Inconsistencies In Sk Crankbaits

[airborne_angler]

I have 2 series 3 Crankbaits from Strike King.I bought each of them from a different seller on Ebay.They both have the exact same paint scheme(Sexy Shad). They both have rattles,but one has louder rattles than the other. Is this an issue with Quality Control or what?

[Hooligan]

I doubt it. There are a half million factors that could contribute to that.

[Oscar O.]

Well since you already bought it look on the bright side, you have more variety now when you're on the water. If that crank is the bait that's really working well on a day you can refine the pattern based on which bait's rattles are more effective.

Also, I remember reading about how in a tourney a pro (possibly KVD, I don't remember exactly who) was using a lipless crank with rattles and was catching fish for a while and the bite died off. When he switched to a bait with the same style but no rattles the bite picked up. He switched back and forth when the bites died off for each bait and was able to stay in a spot longer and continue to consistently catch fish.

So maybe this little mishap could turn out to be an advantage on the water

[Grey Wolf]

Remember it's a mass produced product !!!!!!!!!

[CWB]

Again with ebay. Fairly common with crankbaits, especially Strike King.

Give it a whack on the countertop. Most times that will free up the rattle(s).

If not, then you have 2 sound options as stated above.

[Chris]

If the bait runs true you will catch more fish on the lower pitch rattle lure over the other ones. It is the imperfections that make it a better and more fish producing lure. For whatever reason that rattle got hung up which means it has plastic blocking the chamber. Depending on how they designed the lure can throw the lure off just a little in how it tracks or a bunch. If it still tracks true you actually have a gem.

[TrippyJai]

Strike King baits are one of the worse company when it comes to consistency. Yes, I know they are mass produced and maybe they can be special working in your favour, but like I said, they are probably the worse when it comes to this.

I like their baits a lot, but I do get annoyed that every bait has some type of issue. Whether it's not running true out of package, an eye falling off after a few fish, some eyes are smaller than the groove that is for them, baits chipping easier, rattles being stuck, etc.

My last visit at BPS, the KVD Square Bill Crankbaits were almost sold out, but I found a whole row of the rattling chart/black ones and I was wondering why this was still here. I picked them up, look at them carefully and saw a minor flaw on EVERY single bait. Some had excess glue, some had what looked like a chip bill, bad paint jobs, etc. I guess this could of been the reason why they were not sold.