Chinese Swimbaits

[einscodek]

I broke down and bought a pair on eBay since all the wood swimbait I was after are OUT OF STOCK!  So I'm looking for genuine reviews on these as to how effect they are as they have some awesome paintjobs.
I don't know if they are gen2 or somethin but a few years ago I saw what looked to be Chinese wooden jointed lures on eBay with great paintjobs but now they guys have these realistic paint or print on and they are freakin awesome lookin.
I am going to have to assume that given how ridiculously great they look that they are gonna land me some fish this year.  I've caught fish anyway on the most pathetic lure with little action and lookin much less attractive as these.
Bought one 4" lookin like a baby smallmouth and a 6" one which races my heart each time I looky at it .. small perch.
Gonna take them out for a spin after vacation a few weeks from now!
I dunno I think I'm in love with a fishin lure..

[SPEEDBEAD.]

You can bet the chinese KOs are going to break. If you are fortunate, it will be on a cast. God forbid you get your PB to eat one of those baits, keep your fingers crossed.

 

Buy a River2Sea S-Waver 168 or 200, a 9" Slammer, a 6" BBZ or if you can find one/have some extra cash a Mattlures Hardgill.

 

Those baits will get bit by fish of all sizes and will instill confidence in "new" guys.

[einscodek]

They are connected via some dynemma strap which made them look el cheapo but it does make them more responsive.
Did you buy any and had them broke off?
You know I got straps which are tie downs and they can hold alot more weight than a freshwater fish ever could exert..

 

I have the s-waver and never had great luck on them but these look like knock-outs compared to those which are kinda bland..and forget Mattlures.. always OUT OF STOCK.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Three piece SS Pink in stock. I have this bait.

 

Guys get too hung up on colors. The action is where it's at with the Hardgill.

[einscodek]

Yea I'm lookin for the Bluegill color in SS.  If I'm gonna drop $60 for a lure it needs to be painted like the Mona Lisa.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

A little birdy told me he is going to be making some this summer.

[WRB]

I didn't read through this thread, but got the gist of the pros and cons.

The old saying you get what you pay for is mostly true, however you may not get anything in this day and age.

Hard body swimbaits that catch bass are hand made and hand tested small production run lures. Very few mass produced swimbaits work good. Like a bass producing crankbait, not all crankbaits are equal, swimbaits are similar, some work and some don't

I didn't see any reference to 22 Century Triple Trout and they make a reliable hard swimbait.

Black Dog wooden Shell Cracker are good, the plastic models fall into the "try it" category.

Save your money for a hand crafted swimbait.

Tom

PS, the big lure big fish syndrome isn't always true!

[einscodek]

A little birdy told me he is going to be making some this summer.

I hope so if he wants to actually make any money he should keep crankin them out so I dont have to buy any more gorgeous chinese swimbait.. I swear theres another pattern I am lookin at ..baby bass man does it look sweet.

These chinese are gettin better..

[Kevin22]

Cheap swimbaits- http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Closeout-Tru-Life-Swimbaits/SF-5-Tru-Life-Swimbait-Fast-Slow-Sink.html

[einscodek]

I didn't read through this thread, but got the gist of the pros and cons.

The old saying you get what you pay for is mostly true, however you may not get anything in this day and age.

Hard body swimbaits that catch bass are hand made and hand tested small production run lures. Very few mass produced swimbaits work good. Like a bass producing crankbait, not all crankbaits are equal, swimbaits are similar, some work and some don't

I didn't see any reference to 22 Century Triple Trout and they make a reliable hard swimbait.

Black Dog wooden Shell Cracker are good, the plastic models fall into the "try it" category.

Save your money for a hand crafted swimbait.

Tom

PS, the big lure big fish syndrome isn't always true!

I only dropped $14 for the both of the swimbaits I aint breaking the bank. 

The only question would be durability cause these look sweeter than sweet.

I'll post again once I've used them in the water as an update..

Those are good bait u listed but I'm waiting for the Mattlures hardgill.

[einscodek]

Cheap swimbaits- http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Closeout-Tru-Life-Swimbaits/SF-5-Tru-Life-Swimbait-Fast-Slow-Sink.html

Look like good baits but the ones I got look much sweeter..

[bigbill]

I purchased a few hard swimbaits off of eBay.

