"Off" Brand Crankbaits & Effectiveness?

[Traxion]

So the other night we were sitting around having a conversation we have had many times before. Why does it seem that the "off" brand crankbaits just don't catch as much? Is it the fact that we don't fish them as much? Less confidence? Or do they just not work as well? For example, before the Flicker Shad, nothing I have used can hold a candle to the Shad Rap. The Cabelas look alikes don't compare (same goes for their Reef Runner copies). There are a lot of other brands out there other than Rapala, Reef Runner, Salmo, etc. but their sometimes it seems like of all the similar shaped & sized crank, one brand (and usually a "big" brand), out produces for me.

I bought some of the Storm Smash Shads when they first came out. Good looking crank, in both colors I had and new ones I liked. Haven't caught squat. Same with some shad shaped Cotton Cordell's. Lindy has a few new cranks out that look good but I'm just afraid it'll be money out the window.

What are your experiences?

 

[huffranger]

Hard enough to tune good baits I imagine cheapo baits would be a nightmare to keep a spread out.

I do have some small smash shads I pull behind LC that work good for me.

 

[RustyTackleBox]

cotton's and storms are great baits... tuning could be problematic if you have thinner eyelets but the biggest problem I have found tuning cranks usually comes from when they either paint them or glue the halves together they do not do it cleanly and the whole bait is out of balance... I have rapalas with bad bills and I have reef runners with bad bodies... I was thinking about doing some hand sanding on some of them to try and get them to run straight and have DM do some painting... I wouldn't be afraid to buy some of the off brand stuff just inspect it close and make sure it is put together right

 

[NodakBuckeye]

I think confidence plays a roll, I see people who dont fish often take a lure I cannot catch a cold with and make themselves look like Al Lindner. I imagine the subtle differences in construction and materials between a name brand and a knockoff make the copy work and sound different. Give it to someone who has never really used the original and has no experience on how they work best and they work it like they want and it is different than how I work the original and it catches fish. Of course, side by side trolling is a different story. All in all, for me, I prefer originals.

 

[REY_off]

The only thing my Smash Shads have caught, was me in the isle at Scheels.....

 

[Sum1]

I no longer buy off brand cranks. Every time I tried to save a buck it seemed in the long run it was just wasted money. Impossible to tune or the hooks are scrappy. A lot of times after you replace the hooks you would have been just as well off going with a better quality to begin with.

I had a reef runner that was impossible to tune, after closer inspection the tail was curved to the side. Came from the factory like this. Wade at Dakota Tackle exchanged it for free.

 

[thriller1]

I made the mistake of buying one smash shad at Fleet Farm a couple of years ago. The first time I used it (it was a purple UV color) I caught my limit of eyes on it in an hour. That was the only lure I could catch fish on that day; nothing else worked. So in my infinite wisdom, I went back and bought every color smash shad had to offer. To this day I cannot keep those dumb things tuned.

 

[buckhunter24_7]

I used the lindy walleye demon last year quit a bit and it worked the best each time I was out running cranks. Would start out with 4 different types and brands and ended up running all lindys by the end of the day

 

[Fishmission]

Many years ago Scheels had some cranks called Sparkle Tails. I bought a few because they were cheap. Ran them alongside #7 shadraps. They were better many days at catching on Sak than my shad raps. Lots of walleyes. Problem was pike liked them too. Still have 1 left. Eppinger owns them now. At over 8.00 each I haven't bought any more. They used to run true out of the box. Definitely different than most cranks.

 

[shorthairsrus]

1st walleye tourney I was in I fished all fat cranks. Carolinas the whole nine yards my partner was shaking his head. I ended up giving him my cranks and we placed enough to get our money back. I am willing to try anything

 

[KDM]

The larger the bill on off brands as well as name brands the more "Wonky" they can get. For the shallow runners like I use in the Sheyenne, off brands work just fine for me. Crank Baits aren't designed to run through side current very well anyway, so even the name brands don't run perfect. It's more important to get the bait into the strike zone than getting the "Perfect" wobble.

