Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
I need a place to dump all the bad stuff I have bought as a warning to others. This is a thread for the absolutel garbage that does not work as advertised or is just so poorly made that it should be avoided. This is not a "it sucks because i can't get bit" thread.
I buy aliexpress baits to try out and some of my favorite house baits I'm 90% sure are some form of aliexpress chinease baits. So I will pull the trigger on aliexpress baits that catch my eye and most of what I get is decent. A few have not.
Bearking jerkbaits. I have their weight transfer 110 style baits and they look good have strong sharp hooks and cast super far with the weight transfer. They sink more quickly than I would like even in cold water, do not stop after a jerk but just glide forward sort of nose down and do not have any darting action to speak of. When swam they have an awful super hard wide wobble. Maybe pike like them but there are not a bass bait I want to throw. Not pleased at all.
Bearking glide baits. These are beyond horrific. 1st off they float but aren't designed to dive so they do nothing. One out of the 3 actually slow sank but had the worse glide I have ever seen and just came back at me without an observable swim. I had to burn it to get and swimming motion out of them. Also all but one had a bent tail and I had to assemble the parts to get a "working" bait that was abysmal is action. At least pike would probably eat the jerkbaits. A corn cob would outfish these "swim" baits.
I buy aliexpress baits to try out and some of my favorite house baits I'm 90% sure are some form of aliexpress chinease baits. So I will pull the trigger on aliexpress baits that catch my eye and most of what I get is decent. A few have not.
Bearking jerkbaits. I have their weight transfer 110 style baits and they look good have strong sharp hooks and cast super far with the weight transfer. They sink more quickly than I would like even in cold water, do not stop after a jerk but just glide forward sort of nose down and do not have any darting action to speak of. When swam they have an awful super hard wide wobble. Maybe pike like them but there are not a bass bait I want to throw. Not pleased at all.
Bearking glide baits. These are beyond horrific. 1st off they float but aren't designed to dive so they do nothing. One out of the 3 actually slow sank but had the worse glide I have ever seen and just came back at me without an observable swim. I had to burn it to get and swimming motion out of them. Also all but one had a bent tail and I had to assemble the parts to get a "working" bait that was abysmal is action. At least pike would probably eat the jerkbaits. A corn cob would outfish these "swim" baits.
Last edited by LowRange on Thu May 19, 2022 6:58 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
I like this thread already. Pretty sure this will get interesting, but I'll play.
6th Sense swim jigs. They work. It's a jig. The issue is the consistency or QC. I gave them a try and liked the colors. The screwlock trailer keeper worked well, so even though I don't like 6th Sense as a brand, I grabbed around 20 of these jigs in 3/8 and 1/2 oz. What I soon realized is the weights of the jig were highly inconsistent. Horrible. A 1/2 jig would weigh the same as a 3/8 and vice versa. That's not okay. I want to know exactly how much that jig weighs, so I can adjust running depth and fall rate. Now 6th sense, 13 fishing, and Googan are all in the same bucket IMO. The trash bucket. Maybe I should have kept this to myself...
River2sea Pro Tuned Rover 98 size. Gave it a shot to try something different. Garbage. Doesn't cast well and doesn't get bit. Now I bought this to fish specifically for river small mouth on a river I fish more than any other body of water. Fished it since I was child with my grandfather. What I have learned is from Spawn until winter, if I'm not throwing top water on this river, I'm doing it wrong. Literally catch hundreds and hundreds of smallies a year on top water here. Baits they crush are buzzbaits, walking baits, poppers, whopperplopper style baits, wake baits, floating stick baits, etc. Color only matters on certain days. So, for whatever reason these fish just don't like the Rover. It may work elsewhere, but I still don't like how it casts.
All crankbaits. Oh wait, that's just my preference.
Oh another one to add with a caveat. Lobina Rico Suave. Not sure this should be on the list because it does work! It's actually amazing. It's the walking bait I go to last when I'm almost sure the top water bite is dead. There is something about the super smooth glide it makes that causes some of the most vicious strikes I've gotten from smallies. That's my assumption at least. The issue though is the way it casts. Man this thing catches the air sometimes and takes off like a paper airplane. When using it, it's like a negative lottery entry on each cast. You just never know when it will change course drastically in mid flight in turn causing some pretty fun birds nests.
