Expensive Baits

[Huntnfish]

I just got back from the lake after an awesome night on the water with one of my buddys. All week he has been pumped up to use his spro lil john crankbaits, which are $13 a piece. I just said I'll stick with my bandits and whatever else I could find in the box. Well, after all was said and done, he ended up with 9 on his lil john, while I only caught one. I was in the front of the boat setting myself up to catch em but he just kept pulling em in from the back of the boat. So with such a lopsided result does that mean that the more expensive baits are "better"? I have a hard enough time spending 5 bucks on a crankbait so I'd be swimmin if a $13 bait was hooked up. What do you guys think?

[fishingkidPA]

honestly i don't think so. i know guys who slay the bass on those really cheap yozuri crankbaits i always see in the clearance bins. but maybe it was something with the bait, like the color or if it had a tight or wide wobble. Small things like that can prove to be important.

[BASSclary]

The fish dont know how much he spent on a crankbait. But they probably picked up something they liked about it compared to your crank. Whether it be tighter or wider wobble, deeper depth, different color.

However generally speaking, you get better "Quality" baits if you spend a little more. LIke nicer paint jobs, sharper hooks, tungsten internal weights, etc. Although the affore mentioned things are not necessary to catch quality fish.

[Bluebasser86]

Crankbaits are just another tool in the toolbox. With that being said do you want to have to break loose a rusty bolt with a bargin bin pair of dollar pliers, or an impact wrench? Not saying that cheaper baits don't get it done, they'll outfish the expensive baits sometimes, but expensive baits are built better. The vibrations they put out, the sounds they make, the finish and details on the baits, it makes a difference for sure. Get a good lure retriever and retie often and you won't loose many. Someone was saying on a different thread a few days ago how expensive is a crankbait really? Say you buy a LC Rick Clunn 1.5 for $15, a good chunk of change for one bait. You catch hundreds of fish on that one bait and have it for 15 years before you bounce it off a rock and break the bill. That bait cost you $1 a year and put tons of fish in your boat. It really works out to make "expensive" crankbaits cheaper than a bag of plastic worms if you think about it.

[Grey Wolf]

I just got back from the lake after an awesome night on the water with one of my buddys. All week he has been pumped up to use his spro lil john crankbaits, which are $13 a piece. I just said I'll stick with my bandits and whatever else I could find in the box. Well, after all was said and done, he ended up with 9 on his lil john, while I only caught one. I was in the front of the boat setting myself up to catch em but he just kept pulling em in from the back of the boat. So with such a lopsided result does that mean that the more expensive baits are "better"? I have a hard enough time spending 5 bucks on a crankbait so I'd be swimmin if a $13 bait was hooked up. What do you guys think?

There are many reasons why he outfished you , one of them is that he may just have a better presentation than you.

[Stasher1]

honestly i don't think so. i know guys who slay the bass on those really cheap yozuri crankbaits i always see in the clearance bins. but maybe it was something with the bait, like the color or if it had a tight or wide wobble. Small things like that can prove to be important.

Yozuri or Matzuo? I see tons of Matzuo cranks in the clearance bins around here, but never Yozuri. I have a few of the Hardcore Drums and Crystal Minnows and overall I've been pretty pleased with them.

[DeBassin619]

Listen, If it's a matter of beating your partner at fishing for the day RoLF, Then there are plenty of other lures that will outfish a crank. Unless, The conditions of the day were ideal for cranking: Which, do you remember What they were? (sky, water temp, water clearity, any wind, what kind of structure and cover were you fishing etc).

Also, What color were you using? What color was he using? Was there any weight or rattles in any of them, In comparison, to each other's? Were they the exact same type of crank (Deep, shallow, lipless, mid etc) or was there any difference?

It sounds like it was a combination of: Location, Presentation and merchandise. But idk and how were you retrieving the bait?

It's hard to gage without having a mental picture of exactly what the fishing day setup was.

It does matter to an extent of how much something cost in this context but it's not an absolute.

Like anything, Somethings Value is determined on the abiity level of the individual putting said item to use or to work with it.

I'm personally impartial to the idea of spending that much money on a crank. That is, the crank's that have a straight bill and not talking any lipless crank's or creature rebel's. Just the standard picture that comes to mind in a mentioning of a "crankbait".

