Upgrading equipment, new to some brands, anyone got advice?

[chromedog]

I am finally going to upgrade my equipment.  I bought a lot when I first started 4 years ago.  I have slowly replaced items with nicer tackle as I learned techniques, what I like to throw and what works.  Can anyone give me insight on some of the more "pricey" offerings so I get stuff that hooks the fish and not the fisherman, lol.

I have used a lot of Rapala and BPS stickbaits, cranks (both lipped and lipless) topwaters etc.....

How do these players stack up?

Megabass

Lucky Craft

River2sea

Yo-Zuri

I know this is all opinion, just looking to get a feel before I jump in.  Thanks a lot guys!

[roadwarrior]

If I had it all to do over from scratch, I would buy

two or three top of the line lures for every application

I planned to fish.

Topwater: Megabass PopMax, LC Sammy

Jekbait: LC Pointer, Rapala X-Rap, Sebile Koolie & Megabass Ito

Shallow crankbait: LC (RC) 1.5, 2.5, Norman Fat Boy;

Bandit 100 & 200; Bagley BII and Bomber Square A

Lipless: XCalibur Xr50 (blue/chrome), Red Eye Shad and River2Sea

Deeper: DT10, Fat Free Shad, DD22

Plastics: Rage Tail, MegaStrike, Mizmo, Roboworm, NetBaits & GYCB

Jigs: MegaStrike EVO II, NorthStar Pro Series & GMAN

Spinnerbaits: MegaStrike StrikeBack, Ledgebuster

Swarming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad

Buzzbaits: MegaStrike Cavitron

Frog: River2Sea

Hooks: Gamakatsu, VMC, Owner, XPoint, Moaner (Mustad)

Line: Yo-Zuri Hybrid

8-)

[Blue Streak]

Pretty good line up RW, I agree with most of those. May not be the cheapest but will perform very well.

[Lucky Craft Man]

If I had it all to do over from scratch, I would buy

two or three top of the line lures for every application

I planned to fish.

Topwater: Megabass PopMax, LC Sammy

Jekbait: LC Pointer, Rapala X-Rap, Sebile & Megabass Ito

Shallow crankbait: LC (RC) 1.5, 2.5; Norman Fat Boy;

Bandit 100 & 200; Bagley BII and Bomber Square A

Lipless: XCalibur Xr50 (blue/chrome), Red Eye Shad and River2Sea

Deeper: DT10, Fast Free Shad, DD22

Plastics: Rage Tail, MegaStrike, Mizmo, Roboworm, NetBaits & GYCB

Jigs: MegaStrike EVO II, NorthStar Pro Series & GMAN

Spinnerbaits: MegaStrike StrikeBack; Ledgebuster

Swarming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad

Buzzbaits: MegaStrike Cavitron

Frog: River2Sea

Hooks: Gamakatsu, VMC, Owner, XPoint, Moaner (Mustad)

Line: Yo-Zuri Hybrid

8-)

Great advice! I have 16 tackleboxes full of lures and I found I only used 2% of what I had. So I consolidated all my "goto" lures into one bag and that's all I take with me. As RW mentioned, if you get what is on his list (and I'm sure you have a few choices of your own you like), you should be good to go in almost all situations.

[Gangley]

Identifying a lure as "expensive" is dependent on the purchaser.  Some of these lures are considered expensive while others are not.  I would consider the RAGE tail products very expensive when comparing to other plastics, but cheap when comparing to overall lure pricing.  If it catches fish though, i don't care how expensive they are, and the RAGE tail product line generally catches fish.

Following RW's format and adding a little.   

Topwater: Yellow Magic popper, Rebel Pop-R with a shaved lower lip

Jerkbait: Rapala X-Rap (still learning this one)

Shallow crankbait: LC (RC) 1.5, 2.5, Rapala Shallow Shad Rap, Rapala DTFAT1 and DTFAT3, Bomber Model B(a personal favorite)

Lipless: though not as expensive as others, the Red Eye Shad has done well and the original Rat-l-trap.