6th Sense swim jigs. They work. It's a jig. The issue is the consistency or QC. I gave them a try and liked the colors. The screwlock trailer keeper worked well, so even though I don't like 6th Sense as a brand, I grabbed around 20 of these jigs in 3/8 and 1/2 oz. What I soon realized is the weights of the jig were highly inconsistent. Horrible. A 1/2 jig would weigh the same as a 3/8 and vice versa. That's not okay. I want to know exactly how much that jig weighs, so I can adjust running depth and fall rate. Now 6th sense, 13 fishing, and Googan are all in the same bucket IMO. The trash bucket. Maybe I should have kept this to myself...
River2sea Pro Tuned Rover 98 size. Gave it a shot to try something different. Garbage. Doesn't cast well and doesn't get bit. Now I bought this to fish specifically for river small mouth on a river I fish more than any other body of water. Fished it since I was child with my grandfather. What I have learned is from Spawn until winter, if I'm not throwing top water on this river, I'm doing it wrong. Literally catch hundreds and hundreds of smallies a year on top water here. Baits they crush are buzzbaits, walking baits, poppers, whopperplopper style baits, wake baits, floating stick baits, etc. Color only matters on certain days. So, for whatever reason these fish just don't like the Rover. It may work elsewhere, but I still don't like how it casts.
All crankbaits. Oh wait, that's just my preference.
Oh another one to add with a caveat. Lobina Rico Suave. Not sure this should be on the list because it does work! It's actually amazing. It's the walking bait I go to last when I'm almost sure the top water bite is dead. There is something about the super smooth glide it makes that causes some of the most vicious strikes I've gotten from smallies. That's my assumption at least. The issue though is the way it casts. Man this thing catches the air sometimes and takes off like a paper airplane. When using it, it's like a negative lottery entry on each cast. You just never know when it will change course drastically in mid flight in turn causing some pretty fun birds nests.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
The Strike King KVD 1.5 Deep Diver Squarebill. Well built and fine quality, but runs horizontal then angles up and jumps out of the water, just will not run straight or dive.
I bought one of the R2S Rover 98 sizes, haven't used it yet, scares me that someone said it was garbage.
Berkley Vanish is flat out the worst line I have ever used. Tried it 10+ years ago when I started fishing and it scared me away from fluorocarbon almost.
I know there are a few other gems of bad equipment I forgot to mention, I'm sure as the thread continues they will be uncovered.
Not really bad tackle, but a bad design that hurts multiple products for me is the offset point on VMC hooks and Rugby heads, it does help hook up ratio, but makes rigging awful and makes tex-posing all but impossible. I am sure some like it, and I have a ton of VMC products, but find myself going for other brands due to the angled hook point.
I bought one of the R2S Rover 98 sizes, haven't used it yet, scares me that someone said it was garbage.
Berkley Vanish is flat out the worst line I have ever used. Tried it 10+ years ago when I started fishing and it scared me away from fluorocarbon almost.
I know there are a few other gems of bad equipment I forgot to mention, I'm sure as the thread continues they will be uncovered.
Not really bad tackle, but a bad design that hurts multiple products for me is the offset point on VMC hooks and Rugby heads, it does help hook up ratio, but makes rigging awful and makes tex-posing all but impossible. I am sure some like it, and I have a ton of VMC products, but find myself going for other brands due to the angled hook point.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
Sounds like the crank needs a tune. If you're lucky it might be one of those one in a million baits that hunts. The unstable baits that hunt will be unstable as speed increases and blow out Try slow crawling the bait and see if it will stay down. Watch the line for zig zags to see if it hunts.DirtyD64 wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 5:48 amThe Strike King KVD 1.5 Deep Diver Squarebill. Well built and fine quality, but runs horizontal then angles up and jumps out of the water, just will not run straight or dive.
I bought one of the R2S Rover 98 sizes, haven't used it yet, scares me that someone said it was garbage.
Berkley Vanish is flat out the worst line I have ever used. Tried it 10+ years ago when I started fishing and it scared me away from fluorocarbon almost.
I know there are a few other gems of bad equipment I forgot to mention, I'm sure as the thread continues they will be uncovered.
Not really bad tackle, but a bad design that hurts multiple products for me is the offset point on VMC hooks and Rugby heads, it does help hook up ratio, but makes rigging awful and makes tex-posing all but impossible. I am sure some like it, and I have a ton of VMC products, but find myself going for other brands due to the angled hook point.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
In regards to the Rover, I tried to qualify my "garbage" experience by stating I only tried the bait in one body of water. Give it a whirl, your fish might like it. This is the internet. No one is right, but we all think we are.DirtyD64 wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 5:48 amThe Strike King KVD 1.5 Deep Diver Squarebill. Well built and fine quality, but runs horizontal then angles up and jumps out of the water, just will not run straight or dive.
