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Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 4:35 pm
by Buzzjet
I am a tournament bass fisherman and I bought some of the Mr Whiggley lures to see if they would work on largemouth bass. I have been having a difficult time with the lure to say the least and I think I am doing something wrong. I rigged it with heavy fluorocarbon instead of the wire. When I cast it out, it only swims right about 25% of the time. After casting it out, you can immediately feel if the bait is swimming correctly. When it does swim right, it looks awesome. However, this lure is rolling over and doing all kinds of weird things. I have tried to embed one of the trebles into the belly which seemed to make the problem way worse. I tried taking the weights out one by one too. That did not make any difference. Sometimes, the treble will grab the side of the bait when it hits the water and that fouls it up too. What am I doing wrong? I have the line coming from my reel going down through the head of the bait and then tied directly to the hook. I tried it with the o ring and without. Same issues.

I want to figure this out because the small portion of time when it was swimming correctly, I had some really nice largemouth follow it, thrash at it, etc. I had several bites on the lure but did not catch any of them. It seems like it is going to take a big fish and a head shot for one to get this into their mouth. If anyone can steer me into the right direction, I would really appreciate it.

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 10:00 am
by dahlberg
not sure the prob, but if it runs correctly some of the time there must be a strange variable. no matter what it won't do anything on a slow or medium straight retrieve. made to fish with short sharp twitches, snaps on the reel handle, series of pop pop pop short jerks, followed by pauses and short burns is usually effective even with less than perfect tracking ones. sometimes a short piece of stir straw over leader and just inside the tube at the nose of the lure aids in keeping centerline more straight. can also make small centerline adjustment by pegging a short piece of toothpick on the top, bottom or either side of the hole where the line comes out. Can also try one size heavier hook, like three grams heavier, to add stability.
the ones I make run straight as an arrow, but for some reason some of the factory ones are goofy. the the guys who've figured out how to work them though are catching lots of fish. Give these suggestions a shot and let me know.
good luck
L

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2016 7:31 pm
by Buzzjet
I appreciate the input. I took your suggestions and unfortunately, it did not help. I scrapped the first bait and tried the second bait in the package. I rigged it with the hardware and wire that comes with the bait. The results were worse. The second bait would not run correctly at any speed. It wanted to roll no matter what I tried. I re-rigged the bait eliminating the wire leader and tying straight to the rod. I used the factory hook and got the same exact results (death roll). I went a step further and tried to rig the second bait like you would a huddleston (butch brown style). I made a line tie in the nose of the bait, used wire leader and crimps to mount a hook right on top of the bait's head. I would say this was worse because it would not do anything but it wouldn't run right rigged like the package indicates.

Next I thought maybe these two lures are bad so I opened another pack, different color, from a different tackle shop. I rigged it like the pack shows with the wire leader and factory hook. A dozen casts into this, I cut it off and put it away. The second pack of lures produced the same results. I am quite puzzled especially after watching your videos. I am certain this lure would be a dangerous weapon for me in tournaments if I could get it to run like the ones in your videos.

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:31 pm
by dahlberg
There was a bad batch and i am betting you got them. Please contact river2sea directly and they will be replaced. sorry for the problem. send to attention of Simon. He is leaving for funeral in china for a close family member on May 2, so please get it to him soon.
best
L

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 2:28 pm
by Buzzjet
Thanks for the direction. I will contact them and go from there.

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 4:33 am
by lifeisfun
I like to ask for help as well, exactly the same problems as Buzzjet posted, even on ultra fast retrieve with high speed reel it will just roll and not swim. Tried to add some weight to the nose, hook but it doesn't make any difference.

Any tips to try would be MUCH appreciated!

Thanks!

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 4:33 am
by lifeisfun
I like to ask for help as well, exactly the same problems as Buzzjet posted, even on ultra fast retrieve with high speed reel it will just roll and not swim. Tried to add some weight to the nose, hook but it doesn't make any difference.

Any tips to try would be MUCH appreciated!

Thanks!

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 8:04 am
by dahlberg
must have defective lure. return to river2sea. sorry for the problem!
best,
L

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 1:46 pm
by lifeisfun
Thank you for your reply,
sadly the problem baits I have are replacements received, I can't believe this would be faulty again :(
I purchased first batch when they first came out and never had this problem.
I will try to contact them again but somehow doubt they will be willing to swap it again.
Is the plastic too stiff on these ? They seam to smell different.

Thanks

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 12:03 pm
by dahlberg
I will check into it. again, my apologies. If you had trouble with your first batch, i'm not sure why there was a second sent to solve your problem. can you explain?
best
L

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 12:36 pm
by lifeisfun
I had no problems with the first batch purchased, they worked great but got abused to point that needed to be replaced.
Purchased new and that's when the trouble started. Got it replaced and once again they do not work right.
Sorry for my poor explanation before :|

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 6:33 am
by lifeisfun
Just to update...
Friend of mine purchased two packages from different retailer and they are faulty exactly the same way.
Frustrating, I think the problem is that the plastic is not flexible enough.
I have to advise people not to purchase these until the problem is solved :cry:

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:36 am
by dahlberg
By all means, please return them to River2Sea and get replacements. Suggest an email first, att: Simon or Angelo.
so sorry for the continuing problem. Wish they lots were numbered!
best
L

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 3:57 pm
by lifeisfun
Larry, looks like this will be bigger problem then expected, second replacement also faulty,
I even told them I don't care about the color, just to get working body, but again received duds.

When I asked when they will receive new batch that will actually work, I got no reply :cry:
Could you please look in to it?

Thanks!

Update
Just received reply from James that they don't know yet when new batch will be available.

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:52 am
by dahlberg
I am so sorry! It's really crazy, but it seems some work ok and others don't and the guys at the factory can't seem to isolate the problem! The last batch of a dozen or so I got worked great! I will dig out a pac, rig em, and if they work will send to you. what are you fishing for and what's your address? thanks so much for letting me know!!
again, my apologies
best
L

Re: Mr Whiggley Input Needed

PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 6:17 am
by lifeisfun
Much appreciated, Thanks!