Reaction Strike California Classic - any good?

[Micro]

I just bought one.  It looked really nice and I've been wanting to try a bigger swimbait.  This one wasn't too expensive - $17.  It's a little late, but I thought I'd ask.  Are they worth a darn?

[fourbizz]

those things are....

well , never mind, you all know what i'll say, but you'll never listen ;D

[Micro]

Great. Why didn't you tell me that before I bought it?

Oh well, I'll give it a whirl, anyway. This one seems well made and has a sweet paintjob, if anything.

[fourbizz]

LOL.

For everyone's future reference:

Stay away from:

Reaction Strike

Akita

River2Sea HARD swimbaits ( bottomwalkers are nice baits)

Anything off ebay that isnt from the remaining major companies.

With the exception of the Japanese, nobody across the Pacific can make a swimbait that is worth a crap. And even then, most of the japanese baits are just well crafted baits that are weird and dont work all that well, lol.

[Micro]

This bait is made in Indiana. It's also made of wood.

[fourbizz]

It is not made in Indiana. The company is Indiana based however.

They OEM all their garbage out of asia.

[Micro]

Hmmm. I was just going by what's on the box.

Anyway, from what I've seen on the 'net, they seem fairly well regarded. I think I'll still give it a whirl. We don't have any high-falootin' bass in Virginia, so maybe they won't know it doesn't cost $65.  

[fourbizz]

have it your way. remember me when the paint starts flaking off, the hardware rusts, and the joints break. Thats assuming it swims well enough to make it through those 30 casts though.

[Micro]

What makes you think all that's going to happen? The thing has a pretty thick clear cloat on it. The hardware is stainless steel. There is a stainless wire running through it. The joints look very robust to me.

I can't defend the thing, I have't tried it. But you seem to have to very strong opinions about certain baits. Have you tried this bait?

[fourbizz]

I quit. If you dont want the advice, dont ask for it.

I fished quite a few of ReactionCrap for the record.

[Micro]

OK, OK, don't get so bent out of shape.  You don't like the bait.  I get it.  But "why" is kind of important.  Sorry asking the "why" part upset you.

[Randall]

Anyway, from what I've seen on the 'net, they seem fairly well regarded.

[Speed Worm]

At least you got a pair of Owner trebles  

[Randall]

At least you got a pair of Owner trebles

Nope didn't get that either. Those aren't Owners. ;D

[Micro]

Well, it's my first and only "big" swimbait.  My other swimbaits are smaller Sebiles and Jackalls.  For $17, I figured it could suck and I wouldn't be out much.  Thanks for the reviews.  

[djmax22]

Perhaps you can trade it when you are through with it. I had one and it rolled, it didn't swim and then I snapped the tail off. I ended up leaving it in the bottom of my friends boat before I skipped town and didn't give him my new address ;D

[djmax22]

For future reference you could had a 6" hud for the same price and a blemished 6" Punker Jr. for 8 more.

[ptomacbass]

I was thinking the same thing about the Huddleston.  I'm going to get a Huddleston sometime soon, I hope I can throw it on a flippin stick.

[Branuss04]

I was thinking the same thing about the Huddleston. I'm going to get a Huddleston sometime soon, I hope I can throw it on a flippin stick.

6 inch hudd yes, 8 inch NO!!!!

[Mattlures]

Dont give up on them Bizz I am sure you are helping some guys.

[Branuss04]

Dont give up on them Bizz I am sure you are helping some guys.

Just give him his "Pouting" time.... he'll be back  

[Micro]

Dont give up on them Bizz I am sure you are helping some guys.

Simply saying something sucks doesn't mean a heck of a lot. There's a lot of that going on on this board. Glenn brought it up in another thread. Someone asks about a bait then someone simply says it sucks and leaves it at that. How about if they've used it? How long? Has it caught fish? How does it rate to something comparable? Likes? Dislikes? Qualities? And if it doesn't have any, why? If it sucks it sucks, but a reason might be nice.

I know there are some long-time, specialized fisherman on this board with a wealth of knowledge, but there aren't any mind readers on this board.

[fourbizz]

Dont give up on them Bizz I am sure you are helping some guys.

Just give him his "Pouting" time.... he'll be back

Go screw yourself.

[fourbizz]

Dont give up on them Bizz I am sure you are helping some guys.

Simply saying something sucks doesn't mean a heck of a lot. There's a lot of that going on on this board. Glenn brought it up in another thread. Someone asks about a bait then someone simply says it sucks and leaves it at that. How about if they've used it? How long? Has it caught fish? How does it rate to something comparable? Likes? Dislikes? Qualities? And if it doesn't have any, why? If it sucks it sucks, but a reason might be nice.

I know there are some long-time, specialized fisherman on this board with a wealth of knowledge, but there aren't any mind readers on this board.

It just seemed to me that everything I said, you had an argument against. I also felt like my credibility on the bait was being questioned.

I suppose I would have responded better had your simple "WHY" ( yeah I caught that little jab in the other thread too) been posed as a question and not an insinuation that my thoughts on the bait were unfounded.

What it boils down too is, I have spent hundreds, if not over a thousand dollars on crappy swimbaits, and learned the hard way. I also have an extensive network of buddies who make the same mistake. So between us, we have had experience with just about every big bait there is, and probably all of the commercially available baits.

So why does the paint flake off? ---Because they are poorly made.

Why do the joints rust and break?--Because they are poorly made

Why don't I recomend this bait?--- Because I know it to be poorly made and not even worth the screamin deal you think you got.

It just gets really old having people act like I'm some sort of elitist/snob, have them insist that their 100 size reel, 30lb braid, and a flipping stick, along with a cheap chinese bait, are just as good as what I suggest. Then, a couple weeks/months later, getting PM's about just how right I was, and how they wished they would have listened the first time.

I'm not sponsored by anyone, I recomend what I know to be good baits. I also feel very strongly that the real big bait makers, who come up with this stuff, and build it well, should get my money. Not the dirtbags that take the ideas of American craftsmen, knock them off, and send them overseas to be poorly made. Then having the gall to charge 500-700% of their cost.

Yes the baits I like tend to be expensive, and I am too broke to buy them most of the time. But I like to know that my hard earned dollar goes to an American craftsman who comes up with these ideas to put food on his families table. If that makes me a "swimbait guy" (read: swimbait snob) then so be it.

[Micro]

If you felt compelled to respond, perhaps you could have given a reasonable response in your first post.  Instead you wrote "those things are...."  In your second post you wrote "Stay away from: Reaction Strike..."  In your third post you wrote "They OEM all their garbage out of asia."   In your fourth post you wrote "have it your way."  Not until your fifth post did you have something substantial to say.  Sorry if it sounded like I was being defensive, but it felt like pulling teeth to get the one person who knew something to say something that meant something.