[einscodek]

I purchased a few hard swimbaits off of eBay.

How about a review..

[primetime]

The Chinese Swimbaits are Very good if you pay roughly the same price as a Spro, Savage, River 2 sea lure from a Trading Company in China who  is getting them from the OEM that makes them. I don't have enough Money to meet the 3k MOQ, but you are getting fakes on Ebay as the Oem who makes them is not risking losing his contract with Sebile to sell knock offs or the real thing under a different name...

 

With that said, The chinese lures will catch fish, look pretty, and I once thought they were gold when I was buying 5 for $25 in awesome paint jobs. My friends and I started throwing them, and we thought we had the real deal as they look and swim just as good for the most part.....Here is the trouble, and when you figure this out, it is too late.......The Split Rings, and the screw that holds the hook and eye into the lure is put together very poorly, and when a true 7-8lb fish strikes one, you will soon find your line going slack, only to reel in a treble hook, or split ring that once attached the $5 swimbait that sure looked just like a River 2 sea model.

 

In order to get the real thing, you will have to pay for them.....I have found that the Cabelas, Academy, Tru Tungsten, Savage, Sebile and a Strike Pro model which can all be had for under $10 are pretty good and most importantly are not going to break or fail when under intense pressure....If I am going to fish a big swimbait, I am in lunker hunting mode and only looking for one good strike. Landing a 10lb plus bass in tough enough with quality gear, and doing it with lures held together by unkown materials and poor construction to save a few bucks is not worth it to me..

 

With that said, I don't fault anyone from buying any lure from China on Ebay as i is a free market. What burns me up are the guys selling "Similar to or flat out calling a lure a sebile or Savage when it is not. Some Lure Designer developed that lure and if you shop smart, you can find top brands for almost the same price I see the $3 chinese swimbaits going for on Ebay, and yes, they only cost $3 if you buy 20.....Buying Them on ebay is silly.

[primetime]

Look like good baits but the ones I got look much sweeter..

I have fished almost every swmbait that the chinese offer and used to import alot of them to sell at flea markets etc. and I used to think they were awesome as they will absolutely catch fish, swim nicely, and look the part....

 

Here is the issue I ran into...3-5lb fish are not a problem and even if you change the rings and hooks, if you get slammed by a true 7-8lb bass or bigger which is usually the goal with swimbaits, the Screws that hold the line tie and split rings will fail and you find your line going slack and you end up with a split ring on the end of your line or a treble and split ring.....I sold a few dozen at a flea market and had a few very angry fisherman show me pics of the same problem... 

 

The ones on Ebay are poorly constructed, and I would suggest hanging a 10lb weight from the lure to make sure it can handle some weight and pressure. I lost a fish that was for sure in the 10lb range and it still gets me angry to this day. I still by china lures but if I do, I pay good money for them and look for original models from reputable suppliers that are hoping a big company picks up the design. The you get what you pay for is not true in the fishing industry as many 10-15 dollar lures truly can be found for under a few bucks, but are they blemished? defects? knock offs or the real thing?

 

Catching a trophy is hard enough, so I wait for sales and you can get the name brands for close to $6-8 if you look around. With that said, I wish you the best and hope they work for you. I have had Top brands fail on me as well, but I then get my money back, or they send me a few free ones, and usually they never fail from a simple failure like the eye ripping out.

[CJV]

Deps 250 side swimmer.

[einscodek]

I have fished almost every swmbait that the chinese offer and used to import alot of them to sell at flea markets etc. and I used to think they were awesome as they will absolutely catch fish, swim nicely, and look the part....

 

Here is the issue I ran into...3-5lb fish are not a problem and even if you change the rings and hooks, if you get slammed by a true 7-8lb bass or bigger which is usually the goal with swimbaits, the Screws that hold the line tie and split rings will fail and you find your line going slack and you end up with a split ring on the end of your line or a treble and split ring.....I sold a few dozen at a flea market and had a few very angry fisherman show me pics of the same problem... 

 

The ones on Ebay are poorly constructed, and I would suggest hanging a 10lb weight from the lure to make sure it can handle some weight and pressure. I lost a fish that was for sure in the 10lb range and it still gets me angry to this day. I still by china lures but if I do, I pay good money for them and look for original models from reputable suppliers that are hoping a big company picks up the design. The you get what you pay for is not true in the fishing industry as many 10-15 dollar lures truly can be found for under a few bucks, but are they blemished? defects? knock offs or the real thing?

