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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | I was at G/MTN and got 4 custom color M/I BULLDAWGS, I went fishing the next day and after 1 hour of casting the custom G/M, M/I Bulldawgs the weights where coming out of the Dawg !!!! So I open the next one and in 1/2 hour same thing, take all 4 back to G/M for refund. The plastic is so soft you can put your finger into the body of the G/M, M/I Bulldawg. Boy they are not like the old M/I DAWGS, I can cast the old style all day without them coming apart. I hope this not the new plastic that I was told they had coming out this year ????? |
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| do a search for "bulldawg" over the last 6 months in this forum (Tackle/Equip).
you'll find lots of discussion about this issue and alternatives.
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Posts: 2378
| The ones at Gander are probably left over China Dawgs from the crap pile. The new baits at the shows this season seemed to be better plastic. |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | The ones at G/M are NEW, they are custom colors just for G/M, the guy was stocking the rack and I ask about them, so they should be the new style ??? Boy if they were lookout !!!! |
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Posts: 2378
| The guys in your avatar make 'em...ask them... |
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| they are all china dawgs...and are all that way. that isnt the only issue with them either. the welds on the hook hangers is busting with little wieght. save you $ and dont buy the china ones.
removal in 3....2..... |
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Posts: 8778
| Guest, maybe you can enlighten us as to how to tell the difference between a "china dawg" and a NON "china dawg"? That would be valuable information we all could use, and most likely something that wouldn't get deleted. |
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Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | As lambeau said, this has been discussed at length in the link he provided. I believe Brad chimed in on one discussion and announced what was up, as well. otherwise, call Musky Innovations and ask them what to expect.
I was tossing a Tacklebooty model yesterday...seems tough as nails and that's made overseas I think. It's not 'where' they are made, it's the specs they are made to and whether the overseas builder followed directive. Sled can shed light there, he works hands on with issues like this. |
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| the rubber used is different than what was used in the hand pour version. its a lot softer. the head pulls out, the back end of the internal harness will pop through the tail causing the tail to fall off eventually, you cannot repair the rubber well...at least not like the hand poured versions, the welds inside are horrible, the components (splits and hooks) simply aweful. the life span on these are sometimes measured in hours. The original bulldawgs were made with seven strand enternal harness, then went with a wire.....both were good. you can tell the difference by the feel of the rubber, the top hook (china dogs have a rounded tip top hook), they have the original body shape, they wont fall apart after a day lol, i am sure there is plenty more i am forgetting. i have heard that the new super d's by tackle booty are built well and at a better price...so there ya go! |
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il | nice to have alternatives to go to, the tacklebooty superds seem to hold up very nice, and for high quality rubber baits that wont fall apart you cannot go wrong with shack attack curly sues! i got tired of buying rubber baits and having them fall apart without even having a fish hit them. ill stick with shack attack and tacklebooty! like steve said its not where they are made, its how they are made! |
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Posts: 8778
| Guest, I get all that, and I know what happens. What I don't know, and maybe you can tell me, is how to tell by looking at one inside the package whether its one of the ones that's going to fail prematurely or one of the ones that won't.
And on a related note, has anyone tried to take one of these "china dawgs", cut the guts out of it and rebuild it using seven strand? Seems to me you'd be able to do that rather than just throw it out. |
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Posts: 1270
| I'm assuming that if the baits are made in China they would need to have a "Made in China" mention somewhere on the packaging. |
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Posts: 443
Location: Duluth, MN | I bought one the other day and the small writing on the sticker says something like "GM Cust Clr". I got the Redhorse Sucker. You can tell it is made out of a VERY soft rubber. I haven't thrown it yet but will be on saturday. |
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Posts: 90
| EA- when the bulldawgs first went from sevenstrand to a solid wire, they did so because after using the bait a lot, the sevenstrand would end up breaking while fighting a fish as the wire kinked and weakened. This mainly happened after catching multiple fish. Switching to the solid wire (for the most part) stopped this from happening. I don't know what is going on with the current wire being used, but have seen waaay too many baits breaking right in front of the back hook, even know of pounders breaking there on 2 pound pike. The baits also don't seem to hold strength when you melt them back together, so you would have a weak link down the whole bottom of the bait. Even without cutting the bait apart the plastic is so soft the heads rip out when ripping the bait so I cannot see how rewiring a bait is going to make it more effective if melting them back causes the plastic to lose its strength.
Personally, my favorite way to fish is with a bulldawg. They are unbelievably versatile in where and how you can fish them. I would rather catch a fish on a bulldawg then just about anything. I would gladly pay 20-25 bucks for the handpours that used to be made. I also carry about 30 dawgs/pounders with me at all times. I was ok with having to change out the split rings and hooks on all the baits as split rings didin't bother me as I change out hooks on most baits and I preferred the 7/0 hooks. That being said. As much as it hurts me to say, I will probably end up trying a couple of tacklebooty's super d's as changing the hooks out is one thing, but I can't have the baits falling apart within a day or risk having one break off on any sized fish and having them swim away with a 7/0 in their mouth.
