Over the last several years the Supernatural Bait Company has been a staple for the countries top musky trollers.  Here is a little history on this great and ground breaking crankbait. 

https://www.supernaturalbigbaits.com

History

Duff Thury is a trained custom furniture maker by trade…and a muskie fisherman. So it was just a matter of time before the two combined. He honed his craft by mimicking existing lures like Jakes and Rapalas but made them much bigger. He quickly realized that he wanted to create his own unique lures after mastering the techniques and understanding the design principles of existing muskie crankbaits. After 6 years of R & D the first HeadLock came to be and the action was nothing short of ‘supernatural’. A couple years after that an old friend (Kevin Dickinson) talked him into making one that would run at slower speeds. This was achieved by taking the 12“ HeadLock profile and making it wider with a bigger and rounder lip. Now he had a bait…with no name. He challenged a friend who was a local guide (Matt Seifert/Muskie Mercenary Guide Service) that if he could catch 2 muskies over 50“ on it within the month he would name it the MattLock. Matt caught 4 over 50“ in the first 9 days…so the name was a lock!

In 2014 we added another industry first when we put Super Prism on a hard bait. Super Prism is the most reflective prism tape out there. This is the same material tha

t you will see on some road signs and the Kramer Bros Windowmaker bucktails.  This is an option on custom colors only.  In the above photo you can see the difference between a painted, various prisms and foils and then the Super Prism and thisis with just using the camera flash.

About The Baits
All baits start out as a board of Western Red Cedar. From there they are planed, cut, slotted, drilled, traced and roughed out, shaped, routed, sanded and primed before the finishing process even begins. There are over 100 steps before the board of wood can be transformed into a Supernatural Big Bait. Each one is made by hand in a shop in St. Paul, MN. It takes a lot of time before the hooks and split rings go on to complete the lure. For example, there are a minimum of 4 coats of epoxy on each bait. This means that there are a minimum of 4 days of curing time just for the epoxy alone. Everyone wants to say it is one certain thing that gives a Supernatural Big Bait it’s unique ‘wandering’ action, but it is really the total cumulation of all of it’s unseen design details. From materials to shape to weight to the lip to the line attachment pin and even more factors, each has a part in how the lure performs. The line attachment pin is something unique. It is “free-floating” which means it can rotate 360 degrees and tilt/wobble in the hole in the lip. Not only does this add to the overall action, but it also helps center the bait so there is no tuning needed like some other crankbaits require. This pin can also be moved into one of 3 positions in the lip. The hole furthest from the body will make the bait dive the shallowest and give the bait it’s most erratic action. As you move the pin closer to the body, the bait runs deeper and the action gets tighter. There are a lot of lures that ‘walk’ in a rhythmic left-right-left-right path through the water. A Supernatural bait ‘wanders’ in a totally random path that might be left-right-right-left-right-left-left-left-right-left-right-right-etc. The biggest benefit of this is it means the bait has a built in triggering affect and monster muskies have not been able to resist!

HeadLock or MattLock? 
Even though HeadLocks will run at 2.5mph, they are really made for speed. Once you crank it up into the 4.5mph to 6+mph range, they violently come to life. At slower speeds they will have a tighter ‘wiggle’ with very little ‘wander’, but at higher speeds the ‘wander’ action is dominant. I’ve caught fish on HeadLocks throughout the season, but the warmer months of summer are where they really shine. 10“ or 12“??? I always say to match your forage. If the primary forage is panfish or shad the 10“ profile is a match. If the muskies are mainly feeding on whitefish, tullibee, walleye or bass then the 12“ will fit this profile better. When in doubt, bigger is usually better!

Even though the MattLock will run over 6+mph, it is at slower speeds where it has been the most effective. This makes it ideal for early and late in the open water season when the water temp is the coldest and muskies can be a bit more sluggish. It is also an exceptional night fishing lure as this slower speed allows the fish more time to find the bait in the darkness. If you are not trolling after dark during the summer you are missing out on one of the best bites of the entire year. Multiple fish nights are the norm. Our favorite technique is to use planer boards and only put the baits 4‘ to 15‘ behind them. This keeps the baits very close to the surface. You can troll structure doing this but we have done the best over open water. One other trick with the MattLock is to cast it and crawl it slowly along the surface. This big bait wobbling on the surface is very natural and something the fish don’t see and we have raised some huge fish doing this when they would not respond to other presentations.

Here is Hayward guide Pete Rich giving a little run down (http://www.peterichguide.com/)