Big O: King of the alphabet plugs By Larry Myhre
The Big O crankbait is a fishing lure with a storied past going back nearly 45 years. It’s still my first choice of smallmouth crankbaits on the channelized Missouri and elsewhere. (Journal photo by Larry Myhre) Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal
I’d like to have a penny for every time I’ve cast out a Big O crankbait.
Oh, I’d still be sittin’ here writin’ fishing stories, but the view would be a lot better. West Okoboji lakefront is what I’m thinking.
But, back to reality. Back to the Big O, one fine fish catching machine.
I first used the Big O back in the mid 1970s. In those days I opened the bass fishing season on Lake Geneva in Minnesota every year.
The Big O was my go-to crankbait then and, I’m here to tell you, it still is today.
The Big O has a long and proud history.
The lure, which is made of plastic today, was originally carved of Balsa wood. Fred Young carved the first Big O lure in 1967.
Fred’s brother Odis field tested the lures. He was six feet, six inches tall so it is easy to see how the lure got its name.
Word started to spread locally about how effective this home-made lure was, but it wasn’t famous until Billy Westmorland, a legendary smallmouth bass fisherman, took the lure on the tournament trail. He took second place in a B.A.S.S. tournament just getting edged out by Bobby Murray.
Soon the lures were selling for $50 apiece and the demand was far ahead of Young’s ability to turn them out. In some places the lure was being rented out by the day.
It was in 1973 that Cotton Cordell bought the Big O and began manufacturing it in plastic.
Within 13 months 1.3 million Big Os were sold.
The Big O was the first of the “fat” alphabet plugs. Many other manufactures followed with their own “fat” crankbaits, but none live up to the fish catching ability of the Big O.
While the orginal balsa Big Os were fat, beefy baits that had an almost violent wobble, most anglers today use much smaller versions.
In fact, I seldom use any size other than the two-and-a-half inch Big O.
It weighs one third of an ounce so it casts very easily for both distance and accuracy.
For fishing smallmouth bass in the channelized Missouri right here in the Sioux City area, there is no better crankbait, in my opinion.
It dives to just the right depth, about four feet on the cast and when our smallies are active, they are up shallow right against the rip-rap or right out on the ends of the wing dams.
The short, squared lip causes the lure to deflect off rocks or other submerged structure and, believe it or not, I seldom lose one to a snag.
Farther upstream, where smallies gather below sandbars and chase shad and shiners, the Big O is a great choice. This is shallow water fishing. You can make long casts and retrieve it fast and stay above the fish. Smallies will go up for a bait so you want to fish above them.
For the Missouri River, I like to stick to shad colors. The Smoky Joe, Chrome and Black Back or the Pearl/Red Eye is what I’m usually throwing.
However, the Fire Tiger color is another good one.
Early on, tournament fishermen found the Big Os excelled in dingy or stained water. It still does today in the dark waters of the Missouri here.
Today the Big O is being manufactured by Pradco Outdoor Brands, the world’s largest manufacturer of plastic fishing lures.
A division of EBSCO, Pradco also markets game calls, muzzleloading rifles, scents, decoys, game feeders, game cameras, tree stands and other products for hunters.
If you haven’t used this old classic, tie one on next spring. It’s been part of my tackle box for nearly 35 years, and I’ll be throwing them for as long as I can.
Among the alphabet baits, the Big O rates a Big A+ in my book. And Missouri River smallmouth rate it the same way, I’m here to tell you.