Expensive crankbaits?? Lucky Crafts etc....

[Shadcranker]

I use the Sammys, pointers, etc., and I don't mind paying $15 for them, b/c you hardly ever lose a topwater.

I just can't bring myself to throw a $15 crankbait and root it along the bottom.

Are the high dollare CB's worth the $$$? I'm considering buying a few hand-made balsa baits to try, but they're around $20 each.

I have good luck with bandits, shad raps, strike king series baits, and the whole line of Normans.

It hurts bad enough to break off a $5 shad rap.

Your thoughts please.

[Bud]

Well here we go again. Yes the CB are worth the price. They work the first time out of the box with no tunning.  If you will do a search for this subject you will find pages full of opinion on the subject.

[VAbacklash]

I have the same problem with those high dollar cranks. I finally broke down and ordered four at about $15 to $18 a piece. I hope BP mails them in a plain brown wrapper so my that maybe my wife won't notice them. I thought I would give them a try before I got too carried away. Lord knows I NEED more crankbaits.

[Marty]

I use the Sammys, pointers, etc., and I don't mind paying $15 for them, b/c you hardly ever lose a topwater.

You obviously don't fish pike and pickerel waters!!  

[5bass]

Although no tuning is required,thats not a legit enough reason alone for ME to buy them,but it is a factor. I also buy them because I like the actions of most all of the LC cranks, the paint jobs are slick and from what I've seen,hold up very well. The way they are designed also plays a big part in casting distances which means a whole lot when cranking. They also emit totally different sounds than most other cranks because LC cranks with rattles are brass,glass or tungsten and sometimes a combination,depending on the bait.

The LC Flat CBD-20 is an outstanding deep crank and although I may cringe when I bounce off something or hang one up, I still throw them ALOT! Sure, I've lost a few but the fish I catch with them outweighs that $15 bucks.

Plus,another thing that I believe makes them a little better than others is that not everybody owns them and lots of people think just like you about the LC cranks......"I'm not dragging $15 bucks along the bottom" and the fish just dont see them as much as, say a Rapala DT16 or a DD22. That theory may not hold water in the scientific world but I believe it and I have a ton of confidence in the LC cranks.

[Shadcranker]

Dang Bud- didn't mean to touch a nerve.

I'm new here.

Maybe I'll dredge up a few of your LC's with my mis-tuned DD22's over at Barkley, and I can try one for free.

[CK14]

i don't see the point in buying a lure that costs $15 when you know you'll lose it sometime or another. i'd think it would make you scared to through your baits in spots were you could get hung-up. i'd stick with shad-raps and normans  8-)

[Munkin]

I have been hesitant to try some of the deeper divers so far but I have done well with the RC 1.5 so I plan on trying more this year.

Allen

[The_Natural]

I throw a few Lucky Craft crankbaits, but the Moonsault CB is the one that is without an equal produced by any other company.  It is the tightest wiggling, loudest crankbait on the market.  It has multiple rattle chambers that utilize tungsten, glass beads, and lead to produce a unique racket that excels in colder water.  If you decided to shell out for just one Lucky Craft crankbait to try...this is the one to buy, and the chartreuse shad color will work in any water clarity.  

[CJ]

Luckycraft D-20 is worth it because it will dive 20ft.

[Stringjam]

Get a telescoping lure retriever and you won't lose very many baits.  

Is a $15 or $20 crankbait expensive?  In my opinion - - no.  

I can buy a $20 crankbait and fish with it all year for $20......I can get on a soft plastics bite and run through that much money in a couple of weekends (especially with Yamamoto's @ $5+ a bag).    

IMO, tuning is a not a big deal.  Every bait requires tuning at some point, no matter how expensive.....a battle with a nice fish can easily bend the soft brass line ties many of the cranks have - - no biggie, a pair of pliars and little practice is all you need.    

[KU_Bassmaster.]

Two years ago I bought my first LC.  Coincidentally, that day was also the day I "invested" in a lure retriever. ;D  I just can't explain how effective lure retrievers are.  I have had about a 99% success rate with it, and I get hung up quite a bit.

I think the over the past two years I have accumulated 20 or so LC's.  I have lost only one .. and guess what it was??? ........ A Sammy!!!!!!  It was a fairly chilly morning (for summer standards), very humid, and misting on and off.  I see some shad bust the surface quite a ways up ahead, so I dropped whatever I was fishing and picked up my set-up with a Sammy tied on.  I rear back and try to make the longest cast of my life.  And it was ..... It was the farthest I had ever casted a rod and reel. : :'(

[BIG M]

If you ever break down and fish with a custom made balsa crank, all those bandits, normans, and verious plastic cranks will fill a bucket in the garage.   Nothing and I mean nothing runs like a properly made handcrafted balsa bait (worth every penny).  Get a plug knocker, I haven't lost a crankbait in two years.  

[Lucky Craft Man]

I was at first heistant to spend so much money on a Lucky Craft.  I bought my first pointer 100 off of eBay (you can get slightly better deals there) for around $10.  The first day I used it I caught around 20 bass.  After a year with it, I would estimate I have caught over 100 bass on it.  That translates into 11 cents per fish.  To me I would gladly pay 10 cents a fish and my first pointer is still going strong (though the finish is pretty much shot and water has leaked inside, so it's a slow-sinking bait as opposed to a suspending one now).  Since then, I have purchased a lot more Lucky Crafts, because I have confidence in them and I feel they catch more fish then comparible conventional lures.  So to me they are worth it, but I haven't lost one yet.    

[Guest avid]

value is subjective.

If you think it's worth it

then it's worth it.

If you don't

than it aint'.

In case your wondering, I buy em, I use em.  Some work real well, some don't.

[boondocks]

The LC's still seem a little expensive for my taste. I mean can anyone honestly say they are that much better than a Rapala? If I am ever convinced that they are that much better than I'll try some out. I can't imagine one being that much better than the next to cost that much extra, but I have been known to be wrong.

As far as them being tuned right out of the box, that just isn't a good enough reason for me to pay that kind of extra money. Any crank can be tuned in a minute or less.

[BassBeat101]

It is all relatively.  They are simply not worth the price for me because I do not have the funds to justify a bait that expensive - I have to stick to the Rapalas, Cordells, etc. of the world.  Now, if I had the funds to drop on a Lucky Craft, I would certainly do it - from what I've touched and seen they seem to be of better construction, and that would make me think it will have more consistent performance for a longer time - and the "realism" factor seems to increase as well.  While only personal experimentation will only justify whether or not it is really "worth it", it seems worth a shot.  I have a Bass Pro Bionix rod - is a step up to a St. Croix Avid "worth it"?  Hell yeah.

Daryl

[bass109]

Depends on you but i would throw a 15+ crank anyday.

[Bud]

                    Dang Bud- didn't mean to touch a nerve.

I'm new here.

Maybe I'll dredge up a few of your LC's with my mis-tuned DD22's over at Barkley, and I can try one for free.

 

  Shadcranker  you didn't touch any nerve of mine.  If you fine any of my LC you are more than welcome to them.  As far as the rest of the comment about tunning that is just ONE of the reason I use them.  Their are many more.  The main one is I like them.