 

[bigv]

Im assuming that is the price difference on the "cheaper" cranks vs say shad raps. I pull # 5 shad raps all the time and have great luck and they stay true. I have had a ton of luck with the perch colored smash shads as well but I often have to tune them. So that is the $$ difference? Cheaper made...have to tune often I guess?

 

[SDMF]

So the other night we were sitting around having a conversation we have had many times before. Why does it seem that the "off" brand crankbaits just don't catch as much? Is it the fact that we don't fish them as much? Less confidence? Or do they just not work as well? For example, before the Flicker Shad, nothing I have used can hold a candle to the Shad Rap. The Cabelas look alikes don't compare (same goes for their Reef Runner copies). There are a lot of other brands out there other than Rapala, Reef Runner, Salmo, etc. but their sometimes it seems like of all the similar shaped & sized crank, one brand (and usually a "big" brand), out produces for me.

I bought some of the Storm Smash Shads when they first came out. Good looking crank, in both colors I had and new ones I liked. Haven't caught squat. Same with some shad shaped Cotton Cordell's. Lindy has a few new cranks out that look good but I'm just afraid it'll be money out the window.

What are your experiences?

I'll take a Cabels copy over an original Reef Runner any day, especially the deep little ripper size. I do more catching and less tuning with the Cabelas copies.

Casting smash shads have also given me some fantastic days of catching. Never tried to troll them.

Back to the original intent of the thread though, I do have a fair to middlin' collection of bargain bin cranks that I've either never caught a fish with or in some cases, never even tried. Anyone remember the Storm soft crank baits? ACK!!

 

[Traxion]

The Cabelas copies of the Reef Runners are tuned way better for sure. But I still catch more fish on the RR's? And then there is the whole copying a lure thing that Cabelas does that bothers me a bit but that is another story.

I think I mainly buy other types because I don't want to feel locked into one crank. I could probably only have Shad Raps and be totally happy. But there are days when the Salmos are good, the RS Shad Raps have been awesome at times, and yes I have done really well on Fat Raps a time or two. But there sure are some cranks that just take up space....or at least in my mind. For me, it's probably confidence more than anything.

 

[Vollmers]

X2 on the smash shads

I'll take a Cabels copy over an original Reef Runner any day, especially the deep little ripper size. I do more catching and less tuning with the Cabelas copies.

Casting smash shads have also given me some fantastic days of catching. Never tried to troll them.

Back to the original intent of the thread though, I do have a fair to middlin' collection of bargain bin cranks that I've either never caught a fish with or in some cases, never even tried. Anyone remember the Storm soft crank baits? ACK!!

 

[Captain Ahab]

I never bought knock off cranks because why use something potentially sub par when you have the chance to go fishing? I have been doing well with Flicker Shads, though. The shine of the "Pro" series seems to be best. The hooks piss me off and some are untunable, but they do catch fish.

 

[DirtyMike]

This is the reason why I won't sell knock off brand cranks during the open water season. I only want to do repaints.

 

[dean nelson]

I never bought knock off cranks because why use something potentially sub par when you have the chance to go fishing? I have been doing well with Flicker Shads, though. The shine of the "Pro" series seems to be best. The hooks piss me off and some are untunable, but they do catch fish.

A large number of them save rapala are the same lure made at the same factory just with a different name. If a company is dumb enough to manufacture their baits in China that company has no way to stop the factory from producing the samething for someone else and many of the factory's will sell the baits directly to the customer.

 

[Captain Ahab]

A large number of them save rapala are the same lure made at the same factory just with a different name. If a company is dumb enough to manufacture their baits in China that company has no way to stop the factory from producing the samething for someone else and many of the factory's will sell the baits directly to the customer.

Pretty much ran all Rapala and some Salmo.

 

[Sub_Elect]

My problem is that I want at least, well, actually, all of them! And at least 3 of each color. I might have an addiction. Someone on walleye central put it best... My biggest fear is that my wife, when I die sells all my fishing gear for what I told her I paid for it!