primetime

I used to care more about where lures were made but at the end of the day Pure Fishing Owns a huge portion of the industry, and Jardon Owns Pure fishing, and almost every small company sells to a larger company and many Japanese companies that are considered JDM are not, and many that claim to be made in the USA are not, and I am not referring to any specific companies since I am a fan of almost all mentioned. I buy from Retailers that I feel offer the best value & service and from companies that standby their products and I have been lucky in that way I guess. I am not going to Boycott Strike King if they make lures in Costa Rica and one day need to have soft baits poured overseas in order to keep up with other companies (Not that I see that happening) but I know that Strike King Designs their lures and Test them, catch me fish, and are a good value for sure, and if they can save me some money to buy a few more lures than it's a win win for me, Strike King, The OEM, and the Retailer and any employees at that retailer. I also like to support local tackle shops and alway's buy a few things when I stop in to do my part as I know it is tough in that world these days and I miss the vibe of local shops, etc...I want to help the local bait shop stay alive more than anything, I could care less if he uses mostly Imports from China in Japanese packaging etc.... Globalization is a done deal, no point fighting wars that are Long Over, Walmart is not going anywhere, so let's support the Tackle Warehouse, Megastrike, Seibert, Power Team and all sponsers on this site and buy from them because they have good products and I am sure I have forgotten some. I think all specialty companies are the way to go for your favorite technique. I import plenty of lures from the Orient and from other areas of the globe, but I try to support niche and smaller companies since they provide innovation & better service imo....

I find if you are dealing with algae and weeds like duck weed or pond weed, scum etc....The best bet as mentioned before is too find out where the weeds are, if they are on the bottom, then the dropshot or Jig rig helps, but I find the best way to keep my worm clean is to use Tungsten for feel, so I can feel when it is hitting weeds, branches etc...smaller and denser so a 3/16 oz bullet weight is tiny and not really expensive compared to the benefits. I also believe adding some Megastrike or any scent that is oily, I will mix some vegi oil with Megastrike in a bottle before hitting ponds that have lots of floating weeds and weeds and scum off the bottom...I also don't think bass mind if your bait as a few strands of weeds on it if you are popping it free or hopping it etc...If you feel weeds, rip it and hold on....use the weeds as a way to get a reaction strike. The Dropshot set up and rig AJ suggests is a great option, but I am personally to impatient and like to keep my rod moving which causes too much line twist so I don't alway's peg the weight either.....I never leave a swivel even if using a c-rig set up since the swivel will collect weeds, the slip shot rig or MOjo rig works great, leave a 3' leader and figure out how long it takes for your bait to sink a foot with just the hook, and then every 6-10 seconds lift the rig to keep it from settling on bottom unless you see a fish following, then kill it if it starts to turn away.

I kind of just like to collect swimbaits, I don't have the patience to throw them all day long, but I do throw them when I know big fish are in the area and I just wish I had the confidence to throw a huge bait all day long but I don't...I feel a 7" Jointed Red Fin or F-18 Rapala Minnow will get me more fish since they are thinner and lures I understand, but most people look at me like I am nuts when I pull up to a small public park with a Jointed Red Fin or Super Spook, but a big bass is not wasting energy on a small bait most of the time and I would agree that a bass colored swimbait makes the most sense or a smokey Joe color if you have gizzard shad or threadfin.

Perch are not a favorite food source as they are spiny, but a Bass will eat a spiny bluegill or perch if it looks WOUNDED...keey is to make your bait look like an easy meal, A bass would much rather feed on Shiners, Killifish, Shads, Crawfish, Leeches, Hellgramites etc....A tiny perch is one thing, but 6" yellow perch is not something a Bass is going to expend energy chasing if you are just chucking and winding without making it appear wounded. I am not an expert with swimbaits by any stretch of the imagination, but I have found that I do much better if I really focus on slowing down and letting it flutter and appear exactly like a dying baitfish....You don't need a $20 bait to look injured.

Brown, Black and blue, black and red, watermelon green/orange for flipping Jigs, also carry some white & black and chart, but I use a brown jig with green pumpkin trailer & black/blue gp trailer 75-90% of time and it always seems to work fine...I carry about 20 colors, but I always have a punch skirt in black and blue and a brown jig....Brown usually gets the nod, may go different colors on trailers and styles of trailer.... But my main Casting Jigs and flipping jigs are 90% brown skirts, 4-5" Green Pumpkin Red Flake or Gp Black flake Chomper's twin tail grubs or GYB Grubs...Simple and effective, an Arkie Style jig is all I really need if I could only have one, good for swimming, grass and everything else....You can alter color with trailers big time, so if you want flash on a brown jig to mimic shad just add a white ice grub.

