Are Expensive Lures Worth The Money?

[EvanT123]

I'd say they are worth it when they catch fish and aren't when they don't.

[Heron]

Nope.  Not worth it.

 

The size range of the average fish that I pull out of this water most often, on any given day, under any conditions, is 14"-16."   The average PB I can expect to catch here is 5-6lbs.  The single greatest fish I can hope to ever catch here, after hell freezes over, and after pigs fly...is probably about 8lbs.

 

None of these fish, are worth a $20 bait.   But that's just me.

[retiredbosn]

We all started fishing for the fun of it, the challenge of fishing, to spend time with a mentor, etc. I sometimes wonder if I wasn't more at ease, enjoyed the sport more, when I was touting a $30 combo and using 4 inch curly tails for everything! I now buy my line in bulk, spend too much money and typically fish alone. Still having fun, still catching fish, but a skunk haunts me. When I get to the point that it's no longer fun I will sell out and find another hobby. Buying quality lures, reels, rods, boats whatever, adds to the pleasure for some others are still evolving and finding their angling niche. My first baitcaster cost about 40 bucks, I got rid of it when it cost me what would have been my pb at the time. The reel flexed, gears disengaged slack line and fish was gone! Now I wouldn't dream of throwing my money away like that. So the cost of equipment has increased as my skill set and desire to catch bigger fish have increased.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Different perspectives I guess. There has been a few times where I start stressing cause I'm about to get skunked (you obviously don't put pressure on yourself like I do or ever fish tournaments) and have saved the trip by catching monsters on "expensive baits". Once you save your day by hooking your PB at the end of the day on one you'd change your mind. lol Then again I fish high pressured, gin clear, fast moving water for smallmouth bass and it requires a lot more finesse and unique presentations than flipping for largies in stained water in local ponds...

Exactly my pb was 10-4 the yr after that it was 9-4 both caught in farm ponds,with so many sticks and logs, stumps no way i woulda thrown any hardbait in this its all about plastics .in this kind of perspective a 300$ bait is worthless but a 75cent plastic worm or lizard brings home the bacon,i fish water that cant be fished with hardbaits 98% of the time and if i fished tourneys thats pretty much all i could make money on,big bodys of water aint my virtue bbut then again i can fish the potomac without any probs finding or catching

[Trucking 98]

Spending a little more,always helps me.if your not losing lures,your not fishing

[primetime]

If you think they are then they are, if you think they are not then they are not....If you are not sure why a lure is so expensive, then I would say don't buy it, if you are just a casual topwater fisherman, then I would say the Zara Spook or Skitter walk will work as well as the Sammy, but if you love to fish topwater, sometimes a certain color or profile gives you more confidence and then it is worth it....If I was fishing super clear water all the time I would probably be more picky when it comes to lures, but since I am not, I tend to fish the same lures most guys throw....the One's that are in Bass Pro and Dicks etc.

[stkbassn]

The answers you seek are only known by the bait monkey. Seek him out and he will help to guide you down the path to enlightenment.

[robster80]

to me its worth it. i like nice things. but hav plenty of thr cheap stuff too

[Lacustrine]

We got my brother a Yo Zuri jerk bait (and tons of other lures) that is usually $13 which is expensive in my book, but it was on sale plus a tax 10% sale was going so I got it cheaper. It caught a several fish today. That being said worms caught the same amount.

[RoLo]

Are Expensive Lures Worth the Money?

 

NO!

Unless I want it, then YES!

 

Roger

[primetime]

If you believe that they work better than they will, if you are not on fish, you can throw all the expensive lures you want and you will get shut out....Line, Casting Accuracy, cadence, sound, color, depth, and finding active fish or understanding when to throw what lure are more important in my opinion.

 

$20 for a popper is insane to me, poppers can only do so much, most are pretty much the same, the American lures are also catching up in quality but I personally spend more money on vintage lures than I do new models.

