the area.

Brian

I thought you would enjoy seeing the knives I have found while I have been our Lure Hunting.

That's cool even a few filet knives.

Added this bad boy today a $125.00 find:


https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details/C88YL/Salt-reg-I-FRN-Yellow/174

Nice finds

Looks like you made a good haul do you find more stuff after the weekend when there may have been more people out fishing?

Pressure is a very important component to finding lures. More people have time to fish on Saturday and Sunday so you are correct - Monday is a good time to go. That said, this particular place has people fish it year round so it is important to hit it hard when the water reaches the lowest point of the summer.

I have been busy this fall finding lures. You can follow what I am up to here: https://linktr.ee/thelurehunter

Wading today Dec. 7, 2024 32 degrees.

I haven't posted much lately but I am still out there finding lures. I have been really focused on winter wading lately. Keep in mind I live in Wisconsin. I found these yesterday.

You’ve got one very unlucky fisherman, or that style crankbait on the left is the only one found locally. Tell them to mix it up a little bit when you see them at the ramp.

This area is known for walleyes and the Rapala Rippin' Rap is a go to lure that everyone throws.

I remember when shad raps were all the Rage

Me too. Then Husky Jerks were the go to for a decade. Currently, P10 Smithwicks are the hot trolling bait. That said, jigs and blade baits are still popular.

Do you re paint the ones that are chipped?

When I first started picking lures here in the river late 1960s. Real true DareDevils and Mepps where a common prize find. If that doesn't set the date close enough for anyone. We were just starting to find Beetle Spins the new popular bait.

Mac

I have a friend who repaints but sometimes I just sell them as is to people who do.

One time while fishing Lake Arthur I got two six inch Rapala and two smaller ones out of one tree

Good to see some one picking up all the lost lures.Sure makes one not want to be wading in any of those waters along the shores and rocks!!

Bryce

I have been busy collecting lures during the spring walleye run. It has been way more profitable than running my muskrat line. LOL

Here is a link to how I do it: https://linktr.ee/thelurehunter

Dang you guys make me want to get back in water. I been watching EdTheDiver on FB last couple weeks. He got a load of stuff. I never worked that regular at just picking lures, when I was still diving. Alway going to many direction different things.
I sure enjoy watch you guys.

Mac

Brian , I got your book a short while ago and have been able to completely read it. Good stuff , thank you.




To everyone else , A 100% an unsolicited review No BS.

The book can be a slightly dry read as it reads more like a textbook than a nice story.

But , that is what I want. I want to acquire the tips and knowledge in the book , that is what I paid for , $20 ? or so.



I fully expect to get a ROI ( return on investment - $20 ) the first time I go out with just lure hunting as a sole activity. Worse case scenario , recover my money in the first two trips out . Then it is all gravy. Having the knowledge to find more lures and knowing the easy way to retrieve them is worth quite a bit.


Recommend, recommend, recommend this book.

$20 ? Is a small price to pay to learn how to get $1,000's of free lures over your lifetime.

Buy. This. Book.

Thank you Cragar. I appreciate the shout out. I think the book and videos on YouTube would help the average water trapper add some serious money. Keep an eye out for lures when you are doing your outdoor things along water.

A short YouTube video on how I remove magnets that I can reach: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xqnc3DiOOnY

Curious, are these lures snagged on something or just found loose along the shore, if snagged there must be a lot of hangs where you fish...

My YouTube Channel and book will give you a good idea of how I find them. Many are washed up but others are in Lure Trees while others are snagged on the bottom.