So I got my Mangler Lures order this morning, and have been testing them out for the past few hours. Unfortunately with zero luck, but you can't buy a bite right now in my lake. I wasn't expecting much from a $2 crank bait from a small, obscure company, but I have to say that I'm impressed. Immediately upon opening the package, I was amazed how great these look. The finish and detail of the lure, is to say the least, pretty awesome. They make regular crank baits look like some "Japanimation" offering.
The paint job and finish looks phenomenal when light hits it just right, as you can see by the pictures although I'm eager to see how well the paint job holds up after extended use. They have good weight, and feel solid, and also have rattles in them which feel solid and non cheap. The bills on these are also thick, and weighty with zero flex. All of the hardware and split rings are thick and feel good as well.
These lures don't look "made", they look "sculpted". Hell, they even have 3D gills to go along with the 3D eyes. I was kind of worried about the hooks on a $2 lure, and I know some of you were too in my other thread. Upon comparing them to my other crank bait hooks, like what came on my Mann's, Rat L Traps, and my Bagley's, I can pretty much say they are on par, if not a little more solid than those lures. They are noticeably stiffer than what you'll find on a Rat L Trap, and are surprisingly sharp. Will I change them out? Eventually, but they don't scream "I'm going to lose fish". They are good enough, and that's about it. I feel pretty confident that I can hook a fish and keep him/her there.
Swimming action I would say was always consistent, and I never noticed the lures leaning to one side during my retrieve or when I allowed them to just float. They look great in the water, though I can't attest to what they look like 15-20 feet down. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. All in all, to me these seem like a steal at $1.99 per lure. If you took these out on the street corner with any other crank bait and asked people to pick which one they thought looked like the more expensive crank bait, 10 out of 10 people I'm sure would no doubt pick these. If you stuck these in the water side by side with some well known baits, I have no doubt that you would be surprised at how great the action is.
Other than eventually changing out the hooks, which like I said are just good enough, I just can't see how you can go wrong with giving these a shot especially for the price. From the minute you hold it and fish with it, you'll wonder how this can be only 2 bucks. Below are some pics of the ones I got so you can check them out yourself. I am going out tomorrow night, so I will try to grab some video of these in action so you can see how they move.
This is the first review I've done for anything, so if I left anything out, or if you have questions about something just feel free to ask. I would recommend that you give these a try if you're a little light on cranks, money, or both. Are these the end all be all baits? Probably not. Do these deserve to be in your tackle box? Absolutely.