 

If you fish in lakes with Gar, no, they are not worth it in my opinion unless you can afford it....The Sammy is a nice lure, lots of nice colors and sizes, but I have a box full of walkers I would all say are just as good and same with all types of lures.....Spending crazy money on a swim bait and to me it is over $15 is not needed personally as I do fine with a Spro or Sebile, and my Reaction Strikes work well also, they make a few of the higher dollar ones people use anyhow.

[wuchr20]

Depends on what you buy.  For the most part yes.  There may be a copy that looks exactly like it but cost half as much as the original but there might be some slight difference that determines whether the fish decides to bite.

[JoePhish]

The bait I've caught the most fish on so far this year is a $3 jerk bait I got on closeout a few years ago on TW. I don't even know the name of it.

Meanwhile, my Livingstons are doing squat. Lost one a few weeks ago and felt butthurt. 

Lost a Rapala DT6 this week. Didn't feel that bad.

[dam0007]

Hey guys! Sometimes I go on bass fishing websites like TW or walk into a bass pro and I see all these lures that are priced at $15 dollars and over and I always think its kinda insane how these are priced, considering you always run the risk of losing it. So are these expensive lures running at $15-25 worth the money? Thanks in advance and best of luck -Glenn W.

I felt the same early on. Some lures like the Lucky Craft Sammy just perform great right out the box. So it's give and take. Then again I'll use RC STX over Ito 110s.

[primetime]

Ask yourself this question....I just had this debate with a few guys while I was at the local fishing shop...How many Pro Tournaments have been one on the High Priced lures? Besides the Megabass Ito Jerkbaits and Suspending Jerkbaits, I am not aware of many tournaments won on anything besides crankbaits priced in normal ranges, Spinnerbaits, Pradco lures which I would guess have won the most money on tour with Bagley's, Rapala being the other's...

 

Take a lure like the Yellow Magic Popper....Made in China, Painted in Japan, and sold out of Lake Fork and marked up a few 1000% percent. (Source-Tackle Retailer, In-Fisherman, Field and Stream......

 

Many of the lures I see people talking about as being the best are actually Reaction Strike lures which means that they do not have any special triggers built in and are essentially OEM lures, and I fish the Reaction Strike lures like the Lipless Lv Cranks, wakes and other lures since In know they are also in the line of more expensive lures...Some of the $60 Swiimbaits that guys use are often on Overstock for half price and link up directly to the Reaction Strike Website yet why pay $60 for a swimbait when the identical version is half price....My point is basically this...I work hard for my money and I enjoy buying lures and I will admit to buying many over priced lures simply because I loved the way it looked, but most of the time they sit in my box and I end up realizing that they are nothing special, although Confidence is what matters, and if you can afford expensive lures and they work for you, and you are convinced that another brand would not work, then heck yea, stay with the $30 Pencil walker. If you think the Buckeye Wake up is better than the Red Fin (and it may be,it does have some original features designed in, than you should spend the extra money because on every cast you will be questioning the Red Fin and wish you have the Wake Up...That is the best example I can give, I fish with a partner who will not throw the Red Fin, only the Wake up and for him he would lose all confidence even if I am catching more fish...And I keep telling him, slow down, it is not the lure, wake baits are all about speed, but I am sure somebody else could beat us both with a Matzuo wake bait if they figure out a better speed....

 

I would think that Jigs and Flipping baits and buzzbaits and Spinnerbaits, cranks and lipless cranks, softbaits are where the money is one for the most part...I would be better served buying a book on bass fishing for $20 than a Rico $1.77 per 100 popper direct from China, and yes, the moq is only a 100 and they are rico's, and that means I could probably get them for $150 shipped EMS 5 day.

[einscodek]

Hey guys! Sometimes I go on bass fishing websites like TW or walk into a bass pro and I see all these lures that are priced at $15 dollars and over and I always think its kinda insane how these are priced, considering you always run the risk of losing it. So are these expensive lures running at $15-25 worth the money? Thanks in advance and best of luck   -Glenn W.

A few are .. most are not for the average fisherman. 

If you have a diversified tacklebox full of baits there is something in there which depending on condition & situation will be the best bait for catching the fish and the kind of fish you are after.  Its yer job to figure out which..how to work it..where to work it.  There are no magic lures.  Its nearly all fisherman skill in my book.

