March 17, 2020
By Ned Kehde
Bass Reaper Bait Company of Niagara, Wisconsin, was founded in March of 2019.
In February of 2020, we talked and exchanged numerous emails with Greg Werner of Niagara, Wisconsin, about this company. He told us that it is a family business that is located in their home. He also works as an over-the-road truck driver. He is 50 years old. His wife, Rachel, who is 35 years old, is the company’s registered owner.
What’s more, he and Rachel are dedicated anglers. He competed on the FLW Tour as a co-angler in 2015 and 2016, and he fished one FLW Tour event as a pro. In 2018, he competed on the FLW Costa Series. He and his wife, Rachel, regularly compete on team tournaments. And they are on the water fishing recreationally with two of their three children, who are eight and 12 years old, as often as humanly possible.
As we talked, he told us about several of his soft-plastic baits, such as the Blunt, 3.5-inch Contagion, Hedge Hog, I-Sickle, and Mighty Minnow, that Midwest finesse anglers could affix to a small mushroom-style jig with an exposed hook.
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We told him that we were interested in publishing a Midwest Finesse gear guide about his creations, and he sent us a sample of each of them.
Here is what we discovered about the Mighty Minnow.
It is 3 9/16 inches long.
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Its anterior section is 1 9/16 inches long. It is an abstract rendition of the torso of various kinds of chubs, darters, minnows, shad, and shiners.
The tip or snout of the head and predorsal area is flat with a diameter of three-sixteenths of an inch and a height of one-eighth of an inch. This is where a Midwest finesse angler will insert the hook and bait keeper of a mushroom-style jig.
The anterior’s dorsal is slightly convex, and it ranges in width from five-sixteenths of an inch to three-eighths of an inch. Its epidermis is smooth.
Its breast and ventral area exhibit the silhouettes of a fathead minnow and various sunfishes. It is convex.
The torso at its highest spot possesses a height of a half of an inch with a circumference of about 1 3/16 inches. This spot is situated at a half of an inch from the tip of its head. Near the junction of the anterior section to the posterior section, the height is a quarter of an inch with a circumference of about fifteen-sixteenths of an inch.
Its posterior section is 2 1/8 inches long. It is long and thin with a needle-like point. Some folks might describe it as being spear-like. It has three sides, exhibiting the format of a triangle.
Its dorsal section is flat. Near the junction of the posterior and anterior sections, the dorsal has a width of slightly more than a quarter of an inch. At the end of the posterior section, the width is less than one millimeter. Some folks might describe the dorsal as the base of this triangular-shaped posterior section.
Its ventral area consists of the two sides of the triangle. Near the junction of the posterior and anterior sections, the width of each side of this triangle is three-sixteenths of an inch. At the end of the posterior, these sides are so minute that we were unable to measure them.
It is available in the following hues: Black, Chartreuse, Disco Melon, Fruitcake, Green Pumpkin, Harvest, and Moondust.
It is scented with salt, and it is buoyant.
A package of 10 costs $3.99.
According to the Werners, the Mighty Minnow is effective when it is affixed to either a drop-shot rig or a mushroom-style jig. And these riggings allow its posterior section, which most anglers will describe as its tail, to undulate and gyrate rhythmically and alluringly. And it will inveigle largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, walleye, northern pike, muskie, temperate bass, and crappie.
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