Deeper: DT10. I don't generally get a chance to fish water deeper than 8-10 feet so I can't comment on anything deeper, but I have caught my fair share of fish off of the DT10

Plastics: Rage Tail, ZOOM, Berkley (Order Not Important)

Jigs: NorthStar Pro Series, KaRu Poison Tail and Football, Omega Pro Structure. Though they aren't as expensive, Backwater jigs have done good as well.

Spinnerbaits: Northstar Custom Tackle, H20 Express

Buzzbaits: never caught a fish on a buzzbait

Frog: ZOOM Horny Toad, SPRO Bronzeye

Hooks: Owner, Gamakatsu, Mustad, VMC for Trebles

Line: Power Pro - 30lb for bait casters and 15 for spinning (green)

Trilene Big Game 12 lb mono (Green)

Reels: Shimano Curado 200E7 for lighter lures and Abu Ambass. for jigging and worming.

Rods: I have had great luck with Falcon brand rods and Castaway brand rods.

[FishinTN]

If I had it all to do over from scratch, I would buy

two or three top of the line lures for every application

I planned to fish.

Topwater: Megabass PopMax, LC Sammy

Jekbait: LC Pointer, Rapala X-Rap, Sebile Koolie & Megabass Ito

Shallow crankbait: LC (RC) 1.5, 2.5, Norman Fat Boy;

Bandit 100 & 200; Bagley BII and Bomber Square A

Lipless: XCalibur Xr50 (blue/chrome), Red Eye Shad and River2Sea

Deeper: DT10, Fat Free Shad, DD22

Plastics: Rage Tail, MegaStrike, Mizmo, Roboworm, NetBaits & GYCB

Jigs: MegaStrike EVO II, NorthStar Pro Series & GMAN

Spinnerbaits: MegaStrike StrikeBack, Ledgebuster

Swarming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad

Buzzbaits: MegaStrike Cavitron

Frog: River2Sea

Hooks: Gamakatsu, VMC, Owner, XPoint, Moaner (Mustad)

Line: Yo-Zuri Hybrid

8-)

That will pretty much have your better quality baits taken care of. Everyone will have their own preferences, but you won't go wrong with that list. Good job, RW...

[SeanW]

Rip baits and cranks-Im a Lucky Craft guy all the way

  Cranks- I have also been using the Jackals and Spro's lately.

Top Water- Standard Spooks are still a favorite, but the Paycheck Baits Repo Man is a must, as is the Rico popper.

All of my buzz baits and spinner baits are custom made for me through a friend.

[chromedog]

Thanks so much!

RoadWarrior, I have to say that all the information you have given me over the last several years has been spot on.  I owe probably 80% of my bass catch to your advice.  Well except the Rage Tail products, just can't seem to get anything to look at them. 

I have learned through trial and error that sometimes it is true, you get what you pay for. 

I just want to get one or two of this and that and started to get overwhelmed by all of the choices.  Not everyone that sells there stuff for a higher prices is worth it.

[Nibbles]

Lucky Craft Gunfish are also a great topwater. The Lucky Craft Wander is a great lipless crankbait of sorts. It's got a minnow profile instead of the standard flat lipless crank body.

YoZuri makes a great product. The nice thing about them is that if you're lucky, you can occasionally find them on sale for very low prices at places like BPS and Gander mountain.

The Megabass Ito Vision 110 is quite possibly the most popular JDM enthusiast jerkbait out there.

I don't know anything about River2Sea simply because I haven't had the chance to try out their stuff yet.

[Sam]

Topwater: RICOs.

Agree with Roadwarrior on the rest as a good start! 

[roadwarrior]

The Megabass Ito Vision 110 is quite possibly the most popular JDM enthusiast jerkbait out there.

Do you know what hooks they use? Man, they are

the "stickiest" I have ever fished!

[Nibbles]

The Megabass Ito Vision 110 is quite possibly the most popular JDM enthusiast jerkbait out there.

Do you know what hooks they use? Man, they are

the "stickiest" I have ever fished!

No idea. Haven't had a chance to get mine wet yet anyhow. There's absolutely no way I'm throwing them in my usual snag-infested fishing holes. They're so bad I get hung up even while throwing skin hooked T-rigs sometimes. Apparently people were a little overzealous when adding cover to those places because I've pulled out countless tree branches, shrubs and even a length of rolled up chicken wire fencing one time. 

