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December 2011
On The Water Magazine

Lure of the month! For almost 60 years and counting, Al’s Goldfish and trout fishing have gone together like biscuits and gravy. But the Goldfish is not only an effective trout taker, it is a versatile lure that consistently catches a wide variety of freshwater game fish.



May 31, 2011

Outdoors With Uncle Ben

Gear review of some of our lures. I picked up my first Al's goldfish while visiting Hussey's general store in Windsor. I never looked back. Al's use quality hooks, and have awesome finishes that cover a wide array of water and weather conditions...



January 23, 2008
NWPA Outdoors
by Karl Weixlmann

Laurel Run Reservoir in Elk, Justice Lake in Venango County, and Chapman Lake in Warren County are all PFBC approved Trout waters and stocked judiciously for the angler who lik to cast and retrieve spoons like Castmasters, Little Cleos and the venerable Al’s Goldfish.

January 17, 2008

On The Water Magazine : The Fishing Forcast

Fran at Goose Hummock in Orleans, MA offered a suggestion for these finicky fish: an incrediably slow presentation.According to him, these Salmon will only bite when their prey appears to be on the verge of death.Accordingly, slow trolling an Al’s Goldfish from a canoe or kayak is the best tactic.Fran says that anglers employing this method have experienced the most success lately, and three 15-17 pound salmon were weighed in at the shop in the past two days.

October 15, 2007

Autumn in New England
by Jerry Vovcsko

Where to fish is a matter of personal choise but Plymouth’s Long Pond is a fine starter place for Southeastern MA anglers as it holds just about everything a fisherman could want: Bass, Trout, Perch, Salmon…you name it, it’s there.Kayaks, canoes, and small skiffs make for a very pleasant day on the water but you will see the folks fishing (and catching) from shore as well.I have seen double digit Salmon taken from a few feet away from the boat ramp by a gent waiting his turn to launch and flipping an Al’s Goldfish while waiting.

June 13, 2007

Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters: Indian River Lagoon Coast Fishing Report

By Captain Tom Van Horn

My week started on Friday June 8, 2007, where I had the pleasure of fishing with Dale and Damon Little and their friend Jason for a day of Redfish and Sea Trout on the North IRL.Our first location was a culvert fishing run-off into the Lagoon, and the swift water quickly yielded three Redfish and several nice Sea Trout caught on a combination of rip-tide yields.

Our next location was on a deeper flat (3-5 feet) where we located a school of ladyfish feeding on a school of minnows and the fast and furious action netted us a half a dozen ladies, and some small Trout, caught on Al’s Original Goldfish, among other lures.

March 2007
Field & Stream Magazine: 50 Best Lures of all Time (no. 8)

This venerable Trout spoon is updated with a prismatic, glow-in-the-dark insert.It runs deep and is ideal for big browns in fast water.Fish it with a small duolock snap, casting up and across the current and using rod-tip twitches to bring life to the lure as it drifts near the bottom.

April 2006

Field & Stream Magazine: 50 Best Lures of all Time (no. 34)

Readers of a certain age will now be smiling at the memory of an old-favorite Trout spoon that hasn’t gotten much press in recent years.It’s still being made, though, and it’s still one of the best Brown Trout lures of all time.The 3/16 oz. gold version is my favorite, with a relatively thick body that tends to run deep.Cast up and across stream in turbulent deep runs, then retrieve with darting rod-tip sweeps to make the spoon alternately stutter and sink near the bottom.

March 20, 2006

Fishing’s Good in the Neighborhoodby Jerry Vovcsko

Long Pond in Plymouth, MA has already been producing some nice Trout and the occasional Salmon. This particular location is at the heart of the Al’s Goldfish crowd and these folks cherish those tiny gold baits.They also have their own trade secrets, ranging from tipping the hooks with tiny marshamallow bits, to taking a pair of vise grips to the metal and crimping a little bit here, bending a touch more over there in order to – what else? – improve the action!Myself, I go for the small shad jigs and add a bit of earthworm to make them foolproof.In fact,that’s my operating approach to tinkering all of my lures; I just ask myself the question: What would a fool like me try to get this lure to work a little better?Then I proceed to try a little bit of this-and-that, after a depressingly large number of screw-ups, I generally come up with something to that seems to work.

2006

On The Water Magazine:Annual Product Reviews

Most of us tend to be in awe of the newest gear.We can’t resist flashy paint jobs, iridescent sparkles and things like rattles that are supposed to make lures irresistible to fish.A lot of times the old standbys get thrown into the back of the box and forgotten, while the new stuff is used again and again, even if the results are less than satisfactory.

For as long as I can remember, Al’s Original Goldfish has been lurking in my tackle box.It’s one of those classic fresh water lures that seems like it’s been around forever—so much so that it’s easy to pass over.But I’ve been reminded recently that there is a good reason this little lure is a classic.

Al’s Original Goldfish cast very well compared to some of the other spoons.The irregular contour of the lure gives it a nice wobbling, fluttering motion on the retrieve.The smaller sizes have always worked best for me, and I prefer the Bronze color to all others.

This past June I was fishing one of my favorite ponds in Maine for Smallmouth Bass.I was having no luck with my standard arsenal of smallie lures, so I decided to tie on tha old bronze Al’s Goldfish.The pond I was fishing also has brook Trout in it so I figured I would change my game plan and cast for brookies.It wasn’t long before I had a gorgeous Smallmouth Bass beside my boat.

The moral of the story is that sometimes we get too caught up in high-tech, cutting-edge fishing tackle.Often times these oldies and goodies are the ways to go.Some lures work so well that never need to be redesigned, and they catch as many fish today as they did 50 years ago.