A Little About Manistee Bait Company When it came time to come up with a name to put on my lures and boxes it didn t take long for me to come up with Manistee Bait Company. Having grown up in Manistee I had the usual fondness for my home town, returning there as often as possible to visit family and friends and of course to fish. Everything I ve learned about fishing was gained by exploring the many fishing opportunities there and by fishing the seasonal runs of trout and salmon that Manistee enjoys. I found that all my fishing aspirations were based on fishing Manistee for comfort comes with familiarity. In the mid 70s I was in my teens growing up in Stronach township on Manistee Lake where the Little Manistee River empties into the lake. The fall Chinook salmon runs were incredible, and this led to me developing a condition we called Salmon Fever the symptoms were; obsession with fishing, skipping school, wet clothes, strange odors, and the constant need for more heavy-fishing line. People use to come from all over the united states to fish for salmon and the lake would be literally packed with boats. The slab filled lake took its toll on fisherman s tackle and I used to walk along the shoreline and fill my pockets with lures (mostly flatfish ) that had worked themselves free of the logs they were snagged on and floated to shore. I now live in Coopersville, Michigan with my wife Lisa, 6 year old son Eric and 1-1/2 year old daughter Emma. The salmon runs had declined while I was away so when I would return to fish I d spend most of my time trolling for steelhead. Some local old timers told me they used to really do well with SPU and SPS flatfish which are now out of production. My search for these lures produced only one of each and the realization that if I wanted any I would have to make them myself, basically that s how I started carving lures. Fortunately someone introduced me to EBAY where I could get the opportunity to buy some of these hard to find flatfish, as well as sell some of my own handmade lures. Foggy Morning on South Manistique Lake Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 1
About This Catalog This is the fifth edition of the Manistee Bait Company collector s handbook. This catalog features most of the lures I ve made and sold on Ebay (1999-2005) plus some of the lures I ve sold directly. These lures are not available to order and in fact have already been sold on Ebay. I usually only make one of each lure (except for frogs, mice and crawdads) and move on to my next idea. All of Manistee Bait Company items are produced in extremely low quantity as an example I believe only one copy of the first and second edition of this handbook actually made it to a collector s hands. I primarily keep this scrapbook style catalog for myself so I can reference the previous paint jobs and lure styles I ve made. The following graphic explains what the headings above the lures mean. Name (or type) of lure also may indicate lure is a replica Production number unique to each type of lure Extra information such as Internal/External weight or Surface/Underwater Lure Color Cast Away Crab #012 - External Weight (Dark Brown Sparkle) This is the first lure to get belly flutes to go along with it s back flutes. the fine lure has home made The year lure was created Previous Editions of This Catalog 2 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005
Paw Paw Trout Caster Style Crank Bait #001(Victorian Trout) This is one of the early unnumbered lures 2000 Buyer s Comments: Prompt - great packing. Thanks again... A+++++ (thanks for the bumperstickers) Paw Paw Trout Caster Style Crank Bait #003 (Victorian Trout) New box different dive lip set up Horrible Pig #001 (Fire Tiger) 2000 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 3
Fat Boy Minnow #001 (Spotted Sucker) 2000 Trout Finger #001 Shakey Minnow #001 (Spotted Sucker) I tested this lure in Muskegon Lake It trolled great with excellent action. This lure was really hard to make and I hated to part with it. 4 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005
Jointed Pikie Style Crank Bait #001 (Spotted Sucker) 2000 This is a copy of a Creek Chub Pikie arguably one of the most well known collectable lures. My version has a jointed Cedar body with a dive lip made from a French spinner blade. Standard Pikie Style Crank Bait #001 (Spotted Sucker) Standard Pikie Style Crank Bait - Large #003 (Bronze Chub) Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 5
WiggleFish #001 (Victorian Trout) DAM Replica 3-Piece Minnow #001 (Victorian Trout) Round Head Minnow #001 (Victorian Trout) 6 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005
Heddon Tadpolly Style Lure #001 (Moss) This version has a metal plate on the dive plane and painted eyes. Heddon Tadpolly Style Lure #002 (Zebra Mussel) This version doesn t have the metal plate on the dive plane and has homemade pinhead eyes Cast Away Crab #001 - External Weight (Rock Moss) Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 7
Cast Away Crab #002 - External Weight (Sparkle Moss) Cast Away Crab #003 - Internal Weight (Zebra Musssel) Cast Away Crab #004 - External Weight (Zebra Musssel) 8 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005
Cast Away Crab #005 - External Weight (Fire Tiger) Cast Away Crab #006 - External Weight (Zebra Mussel) Cast Away Crab #007 - External Weight (Brown Sparkle) This is the first crab to get the carved flutes in the back Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 9
Cast Away Crab #008 - External Belly Weight (Fire Tiger) I mistakenly gave two Crawdads the same production number #008 Cast Away Crab #008 - Internal Belly Weight (Royal Mussel) This lure appeared on Ebay with a group of 9 other handmade lures someone had collected. The group of 10 lures had a reserve of $350.00 which was not met. This Crawdad is very unique with carved raised wooden eyes and internal belly weight.. Cast Away Crab #011 - External Weight (Brown Sparkle) This is the first of my lures to have home made glass eyes, it was sold directly to its owner. 10 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005
Cast Away Crab #012 - External Weight (Dark Brown Sparkle) This is the first lure to get belly flutes to go along with it s back flutes. the fine lure has home made pin eyes and fancy gold belly weight. Vamp Replica Lure #001 (Spotted Sucker) Min-Oreno Style CrankBait #001(Fire Tiger) I tested this lure in the Grand River. It is a shallow diver with a good wobble. Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 11
Min-Oreno Style CrankBait #002 (Silver Daredevil) Min-Oreno Style CrankBait #003 (Victorian Trout) Min-Oreno Style CrankBait #006 (Spotted Sucker) 12 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005
Min-Oreno Style CrankBait #007 (Steelhead Special) Min Oreno Style CrankBait #010 (Baby Carp) Min Oreno Style CrankBait #011 (Baby Bass) Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 13
Min Oreno Style CrankBait #019 (Flourescent RYG) Large Min-Oreno Style Crank Bait #001 (Red Head) TRIPLE D Deluxe Diving Darter #002 (Green Eyed lady) 14 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005
Diving Timber Mouse #001(Get Away Gray) NOTE: Timber Mouse #002 is a surface version and can be seen in the Chuggers, Prop Bait, and Surface Lures Section. Diving Timber Mouse #003 (Mossy Mouse) Diving Timber Mouse #006 (Mossy Mouse) Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005 15
Bass Oreno Style Crank Bait #001 (Classic Green Frog) This is a copy of the extremely well known Bass Oreno lure by South Bend. BucketHead Bass Oreno Style Crank Bait #002 (Red and White Glitter) River Raider #001 (4th of July) 16 Manistee Bait Company Collector s Handbook - Crank Bait Section 2000-2005