[the reel ess]

I try to draw the line at $10. The most expensive lures I have is a Spro Frog and a Rapala floating minnow. But then I'm a $40 rod guy too. I have one Falcon rod that I bought 2nd hand for $50 and almost never use and a bunch of Lightning Rods that I love.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Its the Indian not the arrow,my 30 cent plastic can catch fish as well as a 100$ lure AND do it with more consistency then a more exspensive lure ,WHY cause ill throw it a lot more places then a exspensive lure.

[SirSnookalot]

I can see some of these swimbaits costing quite a bit more to manufacture, but not so much when it comes a fairly standard jerkbait.  I've had plenty of inexpensive lures that move great and caught lots of fish, granted the hooks and split rings aren't the best quality.  My "better" lures get hook and split ring placement too.  Some of my banged up, chipped and cracked lures are just as productive as NIB.  From the manufacturing standpoint parts bought in volume from inexpensive to expensive lures isn't that great.  I hope no one thinks a $15 lure costs 5 times as much to make as a $3.00 lure, but the fishing public seems to think the more spent the better the catch.  

 

I don't catch too many 10# bass, but I catch a ton of fish way larger than that.  Most of them are caught on a $5.00 spoon, $3.00 bucktail or jerkshad (fluke) on a jig head.  I happen to be one of those retired guys that can spend pretty much what I ever I want my equipment.  Would I spend $20 or more to catch sub 10# fish, do I appear to be out of mind?

[Heron]

...Would I spend $20 or more to catch sub 10# fish, do I appear to be out of mind?

Agreed,

 

The size of the fish, for me, is an important factor in my tackle-buying, and represents the return on my investment. 

 

but that's just me.

[SirSnookalot]

Gotta say this is only a "legend" as I've never seen it done.  Have been told many years ago billfish were caught trolling a white rag and a hook.

[Heron]

Gotta say this is only a "legend" as I've never seen it done.  Have been told many years ago billfish were caught trolling a white rag and a hook.

I can believe it.  That's certainly not a far stretch of the imagination.

[Jaderose]

Does a $100k workshop filled with the most advanced woodworking tools automatically turn you into a master craftsman?  No.....it means you're a fool with too much money.  It makes a master craftsman more efficient.  IMHO, it's the same way with fishing tackle.  I'm an avid hobby fisherman.  I, like anyone else, drool over $800 reels and $400 swimbaits but I don't buy them.  Can I afford them?  Sure, if I really wanted them but I don't.  I'm not in a good part of the country for them and they would be like bringing a howitzer to a boxing match.  Wrong tool.  Not to mention I fish in some pretty gnarly places and I lose a lot of tackle.  I put my money in tackle and equipment that is APPROPRIATE to the type of fishing I do.  I have some stuff that only gets used when I go up into Minnesota and fish for Northerns.  It doesn't get used in Missouri because it's expensive (to me) and isn't appropriate here.  Right tools for the job at hand and for the skill of the technician.  I'm an "ok to decent" bass fisherman.  I have decent equipment.  My terminal tackle, line, plastics, jigs etc are generally very good.  THAT is where I get the most for my money.  Just my .02  

 

p.s.  I used to work for Caterpillar calibrating electronic equipment.  We would get O-scopes in for calibration that I knew were $50 -60k.  I'd call the owner to ask a question and the answer I would inevitably get was "we just use it to look for a trace".  In other words, they needed a lightbulb with 2 leads on it.  They GIVE those away at some electrical supply stores or you could make one in about 30 seconds.  Right tool for the job at hand

[jbsoonerfan]

Porche / Ford Fiesta

Big Green Egg / Komodo

Yeti / Igloo

Bass Mafia Bait coffin / Plano

Costa's / Strike King

All of these products essentially do the same thing and I could do this all day, but I think you get the point. The only person who can determine the "worth" of something is the consumer who will be using said product.

[Big C]

Are Expensive Lures Worth the Money?

 

NO!

Unless I want it, then YES!

 

Roger

 

 

ROLO said YOLO