Thoughts on Creature Baits

Started by D.W. Verts, June 17, 2020, 09:53:47 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

D.W. Verts

So, these creature-type baits are a newer thing that came about while I was absent from serious fishing. Of course I saw their merits and bought a bunch of them, different types and brands, but haven't used them much in the three years since I've been back to semi-serious fishing. All of that changed a couple of weeks ago when I found a perfect situation to try them in.

Truman Lake had risen several feet and flooded bushed and willows all over. I spent a couple of days working a ton of this flooded cover with some decent success, and the bait I chose was the Creature. And for the most part the bass ate em up.

However.

Bait manufacturers have always blown me away in their offering of form over function. And these baits were the perfect example of this. I was wondering- did the guy who made these molds even fish?

I used three brands which I'm not going to name because it really doesn't matter, and I don't intend to step on any toes. But all of these three lures had on thing in common- they had "wings" or "claws" that actually "flap" on the retrieve, or more importantly to me in this situation, the fall. They have LOTS of action, and they look entirely different than any bait I have ever thrown.

And they all caught bass. Yep. Exactly ONE bass, per lure. See, when I set the hook, which is a fairly violent thing for me when flippin' heavy cover, and fairly rip a bass out of said heavy cover, without fail, these lures all came back with no claws, wings, or any appendages at all. Left 'em shed behind, every one of them. I think one time I came out with ONE appendage still connected.

So, you say, they were catching bass, what more do you expect?

I expect a lure to last longer than one bass, that's what. MAYBE, if every bass was a keeper, or better yet a BIG bass, that would be acceptable. But that wasn't the case, and never is. Some of the bass were closer to eight inches than eight pounds. In fact, I swung & missed one time (it happens) and still ripped the claws/wings off of the lure.

Some manufacturers have soft plastics that last longer than others. And I'll admit there have been times that I've wrote off the ones that don't as an acceptable loss. But not one lure for one bass. I don't care HOW cool a bait looks, they can catch bass, more than one bass, and not have to look that cool.

As an example- The second day out I finally reached into my old bag of tricks and pulled a four-inch long Guido Bug, a crawdad that was probably poured in about 1983 and one of the original "creature" baits. And it caught bass after bass, without the crazy appendages a-dangling off of it. In fact, I caught about eight bass up to almost four pounds on just one crawdad, and that bait is STILL rigged on a flippin' stick. It's got a few bass left in it, still.

I've caught some bass on these same creatures fishing them normally, Texas rigged, and as a trailer on a swim jig and deep on football head. And while it was not as bad, I also had some of the same luck. But it's the thick cover, hard hook sets with 65 pound braid, and ripping the bass out of the brush that's death on these lures.

So. Any thoughts? Ideas? Anyone have better luck, or the same experience?

I do know that I won't be purchasing any more of these flapping-wing dealies. Not as long as I have bags and bags of Guido Bugs!

P.S. Oh yeah- the guys who designed these lures. Maybe they're all finesse fishermen? Because, without fail again, these things are NOT designed for the kind of fishing I envision them for. You see they seem to be designed size-wise for a 3/0 hook. I feel more comfortable with at least a 4/0. And also, many of them have  a LOT of mass in the main body, again, the need for a larger hook. For me, at least. Your thoughts?

Dale
Old School Bass Fishin', My Hickbilly Life, and Hickbilly Outdoors with D.W. Verts on YOUTUBE!
Solar Bat Sunglasses Pro Staff

bro_drey

I agree they don't last long but man the reaction innovations "manbearpig" slays some fish dude lol idk what the fish think it is but they wanna kill it . Look it up for a laugh . Good luck finding it in stock though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Smallie_Stalker

Try the Z-Man Palmetto Bugz, Punch Crawz or Boar Hogz.

Strike King also used to make some out of the same Elaz- Tech material as the Z - Man baits. Not sure if they still do though.

