The New Bagley Originals Series

    They say, "a picture's worth a thousand words", so before I say anything, have a look at the three Bagley Originals I bought from Bass Pro Shop in nearby Leeds, AL.

     First off, I was under the mistaken impression the revived Bagley Bait Co. was again going to manufacture their lures back here in the good ol' U.S. of A.. The vast majority of Bagley lure collectors only want lures that were made in Winter Haven, FL. After the initial jolt of seeing the "Made in the Dominican Republic" sticker on the back of the box, I had to let that expectation go, and get down to the business of seeing just what was being offered in the sleek new packaging.

     There was not a large offering of models, or colors, on display at the Bass Pro Shop near my home, but I was still fairly pleased with their initial Bagley representation. I really liked the two new Sexy Shad colors (pictured above), and while the other colors, like DC2 (Dark Crayfish on Orange), TS (Tennessee Shad), and BGOB (Black on Gold Foil/Orange Belly), are not particularily exciting, they have always been top fish producers. I never was a fan of the Dazzle line of baits because all that glitter looked like it would kill the action of the lure. However, most of the new Bagley colors have a tiny dash of glitter, which hopefully adds just the right amount of reflection without significantly encumbering the lure's action.

     The paint job on the lures looks high quality to me. There might not be a kazilliion coats of paint like the Bagleys of old, but sometimes less is more. I've always thought, the more coats of paint, the less the action. I think for lures in the $8-9 price range, if the lures hold up to reasonable wear and tear, it's hard to complain. The hooks shipped with BB1 and Bang-O-Lure looked to me to be very high quality. The DB3's are equipped with "super sharp and strong, black nichol VMC hooks".

     As a collector, I was very disappointed to see "Bagley" instead of "Bagley's" on the diving bill of the DB3. I would have liked to see the latter inscription, which I associate with the Florida made lures. The same with the twisted wire on the rear hook hanger. Is it that much more expensive to use a rear screw like the baits made in Winter Haven used? If the company is going to continue manufacturing Bagleys in the Dominican Republic it might be a good idea to distance the new product as much as possible from the inferior lures made there in the past. I'm also not a fan of Bagley having "Original" in their name again. There is absolutely no need to stamp the word "ORIGINAL" on a lure that is an original. To be fair, none of my complaints in this paragraph have any bearing on how these lures will catch fish.

     I've been told by a high ranking company official that extreme measures have been implemented to make sure the new Bagley's are of the highest quality including making "43 new fixtures for the plant to insure that each throat is cut straight for the right lip placement every time; same with the eye and the hooks placement. It is critical to be able to repeat the cutting and drilling process with precision when working with wood baits. We then tank tested every single bait to make sure the actions are right before they go in a box. Finally, each lure is double checked at our warehouse in Port Richey, Florida for any mistakes."

     The packaging on the new lures is outstanding. Very attractive, easy to stack for shipping purposes, and low profile so you can get a lot of baits in a little space. This is not the first time Bagley's has used this style package. Many of the made-for-Japan OFT models were offered in nearly identical boxes.

     O.K. So much for what the new lures look like. Now it's time for you field testers to get out there on the lakes and rivers and start a chunkin' these beauties to see what they're made of. If you would like to share your opinions, I will give a consensus review in the coming months. In the mean time, if you have some luck catching fish with them, and take pictures of any lunkers caught, I'll post the pictures, with captions, on this page as you submit them. You can send pictures and reviews to: mauddib.auctions@gmail.com. I hope you decide to share your new Bagley Originals fishing experience with all of us.