I use a 6'6" Medium action Okuma EVX cranking rod, or the S-Glass blue medium action rod that I found a deal on for 2 for $29....Whippy, but I really like to use Triple Fish Camo Nylon Mono which is Armor tough, similar to XT but has the 3 colors which seems to get me more bites and that line in 10lb test is super strong, if I am fishing heavy weeds I go 16lb or 20lb Trilene Big Game, or Suffix Siege...I will use braid but adjust rod and hooks accordingly, for instance I buy saltwater Wake baits for baitcasting rods for braid, and the Offshore ANgler BPS version of the Egg and Express Saltwater wakes are very good and cheap... No matter how good you are and even with all the right equipment, you are still going to lose fish, just part of the game, it just always seems to happen at the worst times....I try my best to always check for abrasions, I have lost fish for being lazy and when it is your fault it hurts more....Barbless trebles help with hook sets on thicker treble hooks.

So many good options that are not expensive, the soft baits have the best overall action, the soft magic swimmers are great, Savage soft baits, and I like the Large Yum Money Minnows as well....For hardbaits, Spro BBZ, Egret kick a mullet is perfect imitation of shiners in ponds and works great as a wake bait or glide bait, it doesn't move all that far when you pull it, but it just catches fish better than most, plus it looks awesome in the water with color. Great hooks, can throw on Braid and not worry about bending anything even if an alligator grabs it.

If using Fluorocarbon leader I use a Invisiswivel as I trust the improved clinch knot better than tying direct to braid. I use snaps but when I do I only use the best quality, Spro and Worth are my favs...

same as in the lakes, if a pond has shiners, then throw a bait in the same size and color, I usually start out with a shallow square bill or casting jig, or a split shot rig with a 4" grub, 6" curly tail worm, or Fluke....I love the caffeine shad when it comes to flukes, they are super heavy and flat out catch fish all the time for me when I need a soft bait that I can work fast or slow....Any Rage bait in a pond is money.

Bomber Long A Floater, LIpless Crankbait, Weedless spoon, actually spinnerbaits, cranks, everything works on the edge, If only all the fish stayed on the edge fishing would be so much easier....

I like a Fast action rod for ripping it out of weeds like a trap....If they don't want the chatterbait then the swim jig usually works well, sharpies fix any issues with blade color, black and chart are my two favorites....I like custom versions but booyah makes a great little bait, forget the name but it is good for the money and I like a trailer that is basic like a grub or Cajun style spinnerbait trailer, if I put a boot tail swimbait on the back then I find I miss more fish at times, but it is great for locating fish to then toss a tube or worm at ....

Fish it like you have a crankbait, spinnerbait, Jig, Swimbait....Fish it with different trailers, blades, models, bladed jigs are the real deal....Love em, especially at night.

I almost forgot my new favorite swimbait Next to the SPRO BBZ, actually I would put them equal, but the Egret Kick a Mullet wake bait/Glide bait, Heavy Thump for $10...It puts the S Waver, Savage, Gyron, and other's to shame, I would throw the Egret kick a Mullet over any swimbait except the Spro BBZ on some days, but in heavy cover nothing is better in my opinion....I like the super slow sink/Suspend....Hooks are Money, casts a mile, calls in big fish from long distance, Every time someone sees me use it they order a bunch.....I think Stanley is behind Egret Baits....I just grabbed the VUDO swimbait for $6.99 which seems Identical to the Bass Pro swimbaits in texure and action but have not used it enough to say if it is great... Kick A Mullet...Saltwater companies don't mess around and nobody pays silly money for cheaper lures that have a nice paint job until you get a few fish....The paint never comes off as well, I think they can be found for $6.99, but one, trust me on this one....

