WEIRD Crankbaits - on the cheap.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

By now some of you may know that I am an ebay junkie. I love to scour the on-line auction giant, just to see what I can find. Sometimes I turn up nothing special and sometimes I find, well, an oddity.

These crank baits are in the latter class. I got five of them for $0.99 with free shipping. There were other patterns than seen here, too, and frankly I didn't really care just WHAT they were. For a buck, I'll try anything! So they came in today and I was mildly impressed at first glance:

Now, I've added a little gold paint to the first one and the fluorescent orange to the second one. They don't look too bad. right?

That's when you realize how thin they are. Take a look here at this view:

They are made of plastic and have a rattle chamber in them, if you can believe that! Naturally, I've tinkered with them. The hooks have been switched out with doubles, and one has a trailing single Sproat, a la the Modica  Method. They came with a single attached at the rear only, so this was necessary. I piddled with the paint, as mentioned.

They are made of plastic and have a rattle chamber in them, if you can believe that. They remind me of blade baits, which I haven't seen in many years. They sink like stones in my test pool - a large bucket. I'm guessing these things will be fast burners, not something you fish in the slow, cold months. The fish better be chasing their food if these are to have any effect!

Anyway, for a buck - - what the heck. Weird is wonderful! We'll see what happens.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Pretty cool for a buck David....a buck don't buy you much anymore!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Well, Jeff I hope they are "much." They could be a wasted buck, too. That wouldn't bother me, though. IF they turn out to be duds, well... they'll make dandy key rings with split rings added.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

David if I caught one fish, that's all it would take........

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Yeah, you're right, of course.

[bobby emory]

look nice to me looks like a gator trout striper largemouth etc. would hammer 'em i'd buy 'em too

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I'm looking forward to seeing how they run, Bobby. I'm not accustomed to big honkin' baits like this, as a rule. When I lived in Florida I used them a lot, but that was years ago. I'm gonna widen my search this season, however, and try to scare up some other species. Here in SC that means bass, and those fish we call Big and Ugly.

So I've gotten some crank baits together to see if I can do anything. Last season the only thing I caught bass on was the Super Duper - normally a trout lure! With luck, I'll get away from my usual blackwater haunts to try out some of these things.

[bobby emory]

well i'm not usually a crankbait fan but hey i'll try anything have had luck with the bitsy minnows on gill and a bass or too never really used any bigger ones but those you have look like a smallmouth here in the appomattox would love 'em

[Leo Nguyen]

Nice cranks. It's not about the size. It's about the motion of the ocean..LOL. I can say there is a rattling chamber in there. Very small to support a few metal beads. I have a few fly rattle chambers with 3 beads that will fit into that wide area of the crank. So..hope there is rattling beads in there.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

They do rattle, Leo. But as you guessed, they dont rattle much. The chamber just isnt big enough to hold many shot, nor to resonate loudly. They are too thin; like blade baits. Ill try to test them this weekend.

[John Sheehan]

I want to see a syndicated fishing Survival series starring David where he shows you how to catch dinner on a budget! You're great man!!

 

[Leo Nguyen]

ROFL! I would love to see David doing the "Here's a bottle cap. Here's an old #10 hook I found somewhere in the garage. Some leftover sewing needle thread..and here's my daily catch.." as he pointed to the cooler full of panfish. "All I spent was $0.50 of materials."

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Funny you guys should notice! LOL

I have a mantra I go by - "Fishing Should Not Break Your Wallet."

Im as impressed as the next guy by boxes full of $10 fishing lures and $100 rods. Naturally, budgets are as varied as the many anglers out there. And truth be told, I could buy just about whatever I wanted, were it my nature to do so.

But I like to find ways to achieve my goals - at reduced cost. Bottom line is, Im frugal. I especially like to learn how they did it back in grandpa's day, and then try to adapt and emulate those methods. They didn't have so many gadgets and big money trickery, back then.... or the means to own such things. But the good anglers still caught fish.

PS I DO think the modern electronic fish-finder is a real step forward, however.