Lunkerhunt's Dragonfly

Lunkerhunt of Toronto, Ontario, describes its Dragonfly as a finesse topwater lure. It is three inches or 76.2 millimeters long and weighs a quarter of an ounce.

It is constructed from what is described as "an innovative floating foam."  Thus, it is exceptionally buoyant. What's more, the folks at Lunkerhunt proudly declare that it "is extremely durable," possessing the wherewithal to engage scores of significant donnybrooks with largemouth bass and other black bass species without becoming tattered and torn. In fact, David MacDonald of Lunkerhunt and Toronto said it is almost as durable as a hard-plastic bait.

At this point and time in the world of soft-plastic-bait manufacturing, it is categorically impossible to totally emulate Mother Nature's creatures.

Therefore, the head, thorax, and abdomen of Lunkerhunt's Dragonfly abstractly replicate the body parts of a real dragonfly. But this rendition is adroitly accomplished, and Lunkerhunt has created an intriguing finesse lure.

Its head has a circumference of 11.5 millimeters and a length of 10.5 millimeters. The thorax possesses a circumference of 12.5 millimeters and a length of 20 millimeters. Its abdomen has a circumference of nine millimeters and a length of 50 millimeters.

Its forewings, which are constructed from threads of silicone, radiate from each side of the front portion of its thorax, and its hindwings, which are also made from the same threads, extend from the rear portion of the thorax. From tip to tip and including the width of the thorax, the wings are 150 millimeters long. Each wing consists of six silicone threads, and these are the same threads that jig makers use to make skirts for their jigs.

It is devoid of the six leg-like appendages, which include femurs, tibias, and tarsus, of a real dragonfly.

Its abdomen has seven segments, while the abdomen of a real dragonfly possesses 10 segments.

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Unlike a real dragonfly, its head lacks the antennae that embellish the head of a real dragonfly.

The tip of its abdomen does not possess the cercus, epiproct, and vulvar lamina as does the abdomen of a real dragonfly.

Its belly is endowed with a hook slot to facilitate rigging it Texas-style onto a 4/0 extra-wide-gap worm hook.  The hook slot begins five millimeters from the tip of the Dragonfly's head, and it is 40 millimeters long.

It is available in the following hues: Dasher (blue, black, and white), Cardinal (red, black, and white), Meadowhawk (yellow, black, and white), Pond Hawk (green, black, and white), Skimmer (white and black), and Darner (black and white.)

The suggested retail price for one Dragonfly ranges from $5.29. This includes an extra-wide-gap and light-wire worm hook, which David MacDonald says is similar to the quality of a Gamakatsu hook.

Endnotes

(1) Midwest finesse anglers rarely pursue black bass with topwater presentations.  And it is likely that they will prefer to affix Lunkerhunt's Dragonfly to a mushroom-style jig and present it to their quarries by employing our six Midwest finesse presentations or subtle variations of those six retrieves. When they do this, they will probably shorten the forewings and hindwings a tad.  This presentation will replicate a dragonfly as it is emerging from its nymph stage of life. It is interesting to note that David MacDonald said that he and others have been thinking about employing it as an emerging nymph and employing it on a Carolina rig.

Here is a link to a Midwest finesse column that describes the way Midwest finesse anglers will retrieve the Dragonfly when it is rigged onto a mushroom-style jig: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/.

(2)  The head, thorax, and abdomen of the Dragonfly are so durable that the paint will wear off of them before they are damaged in any way. The folks at Lunkerhunt are currently working on creating a more durable paint, but the current paint is durable enough to withstand donnybrooks with an incredible number of black bass. And across the years, Midwest finesse anglers have discovered that when the colors of their baits start to flake and fade, they are more effective than when they are spick-and-span.

(3) The silicone threads that constitute the wings of the Dragonfly will eventually become tattered and torn. And anglers can replace them by using a large sewing needle.

(4) Here is a link to Lunkerhunt's web site: http://www.lunkerhunt.com/dragonfly.html.

(5) Here is a link to a YouTube feature about the Dragonfly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8YXaBAgT9Y.