Sluggo 6" twister tail worm Triple Ripple 9" ribbon tails Original Crème Midgit crawler rig and worms... Rebel Jumpin Minnow T10 and T20 Reaction Strike Lipless Crankbaits-lV-65 & LV 75 -Tungsten in head caused them to sit like a Spro etc, plus they have a flat body, unique shape, and sounds different like it is filled with sand. I have day's when I do better with this $6 lure than any other lipless crank and buy a large margin....I love the Pumpinseed color, Royal Shad, White red eyes. Yo-zuri Floating Trembler Edge Minnow as it barely dives and flashes bright colors and casts easily for it's size. Rebel Jointed Original Minnow, Exude Fan Tail Shrimp with rattle in mouth, identical bait in shape and profile to the Havoc Slop craw....I love the saltwater glow colors and pinks etc..Fill it with a rattle or megastrike and it is a great bait.... But my favorite...D.O.A. Chug Heads and Hot Heads for soft baits, Long Neck hooks for their grubs which Gene Larew copied this year with the Rally grub...

I learned how to become better at skipping by watching a video by Denny Brauer I think it was....He uses a really short rod, and I find if I have a 6' and maybe even shorter if from the bank, allows you way more control until you get more confident and you don't need an expensive rod, spinning rods make it much easier.....The old school short handle casting rods used to be like 5'6" for skipping baits. I now use a 6'6" at largest if skipping baits, put my tension knob tighter than I ever would, up the magnets, and as you probably know already, accuracy is key and after a while you can put a bait 4 feet back behind an overhang and skip the bait like a stone so it attracts fish from much further away, many times skipping the bait makes a Bass think that a baitfish is being chased so even though you are trying to get under a dock, you may be getting bit from a Bass that swam from 10 feet away in open water where the bait first hit...Tubes skip best imo, glue really really helps as I like keeper style hooks.

I like to skip any soft bait as long as it is on the hook well. I often use super glue on keeper style hooks and that keeps them from moving and causing frustration....If the tube is catching fish, I would stick with the tube, I find Tubes and Stick baits are the easiest to skip and I always glue anything from ZMAN.... The Rage Bug and Rodent skip well for me, so do most craws, but I like to skip tubes, flukes, swimbaits, and baits that imitate a baitfish being chased since that is what fires them up, with that said, skipping a creature is necessary to get to the fish on shorelines but I would think the tube is still the best bet imo. Check out the Power Team Food Chain Tubes, they are designed for using on a weighted hook, and if they are not, then they should market them as such since I catch more fish on those tubes with a worm hook than I do with any other brand tube...Hooksets are tough with many tubes and they slide, one thing that helps is those rattles with the opening on top that you can lock your hook through. I have no affiliation with Power Team baits but I am a big fan as they flat out work and give fish a new look....Good luck, Skipping baits is a skill that pays off and a short rod also helps...I like to skip with a 6' spinning rod or 6'3" casting rod that has some bend at the tip so it loads well even with lighter baits... I prefer Rage baits like the Caffiene Shad or Beavers since they are heavy without any added weight, I like a nice compact profile when skipping, I don't even like my weight to be sliding at all, but a bead in between a worm weight often triggers more strikes because of the noise....

That Ugly stick Light is probably too soft and light imo if you are already changing out the hooks, I would leave the hooks on the KVD lures, Strike King does a good job with hooks, and if you are like me, I used to put the KVD trebles on many cranks but those are 2x strong I believe, so you need some backbone to get those hooks in, you also need to feel the fish before swinging.... But as guys said, sometimes they just get off, but I find with the right rod and line, even one treble in the fish, especially from shore, is all on me and my rod and line choice...I use spinning gear as much as possible from shore, a good 6'6" rod allows you to cast all over the place and skip baits etc..plus a medium action rod meant for cranking with some backbone really helps, but tip needs to be slow.... I would make sure you are using fluoro or Mono and try to wait for the fish to take it and I know that is tough to do, I am not even sure how long I wait since with the right rod and stretch, even if I set to quickly, the hook set turns out to be fine where if I had braid it would pull the lure away....I used to lose a lot of fish and it was not just fish getting off, it was 100% my fault on how I was landing them and if it was a big fish I would get excited and force them in too quickly. That is a good rod you have, I feel the ugly sticks are great for crankbaits, but you don't need a 2x strong hook if that is what is on them, and some 1x strong are also too thick, regular VMC Inlines work fine for me and I focus on the front hook, if they are grabbing the rear hook, then I would downsize the lure, slow down maybe, try changing lures for a slower floater if they are taking it after deflection, all that stuff that seems trivial matters and I have seen videos that Glenn has done on this site that instantly sent me to the store to get a different rod and I don't use expensive rods for the most part, but I always use good line and have my drag set properly, Strike king lures and a 1.5...Tie it on from the box and make sure you are getting a good set since most ugly sticks have a whippy action which is good once they are buttoned usually..Hope that helps, everyone fishes differently and sometimes you just learn through trial and error, or ask someone you know or visit a tackle shop and tell them your problem and show them your set up.....Most Local tackle shops want to give you the right info to help you catch fish so you come back, and most owner's of small tackle shop's know how to fish from my experiences and almost alway's help me out...