I hope the wiring and plastic get fixed, so I can be confident when I purchase a dawg. I talk to the guys who used the originals and hear them talk about the times they would catch 30 fish on 1 dawg, I am lucky if I can get two out of one today. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | veha45 - 6/4/2008 8:52 PM
As much as it hurts me to say, I will probably end up trying a couple of tacklebooty's super d's
Why does it hurt you to say that? If you try the Super D's you will be buying a high quality product from a great guy that cares about his product and his customers. I think Shack Attack and Tacklebooty will be getting more and more popular unless Musky Innovations changes their product to make it more durable, unless their main focus turns to their rods and other baits in the lineup.
Don't feel like you are doing anybody wrong by buying from Andy at Shack Attack or James at Tacklebooty. You can be assured you are buying a good product from honest people.
curleytail |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | I have seen some dawgs from SAVAGE-GEAR they are at PRO BASS, I have been casting one for 3 days on and off, very soild bait, give one a try. TACKLEBOOTY, SHACK ATTACK, and SAVAGE-GEAR ALEIN EeL 3 DIFFERENT PLASTIC BAITS THAT WILL NOT FALL APART JUST FROM CASTING.
Edited by PIKEMASTER 7/11/2008 1:44 PM
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Location: Twin Cities | I'm curious, do people thing the harness' rip out of the BD's from ripping them or from the SMACK when they hit the water? I think it's the latter. |
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Posts: 8778
| Veha, you're right. The original 7 strand dawgs did fatigue and break. I was thinking more along the lines of using tiger-wire or something that you could tie instead of crimp because I THINK what happened was a combination of rust and fraying at the crimp. Sure wouldn't stop the head from splitting, but it might make some of the "made in china" baits useable at least.
I don't know about re-melting the plastic making it weaker -- I've remelted a few tails and they seem to hold up very well.
JRedig -- I don't think the smack will do anything except bend the harness and make them not run right. (another reason I liked the 7 strand models better) I think the weight pulls through the nose on the back-cast actually, right as the rod loads up. Reason I say this is I've been able to sort of lob them underhand, and stull rip them just as hard, still have them smack against the water, and the front doesn't split. Well, not as soon anyway.
I've got all of them... from the originals, to the molded flat tail, the really soft ones, the ones with the seam down the middle, uptowns, customs, you name it. I just wish there was a way to tell which ones were going to come apart, or which ones might have a harness that's going to snap on a fish. I'd feel a lot better throwing them if I knew which ones I could trust. |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | IMO you will see more of the coil harnesses used like the ones that are in my SuperDs from 6+ months ago. This will help a lot of the current rubber lures out there even if they are made with soft rubber. Which by chance a lot of guys like but with it comes some potential for lure failure. Mine are made with an in between rubber but then add in the "Double Lock"TM harness and it is really helps the lure body stay on the harness. I think Andy's lures uses an interesting internal harness as well. This Eel sounds like it may have something inside too that helps the durability but I have not seen the harness nor the one from a Swamp Donkey which I hear is a freaking TANK for durability. I held one of those at Throne a few weeks ago and while the rubber was a little to hard IMO I loved the replacement tail and it felt solid as a rock. For my personal fishing I will be trying one of those Donkeys this fall.
James |
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Posts: 909
| I don't know what you guys think, But MI has had plenty of time to make the correct changes to their baits. The other guys have made alot of changes FOR THE BETTER in alot less time. The sad thing is, we all really like them and really do want to buy them! But it just keeps getting harder to swallow!  Also, this is the last time I'm gonna comment on this subject. Its like beatin a dead horse!
Edited by muskie24/7 7/12/2008 9:03 PM
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| if it rips just take a lighter to it and you can weld it back in place also modify it with bass plastics |
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Posts: 8778
| 24/7 -- fixing the problem is easy once you know what it is, and what you need to do to make it right. The hard part is thousands of lures out there in hundreds of stores, and thousands more in thousands of tackle boxes that left your shop before you knew there was a problem. |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Just an FYI-I do like to fish with a lot of differnet swimbaits for my personal fishing and I bought a new Musky Innovations Bulldawg off of eBay recently and it did have an internal coil harness in it. Looks like some of the new Bulldawgs are already hitting the market for you Dawg lovers out there.
James |
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Posts: 501
Location: Norway | tacklebooty - 7/15/2008 10:06 AM
Just an FYI-I do like to fish with a lot of differnet swimbaits for my personal fishing and I bought a new Musky Innovations Bulldawg off of eBay recently and it did have an internal coil harness in it. Looks like some of the new Bulldawgs are already hitting the market for you Dawg lovers out there.
James
I do think some of the BD'sI have, have coil harness... And I havent bought any this year, I think... 
I will have to check next time Im fiddling around in my box.
Michael |
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Posts: 909
| essoxaddict, I hear about recalls everyday. IMPO...Why should we be the ones to take the loss! I'm just a working man with a family. My money tree in the backyard must have gotten hit with frost this year, cause it ain't bloomin' let me tell you!!!! |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | I don`t buy plastic baits with the thought of catching a ton of muskies on them,it`s so easy for them to get shredded,or a tail lost,but if I were you guys I would switch brands and hope they are better.I don`t throw alot of plastics until fall,but after hearing this I`m not gonna buy a bulldawg,instead I will buy super Ds and curly sues. |
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