Fishing Lure Marketing

[Walcrabass]

OK, with the cold and snow I have been surfing the internet looking at fishing lures. Quite a few selections out there. Each one of them seems to have their own marketing ploy. It has occurred to me that one piece of "fishing advice" has caught my eye in particular..... a type of Spinner Bait. The one with the small heads and the weight behind the head hidden by the skirt. It seems as though the main point is that it has the weight of a larger spinner bait but the head size of like a 1/4 oz. Really??? That makes it more attractive to a Bass?????? Are we talking about the same fish that swallows 6 to 8" bluegill and shad whole like an aspirin tablet???

So, I can see the diving depth thing...... the wiggle thing......the floating thing..... the color thing, and the scent thing. But seeing as how I have caught 5 pound Bass on Giant plastic worms that had Giant bluegill partly sticking out of their throats ........well........ they will have to catch me on a day when I am hallucinating to get me to "swallow" ( pun definitely intended) that one.

I gotta think that in this area the skirt color/action and the quality/spin of the blades means a WHOLE BUNCH MORE !!!!

Hope it warms up soon as I am really wanting ( NEEDING???) to go fish.

Cabin Fever Crazy,

Walcrabass

[Ham]

I don't think it is about the head soze, but more about the ovwerall profile. These type baits typically have the smaller blades of a 1/4 oz . Less lift so you can burn them fast of slow roll them and get them deep quickly. I kinda like em. A lot .

[Smallieguy87]

Sometimes it can be tough to sort through what may be a legit product and method and what is just out there to catch fishermen. No doubt that even products meant to hook the fishermen will work since they're almost always some sort of off shoot of a successful product(sometimes made better). Ham brings up a good point in regards to profile...sometimes that can be the difference between a no fish day and a productive one. The keep it simple side of me sometimes thinks things get a bit more complicated then they need to be though.

[Ketchup]

Do you think Bobby Murray, the winner of the first Bass Masters Classic, used the same hi-tech stuff on the market today? Nope, but he still caught 43lbs of fish. Yes i know with todays vast array of tech. baits,he could have caught 63lbs. "maybe"

My dad used to say, when the goin gets tough, the tough go back to the proven ways. Some of those proven ways of the past have been lost, and would work like hotfire in todays world, as we just dont force feed them to the fish like we do the newer baits.

[Walcrabass]

Ham and Smallieguy 87,

I have to agree with you completely. The profile is exactly what we are talking about. I personally don't think the difference in a 1/4 oz. head and a 1/2 oz. head would make any difference to the fish that eats those 6 to 8" shad etc. After all 1/4 oz of lead spread out in the shape of the spinner bait head doesn't take up much space. As far as the blades go the smaller blades will make less lift on a bait because of weight ( pure physics here ). Hence if the lures weigh the same the results will be the same.

I understand also that you love these baits. I have lures that I have the same thoughts about using. Like the Rebel Pop-R. Are the $15 poppers TRULY any better???? Or even as good?????The fact of the matter is that the fish don't think about what you and I think about. The people that market products know this and prey upon our tendencies. My entire point is that once they get a person headed down the track in the direction they want it is very hard to derail yourself and come back to thinking in another plane.

Enjoy using your Spinner Baits. They are a great product. I just didn't fall hard for this one like I have for others.

Old Man Walcrabass

[Lvn2Fish]

The baits with this hidden weight just make a smaller profile lure. A 1/2 oz lure that is the same size and has the same blade size as a 1/4 oz bait . With these small blades and overall smaller size there are a few things that benifit me. One being the way this lure casts in the wind. The other is how fast you can "burn" the lure with much less resistance. Third is just the profile and size. Honestly the war eagle screaming eagle are my fav spinner baits for early summer.

I get ya with these marketing ploys. My personal favorite one that is catching fisherman are the live target bait ball series lures.

[Smallieguy87]

The baits with this hidden weight just make a smaller profile lure. A 1/2 oz lure that is the same size and has the same blade size as a 1/4 oz bait . With these small blades and overall smaller size there are a few things that benifit me. One being the way this lure casts in the wind. The other is how fast you can "burn" the lure with much less resistance. Third is just the profile and size. Honestly the war eagle screaming eagle are my fav spinner baits for early summer.

I get ya with these marketing ploys. My personal favorite one that is catching fisherman are the live target bait ball series lures.

i'm glad someone else feels the same way i do about that particular series. For the most part i think the live target stuff is decent but that particular series i think is kind of a gimmick. That being said if anyone reading this is tearing em up on that particular series of lure then please disregard lol

[Sac River Jim]

I don't think it is about the head soze, but more about the ovwerall profile. These type baits typically have the smaller blades of a 1/4 oz . Less lift so you can burn them fast of slow roll them and get them deep quickly. I kinda like em. A lot .