Here is my theory on losing fish on crankbaits like squarebills, topwater's etc... I believe too many people swap out stock hooks thinking that will help and for lipless crankbaits I would agree that often you can go larger and it will help you and also having a larger split ring gives the fish less chances of losing fish. I used to have a terrible landing percentage with any type of crankbait and I actually had a good landing rate when it came to hard jerkbaits/ripbaits but I fished with a very good angler a few years ago who watched me bend out a treble on a Pop R', lose 50% of my fish on a crankbait, and after I lost a good fish that really upset me, before I dug into my box to change out trebles and sharpen them, he simply told me I had the wrong rods for the job and to swap out all my braid for fluorocarbon for Mono when it comes to trebles....I thought about it and at first was resistant because I thought braid was the best for horsing in fish out of the grass, but I watched him skillfully land almost all of his fish with the same amount of effort because he had the right rods and line.... For crankbaits, I feel that is the most important rod as it needs to be a crankin rod which is whippy and has a slow tip (especially if you are throwing braid) Obviously there are things you can do to fix this and plenty of great articles and videos on this site to explain this, and I realized that on my floating jerkbaits with trebles, I never had a hook bend, fish would slap at it and miss is like they just do, but once I hooked them rarely did they get off.....That is because I alway's used a Hand me down rod from my Brother which was a short Spinning Rod that had a soft tip and decent backbone so I could still walk the dog or cast light floaters easily, but I was not losing fish because I had a soft rod and it was Medium action, and most importantly I had a Mono that floated in 12lb test which caused me to give fish some drag and not horse them, but at the same time not smack the water every time I twitched the bait, in short it was my favorite rod for topwaters and jerkbaits because I could feel the fish, make accurate casts, and it was the right tool for the job.... For a cranking rod, I have a fiberglass whippy rod and one that has a slow tip but heavy action and backbone which get's loaded up with 17-20lb mono or fluoro, and I have yet to bend a stock hook ever since. Most lures, especially Strike King come with good hooks, and I don't like dropping tons of money so I would replace lures with VMC trebles anyhow and that is pretty much the least expensive hook all companies use and they are plenty good imo. When I read that Rebel Stock hooks are terrible, I could not disagree more since Pradco puts those hooks on most of their lures and the Rebel Pop'R for example in the normal size which is small comes with light wire #6 trebles, and yes those are smaller and you could put a #4, but if the hook is too thick, you have to set way too hard and will get less penetrations with the right rod....When a fish takes a crankbait, if he only has one treble than the key is not having braid and horsing the fish in, if you are in weeds, and I mean heavy weeds, maybe the Rebel pop'r is not the right lure for heavy weeds, if you want a fast action rod with a heavy action, let's say a flipping stick, then I would throw a Sebile Splasher instead since it comes with Owner ST-41 trebles and I know they are not bending or I use a saltwater grade topwater (Bass are not aware of the difference between the saltwater wakes vs. Freshwater wakes, only difference is the guage of hooks and size of split rings....You can horse a Bass with 3x strong trebles, and a heavy rod with heavy split rings without worry if you have the right tools. I only bend hooks on lures when I use a lure designed for 6-10lb test on 20lb braid and I play the fish wrong...I have been fishing for 30 years but in the last 7 years or so in Florida I have learned why it is important to have at least 5-6 rods and different lines for applications....If I am fishing Lake Toho for a day, then I will upgrad a treble to a 2x strong or 1x strong if using heavy braid or rods, and if I want to throw a Rapala Floating minnow, I know those hooks and the lure are designed for light line, so I will use 20lb braid, maybe a leader for stretch but I find that doesn't help me, I just use a rod that is softer and I put better hooks on the 3-5 squarebills I am using for the day and test them in the water before going, changing hooks on crankbaits can mess up action, or make it better...Hope that helps.....If I am throwing the Red Fin I use a heavy action and fast tip short casting rod with braid since they are tough to cast as they are light but come with 4x strong trebles, so you will land almost every fish if you swing harder than usual, since thicker hooks need to penetrate more skin....