The Elaz-Tech products are a little tougher to get a hook through than regular plastics and they can't be stored with other plastics or dipped in your usual dyes so they have their drawbacks. But they last. A long time per bait.

Bottom line - if whatever you're using is working for you (and I know firsthand just how well those Guido Bugs work) then stick with that.

No need to spend extra $$$ on something you don't really need,,,,,,,,,Oh wait, I forgot - we're anglers.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Dobyns Rods   Titan Tungsten   Abu Garcia  Berkley  Pflueger  Spiderwire

Deadeye

Can also be the Hooks your using.

While Trokar (?) Hooks are super sharp to stick the fish good, they also tear up baits much faster than a regular say EWG hook does.

Choice you have to make sometimes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wizard

The answer to the problem is using a different formula for the plastic. The basics of making plastic is soft, hard, stiff, flexible and  any variation in-between. Dale is right on when he says you have to know where the lure will be used and how you want it to perform.
The plastic of 1980 was much harder than today's baits. The baits lasted almost forever but the hardness made it's feel unnatural to the bass. The creature baits of today are very soft to make the baits feel natural and flexible so the appendages flap. Hate to bust a bubble but some baits are designed to catch bass AND fail. The perfect blend of plastic is where the angler is catching bass but runs out of bait by day's end causing him to buy more product.

Wizard

fishballer06

Quote from: Deadeye on June 18, 2020, 12:57:34 PM
Can also be the Hooks your using.

While Trokar (?) Hooks are super sharp to stick the fish good, they also tear up baits much faster than a regular say EWG hook does.

While I love how well the Trokar hooks work because of how sharp they are, they will tear a bait up just from flipping it around for a while without even getting any bite. My Owners, VMC, and Gamakatsu's do not do this.


As far as DW Verts original post - we get it, they don't make em like they used to, do they? In some cases, I think some newer plastics are better than the old one's. I fish the Mann's Jelly Worms a fair bit. Those baits were super soft and didn't hold up long. The new one's now have what they call their "Hardnose" on them, where the top 1/2" of the bait is a different durometer of plastic and doesn't get all torn up like a traditional worm does. Pretty neat stuff, check it out if you fish worms.
3rd place 2019 iBass - Cool Casters
2nd place 2019 iBass - Team Tournament

D.W. Verts

I'll fish Jelly Worms until I'm done and dead.
Old School Bass Fishin', My Hickbilly Life, and Hickbilly Outdoors with D.W. Verts on YOUTUBE!
Solar Bat Sunglasses Pro Staff

Oldfart9999

And you thought the "monkey" didn't have help.
Rodney
Old Fishermen never die, their rods just go limp.

Tatsu Dave

My son and I have fished creature baits hard for about four summer's now, they are most certainly not all created equal. Some the legs and flappers aren't tough enough and and hook selection as mentioned can play a big part. We have got the best longevity out of the kreits kreatures by BBB, those you can generally  get quite a few bass with, however they just discontinued them :) If you fish like we do with large populations of pickerel and pike a lure lasting does give you a slightly different prespective. IMHO

coldfront

dale, didn't the hoo-daddy predate all the recent creature baits?

thought that was a truman staple on those big flooded trees?

Dink Dawg

I put creature baits into three categories:  Short wide and glide, Short wide and active and slender and long.  Examples are the Missile Baits D-Bomb or RI Beaver, the SK Structure Bug or Space Monkey and the Brush Hog or RI Man Bear Pig.

I've been fishing these and or similar baits since the their releases.  I get reasonable catch rates from each at around 2 to 4 fish per bait.  I buy bulk packs when possible and or wait for sales.  Any plastic bait is is a consumable.  That's just fishing.   The cost of plastics has soared.  My first packs of Big Bite Yo Mammas were 1.99.  Sometimes I think the cost of the packaging is more that the baits.  I will still use them because they work. ;PEP)

merc1997

Quote from: D.W. Verts on June 17, 2020, 09:53:47 PM
So, these creature-type baits are a newer thing that came about while I was absent from serious fishing. Of course I saw their merits and bought a bunch of them, different types and brands, but haven't used them much in the three years since I've been back to semi-serious fishing. All of that changed a couple of weeks ago when I found a perfect situation to try them in.

