Scott Suggs MLF Mystery Bait?

[Taxin That Bass]

Did anyone on here watch the Major League Fishing Selects round 3? Scott Suggs was throwing some sort of top water/wake bait around docks and caught his 3 biggest fish on it. Looked like cool bait but i couldn't identify it, looked almost like an old balsa jerk bait...looking on TWH, it kinda looked like a Bagley BangOlure spin tail maybe?

It appeared he was just straight reeling it and it was throwing a nice walking wobble, almost like a spook but maybe sub surface. Can anyone identify this mystery lure?

[Tim Kelly]

Wasn't it a redfin? He was fishing it as a wake bait. Pretty sure they talk about it on the extended cast thing where they talk about how each round was won.

[bemo]

Yes, in the final episode he talks about his favorite wake baits. He shows the Cotton Cordell Redfin and mentions a few others.

[Taxin That Bass]

Man, never even heard of that bait. Has anyone used one? Opinions on when to use them?

[Johnny A]

Man, never even heard of that bait. Has anyone used one? Opinions on when to use them?

It was probably before your time! That bait goes back to the mid-1970s!

[jakob1010]

There's actually a great tip about how to walk a Cordell Red Fin I read in Field & Stream at one point. I'll have to try and find it sometime.

[yosemite17]

B.P.S and Cabelas both have them.

[Quillback]

Man, never even heard of that bait. Has anyone used one? Opinions on when to use them?

It's a very popular and well used lure here in the Ozarks, especially on Table Rock. Great post-spawn bait and works well in the early fall at times.

Best fished as a slow rolling wake bait.

Out of the box, many will not run straight, very important to tune them and some are un-tuneable. Hard to cast, they are not very aerodynamic. Helps to make some adjustments, replace the split rings and hooks with lighter rings and sharper hooks. Put a feathered treb on the back. Once you get one that runs straight and has good hardware, you've got a great lure to throw when the top water bite is on.

[Bronzeye]

As I recall, it was only the big striper-size (7") Red Fin that developed a reputation as a wake bait for largemouths. Is that right?
Is that the size Scott Suggs was using?

A jointed 3/8 oz. Red Fin fished with a steady subsurface retrieve has bailed me out on several fall days when largemouths in shallow 50-degree water showed no interest in other hard baits.

[BigG]

It was on of my favorite pond baits in the 70's. White

[smalljaw]

As I recall, it was only the big striper-size (7") Red Fin that developed a reputation as a wake bait for largemouths. Is that right?
Is that the size Scott Suggs was using?

A jointed 3/8 oz. Red Fin fished with a steady subsurface retrieve has bailed me out on several fall days when largemouths in shallow 50-degree water showed no interest in other hard baits.

The 5" and 7" both have the reputation of being excellent wake baits but I've heard of guys using the Bomber Long A as wake bait with a degree of success. Years ago a guy told me that the reason the Red Fin is the best wake bait is "V" wake it produces, it is supposedly different and a Bomber Long A is close but not quite the same which is why it works but not at the same level as the Red Fin.

[steve1206]

Man, never even heard of that bait. Has anyone used one? Opinions on when to use them?

It's a very popular and well used lure here in the Ozarks, especially on Table Rock. Great post-spawn bait and works well in the early fall at times.

Best fished as a slow rolling wake bait.

Out of the box, many will not run straight, very important to tune them and some are un-tuneable. Hard to cast, they are not very aerodynamic. Helps to make some adjustments, replace the split rings and hooks with lighter rings and sharper hooks. Put a feathered treb on the back. Once you get one that runs straight and has good hardware, you've got a great lure to throw when the top water bite is on.

All good advice... Buy the jointed version, if that wasn't mentioned.

[Taxin That Bass]

Very cool, i will have to check out and see how it does on the river. Based on the small amount of footage i saw it looks to be relatively subtle and perhaps a better cleaner water application.

[dragon1]

The bigger versions of this bait made it's legend for stripers and it was adapted for bass in southern impoundments. I have an old article somewhere in Bass Master/IIRC, about how this is still a popular and effective technique that is still used with much success down south. I recall reading an article that gave great insight on waking the bigger jointed version for big bass in cooling waters of the Fall.

From what I can gather, this lure goes back to the '60s!

I will be looking to mimic this same technique with the Jackall Mikeys I purchased for this spring and fall.

[Dink Dawg]

The Ripplin Redfin is a bait that still works as well as it did 35 years ago. I have some that are custom painted and throw them pre-spawn.