Livetarget Baitball. ..am I The Only One....

[ghost]

That bought into this idea of an illusion lure?

 

What do you think of this lure and the outrageous price? I bought the square bill and suspending jerkbait.  It's right up there in price of a Lucky Craft.

 

I've only had a chance to check out the action in a pool and both have good action.

 

I did add a feathered rear treble on the jerkbait,  I may add one on the square bill also.

 

So in your opinion,  will this be a good bass catcher, or did it catch the fisherman? 

[B@ssCrzy]

I bought into the whole Rapala Scatter Rap craze and feel like I got taken on that. I am not buying any these.  Seems like a way to catch fisherman.  I am sure it will catch some fish, but it is not going to revolutionize anything.  Kind of seems different take on the old lures that were hollow clear tubes that you put a minnow in.  They sure haven't stuck around so don't know why these will be any different. 

[J Francho]

You can pretty much catch on any lure.  While I subscribe to the drawing power of realism in large baits, I'm less concerned in realism, and more concerned with location when using conventional baits.

[Felix77]

I made the mistake of being taken by the Scatter Rap thing too.  I can't stand them.  I agree with you completely that it will catch fish but I doubt it will catch more than any other lure on the market.

 

It does look cool though. 

[Drewski73]

If you took the best swimming crankbait in the world, and painted it every different color known to man and fished it evfery day with a new color, 9 out of 10 days it would still catch the same amount of fish IMO. I honestly believe they eat the action. Why do tuned baits catch more fish? They have the same paint job they had before they were properly tuned.... 

 

That being said, I bought a squarebill! HA! It was just so pretty hanging there in the store!

[JayKumar]

They are for sure awesome-looking, but this year the fish will tell all!

[conorsixtakc]

I mean it may look like multiple shiners stuffed into a crank, but it's still a single crankbait body moving through the water... it doesn't seem like a fish's lateral line would scream "that's a ball of bait!"

 

And I also bought a scatter rap last year. 

[TorqueConverter]

This bait ball stuff is a bit overblown IMO.  Bass eat cranks based on action and profile.  Next they'll make a bait like this with fluorocarbon bodies claiming it is invisible.      

[Jar11591]

It's all about odds to me. The baitball might boost your odds of catching by a fraction, maybe the opposite. But i believe that color, action and shape & design all change your odds. In my opinion, the subtleties like color and action of a lure, and in this case the baitball, all add up and its reflected in the number of fish you catch. I definitely believe some colors work better than others in particular bodies of water, but the percentages might be different by only a fraction of a fish being caught on a daily average.

[smalljaw67]

Koppers makes a good bait and the finishes are quality so you didn't waste your money. I'll tell you, I felt the same way when they came out with the shallow diving bluegill crank, I got the matte finish and I was wondering if I got sucked in falling for the nice looking lure but it is a flat side with a decent size lip for a shallow diver and I found out why. That bluegill crank is a killer when the bluegill begin to spawn, the thing even swims like a bluegill so the action is there, and I'll bet the bait ball have a good action to it so you paid for a quality crank instead of a gimmick.

[mnbassman23]

I thought it was a fisherman catcher when I first seen it and my thoughts haven't changed. They'll catch fish like any other crankbait, but not because they think it's a "baitball" shoved into a single profile crankbait. I didn't buy a scatter rap either.. 

[MarkH024]

Koppers makes great stuff. Baitball just doesn't interest me enough to want to buy it. I don't see it out performing anything in it's same class just based of the appearance. I'm sure the baitball cranks and jerks run true and great seeing that the squarebills and everything else they make work awesome.  I'll stick to the gill and craw stuff as it suites my waters much better. 
 

I didn't buy a scatter rap either.. 

No, just a few $50 swimbaits instead.     

[flyfisher]

I haven't bought one and probably won't becaus i already haev a ton of cranks but they look nice for sure.  As far as the scatter rap goes, i bought a couple and i like them for certain situations where you are searching for fish but not banging them into cover to trigger a strike.  The key i have found is to not reel to fast because they will want to roll over.