Truman Lake had risen several feet and flooded bushed and willows all over. I spent a couple of days working a ton of this flooded cover with some decent success, and the bait I chose was the Creature. And for the most part the bass ate em up.

However.

Bait manufacturers have always blown me away in their offering of form over function. And these baits were the perfect example of this. I was wondering- did the guy who made these molds even fish?

I used three brands which I'm not going to name because it really doesn't matter, and I don't intend to step on any toes. But all of these three lures had on thing in common- they had "wings" or "claws" that actually "flap" on the retrieve, or more importantly to me in this situation, the fall. They have LOTS of action, and they look entirely different than any bait I have ever thrown.

And they all caught bass. Yep. Exactly ONE bass, per lure. See, when I set the hook, which is a fairly violent thing for me when flippin' heavy cover, and fairly rip a bass out of said heavy cover, without fail, these lures all came back with no claws, wings, or any appendages at all. Left 'em shed behind, every one of them. I think one time I came out with ONE appendage still connected.

So, you say, they were catching bass, what more do you expect?

I expect a lure to last longer than one bass, that's what. MAYBE, if every bass was a keeper, or better yet a BIG bass, that would be acceptable. But that wasn't the case, and never is. Some of the bass were closer to eight inches than eight pounds. In fact, I swung & missed one time (it happens) and still ripped the claws/wings off of the lure.

Some manufacturers have soft plastics that last longer than others. And I'll admit there have been times that I've wrote off the ones that don't as an acceptable loss. But not one lure for one bass. I don't care HOW cool a bait looks, they can catch bass, more than one bass, and not have to look that cool.

As an example- The second day out I finally reached into my old bag of tricks and pulled a four-inch long Guido Bug, a crawdad that was probably poured in about 1983 and one of the original "creature" baits. And it caught bass after bass, without the crazy appendages a-dangling off of it. In fact, I caught about eight bass up to almost four pounds on just one crawdad, and that bait is STILL rigged on a flippin' stick. It's got a few bass left in it, still.

I've caught some bass on these same creatures fishing them normally, Texas rigged, and as a trailer on a swim jig and deep on football head. And while it was not as bad, I also had some of the same luck. But it's the thick cover, hard hook sets with 65 pound braid, and ripping the bass out of the brush that's death on these lures.

So. Any thoughts? Ideas? Anyone have better luck, or the same experience?

I do know that I won't be purchasing any more of these flapping-wing dealies. Not as long as I have bags and bags of Guido Bugs!

P.S. Oh yeah- the guys who designed these lures. Maybe they're all finesse fishermen? Because, without fail again, these things are NOT designed for the kind of fishing I envision them for. You see they seem to be designed size-wise for a 3/0 hook. I feel more comfortable with at least a 4/0. And also, many of them have  a LOT of mass in the main body, again, the need for a larger hook. For me, at least. Your thoughts?

Dale
have you not figured out that most of today's plastics are one bite wonders??  elaztec being different.  ever wonder why you can no longer buy a 100 count bag of plastic worms or crawdads?  i still fish quite a bit and can not afford the "tourist packs" that is what that is the only thing on store pegs.

on a side note dale, take a 3/0 and a 4/0 hook and measure them both from hook point to eyelet and you will find them to both have the same opening.  so, with that said, unless there is a difference in wire strength, how is it that the 4/0 is that much better than the 3/0?  where the 4/0 become bigger is the distance from the hook point to the bottom of the bend of the hook.  most people have the misconception that going from a 3/0 to a 4/0 are gaining a greater distance from the hook point to the eyelet and therefore have a wider opening.  not true.  and on a parting shot, most people using floro and mono really do not have a good enough hook set to truly drive the hook through a bass's head, especially using a tight line hook set.

bo
On Heaven's Lake