Reason being, There not a very versatile bait for me and there one of the easiest baits to end up being lost. I'm not denying the fact they work but it's not a matter of "if it works". It's a question of "how often" and under "what conditions"?!

If I ever created a bait ( have some ideas), The true test of my confidence in it would be selling it for less and yet, making more than someone who would charge 4-5x's for a similar "Looking" Product.

Price doesn't always gage the quality or workability of a product, in comparison, to another brand of product.

[bilgerat]

There are many reasons why he outfished you , one of them is that he may just have a better presentation than you.

I agree. I've been out with a buddy in the past fishing IDENTICAL tubes rigged the excact same way and one of us was hooking up while the other was getting zip.

There was a cool thread last year about $1.00 WalMart spinner baits. The poster was simply tearing up the fish with them, he saw no reason to buy $5.00 spinnerbaits. I just got back from a week long fishing trip. Guess what got me the most (and best quality) fish ? A $2.50 clearance rack Strike King spinnerbait and a Mister Twister grub on it for a trailer. They beat that thing up like it owed them money.

My opinion is that some guys think unless you spend top dollar you won't get good gear. Some things you shouldn't skimp on, others it doesn't mean a thing. If an expensive crankbait produces for you and gives you confidence, the cost is justified. If you're not a good crankbait fisherman to begin with, you're probably not going to be any better with expensive ones.

In over 30 years of fishing, I've yet to have a fish poke his head out of the water and ask "Whadya pay for that ?"

[RoLo]

The "Lucky Craft LVR" is a $17 lipless crank, while the "Red Eye Shad" is a $5 lipless crank.

That cheap 5-buck crank has never put a dent in KVD's take-home pay.

If success were based on initial outlay, all my Rat-L-Traps would be replaced by Yozui Rattlin Vibes

Roger

[BIG M]

I would bet KVD has never fished an off the rack SK crank. As for high priced crank vs low priced crank, quality is always just a little more expensive.

[fishingkidPA]

Yozuri or Matzuo? I see tons of Matzuo cranks in the clearance bins around here, but never Yozuri. I have a few of the Hardcore Drums and Crystal Minnows and overall I've been pretty pleased with them.

my mistake, yes it is matzuo. i get those names mixed up, sorry.

[grimlin]

I rarely buy expensive baits,but I do have a small handful.They are better in quality,but never guaranteed to catch you fish.Your buddy was doing something right when he outfished you.He had the right bait,pattern and technique down that day.

I have many cheap baits that catch me fish,in fact I use some of the cheapest baits on the market. You need to know which ones to stay away from as well.

[Raul]

Expensive and high initial investment are not the same thing, a few years ago I purchased my first Megabass bait: Bait X Concept Twilight Fluorescent Orange ( color ), cost ---> 24 dollars, must have caught more than a couple hundred fish with it, going back in time, many years before I purchased a couple of Heddon Cousin II cranks, must have cost me 4-5 dollars, never I´ve caught anything ( not even a cold ) with them, they´ve been for the past couple of decades just gathering dust. So what´s more "expensive" , a bait you´ve never caught anything with it or an "expensive" bait you consistently catch fish with ?

[WarriorBassFishing]

To tell you the truth there are some quality concerns with some baits. Alot of times you get what you pay for. But I believe if you have confidence in the bait you are throwing and it is a presentation the fish are willing to hit then you are going to have a great day. If the Fish dont like whatever is in your presentation it doesnt matter how expensive the lure is

[FD.]

I use a little john all time. The one I have tied on right now is responsible for hundreds of fish in the last two years. It is beat up with tooth marks all over it, but still catches fish. I bought two more last year as backups but they are still in the wrapper.

[hookset]

The little John is a great crankbait as is the Lucky Craft RC series. These are the only two baits that I spend more than I want to on, but they are fish catching machines. I wish I could find some yozuri cranks in bargain bins around here I would buy every d**n one, especially the deep diving cranks!!

[JoePhish]

I hate those snobby Bass that only like the expensive stuff.

I try to keep the cost of hard baits down. I've lost $15+ baits before, leaving a very bad taste in my mouth.

