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 30 years ago at Bagleys |  TODAY still going strong |
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When Lee Sisson began fashioning hand-made crank baits that would run considerably deeper than those on the market, he began to establish himself as one of Louisiana’s top tournament anglers. In the process, he began to develop a reputation for his craftsmanship as a lure maker.
It was Lee Sisson who took the crude crank baits of yesteryear and refined the diving lures into reliable form of fishing that even the most inexperienced fisherman could utilize successfully. Working from Jim Bagley's orginal design of the Balsa B, Sisson molded the kind of lures that ran just below the surface to depths that had never been explored by bass fishermen using crank baits. His deep diving lures such as the DB3 and Diving Killer B, soon became favorite weapons for a large portion of America’s legions of bass fishermen.
In past years Sisson has touched most tackle boxes although most fishermen never new. He has manufactured lures for many of the major lure companies such as Heddon, Strike King, Manns, Arbogast, Bass Pro, Cabella….you get the picture. All of Sisson’s lures are made from Jelutong, a light but tough wood which has the flotation of balsa but the strength of cedar. This light wood allows the lure to be balanced to maximize the action, giving his lures a quick vibration with a wandering action only wood can give. Another feature Lee added is the Ticker Sound Chamber. This simulates the sounds shad and crawfish make. These are just some of the reasons his lures have influenced the industry for decades.
His lure line includes some of the lures which started his reputation such as the Diving Woody 2 (DKB2) and the Big Deep Ticker, (DB3) along with the rest of the Ticker Series. But Lee hasn’t been resting on his laurels. Improving the already proven line of lures are the Pink Eye and the Slim Willie. He is also reintroducing the Tuning button in diving lures. Early Bagley lures designed by Sisson had this feature and it was one of the reasons for there great success. This is a lead button in the lip at the pull point. By moving the weight forward into the lip the lure has a face down attitude. This allows the lure to start diving from the first turn of the handle, reaching the strike zone quicker and staying there longer.
The wide quick action is the heart of the Pink Eye. Like all of Sisson’s lures, the Pink Eye has the same fish catching features which he is known for. The Shallow runs to 2 ft and the Deep dives to 6ft. The Pink Eye X-Stream dives to 10 ft. Most small lures can’t go that deep but the depth is achieved by using the new weight forward design in the lip.
The other new lure is the Slim Willie. This unique flat sided lure, which is only ½ inch wide, comes in a Deep version which dives to 8 ft using the weight forward lip and a Shallow version which only goes a foot. The shallow can be made to wake the surface by holding the rod tip up. This is a very effective method of fishing this lure.
Sisson doesn’t just build crank baits. His line includes the Sisson Popper a 2 ¾ conventional popper, and the Sisson spinner which is a 3 inch single spin. Also included are the Woodwalker which walks the dog easily since it is made of wood and the weight is in the tail, and the Sisson Minnow, a stick bait right out of the past.
Other crank baits are the Tennessee Tuffy a flat sided bait with the coffin bill. The Diving Little Ticker, The Deep Diving Ticker and his best selling lure, the Tiny Ticker in both Shallow and deep.
When you combine nearly 30 years of designing and manufacturing lures along with the innovative features of the Sisson lures you see the reasons his lures have influenced the industry for 3 decades. |
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 Rattle or not to rattle, that has been the question since a weight came loose in a plastic lure in the 60’s. Both sides have weighed in on this, but the debate goes on. A few years the rattle side tried to convince you that louder was better. That didn’t last long, but the no rattles group have begun to question that also.
Sound is just a part of the vibrations fish feel as you drag a lure through the water. The movement of a lure is felt by a fish even if the lure has no rattles. no vibration, just movement. Bass have one olfactory sense, one visual sense, but three ways to pick up movement (vibration) in the water. They pick up vibration patterns through their lateral line, inner ear and swim bladder. Studies have shown that vibration will attract fish even quicker than taste-smell. One study showed sharks were attracted to vibration more often than blood even though their ability to pick up blood in the water is very acute. This tells me that vibration is at least twice as important as color but in the past, most attention has been put on color.
Notice I said vibration patterns. Not all sound is the same. Bass, as other fish, have fine tuned senses which allow them to chase down prey even in the dark of night in muddy water down 20 feet. But those same senses warn them of danger when things just don’t seem right . The trick is to use this refined sense to attract fish, not spook them.
Lee Sisson at Lee Sisson Lures has spent a life time studying the reactions sound has on fish. Years of research on the water, studying bass in tanks and talking to fisheries biologist have confirmed the fact that fish are attracted by certain vibration patterns. “It all started back when I was in college”. Sisson says. “As a student I had plenty of time to fish and spent many hours on Toledo Bend. I always wondered how bass kept up and found schools of shad. One day as I was running down the lake a school of shad came up. It was a hot day anyway so I baled out of the boat and into this big school of shad. That is the first time I heard the ticking sound. All around me were shad and they were all making a sound like clicking to small rocks together under water. As I watched and listened a school of bass attacked the shad, slashing through the shad as they tried to escape. I watched as the bass chased the school seeing crippled shad sink towards the bottom where even larger bass waited to feed.” Sisson goes on to say, “I learned two things that day, sound is a very important aspect of fishing, and I sure am glad I’m not a shad.”
If you have ever been in an aluminum boat when a school of shad came by you probably have heard the sound. The same ticking sound is made by crawfish. This is the reason Sisson has developed the tuned Ticker sound chamber. The Ticker in Sisson lures simulate the sounds that both crawfish and shad make. “I don’t want a loud sound in my lures but I do want the right sound. We developed the Ticker sound years ago and it has been so successful that we now put it in all of our crankbaits”.
So as the sound debate goes on now there is a third option. Not just a noise maker but tuned sounds which simulate bait fish and attract fish. |
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