 

Catching a trophy is hard enough, so I wait for sales and you can get the name brands for close to $6-8 if you look around. With that said, I wish you the best and hope they work for you. I have had Top brands fail on me as well, but I then get my money back, or they send me a few free ones, and usually they never fail from a simple failure like the eye ripping out.

 Yes I do wonder about the internal construction..

 maybe I will weigh test it before putting it in the water.

Where I come from though a 10 pounder is near a state record.. I'm dealin with lighter northern strain LMB

[basshole8190]

Deps 250 side swimmer.

you can buy a bb saiko trout (box only , no swimbait) for $222 right now lol

[WRB]

Chinese are counterfeiting everything made in China....no laws against it in China. If you buy counterfeit products you are supporting this underground or black market business activity.

Tom

[SirSnookalot]

Whether it's Chinese or not there are fish that can and will destroy a lure, the lure in this pic saw it's demise from a fish that wasn't anymore than 5#.  Just a suggestion for a very durable lure that I have used many times, 6" Bomber windcheater weighs about 2 ounces.  They make a 4" model at 3/4 oz which I have used for bass fishing.

[primetime]

Whether it's Chinese or not there are fish that can and will destroy a lure, the lure in this pic saw it's demise from a fish that wasn't anymore than 5#.  Just a suggestion for a very durable lure that I have used many times, 6" Bomber windcheater weighs about 2 ounces.  They make a 4" model at 3/4 oz which I have used for bass fishing.

I love the windcheater series for salt and fresh. I still have a ton of Rebel Windcheaters from the late 70's and early 80's I fish with and I can say for sure that the Older Bomber Long A and Rebel Plugs, Red Fins, and Tracdown series were much better quality then as they are now. Many Pradco Brands are nothing more than a bunch of cheap imports packaged in bulk, and only worth .50 only we are paying for their advertising and name from the past.

 

If you look at a Rebel T10 or Rebel T20 Topwater Walking lure which they discontinued at one point but brought it back due to popular demand, the new models lack a split ring, sound like noise as opposed to the dual knocker sound the older models were equipted with, and the packaging actually listed a part #, How to fish, Size, and had some English writing. I look at a Rebel Squarebill and I see a .50 chinese lure so I get your point and you are right.

 

I have cracked a few Rapala DT bills, Sebile Flatt Shad and BOngo Minnow bodies, and  the finish on many top lures is terrible compared to my older spooks and rattle traps as an example.

 

I am not experienced enough with the swimbaits over $20, but I have never found that any of them are durable, and I now fish large soft hollow bellies, Ez swimmers, and Lake Fork Magic minnows as well as the soft Sebile Magic swimmers instead. I watced my buddy snag a seagul with a Ragu Swimbait that was $89 and I felt terrible for the poor bird to have such a heavy lure tangled in its wing....I laughed at my buddy since the lure was stiff and didn't seem to offer anything special if compared to say a Giron IMO.

 

All Lures are being made cheaper and it is often a race to the bottom as profits become the main motive instead of R & D, and that is why I love companies LIke CHarlies Worms and Mirrolure as they don't have to advertise and prices of their products are more than fair, and you get what you expect when a shipment comes....

 

Anyone looking for TRUE floating worms needs to get on the Charlies site since they have not been around for years because they sell junk. Every worm and even their lipless crank is quality and should be in every box.......I do like the bomber A Salt Saltwater lures and love a CHug bug, but they are looking cheap these days as well.

 

I guess if you fish any lure hard and run it into cover for deflections and cast toward rip rap even well built lures can break, defects occur, so I have no problem with the chinese making lures since they make everthing else in the stores from Electronics to clothes, and now tackle. It is what it is. We need them, and they need us, I just want to get a good value and why Pay certain companies a markup for a product you can by from a site owned by Yahoo when they didnt develop the lure, just picked it out of the OEM's catalog and said we will take 3million pieces and mark them up 600%. I can find my own cheap square bills and many are not cheap if they come with an owner, VMc, or gamakatsu treble which only raises price a few cents each as a good chinese carbon steel hook is what we get often anyhow.

