The popularity of chef, Emeril Lagasse’ led many Americans to not only enjoy cooking shows but introduced us into the culinary world in a way that has changed the way we cook and eat as well. Even though I was already a pretty good cook, I’ve learned quite a lot.
What has that got to do with the outdoors? Well, artificial bait manufacturers have stepped into the culinary world of fish in a pretty successful attempt to fool them into thinking they are biting and holding on to something that’s real. This is not a new strategy as the attempt to manufacture natural type baits has been around for nearly a century here in America.
My first experience this arena was when I was fishing with my grandfather, Roy Marchand. He was a fly-fisherman extraordinaire and targeted bream mostly but he’d fish for bass with his fly rod as well.
His bait of choice was a skunk bait; a spinner-type with a hair skirt. He used a little white strip that was called pork rind as a trailer. That little white strip was effective and paw paw Marchand knew how to use it.
The pork rind was made by one of the pioneers in using natural components for fishing; Uncle Josh’s Bait Company. Alan Jones founded Uncle Josh’s in 1922 in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He and a fishing buddy fished Jordan Lake and frogs were their favorite bait, but a shortage of the live frogs was the inspiration for the “pork” baits that are used as additions (trailers) to other lures.
The “jig-and-pig” came to popularity around 35 years ago and quickly became one of my favorite tactics. The two “legs” have incredible action and the bulk of the bait makes the jig fall very slowly. This is a killer in the winter time as bass and other fish slow down in the cold water making the slow presentation irresistible,
Another of my favorite of the Uncle Josh’s trailer usually finds itself on the back of a Snagless Sally; that would be a spring lizard. The trailer is a little long and accompanied with the inline spinner, makes the bait about six inches long. Big bait—big fish, and I still like to use it.
Occasionally, I take out my fishing photos and as I look at some of the really big stringers caught in the winter included an Uncle Josh pork trailer of some kind. Pork fat still rules and you can find all their products at www.unclejosh.com
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