The Absolute worst bait i've purchased since the early 2000's.

[ABU is overpriced]

I am blown away by how much of a dumpster fire this bait is. The bait in question is the Freedom Tackle Mischief Minnow in the 3.5" size. I don't know what they were thinking when making it, but when you take a jerkbait, entangle it on your line, and retreive it on the surface, it has a better action than this Mischief Minnow. When you retrieve it slowly, the bait rolls on itself, there's barely any vibration/flash from the blade, and it looks like a mess. If you pop it on the surface, the bait barrel rolls on itself like its entangled on your line. No joke, the absolute worst hardbait i've purchased since i got into fishing in 99-2000. Dollar store baits have better action, and Freedom Tackle is charging $15 canadian dollars for this.

What's the worst bait you've tried in years?

[BayouSlide]

Sorry it didn't work out for you but, when retrieved at a decent clip, the blade churns the surface quit well. Consider it a hard bodied buzzbait 😉

[ABU is overpriced]

5 minutes ago, BayouSlide said:

Sorry it didn't work out for you but, when retrieved at a decent clip, the blade churns the surface quit well. Consider it a hard bodied buzzbait 😉

If you retreive it fast, it flies out of the water, and is barely touching it. The action reminds me of when you catch some salad on your walking bait, you begin retreiving it fast to remove it, and that's the action of this bait on a faster retreive speed. I don't know how it is with the larger sizes they offer, but the 3.5" is incredibly poorly thought out.

[Munkin]

Live Target bluegill bait that's like a hollow belly frog. Took on water on the 3rd cast and sank. In theory it was a good bait just failed in the final product.

 

Lure that also got me was a Nishine crankbait that I paid like $35-40 for. Bait looks great it just has never caught a single fish and I try. Figured it owes me at least one fish based on what I paid? It just keeps letting me down.

 

Allen

[Brian11719]

If you already swap hooks out and have the tool for it you could just take that blade off and save it for an underspin elsewhere then just chuck that like a jerkbait with no bill...probably what I would do if I didn't end up just chucking it entirely...

[BassinCNY]

So you're saying I should temper my expectations about the new one I have still in the box and my local river smallmouth?

[ABU is overpriced]

9 hours ago, Brian11719 said:

If you already swap hooks out and have the tool for it you could just take that blade off and save it for an underspin elsewhere then just chuck that like a jerkbait with no bill...probably what I would do if I didn't end up just chucking it entirely...

Good idea.

8 hours ago, BassinCNY said:

So you're saying I should temper my expectations about the new one I have still in the box and my local river smallmouth?

What size is yours? If its the same 3.5", i want you to experience it🙃

[BayouSlide]

10 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Good idea.

What size is yours? If its the same 3.5", i want you to experience it🙃

 

Dang, I must have received some magic 3.5s, all three work exactly as they are supposed to. Some guys are just lucky 😉👍

[ABU is overpriced]

14 hours ago, BayouSlide said:

 

Dang, I must have received some magic 3.5s, all three work exactly as they are supposed to. Some guys are just lucky 😉👍

Looking at this video, this is absolutely not the action mine is getting. Because they're super light, under standard retreive, they don't stay on the water for the blade to spin. Instead, they roll on themselves and are "sliding" on top of the water just like an entangled bait.

 

[FishTank]

9 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Looking at this video, this is absolutely not the action mine is getting. Because they're super light, under standard retreive, they don't stay on the water for the blade to spin. Instead, they roll on themselves and are "sliding" on top of the water just like an entangled bait.

 

 

Are you using spinning gear? Many years ago I had a pencil bait with a tailspin that did something similar.  It was around 1/4oz. It was difficult to cast on the gear I had so I throw it on a spinning set up. I eventually got a Med casting rod that I could cast it on and problem solved. It had a similar action to a whooper popper but you could also walk it. 

[ABU is overpriced]

8 minutes ago, FishTank said:

 

Are you using spinning gear? Many years ago I had a pencil bait with a tailspin that did something similar.  It was around 1/4oz. It was difficult to cast on the gear I had so I throw it on a spinning set up. I eventually got a Med casting rod that I could cast it on and problem solved. It had a similar action to a whooper popper but you could also walk it. 

Using a Pixy with 8lb braid to a fluoro leader. Medium casting rod as well.

[FishTank]

1 hour ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Using a Pixy with 8lb braid to a fluoro leader. Medium casting rod as well.

 Nice reel and it sounds like what would throw it on.

 

My only other thoughts would be that you're casting out far enough that the FC is sinking some during the retrieve, causing the bait to get out of sorts. Seems odd but I have seen this with BFS topwater baits, like the Megadog X Jr BFS, and the 5lb FC I'm using.  I find it's better to use braid to leader in this scenario.  

 

Also, I don't know anything about your particular lure as I have not fished it but it has been around for a littlewhile, seems to sell pretty well and you are the first I could find that has had an issue.  It makes me think you got a dud lure. It happens, even with best quality lures made. You might reach out to the manufacturer and see what they have to say. 

 

As far as a bad lure goes, my current gripe goes against Core Tackle and the Wacky Shot. I get bit, drive the hook in, and the fish pop off easily.  I was around 0 for 20 in getting fish in the boat with this piece of tackle.  

 

[ABU is overpriced]

16 minutes ago, FishTank said:

 Nice reel and it sounds like what would throw it on.

