Weld's Largemouth Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 Hey all, I've had a few Bomber crankbaits in my tackle box for a while now, bought them on clearance. Whenever I would fish with them the action was awful, the lure never swam straight, and it often ended up just spinning. Worst crankbait I have ever used by far! And plus the hooks are cheap and the finish chips, and the bill bends... Never going to buy Bomber crankbaits again.. What's your opinion on this?
Super User flyfisher Posted November 16, 2014 Super User Posted November 16, 2014 the exact opposite....bombers are some of my favorite baits and never had an issue with any of them 1
Weld's Largemouth Posted November 16, 2014 Author Posted November 16, 2014 the exact opposite....bombers are some of my favorite baits and never had an issue with any of them The hooks are awful though, And all of the ones I have (3), never run straight
Megastink Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 The hooks are awful though, And all of the ones I have (3), never run straight So tune them! Lesson #1, you usually get what you pay for. #2 I've had to tube lucky crafts and other expensive cranks. It's just part of the game. 2
Weld's Largemouth Posted November 16, 2014 Author Posted November 16, 2014 So tune them! Lesson #1, you usually get what you pay for. #2 I've had to tube lucky crafts and other expensive cranks. It's just part of the game. I have a couple Strike King KVDs and they have caught 100s of fish and I have never had to tune or change hooks.. I've tried tuning the Bombers, but I guess I'm doing it wrong
Super User flyfisher Posted November 16, 2014 Super User Posted November 16, 2014 The hooks are awful though, And all of the ones I have (3), never run straight I swap out hooks on almost all my baits anyways so that isn't a concern for me. I have probably a dozen of them myself and they all run true for me. I do agree though that tuning a crankbait isn't as easy as people make it out to be...i always seem to do more damage lol I also have not had good success at all with KVD baits and while i still have a few, i rarely chuck them.
Super User iabass8 Posted November 16, 2014 Super User Posted November 16, 2014 Bomber crankbaits don't suck
papajoe222 Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 FatFreeShads and Fingerlings are the only Bomber cranks I use now and straight out of the box, I've never needed to tune them. Go with your experiences, but IMO there are worse cranks on the market. 1
primetime Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 I would say my all time favorite lure for bass fishing all year, and it is great over weeds, slow rolled...Bomber Long 15A, gold chart FL color and I have a few without paint, but I would not sell them for 5 new Pointers with perfect paint because they won't sound the same, or have the same action, I carry roughly 25 long a floaters, 10 suspenders, 10-15 Redfins, ripplin red fins, Rebel sbroke backs in silver black floating and suspend dots if needed for all, and of course a few Rapala F9-F13, and J11-J13 and flat raps in silver black, silver blue, silver orange...but my best long A's have some yellow and orange I added with a marker under chin, 2 lines of red near the old gills were, and depending on how rough the water is or how shallow I need it to go, I will modify diving depth and often a super fast rise is better than slow when worked mid day in summer over weeds everyone else uses a fluke. If you watch a jerkbait for thousands of hours, I truly believe I can anticipate half of the strikes that occur not counting the fish that choke it as soon as it lands as that fish would hit anything...I find Larger Bass hit the longer profile cranks and shallow wakes, and if I let it dive a few inches and I see a rise in water around the lure, usually a bass it under it and that is when you need to either kill it and wait, or snap it just right and if loaded correctly, the long a can do a 3/4 turn with a crazy roll that just looks like a nervous shiner... Now, lures are tools that we all use based on our own experiences as I know plenty of people who don't carry any and like only Rapala, but most have some Horton Pro long a suspenders, the gold chart and gold prism long a, and nothing says shiner better than a redfin or ripplin redfin and I would put that statement against a swimbait, but its about confidence. I hate crankbaits that go deep, but I know the fat free shad would be #2 behind only the Norman DD22 but I would rather carolina rig a broke back or jointed minnow instead of cranking and that works awesome with a fast floater again and using some thicker line helps.... I do feel the older models work better and they sound completely different as the new A's sound like hooks banging together, the older lures had a distant knock not a rattle, and I like hooking fish with 3 trebles in tough areas...The flat A is the cold water killer that actually can be cast far as the shad rap is light. the fat a's are cheap but pound for pound, I would say Pradco has the best jerkbaits, ripbaits, and cranks not as much, and I like Rapala but would rather go bagleys for Balsa personally...Cast a 5" gold red red fin across a pond, and if sloooooooo waking which is really trying to dive but won't, the ripplin redfin looks like it goes backwards, that is my new weapon for this year for clear water, it looks so realistic and if walleye and smallies love it the bass here will as well....I like Lucky's and all, but I have a bait from another company that I would choose over the sammy, Pointer, Flash minnow, and its all about finding your own niche, I like the stuff I know how to work, and just trust that I will figure out if I am working too fast or slow, I hate a new bait and not knowing where it is at all times or if it is maybe tilted sideways, I like seeing it at all times, steering is important for sucess in Florida. 1
primetime Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 So tune them! Lesson #1, you usually get what you pay for. #2 I've had to tube lucky crafts and other expensive cranks. It's just part of the game. Bombers are only a few bucks under the lucky which is coming down and granted they are good but a value series is not the same as the real deal 7.99 Bomber lures? Lucky craft may be a few bucks more than 7.99 but that is only because they are the in thing right now(after all they are Japanese, but made with the american stuff. It is all preference, I would never say all strike king, I would say All Matzuo, but someone knows how to use their tools. Bomber is in same range as Rapala but they offer a value line, so they may not be great but for 2.99 I say they are decent, many pros fish nothing but a fat free shad #7 or a timmy horton pro suspending jerkbait....They are proven winners in all circuits, smashing Bomber is like saying a balsa Rapala doesnt float or Mepps spinners foul to easily. I would give bomber the best Muskie Pike Glide bait as well. 1
Weld's Largemouth Posted November 16, 2014 Author Posted November 16, 2014 They just suck for me, I don't know why. Maybe its because i bought the clearance ones.. but i have no idea
Inflatable Raft Bum Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 Hey all, I've had a few Bomber crankbaits in my tackle box for a while now, bought them on clearance. Whenever I would fish with them the action was awful, the lure never swam straight, and it often ended up just spinning. Worst crankbait I have ever used by far! And plus the hooks are cheap and the finish chips, and the bill bends... Never going to buy Bomber crankbaits again.. What's your opinion on this? Because they will never be Norman Deep Little N crankbaits, for this reason THEY SUCK.