Regarding Yozuri; I sometimes find them randomly thrown into the Gander Mtn sale bin marked at $1.95. Just bought a Bannana Boat JR for that price last week. Also, not too long ago one of the sites had Yozuri cranks marked down to $3.

If the Spros or the LCs get severely marked down then I'll grab some. Until then I'll stick to what's already in my arsenal.

[rboat]

Cheap baits and expensive baits will catch fish under the right conditions. I have been schooled by both. I do believe a better quality lure will get you more bites on a consistant day to day basis. The reputable companies spend alot of time and money on development and research and testing. Some of that cost is passed on to us. Like others have stated the better paint jobs and quality components can help you land more fish.

If the baits were similar, your friend may have been working the lure differently or at a different depth sometimes controlled by speed and line size.

[RoLo]

I hate those snobby Bass that only like the expensive stuff.

Fortunately, there isn't much evidence that such a bass exists

For example, my favorite lipless crank is a Spro Aruku Shad.

Nonetheless, when bass are on a hot 'lipless crank' pattern, a $3 Cordell Super Spot

will very likely keep pace with a $6.5 Spro Aruku Shad.

Inversely, when bass seem totally disinterested in lipless cranks,

I wouldn't expect a $17 Zipbaits Calibra to mop the floor.

As a sidenote, I believe the Calibra is no longer in production.

Roger

[John Albert Walker]

I do not know about yall but I sold over $13,000 worth of Charlie-O crankbaits made from 1973-77 @ $32.50-$125 apeice since 2004 when I purchased the entire left over stock(I have very few left) from Charlie Jackson ,one of the owner/operators of the company. I did little adverizeing and sold them mostly by word of mouth. I reckon sometimes quality and efffectiveness speaks for itself.

[deaknh03]

I do not know about yall but I sold over $13,000 worth of Charlie-O crankbaits made from 1973-77 @ $32.50-$125 apeice since 2004 when I purchased the entire left over stock(I have very few left) from Charlie Jackson ,one of the owner/operators of the company. I did little adverizeing and sold them mostly by word of mouth. I reckon sometimes quality and efffectiveness speaks for itself.

They are collectors items, a different category altogether.

[Pantera61]

The "Lucky Craft LVR" is a $17 lipless crank, while the "Red Eye Shad" is a $5 lipless crank.

That cheap 5-buck crank has never put a dent in KVD's take-home pay.

If success were based on initial outlay, all my Rat-L-Traps would be replaced by Yozui Rattlin Vibes

Roger

I've read the first thing KVD does with his crankbait is to swap out the treble hooks to Mustads. Now, is that because he's also sponsored by Mustad or because SK doesn't put quality hooks on their baits? I think those Mustads run about $1.50/pair, so now you have a $6.50 crankbait.

I've caught fish on cheap baits, inexpensive baits and high dollar baits. I can give you the number of expensive baits that I've had to toss because they don't run true out of the package; that would be none. I can give you the number of expensive baits that need the hooks swapped out; again that would be none. The components are quality and headache free. I fish to escape aggravation, not to increase it.

Now, there are some baits that transcend quality concerns because they are outright producers. Among them, the Original Rat-L-Trap, the 1/2 oz Rebel Pop-R, Bomber "A" series baits. I make changes to all split rings and hooks and take it from there.

[Bass Dude]

I don't think your situation had anything to do with the price of your cranks. Bandits and Lil' Jon cranks are VERY different baits. The fish liked the action of the LJ over your Bandit. I have caught tons of fish on Bandits, they're one of my favorite brands.

[Nick]

Some baits do get hot for a period of time! I wish your buddy had let you fish that hot Little John for a while... Anyway, I'm am pretty sure that some baits are just hands down a better option on some bodies of water for a certain time.

The biggest example I know of was this year's FLW Major on Beaver Lake. Nearly every pro fishing the clearer part of the lake was throwing a 110 megabass in various shad colors for a reason. They outcaught all the other brands far and away. You'd have to ask the bass why, but that's the way it was with big bucks on the line. Most of the pro's I know were fiddling with lots of brands during practice just to determine what was better for them. In the Ozarks, better bring your Megabass to the lake during the cold water period. $25 a pop, but for some, well worth it!