Bassin’ Blogosphere: Big Bucks Bass Baits
Category: article
Oct 14th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 14th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Okay, I know some of you love to tell everyone how much dough you dumped on your boat, truck, rod-and-reel combos, etc. I get the bragging side of things; it makes you feel cool and all. However, when it comes to what you’re tying on the end of your line, do you need to spend a fortune on your baits to catch ‘em, or is it all about the bragging?
For some folks, I truly think it’s all about bragging. Seriously, I’ve had anglers in my boat and been in others where the angler I’m with is using $20 crankbaits and topwaters telling me that the quality of construction makes the product so superior to other product on the market. Inevitably, this goober goes on to catch nothing but peanuts the entire day.
This somewhat snarky take on things doesn’t mean I’m anti uber-high priced lures. On the contrary, in some situations they just flat outperform other lures, but like anything in the bass world, it’s not always the case.
I’ve had days where anglers in my boat were using high-end topwaters like Sammy’s or Jackall lures and more affordable options like a Zara Spook. The angler using the expensive stuff just swamped the other person.
But like everything else, the opposite happens as well. I fish for smallies a lot on the Fox River in Illinois where I live. The areas I fish are very shallow. The deep water is about 3-feet deep in summer. I use a lot of small Lucky Craft crankbaits and catch tons of smallies. The reason I use them is they are well made and take a ton of abuse. They don’t break easily. Now, on the flipside, I formerly used Bandit crankbaits a lot. I find them just as productive as the Lucky Craft lures for what I do on this river, but they aren’t durable like the Lucky Craft baits. The first time you bounce one of a rock it’s broken and needs to be replaced. So at the end of the year, depending on how often you fish, you can spend more money purchasing the cheaper lures.
Here is a total cop-out answer for everyone. Buy what you like, but if you’re going to be honest with yourself, you need to compare and contrast results of these lures. See if the expensive models truly out-produce other lower-priced models. You’ll need to match colors, running depths, size, etc., to get a fair comparison.
For me, I use a wide variety. I love the high-end product, you don’t need to adjust them as much, the hardware is better and they tend to be more durable. However, there is a reason old affordable standbys like the Pop-R are still around. They work. Oh yeah, if you don’t like your high-end lures you can always ship them to me. I’ll gladly take them off your hands.