I love lipless cranks, Floating Rattle Traps, Suspending versions, silent or flat, one knockers, loud hi pitch , low pitch, and I burn them sometimes in cold water, slow roll, hop on bottom like a jig, rip like a spoon, and to be honest.... I carry about 200 on every trip and I divide them into categories..Sound, Size, color, but most important, Nose down, Good in weeds for ripping (many are modified but I do my best ripping traps through Hydrilla and milfoil) but it is important to know how a bait falls...A Red Eye Shad has a perfect shimmy when you kill it and let it sink....If you try that with the Diamond Shad by Strike king, you will probably not get bit letting it fall as much, it falls like a rock and spirals all over the place, but that little bait deflects really nice and is good for certain applications like burning in open water, but some glide, some fall like a rock, and some like the Rippin Rap are designed to be heavy and yo-yo'd....My advice is to carry lots of treble hooks so you can up the size on some and also up the size of split rings...More fish are lost on lipless cranks for me than any other lure, if possible I would always rish cranks on either fluoro or mono for stretch, but if ripping grass, braid makes it much more effective for me, so I use a soft rod and super sharp hooks and still I expect 30% of fish to throw them after hook up...If you throw lipless cranks on a fast action rod with braid you can expect to land very few fish that day....I have learned the hard way, I am so glad they label rods "Crankin" rods these days as it helped me and I had been fishing for years, I never realized just how soft a cranking rod really needs to be to maximize landing percentage....I used to buy cheaper cranking rods but now I go cheaper on the flipping stick and spend the money on a good heavy action cranking rod that can handle braid and still have a fast enough tip that I can rip them out of weeds without losing them.....Read articles on this or pick up the rods that other's use since lipless cranks are often the best way to catch fish on many days and probably the best "Search lure" on the market for me.

My Favorite places to fish are called "Swamps" and Backwater flooded fields and most people avoid all the "choked out area's" and everyone fishes the same open water, but trust me, if you can get your bait under those weeds, the bigger fish will find your bait, just make sure you are prepared for this kind of fishing as I was not when I moved from NY to Florida...I alway's thought 20lb Mono was plenty, but now I use the heaviest braid I can, and if I use mono, I use copoly and go Hybrid #20 which is #31 pound test and I only use that if Gar or Mudfish are cutting through my braid or if the braid is too loud and spooking fish if fishing in stalks since braid rubs and no doubt causes fish to spook. I met a guide the other day at a boat Ramp who had all of his rods rigged up with 100lb braid, and for his shiner clients he does not let them on the boat without a minimum of 30lb test mono....and xtra heavy rods...It was like he was deep sea fishing for grouper, but then again, in Florida a 15lb bass is not a crazy thought.

Whenever I fish a tournament as a non boater, I bring 60% terminal tackle and I get more use out of my dressed trebles, suspend dots, split shots in all sizes, weights and colors in all sizes, treble hooks, keeper barbs, sandpaper, marker's, hook sharpener, fly fishing line floatation, walleye slip floats, floating worm weights, leader of every type and size, swivels, and I could go on for hours... I don't like to mess around with the balance of a lure on the boat by adding a willow blade to a lipless crank unless I tested it ahead of time because if the blade does not balance with the rest of the lure, then it will not perform. If you are fishing 20 feet of water and you need a crank that runs 20' but you don't have one, then just go ahead and Carolina rig and square bill and you will be just fine....

