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Posts: 711
| So what does everyone consider big money (their personal limit) for a lure that is not for show...so not for it's art but it's ability to increase your catch's. AKA a HOT lure.
For me it's around $50 unless there is a charity component to the purchase.
Edited by bturg 1/15/2022 10:26 PM
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Posts: 32781
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I'm in the $45 to $50 range too. |
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Posts: 20178
Location: oswego, il | I can remember when Hughes River baits became popular about 20 years ago and came with a 40 dollar price tag and that was considered ridiculous.
Edited by ToddM 1/16/2022 8:07 AM
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Posts: 386
| Over $35 I put a lot of thought into it before I drop my cash. Does this new tool do something different that another tool can't already do? If it's yes, I'll consider buying it. If not, thanks but no thanks. |
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| Reading about the big money baits got me thinking about one of my favorites, low-cost baits. The Klack single hook buzz bait has been the best bait for me to move fish hunkered down in heavy/thick weeds. I have not had a great percentage of hook ups but moving fish, having fish hit when nothing else is working. Cost under $20 but they stopped making them. I am guessing it was not a very profitable bait. Salesman at the Musky Shop said they seemed to sell well, so he wasn't sure what happened. They still make the open water version with a treble, but that is not going go through weeds.
Any bait is worth what people are willing to pay. Just like clothes. You can get a pair of jeans for under $20 or over $200. |
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Posts: 315
| ToddM - 1/16/2022 8:07 AM
I can remember when Hughes River baits became popular about 20 years ago and came with a 40 dollar price tag and that was considered ridiculous.
Yes it was! I had a couple but seemed to catch many more fish on the original 6.5” Viper gliders. Probably because I threw it much more because I didn’t want to lose my $40 lure! I’d rather risk losing my $15 viper instead. Those old Vipers caught a lot of fish but those old round nose Hughes rivers were pretty sexy when they hit the market! |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | I won't pay over $40. for a lure that will get used. I try to be thrifty.
I really can't see that a $100. + lure will put more or bigger fish in the boat. |
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| Top H2O - 1/16/2022 11:28 AM
I won't pay over $40. for a lure that will get used. I try to be thrifty.
I really can't see that a $100. + lure will put more or bigger fish in the boat.
With your painting skills, ever painted up lures? |
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Posts: 478
Location: NW WI | Frankensuick is the most expensive I own. Nearly everything else is $35 or less |
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Posts: 8715
| I have a few "special" lures that I'd be willing to pay $40 or even $50 to replace, but as a general rule I like the cheaper mass produced stuff. That awesome paint job (if the lure is any good) is gonna get chewed off anyway. Rubber baits are disposable. It only takes one fish to put a bunch of holes in it and rip the tail off.
I remember some years back, after 3 days straight throwing double 10's I clipped on a topraider and mindlessly threw a cast. Said topraider is probably still up in the tree where it landed, and will likely still be there when the tree dies and falls down long after I'm dead. I thought about trying to beach the boat, climb the tree, hook it with something, etc. until common sense got the better of me. Had it been one of my "special" lures, I'd have had to go to whatever lengths up to and including cutting down the #*^@ tree. |
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Posts: 478
Location: NW WI | esoxaddict - 1/16/2022 12:30 PM
I have a few "special" lures that I'd be willing to pay $40 or even $50 to replace, but as a general rule I like the cheaper mass produced stuff. That awesome paint job (if the lure is any good) is gonna get chewed off anyway. Rubber baits are disposable. It only takes one fish to put a bunch of holes in it and rip the tail off.
I remember some years back, after 3 days straight throwing double 10's I clipped on a topraider and mindlessly threw a cast. Said topraider is probably still up in the tree where it landed, and will likely still be there when the tree dies and falls down long after I'm dead. I thought about trying to beach the boat, climb the tree, hook it with something, etc. until common sense got the better of me. Had it been one of my "special" lures, I'd have had to go to whatever lengths up to and including cutting down the #*^@ tree.
Aw that's just the worst, even if it's cheap your still kicking yourself and cussing. I started this season with a brand new rod,reel, line, leader and handful of new baits. 1st day out with it I was fishing a flowage and working a steep bank with a barbarian. Coming up on a deep outflow stream I eyeballed the "perfect cast". Switched to a Mohawk so I could whip it way in there and cover all the depth changes perfectly within the retrieve. NOPE! Sent that sucker a few inches over the top of a dead birch limb. Watched that puppy do the death wrap and in an unintelligible tantrum I thought I could rock and break the limb. Nope, just my new rod, than my line. Than spent forever navigating the slow current and wind trying to hand toss line and a weight over it. 20minutes later I got line over the top and managed to break the limb, it came down on the boat but the bait missed by a few inches and sunk 12ft down. So I mourned the boat and went for a swim, however the 5ft of visibility on the surface quickly changed to 1-2 at the 9ftish mark. Never found it.I wish someone was filming it so I could look back and laugh. Idiot lol.
November this year I chatted with a guy on the water just before sundown who was trolling past me. Said he'd been trolling all day with no luck, but he did manage to loose two Headlocks to raft anchors that lost their floats.
The theory that high dollar baits will prevent me from making dumb/high risks casts I don't believe is true. If anything that top dollar price will motivate me to use it more and make those casts anyways to "get my investment back".
