I ran across this article and thought it was an interesting bit of ice fishing info, Enjoy !
History of The Whip!
The history of "The Whip" goes back to the early 1950's. The perch fishing on the shores of Lake Michigan is southeastern Wisconsin was at its peak. Catching 100 perch a day was common but you could easily burn 10 dozen minnows or worms in the process. A few fisherman started using strips of opaque white rubber they cut themselves. It worked pretty good and was certainly cheaper than buying all that bait. When the perch fishery collapsed in the mid-1950s, the rubber slivers were all but forgotten.
Jump ahead to the mid 1970's. The plastic worm revolution, "texas rigging", and the inventions of the "Mister Twister" had turned the concept of jigging on its head. Jigging twister tails in Canada would produce an catch of walleyes faster and more conveniently than live bait could. Ice fishing was catching on too with the advent of modern hand and power augers that made cutting a hole in the ice really easy. Lake Mendota in Madison, WI was one of the most popular lakes for panfish. Many fisherman from southern Wisconsin flocked to get 50 fish limits of perch, bluegill, and crappies. Wax worms worked but they were hard to come by. You couldn't just stop at the quick-e-mart and pick up a dozen. Many raised or harvested their own waxies and grubs, but it was a lot of work and they died and turned black if they got too cold. A chance encounter between one of the innovative Lake Michigan perch fisherman and a fisherman named Herman, one day out on Lake Mendota, was the inspiration for a soft plastic ice fishing tail. Herman was using thin slices of purple bass jelly worms on a #8 ice jig and doing quite well will all species of panfish. A couple fishermen were so impressed they started cutting their own slivers of purple worm and calling them "Purple Hermans".
The "Purple Hermans" worked great and a few ice fisherman swore they would never use grubs again. As the demand for the tails grew within the circle of friends, cutting the jelly worms into the perfect shape was getting to be too time consuming. Looking for an easier way, it was soon realized the plastic used in the jelly bass worms wasn't thermosetting and could be re-melted. An open face mold brass mold was made with a file. Now "Purple Hermans" could be made easier by pouring melted worms on the mold. Unfortunately, the pointy tail that gave the tail its perpetual wiggle, couldn't be made reliably with an open face mold.
A machinist was sought out and a few 2-piece injection molds were created. Thousands of plastic tails were pressed from these molds and one was acquired by HT Enterprises. Today HT still sells this same shaped plastic tail under the "Micro Softie Tails" name. Reinke Bros. in Milwaukee also sold a similar plastic tail under the name "Ice Slivers".
About 20 years ago we had a new and improved mold made and retired our original mold. The result is a longer tail with a long taper that created an extremly sharp point. We call this super soft plastic tail "The Whip" because of the incredible live flicking action that seems to come alive without even trying to jig it. The pulse of your thumb on your jigging pole, or a slight breeze on your fishing line is enough movement to keep The Whip whipping. The evolution of The Whip has spanned 4 decades. The shape, the soft translucent plastic infused with SL-B, and the protective anise scented sheen are some of the improvements over the years, that have made The Whip the best bait, live or artificial, ever dropped below the ice. You have got to try 'em out.