Super User F14A-B Posted November 16, 2014 Super User Posted November 16, 2014 Just about every company will occasionally produce a bad lot, it happens. 1
Super User Maxximus Redneckus Posted November 16, 2014 Super User Posted November 16, 2014 Get a made in usa bomber.i have a few from the 80s that still run great but look like death
timsford Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 I catch a ton of fish on my bombers! Which ones did you buy? If you really eant rid of them shoot me a pm and ill take them off your hands
primetime Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 When Ebsco made them they were better than the Pradco versions of today which are made in china but they have a value line like the Fat A for $3, but Bomber lures are like every mass produced hardbait, and the fact is only a small percentage, I think it is 30% of the lures that are packaged, have hooks hung, painted etc. are truly put together evenly, balanced and for every Ten, 2 will be Fantastic "Hunters which could be mistaken as needing work since some are designed to flicker and roll for flash and attraction.) 4 will be ok lures you can tune but will never be top producers and I always assume that when I see a lot of 20 Strike King, Bandit, and Bomber Cranks, that the person purchased 30 and somone is getting the dogs and will never know it.... out of the 10, 4 will be awful, unreliable, and just not send out the right signals or sound. Rattles may have glue stuck on them, who knows, but cheap cranks like 1.99 versions are easily noticable as they are not glued evenly down the middle, but I have fished a few cranks and jerkbaits that are $5 and better than some that sell for 4x of that. I respect everyone's opinion, but if you are not happy with Bombers than maybe you should buy Strike King or Sebile etc..Too many options to buy them all, what good is it to have a box full of expensive lures with pretty paint if you don't know what makes one different from the other, most Baseball players have a favorite bat, fisherman have favorite lures, but one truth is Bomber lures are proven, they do lose paint and then have a cool glow too them but that is after a ton of fish from Bass, Pickeral, Stripers, Snook, Redfish etc....I also notice with all the info online now, technique specific rods, a long profile minnow lure is a jerkbait, but what if I troll it as it dive 6' but I prefer to fish it 6"-18" so what rod do I buy if I want to cast it reallly far and it is in large waves and wind, and will be super heavy? and I plan on burning it for active fish....I may cast a DT 6, but I may not work it more than a few feet if I am getting bit high in the column, if it floats it is a topwater, wakebait,crankbait, can be a suspender easily as well, or a slow sinker, and watch the you tube video of how to load a red fin to keep it from rolling on days that are brutal, it actually gives you distance, balanced action, more subtle natural movement as it will not get air and flip, so Red on top usually means loaded in my world and a green dot on top means loaded with a buoyant glue type substance that is also tail weighted for action, and brigh pink means it is not loaded but ready to suspend if needed....Plus, If you can't see a ripbait how can you steer it around weeds or bump structure etc. long casts are what make cranks so effective. See how many bad reviews any lures I have mentioned get on bass pro, tackle warehouse (although if it didnt get hit on first cast or did catch a 4lber on first cast please ignore that one) because I notice when I buy my bombers from Cabelas and bass pro they have over 20 pages of feedback and it is all guys that say " flat out produces anywhere and always has for last 30 years, so why but some new lure the fish see every other minute....Time to go full retro and and start fishing the Creek chub with the metal lip, it did catch a 20lb bass in the 60's and that jointed "mess" with the shallow shad rap metal lip has about 6 of 20 largest bass, so it would be a winner today. The Jointed Pikie is not a mess and would be good today but I would rather sell them as people love em...Ok, time to get to the main event of the fight on tv right now, all my friends think I fish too much anyhow and if not fishing ordering stuff to sell...So to each his own, I don't like XRaps, I hate em, not sure why, but I do, and I know they work, but I would not be able to fish an xrap if a rogue was in my box so confidence does matter....Xraps get bit often but not many get stuck or get it as it is a bit too erratic at times...good ramble here, very coherent.
Hogsticker Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 I agree, they kinda suck. If wanting an inexpensive crank I much prefer Norman and Bandit.
Inflatable Raft Bum Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 There are two grades of Norman, i like the higher, the Pro or whatever.. They are $1 more but balanced out of the box
Super User aavery2 Posted November 16, 2014 Super User Posted November 16, 2014 The Bomber 4A and 6A have caught an awful lot of fish for me. I use them as often as the Bandit 200 and 300 series and can't honestly say I prefer one over the other. Many baits that are inexpensive require tuning out of the package, it is just kind of the trade off I suppose, do a few and you will soon be an expert. Which model Bombers are you having problems with?
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted November 16, 2014 Global Moderator Posted November 16, 2014 Alright boys, straight from the FAQs I have a dispute with 'company X'. Can I post about it here?While we can empathize with your frustration, the best course of action is deal directly with the company. Escalate it up the ladder, file a grievance with PayPal or Ebay (if they were involved with the transaction). File a mail fraud complaint with the post office. There are other options, but attacking the company in a public forum is not appropriate nor allowed. Such posts will be removed. Lockdown! 3
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