Edited by 7.62xJay 1/16/2022 1:50 PM
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Posts: 1176
| I have spent over $50 on exactly 3 lures (for actual fishing). I bought a headlock, when they first came out. The same for a Matlock. Then, after years of wishing Suick would make a bigger bait, I got a Frankensuick last year. I don't regret any of those purchases, as they have all been among my most productive lures, based on fish caught per hours used. That being said, I hope to never pay over $50 for a lure again. For several years I have been limiting lure buying to 1-3 per year, as I don't want an entire basement full of lures. I have more than I need, but like a lot of people, I like shiny new things. I have and will purchase lures at higher prices, at charity auctions, and do not plan on fishing the lure, but displaying it, such as the nifty Gringo Loco lure I bought last year. |
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Posts: 164
| I cringe a little every time I buy a Beaver Bait. But I own several and will pry buy a few more in the years to come. As the years tick by on my Muskie endeavors I definitely set a limit for myself on how much I will spend on baits throughout the year. If I want to buy some expensive baits I will only be buying a few new lures for the year that is for sure. I have narrowed down my types of baits and what I like to throw throughout the year and what seems productive to throw. Every bait I buy will see the water and I am in a constant cycle of buying new baits and selling off old ones I don't use. If a bait costs 50 to 100 dollars and I can find a use or application for it that bait I can't find out of a cheaper bait I will definitely buy and use it. |
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Posts: 120
Location: Twin Cities Metro | I don’t really have a limit. “Expensive” to me means $40 and over, which is the point I start thinking. Mainly it then becomes a consideration about the bait’s uniqueness (eg. Supernatural baits) or durability (eg. Lee Lures baits). |
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Posts: 718
| Some of the small batch high dollar baits take so much work from start to finish… despite what people think they are not paying for their retirement off those things… |
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Posts: 357
| musky lures are nothing in comparison to bass lures. check out some of the custom glide baits and you find them over 4 digits.
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Posts: 452
| I bought a used Matlock at the swap this winter, most I've ever paid for a bait. I was resistant for a few years, but they seem to have been producers, so I opened the wallet. I'm glad I started Muskie Fishing 20 plus years ago, going through the got to have everything in every color phase sure would be expensive now. |
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Posts: 20178
Location: oswego, il | I wonder what those high dollar bass glide baits do that some of the less expensive ones don't. I have seen a couple demos and I never seen anything that would make me shell out the money. |
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Posts: 8715
| Especially not for a fish that will eat everything that fits in its mouth and die choking on something that eventually didn't...
Edited by esoxaddict 1/19/2022 12:32 PM
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Posts: 478
Location: NW WI | ToddM - 1/19/2022 8:51 AM
I wonder what those high dollar bass glide baits do that some of the less expensive ones don't. I have seen a couple demos and I never seen anything that would make me shell out the money.
esoxaddict - 1/19/2022 12:31 PM
Especially not for a fish that will eat everything that fits in its mouth and die choking on something that eventually didn't...
I think its more of a trending "status" symbol more than anything.
Edited by 7.62xJay 1/19/2022 6:40 PM
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Posts: 3136
| If its a surface bait that floats ill spend whatever because I know I'll never lose it.
If its a $50 plus bait and you can guarantee me it doesn't get hook rash then I'd consider it. |
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Posts: 1197
Location: Walker, MN | I bought some 12" Bluewater crankbaits for around $175-$200 each a few years back, the most I've ever spent on lures. I see the better patterns selling now for $300-$350 all the time. Good investment, wish I had bought more. I run a couple of them, they are made really well, and have caught dozens of muskies on them. Some just collect dust, but they make me happy. I've tried making wooden lures, and they look like turds, and run that way too.
My most productive lure last season was a homemade bucktail with around $12 worth of components. |
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Posts: 744
| Depends on the bait. Am I paying $40.00 for the latest dressing & blade combo on .051 wire? Hell no.... Most cases I make my own. Am I paying over $40 bucks for a mass produced bait...unlikely. Will I pay what most would think is "too much" for high quality, small batch hand made baits with a proven track record of catching big fish; absolutely. That said I would rather pay full price for a Headlock (for example) than any of the less (Holloway) or more expensive (Pelagic)knockoffs. All this said, my most productive throwback bait last year was a Hawg Wobbler. It out produced my Wirth Flap Tails and Creeper for a fraction of the price... I just needed to rebuild it a few times as its not the best made bait out of the packing...
Edited by Mojo1269 1/20/2022 3:48 PM
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Posts: 51
| Bought a headlock from TRO this summer, Caught the first Muskie on it, kept on trolling, snagged it 15 minutes later... My cheap trolling rod didnt break, my #80 powerpro braid did... Not going over 50$ going forward. |
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Posts: 1284
Location: WI | MKevin loosen your drag and check your guides on the rod! I’ve snagged Headlocks a bunch of times with PowerPro, you shouldn’t break off unless you’re hitting sharp rocks or something.
Most I’ve paid for a bait is $300 for a Liplock, that was stimulus check so I didn’t mind shelling out to try one. $40 and above is expensive, but if it’s good like Beaverbaits I’ll buy them. So many awesome looking cranks out there, but $100+ is ridiculous in most cases. If I can do the same thing with a more affordable bait, I’ll do that. |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Lebanon,Mo | I was glad to see someone finally take up the Hooker Tackle Company. I had a lot of good conversations with the dudes who use to make them years ago and good success with the baits. Was not glad to see that a 10" Hooker now cost $120 plus $20 shipping out of Canada.. |
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