Lucky craft lures

Aussie

Aussie

BBM Personel Director
#1
Joined
May 11, 2009
Location
Australia
#1
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">Product Reviews: Lucky Craft

<!--webbot bot="Include" u-include="byline.htm" tag="BODY" startspan -->By Russ Bassdozer

<!--webbot bot="Include" endspan i-checksum="1928" -->It's fair to say Lucky Craft manufactures some of the best hard plastic baits in the world. Lucky Craft manufactures their baits in a small town near a pure flowing river in Japan. Their is a big emphasis on lure research and development and among members of the Lucky Craft company, they feel a big responsibility to produce lures worthy of both the angler and the fish of which he dreams. Here are some tips on how to fish these Lucky Craft dreams.​

Lucky Craft began to appear on the North American market about five or six years ago. The baker's dozen listed below are the first Lucky Craft lures that were available in the States. These originals still rank among Lucky Craft's most reliable fish-catchers:
  • Sammy 85, 100, and 115 topwater walking baits​
  • G-Splash 65 topwater popper​
  • Pointer 78 and 100 suspending jerkbaits​
  • Bevy Shad 75 a wider-bodied, deeper suspending jerkbait​
  • StaySee 90, a longer-lipped, even deeper suspending jerkbait​
  • Flash Minnow 110 a short-lipped shallow suspending jerkbait​
  • CB200 and CB350 Moonsault suspending diving crankbaits​
  • LV100 and LV500 lipless rattling crankbaits​
If you had to limit your Lucky Craft selection to a core set of lures to work with, you really can't go wrong by sticking with the originals listed above.
However, Lucky Craft hardly stopped there. In the past five years, Lucky Craft has rolled out additional topwaters, jerkbaits and crankbaits for North American freshwater bass fishing.
Today there are 70 models of injection-molded hard plastic baits that Lucky Craft offers you.
What's a fellow to do? How's someone to know which one to use when? With the premium price commanded by Lucky Craft baits, how can the average guy afford to try all these great baits? Will his wife let him? Will the kids still be able to go to college?​
Without further ado, here is the biggest helping of useful how-to info in print on Lucky Craft lures in North America. It doesn't cover all 70 models, but it does cover over 35 of the best Lucky Crafts available (plus a few discontinued models you really should try to get your hands on). Please enjoy!
Color Considerations:
These are the staple Lucky Craft colors I rely on day in and day out. You can get these four colors in practically all Lucky Craft hardbait models:
  1. Chartreuse Shad (#250). If I had to pick only one Lucky Craft color to use, it would be this. An opaque (solid) color with smoky blue/gray back, smoky pearl belly, and pale chartreuse lateral line. It is a great all-around producer under a wide variety of water color and conditions.
  2. Pearl Ayu (#268). Another productive opaque color that works under most conditions. A watermelon green back with shiny pearl sides that emit a bright white flash.
  3. Ghost Minnow (#238). Greenish translucent see-through color that is ideal for clear or stained water. Has pale blue and pink translucence on sides and pale white underbelly.
  4. Ghost Blue Shad (#237). Another productive transparent color, with a faint blue back similar to shad at times.
A high degree of my confidence and catches also come on these two color patterns. However, they are only available in a few limited Lucky Craft models:
  1. Misty Shad (#284), an opaque color
  2. Opaque Golden Shiner (#239) plus transparent Aurora Ghost Golden Shiner (#057)
The colors listed above account for many of my Lucky Craft catches.

​
</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%"><TABLE border=1 cellSpacing=0 borderColorLight=#ffcc00 borderColorDark=#808000 cellPadding=5 width="100%" bgColor=#ffcc00><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000>Lucky Craft Sammy 115 and Sammy 100 Topwalkers</TD></TR><TR><TD>Sammy 115. 4-1/2". 5/8 oz. Sammy 100. 4". 1/2 oz.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The Sammy 115 (bottom in photo) is my favorite size. It casts extremely well. When replaced with #2 hooks, the Sammy 115 becomes very special to fish in deeper calm water using a slow, gentle walk-the-dog action that makes the nose barely twitch without splashing.
I downsize to the Sammy 100 (top in photo) in shallower water, or whenever the fish show no interest in the 115, that's when I'll go to the Sammy 100. I give you more precise info on how I use these two in an article, Sammy - The Walking Fish.
There are two smaller (65 and 85) and one larger (128) version of Sammy also. Many anglers experience great success with these smaller and larger Sammy sizes as well.​

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%"><TABLE border=1 cellSpacing=0 borderColorLight=#ffcc00 borderColorDark=#808000 cellPadding=5 width="100%" bgColor=#ffcc00><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000>Lucky Craft Gunfish 95 Topwalker</TD></TR><TR><TD>Gunfish 95. 4". 3/8 oz.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The Gunfish is unique in shape and different in action than other topwalkers like the Sammy. The Gunfish has a more spitty, slashy, frantic action. It skates its body side to side rather than roll or waddle like other topwalkers. Many anglers tend to work the Gunfish faster and more frantically than they would a Sammy.

