The one thing that makes a difference in any lure is confidence!!  If you have confidence in a lure more than likely you are going to catch fish on it unless it breaks or has major problems.  You are not going to catch fish on a crank that breaks the bill off on the first cast or fills with water.  I think we may all agree more than what it appears because we are blending terms.  To be fair, we would have to compare them in their respective categories.

 

1. High priced JDM baits.

2. Custom built

3. Mid priced Originals

4. Store brand of Originals

5. Knockoffs

 

Now what hasn't been discussed is the difference in blanks from different suppliers.  If the supplier has quality blanks and you add a quality paint job and hardware you will have a good bait IMHO...But did you save any money?  Normally that falls in the "custom" bait definition and is much more expensive.  A true knockoff as I am referring to is a no name cheap bait with cheap components/hardware.  I will say this, my friend that I mentioned in my post above who designs baits told me (and showed me pictures) that if you know where to go in the overseas market, you can walk through the door with ANY hardbait and in 1 week you can have 3,000 boxed up blanks.  Bottom line it's your hard earned $$ spend it where you like.  

I am curious to why nobody has copied the speed trap. 

 

I don't know if you consider Academy sports H2O baits knock offs, but I believe their square bills catch fish as well or better than many high dollar square bills.  

8 hours ago, scotthg7977 said:

I am curious to why nobody has copied the speed trap. 

 

Bloody Thumb Lures.

 

My customs work great.

The original Wiggle Wart was made from a plastic material that was found to have a chemical that was found to cause cancer.  The formula was changed and the rest his history. The Speed Trap also had a material change.

i try not to buy anything knock off because the only reason they are coppying something is because it is good

I have some academy brand cranks and wal mart brand cranks that are great. But I also have some name brand as well. All about if I like what I see when I use it. Not like the fish care. 

10 hours ago, scotthg7977 said:

I am curious to why nobody has copied the speed trap. 

 

I have some KO speed traps, they work pretty well.

 

2 hours ago, bass4life.... said:

i try not to buy anything knock off because the only reason they are coppying something is because it is good

So you fish the original Creme Worm? Because everything after that is just a KO. 

 

Everyone copies everyone in the fishing industry. The KO's, although they may look the same, aren't the exact same either. I've had some good KO's, and I've had some that were junk. To me, the point of buying a KO is so I can get it custom painted like I want in a pattern that isn't offered without having to buy a painted bait and have a painter strip it before painting. 

I bought some knock off rattle traps a few years ago, you know the ones, buy 5 or 6, variety of colors, comes in a neat little box that the hinges break about a week later. 
The finish on them wasn’t as good, scratched easy, but all seemed to have about the same action…..But one. 
It was a chrome -blue back that tracked to the left and swam slightly on its side, not a full 90 degrees, but somewhere in between.

 I caught a lot of fish on that lure, more than any other rattle trap I’ve owned. I fixed his spot and colored the top with a sharpie a bunch of times. 
I got broke off and lost that lure to what I’d like to think was a world record fish, helps justify in my mind loosing the lure.

Probably a snag and I mistook the bump for a bite and set the hook into a 500 lb log. 
Anyway, I still buy knock offs but I have name brands too. I use them more in the ruff stuff, if I’m going loose one, I’d rather loose a cheap one. 
 

On 4/26/2018 at 5:56 AM, TOXIC said:

You can walk through the door with ANY hardbait and in 1 week you can have 3,000 boxed up blanks.  Bottom line it's your hard earned $$ spend it where you like.  

 

That is very true. But Ive never been able to get a 1 week turnaround on new tooling ?