Tackle for Cheap

[jtharris3]

My go to for soft plastics is Berkley (Power Worm and Chigger Craws mainly), Zoom, and Yum. I do still splurge and buy the Yamamoto Senkos still. 

 

For hard baits, it's hard to beat Strike King and Rapala.

 

For frogs, which I use a lot, Booyah wins it by far for me.

[Matrix329]

My favorite soft baits are available at your local wally world. For 30yrs I've fished 'Culprit' worms, by far a great value. The colors are eye catching too. 'Yum' and 'Zoom' for critters, lizards, frogs, and creatures. As far as lures go, once again you can't beat the value of wally world. Rapala minnows and jointed are great.

[roadwarrior]

13 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

My PB ... Was taken on a topwater cheaper than 10 dollars. More like 6 bucks... So tell me why I need a megabass popmax when this particular popper has caught me four fish over 20"..

 

You don't "need" a PopMax, but they are perfect right out of the box. Perhaps more of a collector's

item for some, certainly a work of art.

 

[Munkin]

15 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

My PB ... Was taken on a topwater cheaper than 10 dollars. More like 6 bucks... So tell me why I need a megabass popmax when this particular popper has caught me four fish over 20".. doesn't sound that impressive really but if you consider the amount of time I get to fish , and the water I have access to...

 

We don't need 99% of what we have to catch bass, it is a hobby. My time on the water is limited so I would rather pay $15 for a topwater that works correctly than $1 for one I spend half the day tuning. The other question is how many topwaters does the average person lose? I figured it out and I have lost 5 since 1987 so the cost isn't that big of a factor.

 

Allen

[ThePolkFolk]

Love me some Gambler soft plastics. Cheap and they work.

Since Roger turned me onto the Ace, I have been replacing all my GYBC senkos as they are used out.

[LBASS01]

YUM soft plastics are great and very reasonably priced.  Lunkerhunt lures are also a very good budget product.

[jr231]

6 hours ago, Munkin said:

 

We don't need 99% of what we have to catch bass, it is a hobby. My time on the water is limited so I would rather pay $15 for a topwater that works correctly than $1 for one I spend half the day tuning. The other question is how many topwaters does the average person lose? I figured it out and I have lost 5 since 1987 so the cost isn't that big of a factor.

 

Allen

 

I said in my post I don't recommend buying the 1 dollar baits ! And that the "middle of the road" baits were the way to go...

 

That being said..If I was going to splurge on a lure (pay more than I should) it would be a topwater. Or swimbait. But I'm trying my hardest to stay out of that game.lol 

 

 

[Spankey]

I sense that a lot of you guys can buy some decent stuff on a local scale. In all honesty the Dick's and Wally Worlds in my area are not that great. Years ago I had some great local sources. Dicks seems to be handling a bunch of off the wall branded items. Wally, they had a bunch of clearence stuff at late winter which was great to some degree because I have two grandsons that I'm trying to make fishing a part of their life. I have a mom and pop that's a stones throw away but it just comes up short. It works out great for trout fishing and keeping the kids hooked up with the right stuff but that's about all. TW is my mail order place that has never let me down. And my road trips to Susquehanna Tackle have always been worth it. All in all I'm not hurting or wanting for anything. 

[crypt]

soft plastics-gambler-bitters-zoom. hard baits-bomber-rapala-strike king. also do have some custom made lures,but thay didn't brake the bank. they were well worth what I paid and more.

[Bucky205]

There are big differences in store pricing here as well, some stores are 10-15% less for the same baits. Then like mentioned above watch for specials.

[primetime]

Buy lures YOU have confidence in, if you truly believe you have the right lure, color, size etc. You will catch fish. If buying a $20 Popper or walking lure gives you more confidence than throwing a Spook or Rebel Pop'r, then that is money well spent.

 

Value is different for everyone, and if you simply read a few threads on lures, you will see the same brands always coming up-Strike King, Rapala, Academy, Zoom, Yum, Berkley, gambler etc.

 

The most important money you spend is on Jigs with good hooks and the right type and weight, Right size hooks in baits, Sharp trebles, right line, Rod, reel for the application. You generally get what you pay for, and with so much competition in the fishing market, you can spend $50 at TW buying any brand you want, and have enough lures and baits to catch fish. TW doesn't carry any "Junk" like you see at certain places.

 

If you look back at Bass Tournament results in the 80's, the lures they used to win, you will realize that those same lures are still around, just in 300 colors and slight modifications.

[Munkin]

For crankbaits anything more than 8 FOW SK outfishes everything I have including LC and Megabass. The best lipless baits in my box were bought for $0.99 out of the bargin bin.

 

Allen

[Bluebasser86]

YUM has become my go to soft bait company, not just for cheaper baits, but in general. 

H2O for hard baits. 

Booyah for spinnerbaits

[Bucky205]

On 5/23/2017 at 11:10 PM, d-camarena said:

Zoom, yum and h20 xpress

only thing I spend much on is my spinnerbaits, and swim baits.  I can't ever get the cheap spinnerbaits to run right.

[GetBent]

Zoom and h20.  I turned my nose up to h20 for a while. I bought some $3 4-6ft crankbaits because I was tired of losing $8 baits. Well I stocked up on those things. Great value for sure. Only problem I have had are the hooks (VMC) but my other expensive baits have had the same issue and these are small crankbaits with small hooks so I can overlook that (till I lose a biggin lol)

[connorwallin]

Zoom, Yum and Havoc are often very good bang for your buck. Check around your sportsmen stores, I often find very good deals in store at Dicks Sporting Goods. Last weekend there was a deal on yum, havoc, and zoo, for 5 soft plastic for $10. 

[DubyaDee]

Confidence is cheap. I'd rather have 4 $25 megabass jerkbaits that I'm confident in than have $100 of dollars worth of cheap lures that I don't think will work.

 

Zoom is good quality and is usually on sale. A bottle of mend it may save a couple bucks in the long run. Dick's had a crazy good sale on Berkley power worms a month ago. Keep an eye out for those types of sales and stock up.

[NYWayfarer]

Hands down for soft plastics Yum is the winner for cheap quality baits. Best of all they always seem to be on sale at DSG/Field and Stream for $2 a bag if you buy 5 or more.

 

$10 for 5 bags of Dingers is a hard deal to beat.

[jr231]

On 5/30/2017 at 4:29 AM, GetBent said:

Zoom and h20.  I turned my nose up to h20 for a while. I bought some $3 4-6ft crankbaits because I was tired of losing $8 baits. Well I stocked up on those things. Great value for sure. Only problem I have had are the hooks (VMC) but my other expensive baits have had the same issue and these are small crankbaits with small hooks so I can overlook that (till I lose a biggin lol)

 

This is interesting.. this isn't the first complaint I've heard about VMC... I've never had an issue with any of their hooks.. from their spinshot to their "sureset" trebles I use for my topwater poppers... Many companies run these hooks.. rapala obviously.. and I've even seen some lucky craft with VMC hooks..