AS EASY AS 1- 2- 3
Interchangeable parts should help company lure customers
Forget my worries that Marty Jandura and Adam Carlson would take me to a private pond ( see Bill Dance’s bassfishing shows) to test their Audacity system of lures.
Quite the opposite, in fact. They showed me their interchangeable system for in- line spinners Monday at one of the most public fishing spots in the Chicago area: the Fox River in downtown St. Charles.
‘‘ We’re hoping to get stuff to the point where interchangeable spinners become know as Audacities —[ like] not tissue, but Kleenex,’’ Jandura said. Yes, that is audacious. ‘‘ The premise is to give people options for whatever conditions call for at that time,’’ Jandura said.
Carlson said they came up with the idea for Audacity Bait and Lure Company ‘‘ organically.’’ Both are rangers for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.
The idea is to be able— easily and quickly— to snap on and off various parts of spinner baits, one of the most basic fishing lures.
Their system intrigued me because it allows fishermen to change lures easily, as well as to downsize and travel lighter.
But I wanted to test it, not just watch a video ( Audacity Lures on YouTube). I don’t trust YouTube videos for authenticity of ease. There are YouTube videos on how to skin a squirrel in one minute. I couldn’t do that if my life depended on it.
But the ease shown in the Audacity Lures video was legit. Once I got the hang of snapping on and off, I easily changed my spinner through the company’s Metamorphosis clip.
‘‘ It is just like tying a knot, once you get it,’’ Carlson said.
I chose a single- body, then snapped on a copper willow blade and a natural squirrel- tail fly with pink edging ( made by Carlson, the artistic one). I caught smallmouth bass on that. Then I switched out to a copper Colorado blade and a gaudier tail and caught smallmouth with that, too.
There are three steps in assembling the spinners. The first is selecting singleor double- body. The second is choosing and snapping on the type of blade. The third is selecting and snapping on the type of hook or trailer.
They are working and experimenting on buzzbaits, bigger spinners for muskie and other ideas.
It has been tested so far on trout in Wyoming, northern pike on the Kishwaukee River, smallmouth around Galena and on the Fox and largemouth on local ponds and lakes.
Smallmouth are the preferred target. Jandura first tested it on the Fox around South Elgin in April. In May, Carlson caught smallmouth around Galena with it.
The main selling points are ‘‘ a price point that is palatable,’’ local construction, the kits and the general ease of changing lures quickly.
In an hour or so of testing, we landed four smallmouth and missed others.
Back at our cars, Carlson and I prepared to leave. But Jandura said, ‘‘ If we’re here, I am going tomake a few more casts.’’ It was time. For information on the soft opening of their idea, go to audacitylures.com.
Waterfowl
Illinois Department of Natural Resources staff worked fast enough to get two new blinds at Woodford County State Fish and Waterfowl Area in the draw July 30. The blinds came because of the donation of the Hagemann property by Ducks Unlimited to the IDNR.
Stray cast
Jay Cutler is like a koi. Follow me on Twitter @BowmanOutside.