[Rich Frye]

I weigh most all of my lures to see how close they are to actual proclaimed weight. And/or to confirm they are the weight I want to use . I have been very surprised at how off many can be. More are off by decent percentages of body weight than I would have guessed.

I believe it. I'd love to pick up an affordable sensitive scale to check this myself and help with my own inline spinner creations. Any recommendations?

I got lucky with a good /accurate one on Ebay. I don't know brands, just got lucky.

 

[Jay C]

I love my xraps and it's a shame that so many believe that they only produce in certain seasons (early spring) because that is very far from true. I will also never part from my pointers, which have amazing action.

 

[Aux Pleins]

Get your scale at any local tobacco store. That or a local hookah or pipe shop has them for as low as 15 bucks.. Ive found brand doesn't matter and that its like a T.V., sometimes they last, sometimes they don't...

I don't know about most places, but theres a place on North Harlem near Roscoe called "the Highway" that sells digital scales and will re-calibrate them for free if need be down the road. (as long as they're clean 8) )

 

[Skifish1]

This is TRUE! They are also great folks to support since you can usually find a local guy that will take his profit to feed his kids or pay his rent. Tough to find everything you need from a small shop/guy but I have almost always found that I can get better quality at a very reasonable if not better price.

Schaumburg was first fishing show I have been to and it was okay, I was hoping to see a bunch of booths with hobbyists selling lures and that was not the case. Bought a couple spinners from some folks and that was about it. I'd pay extra money for some lures that aren't from the big makers just to try something different and to support someone giving it the small business try. Same reason I bought the grips from Woz. For costly cranks I think you are primarily paying for finish and quality of the hooks. I bought a cabellas crankbait and the pike loved, the action was great for DPR...but first I lost a treble, another came loose, than the bait cracked in half. Junk.

 

[Aux Pleins]

These work way better than rapalas and if you mold your own they're way cheaper...

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=0wTwSmUP ... wTwSmUPNEc

 

[Rich Frye]

I always wondered why these big lure makers aren't putting the color right into the plastic when it's molded then I remembered they won't sell as many.

Some do.
This color change sashimi retails for $16 @ Cabelas. Bought @ Cablelas a couple months ago for $7.50. Less than X-raps...
Indestructable (-ish) , better hooks, better finish etc. Ever look at something and know it's quality? Then pick it up and knower it's quality? Yup.

Alphas can get dumb. Watched more than one show with guys catching muskie on phone receivers and baby dolls. But, I'm not making any lure that look like dildos, babies or phones, just yet.

 

[FishinMatt]

Rich, that is a sick looking bait. I would be interested if anyone was locally producing high end jerkbaits. A huge percentage of yearly fishing budget is tied up in jerkbaits and I would gladly support someone local if they were the real deal.

 

[Rich Frye]

A couple weeks before Christmas the HE Cabelas had a big clearance rack full of Rapalas of all sorts, Sebiles, and a number of other nice brands. There were four of those left . I bought one and went to see how it fished. Loved it.
Went back a couple days later and bought the last one they had. Would have bought a few if they had them.
Now if you want one you have to pay full pop through their catalog, or look for a deal .

 

[Skifish1]

Yea Cabelas always has some lures on sale. It may be only 5% of their lures when they are trying to clear out certain styles. They are always discounted a lot when they do this (usually about 50% off).

 

[coyote]

Just thought i would give my thoughts as i just noticed this thread. I love the Husky Jerk and use it primarily on Delavan, but the exrap outproduces it for sure in my outings there . Its amazing the damage i saw the Clackin Minnow due this past year worked agressivly in the 7-8 foot depths thrown by one of Dellys finest anglers.

 

[fishhunter80]

My two cents... I am not a very experienced fisherman (picked up fishing as a hobby only2 summers ago) and I am just learning about lures. I picked up both a husky jerk and an x-rap on the same day this summer. I have caught a few fish on the husky jerk, and I'm still 0-fer on the x-rap. I have used a similar retrieve with both. My belief is that the husky jerk is simpler to use for a novice like myself. Either that, or I am just not using the proper retrieve for the x-rap.

I am loving all this input about how you guys first these baits! I can't wait for spring to give them both another try...Great thread!

 

[Rory_B_Bellows]

My two cents... I am not a very experienced fisherman (picked up fishing as a hobby only2 summers ago) and I am just learning about lures. I picked up both a husky jerk and an x-rap on the same day this summer. I have caught a few fish on the husky jerk, and I'm still 0-fer on the x-rap. I have used a similar retrieve with both. My belief is that the husky jerk is simpler to use for a novice like myself. Either that, or I am just not using the proper retrieve for the x-rap.

I am loving all this input about how you guys first these baits! I can't wait for spring to give them both another try...Great thread!

What kind of retrieve do you use? I haven't fished the X-Rap yet, but your comments are interesting. With the wider, more extreme action versus the husky jerk, I could see how it would make sense that a different retrieve would be needed. With the husky jerk, I've always had success with a reel, snap-snap, reel, snap, reel, snap-snap retrieve. Or some variation like that. So basically after the 'snaps' , it is pausing the lure while reeling up the slack created by the snap. That is when I get most of my strikes. When I snap/jerk the bait, I use probably 15-30" movements.

 

[Rich Frye]

Those look awesome. I'd buy a few.

I may have this wrong, but those are not pictures of multiple lures, those are one color change Sashimi .

 

[Rich Frye]

Cool.
Used one today at the WWD at Salt...fun wading around the area.

 

[ffishman]

Good thread. Lots of good info. You X Rap, guys, have you found any color better than other colors.

 

[bapentec]

Sweet topic..I did quite well with the X-rap, in the 3k river in Wilmington. I love how in a current, you can cast it, and it really suspends well. Couple quick jerks and it just dances.

 

[Navyfisher]

Good thread. Lots of good info. You X Rap, guys, have you found any color better than other colors.

Olive and ghost are my two go to colors.