View on Rapala DT Series Crankbaits?

[Outdoors]

I've seen in some older reviews the mention of the color being chipped easily, and the lips being easily breakable... Is this still the case? If anyone has purchased one recently, wouldn't mind hearing your opinion.

[flyfisher]

I fish with them a lot and have no complaints.  They perform well and do what they say they will.  Durability also has not been an issue for me at all.

[fish devil]

Love the DT 4 and 6. I use them frequently. The breaking lip is my only complaint. I probably went through a half dozen in the past few years although I do fish them around wood/ lay downs so the bill does get abused a bit. Overall its one of my favorite crankbait series.

[fishballer06]

I own 100+ DT's and I fish them more than any other crankbait. I've broken 2 of them. First one I slapped the water to remove weeds (Rapala prints directly on the box not to do this) and the second one I casted and hit a concrete bridge pillar. So no, I don't think they are weak or of poor quality. 

 

As for the paint, no, it does not chip off. I have baits that have been drug over rocks for days and caught dozens of fish and the paint has never chipped off. I don't know where you heard this one. 

[Outdoors]

4 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

I own 100+ DT's and I fish them more than any other crankbait. I've broken 2 of them. First one I slapped the water to remove weeds (Rapala prints directly on the box not to do this) and the second one I casted and hit a concrete bridge pillar. So no, I don't think they are weak or of poor quality. 

 

As for the paint, no, it does not chip off. I have baits that have been drug over rocks for days and caught dozens of fish and the paint has never chipped off. I don't know where you heard this one. 

It was in one of those Youtube reviews. The user said they chip easier than other cranks. 2:03 timestamp.

 

 

But I've never used them before.

[flyfisher]

if you are banging baits into cover then you are going to have paint chip eventually.  I haven't had any issues with paint chipping on mine.

 

I haven't fished the live series so i can't comment but I am curious as to how you quantify that they are more prone to paint chipping.  I have some really beat up crank baits and funny thing is, they still catch fish  

[huffman1988]

I have some DT14's and 16's, and I haven't had any problems with them at all. No broken bills or paint chipping. They look great in the water too.

[Outdoors]

3 hours ago, flyfisher said:

if you are banging baits into cover then you are going to have paint chip eventually.  I haven't had any issues with paint chipping on mine.

 

I haven't fished the live series so i can't comment but I am curious as to how you quantify that they are more prone to paint chipping.  I have some really beat up crank baits and funny thing is, they still catch fish  

It was just some Youtube review from a user. He said the live series chips easier than regular crankbaits.

 

I haven't used them either... yet.

[WIGuide]

The DT series crankbaits are some of my favorite baits. I've been using them for years and have broken exactly one. I threw it into a railroad bridge as my cast was a little too high and it split. I can probably pull it the rest of the way apart, add wood glue, and continue fishing it. I haven't had the paint chip on the live or regular baits. Most of the time mine get hook rash where they rub on the retrieve, but they wear through the paint and it still doesn't chip. 

[punch]

Want to extend the life of your DT series baits?? DON'T SLAP THEM ON THE WATER! Can't tell you how many people slap their balsa baits on the water to shake weeds off.. you're basically shortening the life span. 

 

That being said DT4 and DT6's are basically in my rotation all season. They are awesome multi-species baits too... catch a lot of walleye and pike on them throughout the year. 

[fishballer06]

12 hours ago, Outdoors said:

It was in one of those Youtube reviews. The user said they chip easier than other cranks. 2:03 timestamp.

 

But I've never used them before.

 

If you want solid fishing advice, I suggest you don't watch YouTube video's pieced together by a 14 year old kid with an iPhone...

[Outdoors]

4 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

 

If you want solid fishing advice, I suggest you don't watch YouTube video's pieced together by a 14 year old kid with an iPhone...

That's a burn... but I know what you mean. I result to bassresource much as I can nowadays.

[smalljaw67]

The DT series is a reasonably priced balsa crank that is very effective. I have a few DT Thugs along with a good supply of DT-4s, DT-6s, and DT-10s and I also like the DT-Flat 7s and the DT-Fat 3, they all work well. A lot of issues can pop up with balsa cranks because balsa isn't as durable as plastic but they also float higher and faster which is why balsa square bills seem to get through cover better. I have had 2 bills break on me, one was a DT-Fat 3 that I wedged in a log and the other was a DT-6 that I banged into a rock in 47 degree water. I don't consider it bad to have 2 bills break after I've made thousands of casts with all of them, I have about 40 or 50 DT series cranks at my last count so I take that into consideration as well.