[bigbill]

How about a review..

I can't review them till I swim them. These little Chinese swimsuits look so real in bluegill and sunfish. There about 2" long if that. I have many of the decent looking one's.

 

The more lures we learn the more knowledge and skills we learn the better fisherman we become. Live it, try it, learn it, the success will follow.

[Mattlures]

I hope so if he wants to actually make any money he should keep crankin them out so I dont have to buy any more gorgeous chinese swimbait.. I swear theres another pattern I am lookin at ..baby bass man does it look sweet.

These chinese are gettin better..

I would like to see a picture of these Chinese baits that look awesome. I don't see what you see when I look at the Chinese baits. If you ever go to forums that are specifically swimbait forums you will quickly learn that NOBODY who consistently catches big bass uses the cheap Chinese knock offs or Chinese designed baits.

As for always being out stock on my hard baits, there is a reason for that. When I do manage to find enough time to do a big batch, 100-300 baits, they usually sell out in a day or two. There may be a few of the less popular colors left but the popular colors are sold out very quickly. So why don't I keep making more of them? Because I make less money on a hard bait then I do on my soft baits. My soft baits are almost always in stock. The soft baits just take much less time and labor to produce plus I personally do a lot more work on a hard bait then I do on a soft bait. Also I am always filling the next order of soft baits. I am just about never caught up. Plus hard bait molds deteriorate quickly so I have to make new molds after each batch. That in itself is expensive and very time consuming.

If I am out of stock I urge you to try another PROVEN quality bait instead of the Chinese bait. If you choose a good quality PROVEN swimbait made in the USA by a guy who knows what they are doing, you wont buy anymore cheap Chinese stuff. I know this because it  happens all the time. Guys start out buying cheap junk and they give up after a while because they don't produce like they think they should have or they have problems with the baits. Or after using the cheap junk for a while they decide to try a good bait and they realize how big the differences are.

[Mattlures]

There are also different levels of Chinese swimbaits and it has a lot to do with who is behind them. Take for example the Lunker Punker. Those baits were designed by guys who knew how to design that bait. They knew what made that bait work. They tested them and proved them against the fish. Then they sent them to China to me manufactured. The baits had issues with the paint falling off but they still were very productive. This worked because the guys behind them knew how to design a bait.

When the Chinese knock off a bait they do not understand the bait like the guy who designed it. Subtle differences can make all the difference in a bait that produces consistant big bites and cheap junk knock off. Very rarely does a Chinese knock off work literally half as good as the original design. An example would be the Hudd vs bass harasser or any of the other knock offs. Many of them cost 1/10 the amount of the Hudd and they cant produce 1/100 of the bites.

The worst of the Chinese swimbaits are the ones they design themselves. They design a bait and put it in their catalogs to produce for other companies. I have been sent boxes of sample baits they sent me in hopes that I would buy them and put them in my name. It was obvious that they never even tested them because many wouldnt even swim. or they broke really easily.

So to break it down if a good design is being manufactured in china and meets the approval of the original designer then there is a chance the bait will bee acceptable. But there will usually still be issues like the original wooden Lunker punkers. Jeremy had to buy them unpainted and paint them himself and properly clear them to remedy the "china issues"

If a china bait is a knock off, it has almost zero chances of even being close to as good as the original and very little chance of being good at all regardless of who sent the bait to be copied.

If the bait is a chinese design(most likely the ebay baits) then the odds are low that you will even get a functioning bait , let alone one that consistently gets big bites.

Guys think they are better off saving some money buy buying these cheap baits but what they forget to realize is they are putting no value on their own time. When I do finally get time to go fishing, I want to give myself the best chance at catching what I am targeting. I would rather spend a little more money ( or even a lot more) to give my self better odds at success.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I hope so if he wants to actually make any money he should keep crankin them out so I dont have to buy any more gorgeous chinese swimbait.. I swear theres another pattern I am lookin at ..baby bass man does it look sweet.

These chinese are gettin better..

 

LMFAO! Make any money?

 

Guys will line up around the block to buy whatever Matt puts out next and for good reason. I've rethought this, you go on with your knockoff stuff and your "lighter northern strain" fish. I'll keep doin' what I do, I'm sure Matt will do the same and I'm pretty sure both of us will be juuuuuuust fine.