Just got a load of hardbaits for $1 each...(review inside)

[carpanglerdude]

So, I needed to buff up my bass collection of harddbaits. Lost my last Rapala to a fish in a snag, same with my last Rebel Pop-R. I hit up Cabelas and BassPro websites for some deals, but was pretty shocked at how much prices on hardbaits have gone up since I purchased most of mine (back in '99-2000). Being a bargain hunter, I hit up eBay to see what I could find.

Came across a seller called LuckyDolphin168. He was selling loads of different hardbaits with free shipping. I sniped a bunch of 'em, and ended up paying roughly $1 per lure. Not bad, considering a Rapala at WalMart will hit you up for at least $5.

However, I've run into my share of crap/bogus lures before, so I was a little hesitant on these. They are straight form Hong-Kong, and I was worried about receiving some utterly terrible lures, falling apart in the box. I love cheap stuff from Asia, and eBay is full of such offerings, but there's plenty that is junk too.

Anyway, got most of the lures in the mail within a week and half. Here's a pic of some of them:

I was really impressed with the quality of the lures, for what I paid. Sure, they weren't Lucky Crafts, but they had a decent amount of detail, paint jobs were bad, and I really, really liked the look/feel of this one:


Who cares about cheap lures if they don't catch fish, right? Took 'em out today at my hotspot, and nailed two bass with the pink poppers.
The first was a dink, but the last fish was at least 17 inches long (3-4lb?), heck of a hit. I didn't really get to try the other lures, but I will tomorrow and sunday, will post about them.




I don't want this to come off as a blatant plug for the eBay seller, but I'm pretty stoked about getting lures for a steal and having them catch fish.



While I'm rambling about eBay lures, here's another steal thing I ran into. Saw this lure going for 0.99, free shipping, figured what the heck, I'll get it. I wont the auction, then got an email from the seller stating:

Thank you for bidding on our fishing lure listings in ebay.

This a brand new item that we added to our 2009 products lines, we do not know if it will be a big hit to the fishing tackle market in US, that is why we are giving them out for free to receive comments from American fishermans. This way, we will have a general idea how it will sell in the upcoming fishing season.


To receive this item for free, just complete the followings:


1. Leave a Positive Feedback.

2. Leave ALL 5 STAR ratings for the following:

a. How accurate was the item description? ***** (Please make sure its all 5 Stars)

b. How satisfied were you with the seller's communication? ***** (Please make sure its all 5 Stars)

c. How quickly did the seller ship the item? ***** (Please make sure its 5 Stars)

d. How reasonable were the shipping and handling charges? ***** (Please make sure its all 5 Stars)

Once the feedback and the 5 star rating is received, you will receive a confirmation email and a positive feedback from us, we will ship out this lure via USPS within the SAME DAY, you should receive it at your door in 3~4 business days.


Note :
1. Each EBAY ACCOUNT can only receive 1 free lure every 10 days, your account will be blocked from bidding on our auction for 1 week start from today.

2. If you won multiple listings, we will contact you and let you know that you will only receive 1 free lure when we receive the positive feedback and 5 star ratings from you.

3. If you want to keep getting free lures, please come back and bid on our auction after 10 days.


THIS IS A OFFER YOU CAN NOT MISS, PLEASE TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO OWNS A EBAY ACCOUNT!!

Again, we just want to remind you that you have option to get this item for FREE with just couple of click on your mouse, please take full advantage!!


Thank you for your business.

What the heck, right? I figure, ok, leave him feedback and see if I actually get the lure. I don't lose any money, right? A few days later, and this comes in the mail:

Lures decent enough. I don't know what to make of it, but he is selling alot with the same 'deal.' I think it's probably a quick way for him to get his feedback up in a hurry, probably so he can run something shady later on. However, I got a free lure out of it, so sweet, heh. Just thought I'd share.

[fish]

FYI... "aile magnet" is a series of lures made by DUEL/Yo-Zuris. From the looks of the lures they are not DUEL/Yo-Zuri quality.

Also, the second lure you got looks like a Megabass knock off.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descp...ARD-MBVXR.html

I'm glad that you had luck with those lures no matter if they are "real" or not. Your skill and technique just makes up for any deficiencies in the lures, if there are any.

Your hot spot looks very interesting...is it a ninja spot?

[Fire Ball]

I bought one of those lures from this guy about a month ago too! I haven't really tried it out yet because it doesn't look very good, but I figured it would be alright for only $1.

[carpanglerdude]

Whoa, those look exactly like the Megabass rattlers, good find.

Yeah, all of the $1 lures are packaged in the same way, with the same Duel/Aile slip. I looked 'em up and found that they were definitely not the Duel lures, but they weren't advertised as such, so no harm done to me.

I tried out the topwater rapala floater-style ones and they worked fine.

However, the really nice looking jointed ones (blue, see above pic) don't swim very well-they sink about 1 ft but just don't do well on a steady retrieve. Oh well, heh.

Got another other of the free eBay lures yesterday, I have three different ones now, heh.

[carpanglerdude]

Your hot spot looks very interesting...is it a ninja spot?

My spot is my secret spot, haha...it's not a ninja spot, but there is a serious ninja spot nearby...very hush hush

I did finally go out and by some ninja equipment though (head lamps)...catching that big bass at night with nothing but a keychain flashlight was rough

[carpanglerdude]

Got a few more from my order(s) yesterday, here's the pics:
Two topwater hardbait frogs, and a swell-looking jointed lure. Oh, and one more clone freebie!

[fish]

Besides the fact that they may or may not be knock off lures, they do look like usable lures. Good luck with the ninja fishing.