2007 Exciting New Product 
World Debut

The end of the story of 8/23/06  prototype testing session (click here), actually begins another.  Being, the introduction of a new meat head designed to spin whole herring and do it right.  My first journeys into the land of using whole Herring began about 20 years.  

Frankly, my initial attempts with whole Herring on the Great Lakes were totally futile, and a fast trip to Skunk City.  I was using the existing products on the market back then (1988 thru 2003). The first decent, and more importantly: consistent results I was able to put together was with cut, or sliced herring.  So, it was natural for me to travel down this well trod highway of strips/fillets first before looking back into the productivity of whole Herring.

Knowing, ....what I know now, I should have made the Super Magnum Meat Heads in the first place, rather than the strip based Magnum Meat Head that was introduced in 2005.  This hindsight is generated the multiple uses of the Super Mags.  Plus, this new meat head is not leveraged by any company supplying pre-cut herring strips to the market place.   

Circumventing the pre-cut strips is an absolute must do, as during the height of the season, there's always a short supply. Plus, the never ending question of quality?  I know many took my advice and made their own herring fillets, but many still relied on the over the counter products. Click for how to make your own strips, or fillets page  

The new 2007 Super Magnum Meat Heads will open up the field to all Herring manufacturers.  So, no one, or two special companies will benefit!  The Achilles Heel, or the weak link in my product line can be reliable sources bait during season.  This brand new 2007 product will alleviate this problem once and for all!                 

Making my product line more independent is one of the reasons behind the new meat heads.  These new heads offer a more functional natural presentation than with strips or with filleted herring.  Both sides are 100% the reel-thing, turning wary negative non-biters into more hits per hour.  Carrying a heavy full box to the cleaning station is a good thing!

Making the Grade

Super Magnum Heads are engineered to work with both Red, Green & Blue Label sized  whole herring. Herring sizes are graded by different color codes with Red 5 to 6 inches, Blue 6 to 7 inches and Blue 7 to 8 inches.  The sizes are standard across the board, no matter who packaged the bait (see above photo for side by side comparisons).  

E-Zee!
 
Whole Herring Heads     Whole Herring      

Super Magnum Heads can use whole Herring right out of the package, no muss, no fuss!  Making your own hand trimmed fillets requires time beforehand.  The Super Mag Heads open several options, if compared to the regular Magnum Meat Head (introduced in 2005).  There were, or are two manufacturers making strips.  At times, prepackage strips are hard to come by.  While, I always advocated making your own hand trimmed fillets, many choose to use the commercially prepared strips regardless of the superior presentation of homemade fillets, which was tournament proven several times over.

Here's an added bonus feature: the new heads can accommodate homemade fillets, or store bought strips. The flared larger opening deflects water and actually helps the head dig better in a wider looping seductive roll, even the smart fish can't resist.

Choices

Fishing is about choices and in most cases there's too many of them.  This color? That size? This speed? What depth?  These are perplexing questions we answer each time we unload off the trailer, or pull off a dock.  Providing choices is what my job as a tackle manufacturer is.  The new Super heads are a multi-use product and for the fans of the cut/sliced herring fillets, the new Super Heads will still do a fine job.  The more options you have, the less likely you'll be painted into a corner.   The new Super Magnum Meat Head has another leap forward for fishermen wanting to upgrade to a 100% natural presentation.

Uncomplicated Super Mag Meat Head

There's a multitude manufacturers producing products claiming to do the job, but from my experience, none to the standards I demand.  Once in a while, is not good enough for me.  Sporadic success does not bred confidence.  Then, lack of confidence, is where your tactics starts to falling apart.  You have to know what you have in the water works.  So, if the action sucks, you can look at other factors such as speed, depth, temp and most significantly LOCATION!

Research stage was completed late last summer, the computer design stage began towards the end of September 2006.  Tooling is scheduled for completion in early March 2007, with full fledged production soon afterward.  Product availability will be mid-April 2007...just in time for the new spring season.  In the works for 2007 is to make 2 and 3 fly meat rigs with the Super Magnum Meat Head and phase out the rigs with the heads made back in 2005.

Let's Look at the Bait Size Issues

Let's start this topic off with my track record of my customer's Kings over 30 pounds in the time span beginning in 1983 and ending in 2003, during my stint as a charter boat skipper.  All  Kings over 30 pounds took baits in the 4 to 5 inch sizes.  So, do not labor under the false interpretation that running the largest size (Blue Label herring) will equate to larger fish.  It's my personal belief, that the Red and Green Label is more representative of our average bait fish in Lake Michigan, at least during the later part of 2006 .....it was.

Multi-Purpose Super Magnum Meat Heads