Megabass 110 Knockoffs

[brucestacklebox]

Did you guys see that last weekends everstart tournament was won on a megabass knock off? Dave ryan won on baits he paints and sells .Maybe these are better than you guys think.

I have hundreds of both KO lures and originals and I prefer to use and catch more on the KO lures. I think it all depends on which KO's you use because just like any brand name lure, some are good and some are bad. If you can find a good KO lure, it can become a preferred lure just like a preferred brand.

[Vodkaman]

I have hundreds of both KO lures and originals and I prefer to use and catch more on the KO lures. I think it all depends on which KO's you use because just like any brand name lure, some are good and some are bad. If you can find a good KO lure, it can become a preferred lure just like a preferred brand.

In your opinion, which KO's out perform the originals?

Dave

[hazmail]

They are junk... You get what you pay for. Keep supporting this knockoff crap and none of you will ever make money painting lures because nobody will think your painting the real thing when you try and paint the real thing.. In the short run it might seem great but in the long run your hurting the craft itself.. just my opinion.

I'm with you 'Rookie', if we are not buying them ($26 ea here) we are copying them, this brings the market back down to the blank price, which is less than a $ here.

Next thing you know you are working for $2 an hour like they are.

Ya know, most Jap baits they are beautifully finished, something Europe, U.S and WE can't seem to match--this is the killer here, we are still back in the 80's when it comes to innovation and lures.

Pete

Edited March 22, 2011 by hazmail

[mark poulson]

In your opinion, which KO's out perform the originals?

Dave

If Rick Clunn is right, and fish get conditioned to the hydralic signature of common cranks, then any crank with a different movement in the water should work, as long as it's well made. I know, on our SoCal lakes, fish do get conditioned pretty quickly to new stuff. The scrounger was deadly for a couple of seasons, and then the fish got used to it. I would have thought new generations of fish would be "dumb", and go for the old stuff, but it seems like they learn as a group, and leave the same lures alone that were deadly only a few years ago.

Having said that, cranks and blades still catch them. You just have to pick you spots.

The one thing that may be different is how well the Japanese square bill cranks, and now the Strike King KVD square bills, come through cover. Getting just the right lip size, angle, and buoyancy to help them come over branches without snagging IS rocket science. I am much more aggressive with a plastic square bill than with a balsa square bill. I'm sure a lot of that is due to the "indestructibility" of plastic, but the Lucky Craft BDS 1 is still amazing.

Edited March 22, 2011 by mark poulson

[Vodkaman]

If Rick Clunn is right, and fish get conditioned to the hydralic signature of common cranks, then any crank with a different movement in the water should work, as long as it's well made. I know, on our SoCal lakes, fish do get conditioned pretty quickly to new stuff. The scrounger was deadly for a couple of seasons, and then the fish got used to it. I would have thought new generations of fish would be "dumb", and go for the old stuff, but it seems like they learn as a group, and leave the same lures alone that were deadly only a few years ago.

Mark, you provide a good argument for staying away from shop lures, original or KO. With so much new stuff to be discovered, I will never waste my time copying stuff that has already been done. This of course, is easy for me to say, as I am not trying to make a living from lures. Those that do make baits for a living are bound by customer demand.

Dave

[bassfan586]

Is the issue that we are not buying american made? Or just ko's in general. If an american company made the l.c, mega bass, deps ko's it would be ok? Or is it the people adevertising ko's as the real deal or at the least misleading people. (Which is b.s by the way but you know by the low price it isn't the real deal.) Or is it not buying american made baits. If that is the case why buy the l.c, megabass or depps to repaint if they are foriegn made? Many people don't want to pay the top dollar for those baits to be custom painted. If thats the case then so what. An American is still painting them. Still shipping thru an american company.

[nedyarb]

Can someone tell me where I can buy some? I am cheap and can't see spending 10-30 on a lure, so a push towads a website that sells unpainted megabass knockoffs would be appreciated. Rob

[mark poulson]

Can someone tell me where I can buy some? I am cheap and can't see spending 10-30 on a lure, so a push towads a website that sells unpainted megabass knockoffs would be appreciated. Rob

There are several websites listed earlier in this thread.

[Vodkaman]

Is the issue that we are not buying american made? Or just ko's in general. If an american company made the l.c, mega bass, deps ko's it would be ok? Or is it the people adevertising ko's as the real deal or at the least misleading people. (Which is b.s by the way but you know by the low price it isn't the real deal.) Or is it not buying american made baits. If that is the case why buy the l.c, megabass or depps to repaint if they are foriegn made? Many people don't want to pay the top dollar for those baits to be custom painted. If thats the case then so what. An American is still painting them. Still shipping thru an american company.

There are several issues being discussed in this thread and this is why it is becoming confusing. Here is a list of the issues and questions that I have spotted so far:

1 – how do KO’s perform? Do they perform the similar or different, better or worse than the original?

2 – misrepresentation is wrong, fact. But is it OK to sell KO’s provided you say what it is?

3 – are the originals over priced, to such an extent that they deserve to be KO’d?

4 – are all KO’s stealing from the original seller?

5 – are all lures KO’s to some degree, thus making all KO’s acceptable?

6 – is selling an obvious KO acceptable under a different name?

7 – is making your own KO more acceptable than buying a KO?

8 – is using KO’s for own use acceptable?

9 – is buying an American KO more acceptable?

My question is, when is a KO not a KO. Is it just the shape that makes the lure a KO, or the entire lure?

