Livetarget Hollowbody Craw

[RealtreeByGod]

Anyone heard of / used these things? Randomly went on TW and saw them featured and thought they looked pretty neat. 

[GreenPig]

Seen them. I believe I'll stick with a standard jig. Reviews on TW aren't very promising. 

[Bluebasser86]

LiveTarget is great at catching fishermen, not so great at catching fish IMO.

[Russ E]

I agree with @Bluebasser86 

Bought a couple of their  baits over the years and still have not caught fish on them.

Live target baits usually have a good presence in the Cabelas bargain cave.

[jr231]

I don't have any experience with the new craw you're speaking of. And live target definitely catches alot of hate... 

 

I've caught a couple nice ones(3-4lbs) on their topwater sunfish that 85 percent of people seem to dislike.. I also have one of their lipless cranks that has more bites than any of my other lipless baits.. 

 

I've heard some good stories about the baitball too. 

 

Some of their products work it isn't all trash. That being said, probably better off with a regular jig. 

[snake95]

1 hour ago, Yeajray231 said:

Some of their products work it isn't all trash. That being said, probably better off with a regular jig. 

Agreed.  I think all the attention to realism is the biggest gimmick part, and I think the "trick" works best on newer anglers who think that the key to an effective lure is that the more detailed it looks to us when motionless, the more real it will somehow look to the fish.

 

It's almost coincidental the company does make a few truly effective and good quality baits, although IMHO these are effective lures, well as also being very detailed, and not because of it.

 

(Standouts include their hollow body frog, and their lipless cranks).

 

Their cranks have also performed well for me, but the realism is a side-benefit that adds greatly to the cost.  I think the cranks are worth buying, but it is not worth paying extra for the detail. 

 

I bought some early on as I built up my collection, and I'm glad it was only when they were on super sale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spankey]

I bit on buying two 3/8 oz. patterns. I ‘ve gotten a lot of hits, bumps and taps in on them. I’ve landed a few smaller 1 - 1 1/2 lb. fish. I’ve made it a point to fish them every time out since I’ve gotten them. I believe I have to modify them or eliminate some of the head shape. I believe that is where my hook problem exists. The claws/pinchers are holding up well. They give you a spare replacement set. I posted a thread on buying these. I don’t have any regrets as of yet. I don’t have $100 tied up in them either, not going to overthink their live look effectiveness all to much. I have to hang in there with them. When I first got them I thought the smell of the material they were made of was a bit strong. I left the outside for about 5 days before I tied one on. That was not necessary to do that. I did get big hits and bumps from my first batch of casts with them. I feel I’m going to get a nice one on them. I’m willing to stick with them. 

 

I really don't fish much of anything LIVETARGET Brand. I do pretty well on Rapala crankbaits for the most part. Back a few years ago I got on a short kick to fish some Shad Raps and DT’s in their live image patterns. They produce very poorly for me. Channel cats seemed to have liked them. Oh well they caught me I guess. But it’s not like I have $100’s of dollars tied up in live image type stuff. I’m sure there is guys kicking butt with this stuff. 

On 9/14/2019 at 7:22 AM, Russ E said:

I agree with @Bluebasser86 

Bought a couple of their  baits over the years and still have not caught fish on them.

Live target baits usually have a good presence in the Cabelas bargain cave.

LIVETARGET baits are hard to find in my area. There is a guy who had a good selection at one time but he is cut way back in his selections and quantities. 

 

When he had that selection I really wasn’t all that interested. I’m not a fan of that baitball look or what it is trying to mimic. Seems bogus. Especially on a 2 1/4” crankbait. 

[FishingGeekTX]

I'd rather buy more custom jigs, colors, heads, hooks, guards...from Siebert's, at a fraction of the cost, and then put my trailer of choice on it.

 

That's not to say I'm not a sucker for new tackle, I bought a ton of "lifelike" craws some months back, and I fished them good...no fish.  I have more luck on a regular rage-craw type soft plastic....maybe due to the action.  I have a lot of lifelike craws that are now just decorations   Seeing yet another craw-like invention makes me skeptical.

 

I don't know what it is about lifelike craw, they simply haven't caught me LMB.  Maybe I should use them instead of jigs for a while, just to get some confidence on them so I can utilize those otherwise dust-collecting lures.  Maybe I should be fishing SMB with them...have to travel to catch some on them

[Gunthos]

Live Target has some good lures.  To me 2 of them are best of type :

 

Hollow Body Frog

 

Shallow Bluegill crankbait.  These are like the ones Bill Dance always uses when kids come on but his are Rebel, but these little realistic crankbaits are very good.

 

Then for me -

 

Their lipless crankbait, the Golden Shiner is my #1 lipless, but I haven't tried many.  Also, I used the small one for success for saltwater stripers on Governors Island NY.  But have you ever held one of these things?  Oh my, they are impressive, you just know you'll catch fish on them.

 

The tiny Dace jerkbait is my #1 current stat leader with 5 fish.  I don't fish much, usually a two hour shot 4 times a year fishing for tiny fish, but this one has surprisingly worked.  Doesn't always seem to run right, I'd rather use a Pointer 65, but hey it looks just like the water color when its in the water.

 

I've also heard good things about their bigger Perch jerkbait.

 

That's my take.

[HenryPF]

Meh, it works - not any better than the other jig I was throwing that day though.

 

Oh - I promptly snagged it and lost it after the 2nd fish.

 

 

 

[WRB]

$9-$10 per jig is a tough sell.

Innovative design and worth trying when they get to be bargain bin close outs.

Time will tell.

Tom

[Preytorien]

On 9/14/2019 at 1:34 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

LiveTarget is great at catching fishermen, not so great at catching fish IMO.

I don't know that a truer statement has ever been spoken on this site