I bought one of the R2S Rover 98 sizes, haven't used it yet, scares me that someone said it was garbage.
Berkley Vanish is flat out the worst line I have ever used. Tried it 10+ years ago when I started fishing and it scared me away from fluorocarbon almost.
I know there are a few other gems of bad equipment I forgot to mention, I'm sure as the thread continues they will be uncovered.
Not really bad tackle, but a bad design that hurts multiple products for me is the offset point on VMC hooks and Rugby heads, it does help hook up ratio, but makes rigging awful and makes tex-posing all but impossible. I am sure some like it, and I have a ton of VMC products, but find myself going for other brands due to the angled hook point.
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Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
DirtyD64 wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 5:48 amThe Strike King KVD 1.5 Deep Diver Squarebill. Well built and fine quality, but runs horizontal then angles up and jumps out of the water, just will not run straight or dive.
I bought one of the R2S Rover 98 sizes, haven't used it yet, scares me that someone said it was garbage.
Berkley Vanish is flat out the worst line I have ever used. Tried it 10+ years ago when I started fishing and it scared me away from fluorocarbon almost.
I know there are a few other gems of bad equipment I forgot to mention, I'm sure as the thread continues they will be uncovered.
Not really bad tackle, but a bad design that hurts multiple products for me is the offset point on VMC hooks and Rugby heads, it does help hook up ratio, but makes rigging awful and makes tex-posing all but impossible. I am sure some like it, and I have a ton of VMC products, but find myself going for other brands due to the angled hook point.
Ah Vanish. I was almost turned off to fluoro because of it as well. There's the old saying, use Vanish and your lure/fish will soon follow suit.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
Man that has to be the worst line I've ever used. I was using the leader material, it stretched like a rubber band. I was using Maxima Ultragreen 8lb as my steelhead leader, went down the black hole of fluorocarbon lines and started with Vanish, it soured me from using FC line in general for a good decade. I now use Seaguar fluorocarbon if I'm wanting to run that type of leader.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
Last season I ran out 10# flouro and reluctantly bought 10# Vanish for an outing because 10# Sniper, Advance flouro and BPS flouro were all out locally which is all I can find. I found some Vanish and it performed adequately. No complaints here. I do strip off a lot of line as a preemptive measure due to skipping docks so maybe that helped. I need to start buying the good stuff in bulk.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
There are a few different kinds of Vanish, maybe some are better than others. The one I found awful was like $8 at Wal-Mart 12 years ago or something. I tried 8lb on spinning and 12lb on a ProMax Combo. The 8 was unrealistically bad. I cast a Road Runner once, it wind knotted, snapped, and I found the Road Runner on my back with like 1ft of line when getting in the car (bank fishing). The 12lb just didn't last and knotted poorly, frayed, and developed nightmare memory.LowRange wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 8:39 pmLast season I ran out 10# flouro and reluctantly bought 10# Vanish for an outing because 10# Sniper, Advance flouro and BPS flouro were all out locally which is all I can find. I found some Vanish and it performed adequately. No complaints here. I do strip off a lot of line as a preemptive measure due to skipping docks so maybe that helped. I need to start buying the good stuff in bulk.
To address the Strike King KVD Squarebill deep diver, I tuned it every which was possible, they are pretty bad. If you read most of my reviews and ramblings, I am fairly optimistic with tackle but these things are tough to like. Maybe if you got one perfectly tuned (8 years of river fishing with cranks and I stood no chance tuning it), and had a slow retrieve with the right line/rod these cranks would be okay. I only bought 2, both from Academy, so it is possible I got duds.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
I have 3 Bearking ito shiners. Pretty darn good if you ask me. The slashing action on a jerk is not as intense as it is on the real thing, but it gets bit pretty well and i cast them where i wouldn't cast a $30 lure into.
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Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
That reminded me... pretty much all cheap/non-brand/OEM guides on certain brands. Lew's and Abu have been EXCELLENT in replacing rods for me, simple, no questions asked, fair, friendly, etc. but most of the time their stock guides on even $250 range rods are questionable. They have started using Fuji seats on some models and others are beginning to use branded guides, but they need work in that department. This all being said, I use exclusively rods from them and a few random brands, I just wish they would use better guides in the future.
