Quality Of Soft Plastics

[Polarkraft05]

Is there much difference in name brand soft plastics and various home made versions?

ive been looking on ebay and there are numerous "offbrand"/ homemade baits, that are the same design as name brand. im just curious if the quality of plastic or other products in the manufacturing process will make the baits, worth less than the name brand.

seems silly to buy name brand for over twice the price if the quality is the same or close enough to not matter.

[NCLifetimer]

depends. If you buy in stores i wouldn't be worried, I don't know exactly what is on ebay in the softplastics category, but on ebay I probably wouldn't buy something unless it was an established brand or you know someone that can give you the "thumbs up" on the product so to speak. Buying from the guy that pours them in his garage could get you something great or something not so great, its a gamble.

[plural_of_fant]

They can go either and all ways. Better same or worse. In most cases they are all made from the same chemical. It would depend on what your looking for. Its all the same chemical but you can change your end product by how soft or hard the plastic is. How much salt or other fillers. The softer the bait the more action might mean more bites. But you trade of on durability with softer baits. Harder baits might mean more durability but might mean less bites.

[ww2farmer]

I friend of mine pours plastics, I have never got an imperfect bait from him. If he goofs up a bit he just remelts it and tries again. Mass production can't match that, I don't know how many times I have had baits miss shapen, or some other flaw....but they still caught fish.

[roadwarrior]

You are just going to have to try different brands and see for yourself.

These discussion usually end up in a war of words. I'm not going there,

but I'll suggest one little challenge: Buy a couple of packs of Rage Tail

Craws to compare to whatever other craw you have been fishing. I had been

fishing Paca Craws for years and really liked them. I don't fish them anymore.

[Gatorbassman]

Like RW said, just try some here and there and see what works for you. I'm a Rage Tail Freak too but I also am a big believer in the Garage Tackle Markers. Many of them take pride in their work and will not let a defective plastic leave their shop. Some of them will also do custom colors without jacking up the price. I have used many different garage made plastics over the years and have found a few that I like. The only one that comes to mind right off the bat is The Nasty Bait Company.

[l3rd]

Is there much difference in name brand soft plastics and various home made versions?

ive been looking on ebay and there are numerous "offbrand"/ homemade baits, that are the same design as name brand. im just curious if the quality of plastic or other products in the manufacturing process will make the baits, worth less than the name brand.

seems silly to buy name brand for over twice the price if the quality is the same or close enough to not matter.

I think one of the biggest differences is going to be additives. Rapala's new Trigger-X is supposed to have pheromones which supposedly will increase your bites, Attraxx is supposed to be similar, Yum and Berkley make big claims. That said, years before any of these existed people landed tons of fish on more normal plastics. Buyer beware...

[Aluma-Bass]

Ive done some bulk buying on eBay senkos , and beaver style baits. They seem to catch just as much as name brand stuff. They may have a lil diff sink rate or be tougher or softer then some plastics just depends but over all im pleased with buying in bulk on ebay. Most of time you can see if they are any good just by looking at the sellers feedback also. See what others say about their baits...

[bassh8er]

You are just going to have to try different brands and see for yourself.

These discussion usually end up in a war of words. I'm not going there,

but I'll suggest one little challenge: Buy a couple of packs of Rage Tail

Craws to compare to whatever other craw you have been fishing. I had been

fishing Paca Craws for years and really liked them. I don't fish them anymore.

I hear a lot about Rage products on this forum, and maybe deservedly so. I've never used them, but bought 2 packs of Rage Craws last week and plan on trying them as jig trailers this spring.

I guess my deal is this: How often do you guys say, "You need to see what the bass want that day" or "It all depends on the mood of the fish"... Is that to say that, every time bass prefer Rage craws to Paca's??? The action is obviously different, but is one better than the other, or does it depend on the mood of the fish that day? I really don't know, and don't really care either. One of my favorite things about bass fishing is to buy a bunch of different brands and types of lures. I have WAY too many plastics, and am yet to have a favorite, probably because I don't fish any one bait more than others.

My theory is to find a bait that you have a lot of confidence in, and fish it a lot to get even more conifdence in it. Or, be like me, and if you're getting bites on a particular bait and color, tie on a different one.

[Hi Salenity]

If you want to try them by all means go for it! If you are trying to find a cheaper version of a bait you like that works good for you in a certain color you might as well just buy the original ones you know work.

[Gatorbassman]

I hear a lot about Rage products on this forum, and maybe deservedly so. I've never used them, but bought 2 packs of Rage Craws last week and plan on trying them as jig trailers this spring.

I guess my deal is this: How often do you guys say, "You need to see what the bass want that day" or "It all depends on the mood of the fish"... Is that to say that, every time bass prefer Rage craws to Paca's??? The action is obviously different, but is one better than the other, or does it depend on the mood of the fish that day? I really don't know, and don't really care either. One of my favorite things about bass fishing is to buy a bunch of different brands and types of lures. I have WAY too many plastics, and am yet to have a favorite, probably because I don't fish any one bait more than others.

My theory is to find a bait that you have a lot of confidence in, and fish it a lot to get even more conifdence in it. Or, be like me, and if you're getting bites on a particular bait and color, tie on a different one.

When talking about a fish's mood it's not so much what they want but how they want it. Are they willing to swim after a bait? Do they want it falling straight down, fast or slow. Do they want it sitting on the bottom? Do they want it drug on the bottom or hopped? Or like last week they wanted it drug a few inches and then one little hop before they'd hit it. Do they want it noisy or quiet?

The advantage you have with a Rage Tail Craw is the action you get with the slightest movement. The majority of the time that my jig is in the water it is sitting still and I want all the action I can get. A Paca Craw is a great trailer. I used them religiously prior to finding a Rage Craw but when I compared them in a tank the Rage was a little better. And my catch rate increased after that.

[Bigbarge50]

I say get both..... I rarely hear any of us say "man I just have too much stuff"...haha. Then with both, you HAVE to try both, so you now must make more time to go fishing. Seems like a win win to me.