Anyone who has built a lure will realize that the shape of the lure plays a very small part in how a lure performs. It is more about balancing the hardware, ballast, lip and line tie to that shape, to get it to swim how you want. Copying just the shape does not make the bait a KO, it just demonstrates a lack of imagination.

To me, the shape is something you wrap around the hardware, interface with the water flow to get the action and hopefully look a bit like a prey fish. When I design a swimbait, the first thing I do is pull a picture of a real fish off the web and copy its profile. If you are going to make a copy, best to use the true original.

Selling a lure and mentioning another lure name in the sales pitch is wrong, even if you are saying that it is ‘similar to’ or ‘a knock off’. You are riding on the back of the back of the work the original producer. Apart from this, as long as you are not infringing patents, I say knock yourself out and go for it. I guess this is the difference between lure builders and designers.

Dave

[hazmail]

If Rick Clunn is right, and fish get conditioned to the hydralic signature of common cranks, then any crank with a different movement in the water should work, as long as it's well made. I know, on our SoCal lakes, fish do get conditioned pretty quickly to new stuff. The scrounger was deadly for a couple of seasons, and then the fish got used to it. I would have thought new generations of fish would be "dumb", and go for the old stuff, but it seems like they learn as a group, and leave the same lures alone that were deadly only a few years ago.

Having said that, cranks and blades still catch them. You just have to pick you spots.

The one thing that may be different is how well the Japanese square bill cranks, and now the Strike King KVD square bills, come through cover. Getting just the right lip size, angle, and buoyancy to help them come over branches without snagging IS rocket science. I am much more aggressive with a plastic square bill than with a balsa square bill. I'm sure a lot of that is due to the "indestructibility" of plastic, but the Lucky Craft BDS 1 is still amazing.

This post has been edited by mark poulson: Yesterday, 08:04 AM

Not sure who 'Rick Clunn' is BUT---Interesting insight Mark, I have been many times a victim of Trout and their apparent hereditary memory/ avoidance of that lure that worked last Winter, well that's what I put it down to anyway.

Sometimes I think it's our amnesia, we are that snowed under with new lures/pattern's, we tend to forget what really worked 30 years back.

Pete

[mark poulson]

If Rick Clunn is right, and fish get conditioned to the hydralic signature of common cranks, then any crank with a different movement in the water should work, as long as it's well made. I know, on our SoCal lakes, fish do get conditioned pretty quickly to new stuff. The scrounger was deadly for a couple of seasons, and then the fish got used to it. I would have thought new generations of fish would be "dumb", and go for the old stuff, but it seems like they learn as a group, and leave the same lures alone that were deadly only a few years ago.

Having said that, cranks and blades still catch them. You just have to pick you spots.

The one thing that may be different is how well the Japanese square bill cranks, and now the Strike King KVD square bills, come through cover. Getting just the right lip size, angle, and buoyancy to help them come over branches without snagging IS rocket science. I am much more aggressive with a plastic square bill than with a balsa square bill. I'm sure a lot of that is due to the "indestructibility" of plastic, but the Lucky Craft BDS 1 is still amazing.

This post has been edited by mark poulson: Yesterday, 08:04 AM

Not sure who 'Rick Clunn' is BUT---Interesting insight Mark, I have been many times a victim of Trout and their apparent hereditary memory/ avoidance of that lure that worked last Winter, well that's what I put it down to anyway.

Sometimes I think it's our amnesia, we are that snowed under with new lures/pattern's, we tend to forget what really worked 30 years back.

Pete

Pete,

Up until Kevin VanDam came along and began his total domination of professional bass fishing here in the US, Rick Clunn was considered to be the best, or one of the best, bass fishermen alive.

He still competes on the pro circut, but Kevin is just in another league than anyone else fishing today.

Clunn has been described as a Zen fisherman, camping at tournament sites to be more in touch with the environment at the tourney, and he helped develop the Lucky Craft crankbait series that bear his name. The RC in RC 1.5 stands for Rick Clunn.

I fish with a guy who was the original big tube (Tora Tube) fisherman. He actually took a salt water tube, and adapted it to bass fishing. He still throws the original Gizit tubes, and still gets bit, so there's probably a lot of truth is what you said. We all probably get caught up in the latest and greatest, the new bait, the new technique, and forget what worked for us in the past.

I know Texas rigged and split shot worms still catch fish here, and those techniques have been around forever. I always have either a Texas rig or a split shot tied on whenever I go fishing.

[MikePaintsBaits]

Very Well Said .........Dave

Mike

[mark poulson]

Very Well Said .........Dave

Mike

But making and fishing new lures is such fun!

Between hardbaits and plastics, I have enough projects to insure poverty for the foreseeable future.

[quick20xd]

My take on KOs is much like some others here. I don't paint cranks to make money. I fish with the lures I paint, and I paint for my friends and family. If I am going to the time and effort to paint a lure. I am going to do it right. And I want to know it will run right when I'm done. I have painted some KOs and the ones that ran right still didn't perform as well as a name brand crank. And, you can bet your crankbait box, that with my luck if one out of five doesn't run right. That will be the one I've taken the most pains with to get perfect. Now, after all that work is done I have a lovely key chain ornament!!!

I'd rather find some name brand cranks in butt-ugly colors on sell. Or find some on ebay than run the risk with a KO. Even with name brand cranks every once and a while you'll get one that the rattle weight is locked up on one side and if you don't notice it before repainting. You 've made an instant Christmas tree ornament. Because that thing will never run right! That said, I would rather pay more and take my chances with a name brand crank.