 

My only other thoughts would be that you're casting out far enough that the FC is sinking some during the retrieve, causing the bait to get out of sorts. Seems odd but I have seen this with BFS topwater baits, like the Megadog X Jr BFS, and the 5lb FC I'm using.  I find it's better to use braid to leader in this scenario.  

 

Also, I don't know anything about your particular lure as I have not fished it but it has been around for a littlewhile, seems to sell pretty well and you are the first I could find that has had an issue.  It makes me think you got a dud lure. It happens, even with best quality lures made. You might reach out to the manufacturer and see what they have to say. 

 

As far as a bad lure goes, my current gripe goes against Core Tackle and the Wacky Shot. I get bit, drive the hook in, and the fish pop off easily.  I was around 0 for 20 in getting fish in the boat with this piece of tackle.  

 

Next time i am on the water, i'll try to use it without the leader, or with a mono leader, but i don't think it'll make a difference because i've tried short casts (this lure doesn't fly very far to begin with) as well, and no matter what i did, it ran poorly directly from the package. It feels to me that the lure is simply too light to stay on the water, and have that large blade spin underwater like its shown in the videos.

[BayouSlide]

Sorry you have trouble with this bait but I'd definitely reach out to the manufacturer with the request to replace it because it doesn't run right.

 

I doubt they'd be happy if you're unhappy. One of mine lost a blade when I nailed it into a hard object and I wrote asking if I could purchase a blade. They sent me a brand new bait: an example of going beyond the expected in customer service. 😎👍

 

BTW, I use straight flouro so I don't think line will make much of a difference.

[FishTank]

17 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Next time i am on the water, i'll try to use it without the leader, or with a mono leader, but i don't think it'll make a difference because i've tried short casts (this lure doesn't fly very far to begin with) as well, and no matter what i did, it ran poorly directly from the package. It feels to me that the lure is simply too light to stay on the water, and have that large blade spin underwater like its shown in the videos.

 

One dumb thought..... Are you using a snap?  I watched the video again and noticed when he is talking about the bait,  the ones he has in hand don't have a snap but the ones he is fishing do. If you are tying direct,  that can change the action of the lure.

[ABU is overpriced]

12 minutes ago, FishTank said:

 

One dumb thought..... Are you using a snap?  I watched the video again and noticed when he is talking about the bait,  the ones he has in hand don't have a snap but the ones he is fishing do. If you are tying direct,  that can change the action of the lure.

These come with a snap pre installed, so that's what i used.

[Bigbox99]

21 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Looking at this video, this is absolutely not the action mine is getting. Because they're super light, under standard retreive, they don't stay on the water for the blade to spin. Instead, they roll on themselves and are "sliding" on top of the water just like an entangled bait.

 

My 1st thought about a min into the video is that I would use a 6 gear reel with a moderate retrieve based on the action and the key word "hunt".  Unstable baits that hunt are a favorite of mine and for the uninitiated these means baits that blow out spiral or otherwise have unsatisfactory action to those that work them too fast.  My recommendation would be to slow down and let it go crazy darting and clacking.

[ABU is overpriced]

1 hour ago, Bigbox99 said:

My 1st thought about a min into the video is that I would use a 6 gear reel with a moderate retrieve based on the action and the key word "hunt".  Unstable baits that hunt are a favorite of mine and for the uninitiated these means baits that blow out spiral or otherwise have unsatisfactory action to those that work them too fast.  My recommendation would be to slow down and let it go crazy darting and clacking.

I use the 6.8 ratio on my pixy. No matter if its slow, medium or fast, compared to any other topwater lures i have ever tried, this has an abysmal action. As i've mentioned many times, its like you have a bait that's entangled in your line, and that's the actual action of the bait for $15.

[BayouSlide]

6.24# caught yesterday on a 3.5 in. Mischief Minnow in bone color. Rather than a steady retrieve, I slashed it like a topwater jerkbait, splashing and stopping once in a while. Makes it look like an injured shad struggling on the surface. 😎👍

 

Gar loved that retrieve as well. 😉

[ABU is overpriced]

1 hour ago, BayouSlide said:

6.24# caught yesterday on a 3.5 in. Mischief Minnow in bone color. Rather than a steady retrieve, I slashed it like a topwater jerkbait, splashing and stopping once in a while. Makes it look like an injured shad struggling on the surface. 😎👍

 

Gar loved that retrieve as well. 😉

I tried that after seeing how poor the normal retreive is, but the bait spins on itself, it looks so bad.

[rboat]

I don't know anything about that bait, but maybe you could try to down size that blade and see if makes the action any different. It looks like in the video that blade sometimes throws the lure into a slight spin. Good luck, let us know what you come up with. Contacting the company may not be a bad idea.

[Spankey]

Mine is not one particular bait. I’m a crankbait addict and junkie. Have a strong confidence level of fishing them. But ones that have a live image look to them are a no go for me. Has to be a mental block or something. Being the Rapala fanboy I am I had high expectations when I went to fish their version of some live image finishes. Rapala’s original Bluegill is a long time producer for me. Live image Bluegill had to be as good “NOT”. Rapala original Largemouth Bass another long time producer, the live image Largemouth and Smallmouth has to work as well, “NOT”. Big fish eat smaller fish. That theory went out the window. The live image have worked best on channel catfish while bass fish. BUT, I think it’s more of a mental block for me, others I’m sure are having success with them.