New Fishing Decoys

[MNFirefighter]

Hello everyone. I want to introduce you to a new fishing product that I have developed and patented. This is a product that I have been working on for the past several years and is designed to be used while ice fishing, spear fishing and summer fishing.

The are called Fish Decoys. The are a series of fish set up on a stringer that is designed to bring the fish to you.  You simple drill a hole outside your fishhouse, spearhouse or throw them near the boat.

The concept is simple. Fish go to other fish so instead of you jigging just a minnow to draw fish in, you simply set these out and let the fish come to you.

Enough talk. Here is some video of the very first test with the prototypes. This video was taken on a south metro lake with no baiting or fishing going on during the filming of the decoys.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

[Lee Borgersen]

It's an interesting concept I'll give you that.

 Fish are curious like a cat and that's a fact. They will swim right up to your video camera lends and bump it with their nose. I had an outdoor writer stop me when I was leaving the local tackle shop years ago. He wanted to show me something new and innovative I walked over to his truck and pulled out this new invention.

It was a huge clear Plexiglas sheet with fish decals plastered all over it. You lowered it over the side of the boat letting it suspend under water. The Plexiglas was transparent so the fish would only see the fish decals like schooling fish. He wanted me to go out to Lake Geneva in my boat with him and give it a trial shot.

I declined his offer since I was afraid to be seen by others trying this zany invention. Also my heart wasn't in it. Your decoy Idea is somewhat similar to that of the fish screen theory. Also it's similar to the artificial weeds product that hit the market some time back.

My grand father used brightly colored plastic pennants' and tied them along the anchor rope to attract fish. Some folks used to catch bumblebees and seal them in a glass jar weighted with a small rock. Than lower it over the side. The constant buzzing sound from the bees echoed in the glass and would attract fish.

I wish you luck with your project and never stop thinking of new innovative tactics. It's all part of the fishing challenge.


Lee

[MNFirefighter]

Thanks for the encouragement. I agree with you in that fish are curious as a cat. Thats how I came up with this idea.

I thought to myself, what will bring fish in. I began to read up on Bluegills and Crappies and learned the they have poor vision.  They are also a social fish that travel in schools in seek of food and safety in numbers.  So I started working on a decoy system. 

Instead of me trying to entice fish to come to me with a little jig and waxy or minnow I came up with this system.  It is a stringer of either Bluegills or Crappies that are adjustable to different depths with a weight at the bottom and a handle at top for quick deployment and retrieval.  I will be added other species down the road. The nice thing about this product is that not only will it bring in other Bluegills and Crappies it will bring in predator fish like Walleye, Bass and Northern.

I am going to be working on getting more video and documentation that this is the real deal. I believe if you can't give it a away you can't sell it. So I am looking for a couple die hards that are willing to give this a shot.

[MNFirefighter]

Here are some photos

[MTCOMMER]

Very cool concept!!  Are there any legal issues surrounding this, does the DNR say anything about this?

What material are the 'fish decoys' made of?

Are they held onto the stringer with a knot, or how is the connection mechanism?

Do you offer different size options of gills and crappies or are they all one uniform size?

Is there a floatation device on the top, or is it just a string to put over the side of the boat?

But once again, VERY COOL IDEA.  I could see how they would work well.  Where I fish in the summer, we catch gills right off our raft, they congretate below it and seek the shade and like you said, they are in schools.

[MTCOMMER]

I also might recommend, if possible, a more transparent string.... Have you seen if the black string deters fish as compared to a thick fishing line type that is clear?
Just a thought.

 

 :fishing2:

[HD]

I'd be willing to give it a shot.....

But, even if you get them to come in....you still gotta get them to bite! 

[MNFirefighter]

They are not illegal. I have discussed this with the DNR. The are made of a plastic material.

The are not held on by a knot. The are held in place by the black string and the two holes that are in the fish and the fish can be adjusted up and down the line with ease.

I am working on a floatation holder for up top so that you can set a few out and cast to them.

Currently I only have the one size Bluegill and Crappie. Eventually I will offer more sizes and species of fish and baitfish.

I too initially had concerns over the black string but the fish do not even pay attention to it.

Like anything else. Nothing is going to make a fish bite but it will increase the oppurtunity for more fish to come in which will increase your chances of getting more bites and larger predator fish to come in as well.

Let me know when your in the Savage area HD and I will meet up with you and you can give them a try.

[DDSBYDAY]

   Interesting idea for sure.  One concern I have is for ice fishing these will be outside.  With the horizantal length of the decoys you will need to carry a chisel to get them out.  In any portable you would not have room to put them close enough without getting caught up in them so they will have to be outside.  I personally have wrecked a couple of tip ups trying to get them out after being in the hole only a couple of hours.  Just  a thought.

[MTCOMMER]

Thanks for the info!     If you need some other people to try them out, I would be more than happy to drop one down when im fishing up at the lake.  It would help get some of those buggers to come from under the raft - The crappies are starting to come back too, this past year was the first year we caught one in quite a long time.   :fishing:Maybe this would help bring some of them in.

Interesting thought Scott, but yes, with a smaller portable, you would have to place it outside.  I might just drill a hole in the far corner as far away from my fishing hole as I could.... I hate using chisels     Just one more thing to bring along on the sled.

[MNFirefighter]

Sorry for the late reponse. Work is crazy busy.  No product is going to be perfect but I have used these outside my fish house and I have never got caught up in them.

I place the decoys 7-8 feet away from my holes in a U pattern around my fish house and I have never had an issue. As far as them freezing, welcome to ice fishing.

I leave a hammer and a screwdriver out in my house and if it is that cold, nothing but a few seconds with a hammer and screwdriver can't solve, most the time the hammer is sufficient or hatchet.

If you are interested in trying them out drop me an email at Profishnseaproducts@hotmail.com.  Please title the subject Fish Decoys

Thanks,

Dan

[kenhuntin]

I will buy the first set that you can drop to the bottom and have to retrieve by snagging the set with a daredevle. I love the idea but will not fuss with a string to the surface. Crappies eyes are built to feed up anyways. That would only work in lakes were you can sight fish through the ice where you can honestly retrieve them but I am ready to try.

[spear foot 1]

 Just a thought but when used for ice fishing may be a guy could rig up  a piece of plastic like a ice cream pail lid and some foam similar to a polar tip up and this would cut back on the freezing a bit. Just a thought.

[Carp]

Do these float on there own?

[MNFirefighter]

The decoys are in line on a string with a weight on the bottom of the string so they are not designed to float. The decoys can be adjusted up in down the line to what ever depth you would like.