Koppers Live Target

Few good things came out of the introduction of zebra mussels to the Great Lakes system. These filter-feeding bivalves changed water clarity in the Niagra River from 3 to 4 feet to almost 20 feet in some areas. Fish were inspecting lures with such scrutiny in the clear water, that anglers could watch them follow their offerings in multiple times… and ultimately reject the lure each time.

Guide Grant Koppers of Sportfishing Niagra was actively seeking out water with 2 to 3 feet of visibility, where standard hardbaits could still work. But with the invasive zebra mussels filtering the water at an alarming rate, 6 to 7 feet of visibility was becoming the norm, and under these conditions, though Koppers had plenty of follows, far too many of the fish were turning away without striking. Gamefish have a natural wariness, especially in clear water, said Koppers, and when they approach a lure slowly, they study it. To cope with these challenging conditions, he set out to create a lure that would pass muster with even the pickiest of fish in the cleanest of waters.

Koppers got his start making lures at the age of 8 when, after a trip to the Lake Ontario shoreline for brown trout, he went home and crafted a lure out of a kitchen spoon, attaching the hook with a bent piece of coat hanger. His designs had come a long way when he founded Livetarget in 2007.

Livetarget lures have ultra-realistic, finely detailed finishes that accurately match baitfish found throughout North America. While the detailed paint jobs are certainly impressive, Koppers didn’t stop there. Instead of putting the realistic paint jobs on any body shape, i.e. having a perch- and a crayfish-colored crankbait with the exact same profile, Koppers made the Livetarget lures anatomically correct. The bluegill is shaped like a bluegill, the perch shaped like a perch, and so on.

The forage species Koppers has duplicated includes rainbow smelt, yellow perch, bluegill, shad, herring, crayfish, and juvenile largemouth and smallmouth bass. These imitations were turned into jerkbaits, crankbaits, lipless rattling crankbaits, jointed swimbaits, wakebaits and prop baits. In 2010, Livetarget introduced a frog imitation in a soft-bodied version and a hard-bodied walk-the-dog model. The soft bait looked so realistic, it appeared as if it could hop right out of the tackle box. The media at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) show in 2010 thought so too, and voted the Livetarget frog the best new soft bait.

Koppers repeated with another win in the soft bait category at ICAST 2011 with their field mouse, a surface walking bait that, if not stored properly after a fishing trip, could have your spouse on the phone with the exterminator.
Rodents and ranids aside, the Livetarget bait that caught my eye in 2009 was the smallmouth bass. Five months earlier while targeting brown trout in the depths of winter, I caught a 3-pound holdover brown, and upon inspection of its stomach contents, found a few recently devoured 2-inch smallmouth bass. The lure sitting in the Livetarget display was an exact replica of those juvenile smallmouth. The following winter, when I had the chance to put that smallmouth crankbait to work, the trout couldn’t resist. Without question, these hardbaits are about as close to live bait as you can get without getting your hands dirty.

In 2011, Koppers unveiled the Saltwater Series of Livetarget baits. Of interest to anglers in the Northeast would be the menhaden, mullet, blue-back herring and pinfish. Though pinfish are a southern baitfish, they are a pretty close match to our porgies. The mullet is perhaps the most realistic imitation in the entire line of lures. It is available in a wakebait, twitchbait and walk-the-dog style. This bait is a spot-on replica of a live mullet, and when it becomes available in 2012, it will be a must-have for the fall run.

Of course, simply looking like the baitfish isn’t enough. The lures have to swim like them as well. Just as much attention to detail goes into the inside of the lure as the outside. Lures feature a mix of glass, steel, brass and lead depending on the model, which give each lure a fish attracting sound and vibration.

To increase casting distance, a number of Livetarget lures feature a weight transfer system. In these lures, an internal weight rolls to the rear of the bait on the cast, increasing casting distance, while on the retrieve, the weight returns to the keep position to give the lure its ideal action.

From finicky stripers to wary brown trout, the Livetarget lures will be a hit for a wide variety of gamefish species in the Northeast throughout the year. The Gizzard Shad lipless rattlebait is sure to be a big producer for suspended winter largemouths and smallmouth. The Bluegill wakebait would be a hot pick for the first warm days of spring, and when the lilypads are up in the summertime, the hollow-body frog will be tough to beat. And don’t forget about the saltwater series coming out in 2012. The 6-inch menhaden crankbait dives to 25 feet and seems like it will be a tough-to-beat option for trolling up springtime cow stripers. When the fall run is on and the mullet march down the beach, The Livetarget mullet twitchbait and walk-the-dog bait will be the hottest lure on the beach – and you heard about it here first!