[Stingray23]

Its a gimmick. A bass will hit just about anything.

[mnbassman23]

No, just a few $50 swimbaits instead.     

Who's the real sucker here         

[Hooligan]

Fished right, there are situations that the scatter rap WILL outfish almost any other bait.  It's all about situation and location.  I've done very well on the scatter raps.

[Nice_Bass]

I think Koppers makes good lures with good action.  I don't have interest in the cranks because I am happy with what I throw, but would like to see the jerkbaits.

One thought though- most manufactures claim "lifelike" eyes or 3d eyes etc...yet no one questions if that will make it better than a paint job without real-life eyes.  You could go on for days about this, but fact is koppers came out with it (I guess I read a custom guy did but I don't care about the politics) and if I was a shareholder I would be pretty happy as the results will be fish on and I think good sales-if it was the "baitball" or not that caused that bite, who knows.

[Comfortably Numb]

It may trigger strikes if smaller baitfish are around and that is what they are feeding on rather than a single larger meal. As said Koppers makes a quality bait so you cant really lose.

 

I  have plenty of squarebills, Scatter Raps, and cranks that I just dont need another.

 

The Scatter Rap idea on the other hand is a known fact that a crank that "hunts" WILL catch more fish. Why else would people spend $20-$30 on a pre-Rapla Wiggle Wart? I have done very well on the Scatter Rap Crank on a large variety of fish including big Bluegill, Shellcrackers, Longear, Crappie, perch, pickeral,  catfish and big 20#+ Grass Carp. Oh and they work on Bass too

[BradGuenette]

I highly doubt I will try any of the crankbaits/topwaters they have in the series, but that jerkbait..... Being a big fan of JB's it was hard for me not to pick up a couple of them. I will be curious how well the bait suspends for cold water when you really need that bait to sit there and soak, when they really get to look at it. It will do quite well in the super clear water we have up here up north. Will it replace my Vision 110's or Pointers? I doubt it but who can ever have to many jerkbaits!!

[Pz3]

Correct me if I'm wrong but bass only know a few things... Shape, Size, Color, Patterns, and Actions. I don't see how the bait ball could work that well. I get the whole illusion of two fish thing, but surely the shape size and action of it still acts like a crank. I would think it scares more fish away as they see one thing and feel another. Then again I never used it who knows?

[SudburyBasser]

I did pick up the top water and the jerk bait a while back -- won't be able to use them for a few months more. I regret buying the top water but I think the jerk bait could be interesting.

 

As for the scatter rap...I bought a few of those and caught one fish over several fishing excursions. I don't know if I gave it a fair shake but I wasn't particularly impressed by it.

[tritonguy]

They are a gimmick but I bought a couple.  They look real purty in my box.

[airborne_angler]

As the baitball crank goes by, does the fish see the baitball or a blur? Think those custom osinted , realistic lure look like the real thing to a fish as it goes by...I highly doubt it.

I think the fish react to vibration, action and profile of the bait...they see something fleeing and they chase after it.

My Chocolate Lab has been trained to catch items in midair when you toss it...he doesnt know if its a kibble of food, a twig, a plastic bottle cap, a treat, a potato chip..he just catches it in his mouth regardless of what it is...but he can immediately tell if its edible or not...think fish are similar...

[Bluebasser86]

Fished right, there are situations that the scatter rap WILL outfish almost any other bait.  It's all about situation and location.  I've done very well on the scatter raps.

X2, only Rapala crank that I would willing pay full price for other than the Shad Rap. I've seen it fished side by side with some of my favorite cranks like the LC 1.5 and Little Jon and while they wouldn't touch those they were inhaling the Scatter Rap. If I can find some grass to crank it over or standing timber to crank it through it's probably going to be my first choice of baits unless the water is dirty.

 

I'm not buying into the bait ball thing at all. I'm sure they'll catch fish, but they won't be catching any fish for me. 

[5fishlimit]

I got a chance to hold them in my hand this weekend.

No thanks. I told my buddy these will end up in the clearance bin soon enough.

I just don't see a benefit, and for $15 I'd rather buy Lucky Craft.