This isn't a fail, but a bit of a flaw, Trokar hooks, especially in smaller finesse models will poke a whole whilst penetrating large enough that the fish can shake off. It's like the hook is too big and sharp, and leaves a gap that will slide over the barb. It doesn't always happen, but have seen it personally a few times.
Back to baits, the Zoom Z-Hog and Zoom Super Hog were duds for me. Just no action. Something like a regular D-bomb, Brush Hog, or their Z-craw are all far superior baits.
I actually bought a bunch of Yo-Zuri hard baits, small jerkbaits from Wal-Mart a while back on sale, and they have been subpar so far. They either sink tail down like rocks, float completely, or just don't cast well. Just cheaply made micro jerkbaits.
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Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
unless you are fishing completely 100% open water, near no forms of rock, trokar hooks are acceptable.
otherwise be prepared to roll the point and lose fish.
Yozuri hard baits are absolutely fantastic quality lures. I use them for all species and have not found a better manufacturer of baits on the planet. I'm not sure what micro versions you were buying from walmart, but Yozuri hard baits are the only manufacturer with 100% consistency.
I have found when using micro baits, or other forms of "BFS" (I absolutely hate that term), balsa baits are better as the balsa will still provide the action a small surface area otherwise won't have.
otherwise be prepared to roll the point and lose fish.
Yozuri hard baits are absolutely fantastic quality lures. I use them for all species and have not found a better manufacturer of baits on the planet. I'm not sure what micro versions you were buying from walmart, but Yozuri hard baits are the only manufacturer with 100% consistency.
I have found when using micro baits, or other forms of "BFS" (I absolutely hate that term), balsa baits are better as the balsa will still provide the action a small surface area otherwise won't have.
1-2%
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
I should have been more clear... I have still hammered panfish on them. I have this ugly pink and orange one, with grey hooks, and it has caught little walleye, bream, crappie, drum, etc. Impressive little lure.SteveSchmelzle wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 4:57 pmunless you are fishing completely 100% open water, near no forms of rock, trokar hooks are acceptable.
otherwise be prepared to roll the point and lose fish.
Yozuri hard baits are absolutely fantastic quality lures. I use them for all species and have not found a better manufacturer of baits on the planet. I'm not sure what micro versions you were buying from walmart, but Yozuri hard baits are the only manufacturer with 100% consistency.
I have found when using micro baits, or other forms of "BFS" (I absolutely hate that term), balsa baits are better as the balsa will still provide the action a small surface area otherwise won't have.
Re: Bad tackle thread (what to avoid)
I played around with the "glide baits" the other day and they are floaters that run just under the surface and have a poor but workable swim. There are a bunch of tails glued to the inside of the package and I replaced them on two of the better swimming baits and with surface temps in the upper 60s they look to be OKish value wake bait type glide baits. The water was in the upper 40s when I 1st threw them and they wouldn't dive and swim but do now. I'll fish the black one at nigh and see if I can get some males to light it up as a fun numbers night bait. If the two fail at that then I'm stealing hardware and junking them.LowRange wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 11:01 amI need a place to dump all the bad stuff I have bought as a warning to others. This is a thread for the absolutel garbage that does not work as advertised or is just so poorly made that it should be avoided. This is not a "it sucks because i can't get bit" thread.
I buy aliexpress baits to try out and some of my favorite house baits I'm 90% sure are some form of aliexpress chinease baits. So I will pull the trigger on aliexpress baits that catch my eye and most of what I get is decent. A few have not.
Bearking jerkbaits. I have their weight transfer 110 style baits and they look good have strong sharp hooks and cast super far with the weight transfer. They sink more quickly than I would like even in cold water, do not stop after a jerk but just glide forward sort of nose down and do not have any darting action to speak of. When swam they have an awful super hard wide wobble. Maybe pike like them but there are not a bass bait I want to throw. Not pleased at all.
Bearking glide baits. These are beyond horrific. 1st off they float but aren't designed to dive so they do nothing. One out of the 3 actually slow sank but had the worse glide I have ever seen and just came back at me without an observable swim. I had to burn it to get and swimming motion out of them. Also all but one had a bent tail and I had to assemble the parts to get a "working" bait that was abysmal is action. At least pike would probably eat the jerkbaits. A corn cob would outfish these "swim" baits.