Do you guys fish any of the harder to get Japanese crankbaits ?

I've had some sucess on the Evergreen combat crank mr (pre-spawn color), and ordered a couple of Junior D recently. I've been looking at some Imakatsu crank250 and Evergreen mo-Do wild hunch.

Just curious if you guys have tried any of the Japanese cranks.Thanks

Great looking baits but too expensive for me.

The bass here have been conditioned to only "Bite American" to help get us out of this recession.

I really like the Imakatsu IK-250.

Good answer CWB.LOL

Falcon

Very few. due to the cost.

I do like the Sammy 100 topwater though. Don't mind paying for it or the pointers. They make a difference in my opinion.

Out of my japanese cranks two shine:

Megabass Bait X

Lucky Craft Moonassault

The prices are a little high for me.  I do have two Lucky Craft RCs bt Rick Clunn is american so are they really Japanese?  

I like the old Evergreen Combat Cranks that they no longer make. Now Lucky Craft makes the baits using the Evergreen molds. They call them CB cranks(?) CB250 and CB350. They did change the cranks by adding glass rattles  >  The pre spawn color works very well on smallmouth all year long on many bodies of water.

IK-250

I just picked up a Fat Sum on e-bay, supposed to be similar to the Sammy but doesn't rattle. I also got a few OSP cranks to try this year along with Daiwa non rattling lipless baits. I've used a lot of the various Lucky Craft and some of the Jackall. I also caught a few on the Shimano Triple Impact 120, very unique bait that I picked up last summer.

The Imakatsu IK-250 is one I been looking at, and the Evergreen combat crank 250 and Mo-Do wild hunch. Yea, they are expensive, and hard to get.

Yea, they are expensive, and hard to get.

Expensive yes, hard to get not really:  http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37.l1313&satitle=ik+250&category0=

The O.S.P. stuff is killer. Both the Blitz and HPF.      

A lot of the Japanese stuff I've purchased has not really been that impressive to me. Injection molded plastic with a fancy finish.  I think where they really shine is with jerkbait design.

Some baits I've done very well with.....the Imakatsu IK divers are good - and also about the best casting deep crank out there (IK-400).

None of this stuff is really very hard to find. There's a lot of great eBay retailers and I don't think I've ever had a negative experience with any of them. The shipping is usually pretty quick and reasonable (or even cheaper than shipping charges from U.S. retailers).

If you want "hard to find" crankbaits from Japan, try to track down these:

T.H.

FD Custom

Nakamura

Kaihatsu

Flutter

Woodream

Some of the best custom cranks in Japan.....but the only way I know of to get them is to know somebody over there who will buy them for you and ship them to the U.S. >

Thanks T-Rig and Stringjam, I'm looking on ebay for them. I also seen Imakatsu has a IK-500 that runs like 17', but, I may try the IK250 and IK-400 first. Ichiban tackle is "out of stock" on most colors.

I tried searching ebay on some of the other japanese cranks Stringjam listed as hard to get, nothing came up on them.

Thanks T-Rig and Stringjam, I'm looking on ebay for them. I also seen Imakatsu has a IK-500 that runs like 17', but, I may try the IK250 and IK-400 first. Ichiban tackle is "out of stock" on most colors.

I tried searching ebay on some of the other japanese cranks Stringjam listed as hard to get, nothing came up on them.

Why I am not surprised that Ichibant is out of stock ?  :-? ....... they are always out of stock of everything.

Ok, there you go ---> IMAKATSU stuff

Thanks Raul. Imakastu makes more than I realized. I'll have to find more info on their diff. cranks. I'll search thru Ebay stuff since Ichiban is out of stock.

Check out the Jackall Muscle series of cranks. There crankbaits are all good but I find that series to be the best. They have a Sexy Shad color out now and it catches them like crazy. They are smaller than traditional crankbaits, have excellent hooks out of the package, dive straight and true, have weights to make them cast further and easier, and dive with less resistance in the water so you don't get worn out from throwing them. You would have to try one to see all of these things but Japanese lures seem to be better than ones made elsewhere.

John G, I agree with you on the Muscle Deep cranks, it's been a very productive crank for the reasons that you mentioned. I think their Super Crawdad color is going to be a hot color as well, I plan on getting a few. I also like the Cherry Zero footer, it's been a very good shallow crank as well seems to have a little wandering action.

Yeah pretty sweet action! It seems the designer of them stays one step ahead of everyone else. Do you get yours at D and R Sports or Michigan Tackle Specialties?

Sounds like your from the BC / K'zoo area. I live app 1 mile from Michigan Tackle and I try to buy what I can there (primarily Yamamoto/ Zoom baits) but if I remember correctly I picked up most of my Muscle Deeps from D & R because they stock them there. I can see why you're a big fan of these cranks sounds like we're fishing some of the same lakes but if  anyone ask tell them the Muscle Deep cranks are no good