Secondary Tackle As Good?

[Squirmin Wormin]

We've been into fishing or for those starting out built a tackle box full of various tackle and such ,and i assume have top name brand lures or tackle that are in that tb,but how about the secondary tackle or off brand tackle ? do you have any of that ?and do you think it does just as good as the name brand tackle that you have? there's alot of tackle companies that are secondary or off brand tackle ,lures,etc.. i think in my op does just the same as the name brand tackle,lures etc... what's your op? 

[VegasFishing]

What the heck did I just read?

[gramps50]

If they catch fish their good no matter who makes them.

[Comfortably Numb]

Kinda like name brand food and store brands. Some are good and some not so good.

 

Stores like Bass Pro, Acadamy, etc have some very good products and some not so good. 

 

I do stay away from South Bend and Matzuo (owned by South Bend) hooks. All crap.

[BasshunterJGH]

Yes hand poured worms can be some of the best. They usually work as well or better than big brands.

[WIGuide]

Kinda like name brand food and store brands. Some are good and some not so good.

 

 

This

[PersicoTrotaVA]

I don't look at it as brand name and off brand.  Making baits is an art.  There are some big companies that make crappy baits and there are some small mostly unknown companies that make amazing stuff.  I like to look at it like craft beer.  There are tons of great brews by microbrews that don't sell outside of their county let alone their state.  Same thing with lures and baits, there are small mom and pop ops that don't sell baits outside of that 1 or 2 local tackle shops in their county.  THESE are the companies I like to try out.

[Bassun]

Absolutely you will find "off brand" lures that are as good as any "premier" company's offerings.  That being said, not all are created equal.   In my experience, the name brand baits do have some fairly consistent advantages such as a more scientific design which results in a better representation from lure to lure vs something hand hewn and painted which will be unique from one plug to the next. 

 

I call that an advantage, but only in that you often have to do little to no adjusting out of the box and will get a consistent action and look from the lure; where as a local handmade balsa lure may need some tuning before it will respond as expected.  However, it is my opinion that often those same "quirks" are part of what give the local made lure an advantage.  I subscribe to the notion that fish do become aware of artifical lures over time, and that impacts their effectiveness.  I think that is part of the "hot lure" cycle and why you see so many fish caught on some new creation for a few years, then numbers fall off.  Local lures generally do not get fished heavily enough for the fish to become acclimated to them, plus, as mentioned before - they often act slightly different from lure to lure and if hand painted almost definitely look slightly different from lure to lure.

 

Another big advantange, in my opinion, of a local made bait is that they often do the best job in "matching the hatch".  They are made by anglers fishing local waters who wanted to make a better bait.  Sometimes it's a specific color in a worm, or some "secret" ingredient they add to the mix; or maybe it's a crank wittled down a little differently than the <enter brand here> version and hand painted to look just like the local forage.  Sure, you may have good success from that Rapala you always throw.  That is why you always throw it to begin with...but sometimes you will find even better success using a local creation designed just for those waters.  Just ask any fly fisherman...when it comes to matching the hatch I think you will be hard pressed to find any better at it than those who carry a fly tying vice with them, and hand tie flies once they are at their location.  That is the exact opposite of mass production, big name lures... and they do it for success.