The Gunfish 95 was the first model available. The larger Gunfish 115 (5/8 oz) was introduced later, but quickly became favored by many anglers, due to the 115's larger size. In fact, if you are after big bass or just need a solitary kicker, the Gunfish 115, the Sammy 128 and Sammy 115 are the three "large" Lucky Craft topwaters to use to tempt above-average bass.​

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%"><TABLE border=1 cellSpacing=0 borderColorLight=#ffcc00 borderColorDark=#808000 cellPadding=5 width="100%" bgColor=#ffcc00><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000>Lucky Craft G-Splash 65 Popper</TD></TR><TR><TD>G-Splash 95. 2 1/2". 1/4 oz.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The G-Splash is G-ood! In calm flat water, the G-Splash throws a big splash ahead of itself, sounding the dinner bell for active, aggressive fish to come running long distances out of cover or up from the depths to greedily smack at the G-Splash. In choppy water, part of the big splash made by the G-Splash pushes underneath the choppy surface, creating wavy rings like a boil circling around the G-Splash. It's a real attention-getter.

Using a very fast, choppy rod tip movement of only a few inches, the G-Splash will walk side-to-side across the surface more like a Sammy or Spook style of action. You've got to get the tip vibrating back and forth very quickly to do this. It's a little tiring to do this all day, but I like the action it produces - and apparently so do a lot of fish I have caught with this tactic! I give you more precise info on how I use it in an article, G-Splash - The Newest Pop on Top.
The G-Splash is designed differently than most other poppers. The most obvious difference is that it has a square bottom as opposed to smooth round body, the surface area inside the concavity is greater and deeper on the G-Splash, and the ridge where the concavity meets the body is raised so the "lip" protrudes. Interesting departures from the norm.
There is also a relatively newer, larger version. The G-Splash 80 is 3" and 3/8 oz. This is a trend in bass fishing today towards larger poppers, and they do tend to result in larger bass.​

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%"><TABLE border=1 cellSpacing=0 borderColorLight=#ffcc00 borderColorDark=#808000 cellPadding=5 width="100%" bgColor=#ffcc00><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000>Lucky Craft Splash-Tail 90 Propbait</TD></TR><TR><TD>Splash-Tail. 3-5/8". 1/2 oz.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
This propbait has precision-made fore and aft propellers, each affixed to a metal sleeve that helps the prop turn more easily and precisely. Most other propbaits do not have such a sleeve. Mostly you see just loose prop.
Propbaits are relatively unused, bass don't get to see them much. That's why I use them a lot. You can go down a hard-hit bank or through a community hole where bass have wizened up to being pelted by more popular lures. Tie something on they've not yet seen. On some days it seems almost every jaded bass there will take a swipe at a novel lure type like a propbait that they have not seen yet.

</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE border=1 cellSpacing=0 borderColorLight=#ffcc00 borderColorDark=#808000 cellPadding=5 width="100%" bgColor=#ffcc00><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000>Lucky Craft Jerkbaits</TD></TR><TR><TD>
Don't see a jerkbait you like in the photo at right? Don't worry. Lucky Craft offers sixteen more jerkbait models in addition to the eight shown at right. These are the eight, however, that I use most often. From top down:
  1. Pointer 100DD
  2. Pointer 100
  3. Staysee 90
  4. Slender Pointer 97
  5. Flash Minnow 95
  6. Bevy Shad 75
  7. Pointer 78DD
  8. Pointer 78
For more info on how to use jerkbaits in general, and Lucky Craft's Pointer, Bevy Shad and Staysee in particular, check out my article, Jerkbaits for Late Fall Flats. Also check the interview I did on Ripbaits as Taught by Gary Dobyns, who's also know as Mister Rippin'. And when you're done with those articles, don't forget to get A Little Extra Jerkbait Gravy.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
You must log in or register to view replies here.