I'm saving them for when I head up to St Clair again this summer. Hopefully I'll have enough saved up to hang around there for a few days. As long as textbooks don't cost as much this coming semester as they did the last. >

[Vinny Chase]

NorthStar Custom Baits

Lucky Craft

Norman

Spro

Megabass

All these companies are the best of the best

[chromedog]

Not to sound like a noob or dummy, what are:

Shallow crankbait: LC (RC) 1.5, 2.5, Norman Fat?

I assume they are lucky craft baits, but which ones?

Thanks again guys.

[Grey Wolf]

Not to sound like a noob or dummy, what are:

Shallow crankbait: LC (RC) 1.5, 2.5, Norman Fat?

I assume they are lucky craft baits, but which ones?

Thanks again guys.

The Norman Fatboy is a Norman lure not a LC.

[Nibbles]

Not to sound like a noob or dummy, what are:

Shallow crankbait: LC (RC) 1.5, 2.5, Norman Fat?

I assume they are lucky craft baits, but which ones?

Thanks again guys.

LC(RC) = Lucky Craft Rick Clunn Model. They were a collab between Lucky Craft and BPS if I recall correctly. 1.5 and 2.5 are just size differences. Here's a link: http://www.luckycraft.com/luckycrafthome/PastArticles/Productnews/rc-basspro.htm

Norman Fat = Norman Fat Boy crankbait.

[roadwarrior]

I caught my PB (largemouth) on a Norman Fat Boy.

This is not an expensive lure. The color was Red Ear.

http://www.normanlures.com/products/color_chart/2/43

8-)

[Raul]

The Megabass Ito Vision 110 is quite possibly the most popular JDM enthusiast jerkbait out there.

Do you know what hooks they use? Man, they are

the "stickiest" I have ever fished!

Yup, I do know what hooks are in those baits ----> Katsuage

From Megabass:

1.- Ito Vision 110

2.- Bait X Concept

3.- Pop Max

There are other good Megabass baits but those three are my top choices, I love the Griffons but they are simply put, too small, not that they don 't catch fish, actually they do only problem is that they are dink magnets.

From LC America:

1.- Pointer

2.- Moonassault

3.- BDS ( Big Daddy Strike )

4.- Sammy

5.- RC series

From LC Japan:

1.- Water Bug

There are other very good LC baits but those are my top choices.

From Ima:

1.- Roumba

From Deps:

1.- Buzzjet JR

2.- Cascabel

From Jackall

1.- Zero Cherry footer

2.- Muscle Deep

There 's no point in me discussing baits from other brands like Evergreen, they aren 't available unless you go on a Japanese bait shopping spree directly from Japan, besides they aren 't exactly outstanding, Rapalas do the same job and cost a lot less.

[Nibbles]

What about the B'Freeze 78 from LC Japan?

[Nick]

Although I own many high $ lures, I think these are many of the best values for a price conscious angler:

Crankbait: model A Bomber, Norman N, or fat boy, Wiggle Wart from Storm (check Lurenet for Friday specials)

Jerk Bait: husky jerk or slash bait from Rapala,

Topwater: a small Jumpin minnow and Pop r from Rebel

 

Spinnerbaits, get some custom made ones from Hunter Creek for $3 (superior quality)

Soft plastics from Zoom,

Jigs: Jewel or Omega jigs for less than $3.

Line: Cabela's flourocarbon in 400 or 600 yard spools or Yo Zuri Hybrid

Hooks: Sohumi makes a really good EWG worm hook

[Raul]

What about the B'Freeze 78 from LC Japan?

That 's a good bait but still, it 's quite small ---> dink magnet.

[ib_of_the_damned]

The Megabass Ito Vision 110 is quite possibly the most popular JDM enthusiast jerkbait out there.

Do you know what hooks they use? Man, they are

the "stickiest" I have ever fished!

I believe the hooks on those are the VMC Barbarian Outbarb hooks.  I have put those on some of the baits in the lot you bought from me.