Berkley Warpig

[Brett's_daddy]

Okay, thinking on getting some of these as i like the looks and action but the common complaint seems to be that the paint on the nose chips off easy and so do the eyes...wondering if I did buy these baits and applied a little Hard As Nails clear coat to the nose area and eyes if that would solve these problems?

[ww2farmer]

For the last 10 or so years I fished the Strike King Red Eye shad almost exclusively, except when I wanted a knocking style bait, then I used the old X-caliber one knockers.

 

That's nothing more than a disclaimer...to this.....This spring I fished the Warpig a lot to see if it was a viable bait. It was. Even though I had a poor lipless and jerkbait "season" early, it wasn't the fault of the baits I was using (warpig and skinny cutter 110), when I wasn't getting bit on the Berkley baits, I wasn't getting bit on the others either. I didn't find the Warpig to have an un-durable paint job, I didn't care for the stock hooks.....which is weird because I liked  them on the Cutter. So I took them all off the Warpigs I bought, and used them as spares for the Cutters. I switched the warpigs out to Mustad KVD 1x strong, 2x short triple grips, and the bait still performed as well as it did with the stock hooks (which I found to be too small, and too light for ripping a lipless, but they worked good on the jerkbait). I did have the paint come off one Skinny Cutter 110 in the color "Chameleon Vapor"....but that was after multiple big pike and smallmouth caught on it...so it gets a pass. I used the Warpigs in 2 colors..."Vintage Craw" and "Gilly" and the paint on both stood up just fine to pike, largemouth, smallmouth, and a few big walleyes. But I am mostly ripping them out of grass, or yo-yoing them off the bottom, not grinding them into rocks.

[The Bassman]

I'm as guilty of this as anybody but it seems our hardbaits become jewelry to us.  Fact is that some of my most effective baits are an eyesore from so much use.  Guys on TT show collections of lures that probably never touch water.

[Brett's_daddy]

So the issues with the Warpig's paint durability are exaggerated? Would applying the Hard As Nails just be a piece of mind?

[OkobojiEagle]

1 hour ago, Brett's_daddy said:

So the issues with the Warpig's paint durability are exaggerated? Would applying the Hard As Nails just be a piece of mind?

I don't know if its being exaggerated, but who's doing the complaining, the bass or the bass anglers?

 

oe

[Bluebasser86]

I have a few of them and like the bait pretty well. I agree about the hooks, I like how sharp they are but the sizes seem wrong to me so I swapped them out. I haven't had any problems with paint or eyes falling off and I've fished them quite a bit. It's not something I worry about though, I like baits with mojo, they catch more fish. 

[Brett's_daddy]

7 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I agree about the hooks, I like how sharp they are but the sizes seem wrong to me so I swapped them out.

So what size hooks do you recommend for this bait?

[BassNJake]

17 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

Okay, thinking on getting some of these as i like the looks and action but the common complaint seems to be that the paint on the nose chips off easy and so do the eyes...wondering if I did buy these baits and applied a little Hard As Nails clear coat to the nose area and eyes if that would solve these problems?

I cant speak for the warpig, but one of my favorite techniques is to grind an X-calibur along the bottom.

The paint and the eyes did chip off and I used the hard as nails and after one trip that was ground away as well.

I also tried devcon epoxy and nope that didn't work either.

But what would when your slowly grinding the lure against rocks?

 

The ones that are a little beat up seem to be the ones I have the most confidence in and they seem work the best for me.

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

So what size hooks do you recommend for this bait?

#4 is what I put on most all 1/2-5/8oz rattlebaits

[Jaderose]

Never had a warpig I didn't lose.  No idea why but I've snagged and lost every single one.  Gotta be the bait.  Couldn't be the fisherman! 

 

[Brett's_daddy]

2 hours ago, Jaderose said:

Never had a warpig I didn't lose.  No idea why but I've snagged and lost every single one.  Gotta be the bait.  Couldn't be the fisherman! 

 

I thought they were supposed to be one of the most snagproof of any lipless crankbaits made .

[Bluebasser86]

10 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

I thought they were supposed to be one of the most snagproof of any lipless crankbaits made .

I haven't lost one yet, but I don't lose many lipless baits in general. 

[Jaderose]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I haven't lost one yet, but I don't lose many lipless baits in general. 

Me neither...unless it's a warpig.  *shrugs*  Obviously, I don't blame the bait.  I like them.....I just seem to lose them.  And that's out of a boat and with a plug knocker.  Once they're snagged, they're gone.  For me anyway.

[kenmitch]

Warpigs work for me at times. I use 30lb braid and just move up to them and pull out the snags when they happen.

 

As far as longevity goes a couple decent bass and I'm happy with it. I only buy them if there on sale. 

 

Caught my largest bass of this year on one in the springtime. First time I really fished it as my goto at the time was a rattletrap and was doing a little experiment that day. Switching back and forth between the 2 of them. Trap one 4 to 3 but bigfish went to the pig. 5.8lb inhaled and litteraly almost swallowed it just as it hit the water.