Banjo Minnow?

[armada]

So what does everyone think of the banjo minnow tv infomercial? Has anyone bought it? Does it work?
Just curious to see any real life uses.
Riley
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[michaelbolton]

They will work but i don't think much more than a nice tube jig or lucky craft lure. I have caught a few fish in my day on them and for Lake Powell they work great for the stripers. My buddy had a bunch of them back in the day, I remember that the hooks ripped out of the ones we used quite a bit leaving the body useless. I don't know if they have improved the design much since then.
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[Tracker_Guy]

Oh yea I got duped! Once I bought them I took them out to a pond where I always catch Largemouth. Didn't even get a hit! Switched to something else and fish on! I gotta admit, if you sit down and watch the infomercial it can make a believer out of ya! That was the first thing I have ever bought from an infomercial and most definitely the last!
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[FishEater67]

My father in-law bought some of the banjo lures and he never caught anything on them. I am not sure exactly which ones he got but he does not like them. Beware of infomercials!
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[BigBassaholic]

The banjo minnow (bigger ones)worked great hooking them for topwater. Don't use their method, never caught a thing that way.... Don't waste your money.....
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]The Banjo Minnow commercials make the rounds every 10 years or so...after the last batch of suckers (buyers) dies off or forgets. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeDudes Axiom: Fishing lures work inversely to the amount of promotion and hype needed to sell them. In other words, if they gotta spend a fortune to sell them, they are designed to catch more fishermen than fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Think about it. If something really works, it does not take infomercials to spread the word. The fisherman's grapevine kicks in and suddenly you can't find any left on the shelves.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Almost ANYTHING will catch SOMETHING...SOMEWHERE...SOME TIME. But, nothing will catch all species all the time like they claim for some of that miracle garbage they sell on infomercials.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As has been suggested, proper use of good old tubes, grubs and swim baits will catch as many or more fish...for less money.[/#0000ff]
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[humpy]

I'm proud to say, that is one of the few info's, that I haven't sucked in. []

Humpy
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[Jiggety]

My buddy bought some a few years back, and didnt have any luck with them. We went out to the Jordan River one day and I decided to give them a try. Used the largest ones he had and hooked them weedless. Caught several LM's in just under an hour pitching it into the weeds near shore.
A few weeks later he was at Willard Bay and he said he did well with them for Wipers.
I would much rather use a good tube jig or senko as the Banjo's were VERY soft and ripped too easily.
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[armada]

[laugh] HaHa! That's great! The banjo minnow has been a long running joke in my family cause we love the info's. We never got em though. And like TD said, the last time I saw the infomerccial was 11yrs ago!
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[fsh4fun05]

Everytime I hear or read something about the Banjo Minnow it reminds me of the kid in Deliverance....squeal like a pig![shocked]
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[ocean]

Dont do it !!! My wife got suckered into buying the helicopter lures for my b-day aaaargh!! She could have spent the money buying something more usefull like an enima! [:p] These informercials are for the weak minded so beware . Watch these the bft reports and see what works in different waters.
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[Perchman]

That's funny I have the helicopter and 2 sets of the Flying Lure. What a Joke.
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[StrictlyBiznuss]

The real answer is: all lures have their time and place. When given the right conditions, the banjo minnow, the helicopter lure, and the flying lure will all catch fish. I bought some banjo minnows last year, not because I believed it was going to be the magical lure of the century, but because it looked like it would be a pretty good drop-shot bait to me. Well, after buying them as an intended drop-shot bait, I have not actually caught anything with them yet while drop-shotting, but I have found it to be an excellent follow-up bait when fishing with topwaters. If you are fishing a topwater lure and get a strike, but no hook-up, immediately throw the banjo minnow back in where you got bit and they'll eat it. I also recently found a lot of bass suspended right up underneath of a dock and after trying several lures, I tied on the banjo minnow and worked it parallel to the dock. It was kind of fun to watch the bass run out from under the dock to crush it as I worked it parallel to the dock.

My dad fell for a couple of those fishing lure infomercials when I was a kid, and bought me some Flying Lures and some electronic crankbaits that beeped or turned on a light underwater. I never found the electronic crankbaits to be any advantage over just a plain ol' crankbait...but the Flying Lures are awesome! Perchman, I will buy those flying lures off you if they are still in good condition. I won my first tournament using the flying lure. Ok, well, it was actually a kids fishing derby that I won when I was 12. While all the other kids were weighing in their bluegill and crappie, I weighed in a 12lb bag of five largemouths I'd caught by casting the flying lure to the edge of weedmats.
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[hartz]

I guess that I'm weak minded because I bought some a few years back. But rather than weak minded, I'd like to say I'm open minded.

Kit was like $25 with shipping so not much more expensive than a couple packs of soft plastics, hooks, etc. They worked great during spawning season for LMB in Colorado. Cranking them across the surface elicited some hard strikes too. But there were also times where I couldn't catch thing on them. My take, decent lure and innovative rigging system but scale down your expectations from the infomercial (like all infomercials).

I've heard some guys having luck using the bigguns' down deep for large Macs too? Might just be hearsay ....or perhaps they're just weak-minded mac fishermen.[laugh]
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[packfish]

I know a guy who fished them on the lower Logan a lot--- sure catches a lot of nice trout.
I find that they are tough to cast with a fly rod.
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