Ham Papi Ray is making a very similar spinner bait to what walcra has described and papi explained it to me exactly how you did. I've poured and painted half a dozen for myself but we've been so busy with custom orders in the shop I haven't been able to assemble mine yet.

[Walcrabass]

Luvn2fish,

I couldn't agree with you more on the baitball series. To think that a fish "can see" all those bait fish in that pattern is kind of silly. I would liken it to dogs watching TV. If there is no sound they just don't get it. It is just some kind of image that has no meaning.

About these spinner baits. Scrutinize spinner baits carefully. If it flies better in the air look first to the skirt. Are the strands wide or narrow? Is there a lot of flair to the skirt or do the strands easily bend back under their own weight? Is the skirt very full, kind of full, or just plain skinny? The other thing of course is the blade(s). Colorado or Willow? Same size or smaller? Same thickness or thinner? What about the weight of the blades? Are they steel, copper, brass??? I am just thinking this head thing is pretty negligible. Oh yeah, one other thing. I have used these when fishing with a friend that offered one. Good Spinner Baits. I don't believe for other Spinner baits of the same weight rigged identically with skirt, blades, hooks, etc, that they are any better. One thing I have noticed is the they are more expensive. Now we are back to the marketing thing. If you are going to fetch a premium price you had better have a good sales pitch to go with it. Maybe I am just old but the longer you are around the more skeptical you tend to be. Why??? Well let's just say you have been "marketized" one too many times.

I would like to hear from everyone their opinion on Jerk Baits. You know....... $30 ones all the way to $8 ones and they all catch fish. And don't forget Kevin fishes Strike King. Definitely not the $30 ones. If I remember right he has done pretty well with his fishing career. Oops, I feel that marketing thing rearing it's head again!!! Maybe someone should tell Kevin he needs to switch brands. I'll let someone else take care of that. I do request to be standing by to watch though.

Brainwaves Oscillating,

Old Walcrabass

[Smallieguy87]

Luvn2fish,

I couldn't agree with you more on the baitball series. To think that a fish "can see" all those bait fish in that pattern is kind of silly. I would liken it to dogs watching TV. If there is no sound they just don't get it. It is just some kind of image that has no meaning.

About these spinner baits. Scrutinize spinner baits carefully. If it flies better in the air look first to the skirt. Are the strands wide or narrow? Is there a lot of flair to the skirt or do the strands easily bend back under their own weight? Is the skirt very full, kind of full, or just plain skinny? The other thing of course is the blade(s). Colorado or Willow? Same size or smaller? Same thickness or thinner? What about the weight of the blades? Are they steel, copper, brass??? I am just thinking this head thing is pretty negligible. Oh yeah, one other thing. I have used these when fishing with a friend that offered one. Good Spinner Baits. I don't believe for other Spinner baits of the same weight rigged identically with skirt, blades, hooks, etc, that they are any better. One thing I have noticed is the they are more expensive. Now we are back to the marketing thing. If you are going to fetch a premium price you had better have a good sales pitch to go with it. Maybe I am just old but the longer you are around the more skeptical you tend to be. Why??? Well let's just say you have been "marketized" one too many times.

I would like to hear from everyone their opinion on Jerk Baits. You know....... $30 ones all the way to $8 ones and they all catch fish. And don't forget Kevin fishes Strike King. Definitely not the $30 ones. If I remember right he has done pretty well with his fishing career. Oops, I feel that marketing thing rearing it's head again!!! Maybe someone should tell Kevin he needs to switch brands. I'll let someone else take care of that. I do request to be standing by to watch though.

Brainwaves Oscillating,

Old Walcrabass

I haven't paid a great deal of attention to the megabass jerk baits to know if the work done to them is worth the price tag. I have a tough time even paying the 15 dollars for some of the lucky Craft baits. I will say that I'm sure a tree has no problem catching your 30 dollar jerk bait equally as well as your 8 dollar one. The flip side to that is your not supposed to fish jerk baits in trees ;-). Like a lot of things now I feel fishing gear be it lures, rods, reels, line etc is broken down into enthusiast quality or price, and then the more layman' markets. In the end I guess it comes down to what you can afford and what you're confident in. Maybe you don't mind spending 20+ on brand x because you feel they "run true" or have a better quality finish or hooks etc. On the flip side the 7-8 dollar strike king that has a decent finish and good enough hooks for the job doesn't break your bank and you aren't as upset should you lose it. No doubt there's people who love brands like megabass and I do believe they make some very high quality gear so I can see why but I feel for most fishermen just out enjoying the sport of it all and break up the 9-5 monotony of the week will be served just fine with brands like strike king.