Great question, and there is no right or wrong answer, some people like to match color, but I feel size is the most important part of the equation, and I just had an example while fishing a public park while letting my dog run around yesterday. I noticed that Good sized bass (2-3lbs) were rushing the shoreline in less than a foot of water to herd a hatch of tiny 1/2" black tadpoles that just hatched and while I was watching this I remembered that I had my 2 piece spinning rod in the trunk, and I alway's carry a box of soft baits for saltwater and freshwater and one of my favorite baits for all fish is the small 1.5" Bass Assasin Tiny Shad twitch baits as they are awesome in saltwater for Snook in shallow water, but great for days when Bass are guarding fry. I did not have any in black, but I did have some that were in a black & red color, so I started using them and did not have much luck until I bit off the front half making it look exactly like the tadpoles and after not getting bit for 10 minutes, making the bait under an inch and casting it in the shallows and letting it sit and then twitching it as the bass rushed the shoreline caused it to get bit by the same fish that passed on it minutes earlier and I am convinced it was because it matched size and stood out from the rest of the tadpoles because of the red and every bass that came in to open their mouths and swallow a few hundred tadpoles, chased down my bait right away....Moral of story, it is often size and I use the same approach when I see bluegills at the ramp in the shallows that are 2" long....If I am fishing shorelines, I know that bluegills are going to be the primary forage since the shad are usually in schools and you know when they are on the menu, but for color, you will never have a lure that matches the EXACT color of the bluegills since every fish is colored differently, change shading in different areas of the lake, so I like to simply go with a crankbait that is 2" long, and in some translucent color (Most Juvenile baitfish are translucent) that has some chartreuse in it. I find a ghost shad color to be the best most of the time and I add some chartreuse with a spike it marker on the side and that usually works, but back to my point, I tend to ramble, go with size, but remember, If Bass are feeding on Tiny 1" baitfish, odds are that smaller bass and crappie and panfish in the 4-5" range are also feeding on them, so that is when I usually look to throw a bass colored bait, or larger size lure to get the larger bass. The biggest bass in the lake is not risking her life by going into shallow water to chase tiny baitfish, she is waiting for the smaller Bass to make that move, and then get them on the way in or way out....You can drive yourself crazy, but to keep it simple, you can never go wrong with fishing a silver lure with a black or blue top, and then adding some chart or orange to the belly.....Bass in ponds that lack shad will still crush a shad pattern, same with craws etc...Just carry baits from 1" to 12" would be my advice. Doug Hannon said it best...."Big Bass like long thin baits as they are easy to swallow and Bass have positive experiences with a 5" long and thin object"...Makes sense, this was before the senko and he loved the Rapala 13 size floaters and even the 7" 18 size as his go to baits before he made his Snakes...Don't buy the snakes unless you collect them, Boggs makes better one's now but Doug Hannon books are great reading.

Looking closer, I would check the Japanese Lucky Craft site, it could be a Lucky as they have hundreds of lures we rarely see in the states on a reg. basis....Hope that helps, but if looking for a killer suspending lipless crank, the cheap Cordell is good, but the Flatt Shad is my favorite by far...Flatt Shadd 77 Sebile is only size and it is silent but puts of plenty of rattle, if you want it to sink a bit, just big up the hooks, or suspend dot, it usually stays in the upper foot of water at all times.

I promise you will find it under one of the companies, keep in mind some are the same or similar even if marketed by other companies.. Check Strike Pro first, then Check out River2sea, it looks like one of the 2. It is possibly a disco'd house brand but I truly think it is a River2sea or Strike Pro, if that does not work, Strike Pro makes many of the lipless cranks out there but the suspending part is interesting, I only am aware of the Cotton Cordell Spot as a suspender or Sebile and that is not either...It has the shape of a lucky strike with the fin and bass pro does have a similar bait with a fin in the back, but it screams River2sea, Spro, or Strike Pro which is usually the same as Matzuo, house brands and more....good luck...Check out Megabait as well.

Thanks for the responses, I need to visit the Bill Lewis website and take a look at some of the full Product lines companies offer...I realize that many are similar but I have a desire for some black and blue flake lipless cranks, watermelon red or some type of Lucky Craft Flash minnow or thin minnow bait that is in a solid dark bases with flake, I may get some custom painted from a company I recently found, but I rarely examine all the colors from lures and I am rarely in a Bass Pro with time to really look around, typically I have a list and simply walk in and get what I want.... I noticed that on the Pradco website they had some colors for various lures that I was unaware of, and are similar but Royal Shad or purple shad color lipless cranks are one of my favorite baits and colors to throw...I have some Reaction Strike LV-75 Lipless cranks which are not expensive and I realize they have a sound that is 100% unique compared to my other 300 or so lipless cranks I have accumulated, but that color in that bait is one of my favs... The Reaction Strike Lipless cranks have a sound as if they filled them with sand......It is almost silent and has a nose down Spro Action that is really good, I found them at a liquidator otherwise I would never have found them, but I encourage anyone to but a $4 Reaction Strike LV Lipless crankbait, the 65 size is the "Standard" 1/2 oz size and 75 is more like the 7/8 Rippin Rap size... Thanks for the Norman and Bill Lewis calls, I like to support both companies since The Rat-L-Trap is like the GYB Senko or Lunker City Sluggo when it comes to creativity, and I also love the fact that Norman makes lures in the USA that have produced for ever....I love that little N and Flat Broke cranks, rarely use them but have had times they have worked well for me. Thx again.