[Mark G]

I was originally going to bring up Lucky Crafts new Pointer third, but the Loomis BronzeBack rod thread took an unexpected turn, and I though moving on to the Pointer next would help me reign in these threads a little. I am looking to make a point. Or at least discuss one. That point is not how much is too much to spend on a fishing product, or do you get what you pay for. Although those are interesting discussions and I'm glad I got to read those posts.

Lucky Craft's newest pointer is located on page 228 of the new Bass Pro Shops catalog, and can also be seen online using this link:
Lucky Craft Live Pointer at Bass Pro Shops.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Lucky Craft, they make a top of the line series of hard baits. Their cranks, topwater and jerkbaits are extremely detailed and life like. At least to anglers.

The 'Live Pointer' is a suspending jerkbait that adds a milti-segmented tail section to the list of features that make it "a reaction bait with the flowing, lifelike motion of a swimbait." It retails for $17.00. So once again we have a product from a company specializing in top of the line products. It once again offers a new marketing angle. Does it catch more fish? Or just more fishermen?

I am more likely to buy this product than the BronzeBack rod from Loomis, but only because I can understand the marketing angle on this one. Making a lure seem more naturally fishlike seems like an advantage when fishing heavily pressures lakes or when conditions are less than desirable.

That said I don't own any Lucy Craft baits. Perhaps this year will change that. So the question goes out once again. Is this new change a marketing gimmick, or does it help us catch more fish? Is anyone going to buy these jerkbaits? Will you have more confidence in them than say a Rapala Husky Jerk?

The Particulars:

Price Range: $16.99
Available In: Suspending jerkbait only, but in 5 of their more popular colors

Mark

Next up: Uh oh. It's the dancing buzzbait.
Coming soon: Lighted Lures!

 

[Bink]

I pre ordered one from Northern Bass Supply and got it in August. It looks sweet and has a feathered tail that I like. You have to be careful not to overwork it, it's not like a regular Pointer where it can be jerked hard and pop back and forth. My real problem with it is it's kinda light and on a breezy Fall day it really gets knocked down by the wind. If this bait were say $6.99 not $16.99 I might say buy it.

 

[Guest]

If you don't own a Pointer or...

have never fished one, perhaps you should. After you have tried one I think that you may notice a difference between Lucky Craft jerk baits and Rogues or Rapalas. You would REALLY NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE if you fished it on a Loomis Rod!

 

[Guest]

better yet....

a Loomis Smallmouth Rod

 

[Scott E.]

For those of you who aren't familiar with Lucky Craft, they make a top of the line series of hard baits. Their cranks, topwater and jerkbaits are extremely detailed and life like. At least to anglers.

Price Range: $16.99

Mark,

That is one $17 lure that I don't need, first, your right it looks life like to anglers, I myslef like less living look a likes than more living look a likes, I want something that looks like it is dying, injured, stressed and an easy target. Second, I know first trip to the lake with that thing it will end up thirty feet up in a tree!!!

Those funny looking bass 30' up in the tree, with the bushy gray tail might like it though

I know it will most likely catch fish just because of its basic design, but I bet it will catch many more fishermen with $17 burning a hole in their pockets!!!

 

[Gregg]

Re: If you don't own a Pointer or...

have never fished one, perhaps you should. After you have tried one I think that you may notice a difference between Lucky Craft jerk baits and Rogues or Rapalas. You would REALLY NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE if you fished it on a Loomis Rod!

Can we use them on the reservoirs? LMAO

Scott makes a good point, vibrant colors signify health sick fish make easier targets

 

[Mr. Micropterus]

I own about 5 or 6 Lucky Crafts, but no live pointers. I like the LCs, but do not buy many because of the outrageous cost. The quality and detail of the baits, I fell, somewhat justifies the cost, but I don't think they should be more than $10-12. The paint jobs on these baits are phenomenal, but I have noticed that they chip easily (this not necessarily being the live pointer, but LC baits in general). A couple dinks can wipe a great deal of paint off the bait. I think that the thin foil-like material is used in detailing the baits (I forget what it is called) is the main cause of paint chipping, but am not sure.

I can deal with a few scratches in my cranks because the fish doesn't have a very long time to look at it and the scratches remind me of past fish caught. I will still use them until most of the paint is knocked off and it resembles more of a swimming blob than a bait fish or whatever forage it is intended to represent.

A friend of mine has a live pointer and he has caught some smallies on it, but he hasn't done so well I need to run out get get myself a couple. If and when they become proven baits that outproduce regular jerkbaits I will get a few of them.

I also need to know.....Does the tail of the live pointer really move from side to side as much as the picture in the advertisement shows? It looks like when the tail moves as far as it can to one side it is at a 90 degree angle to the head of the bait. Can those joints really produce that much action under water?

If money played no role in how many of these baits I owned, I would have dozens of Lucky Crafts. They would all be fished on Loomis rods and Stella reels too. And if I were fishing for smallies, you could bet your bottom dollar that I would be using a Loomis smallmouth rod.LOL, Just kidding

I guess that if Lucky Crafts give you that "extra confidence" then go for it. If confidence isn't an issue then why switch to strictly LCs if it isn't proven that they actually out-produce other baits. This again is just a matter of personal preference.

 

[basserachi]

Hey mark,

Mark i have a bunch that I got from NBS on a reserve order...They do not share the same kinda paint jobs the rest of the LC baits do, although some of the colors do line up as the same...Like the Aurora Black (52)...The Live Pointer finishes are much more durable than the disappointingly short lasting regular finishes...However, I got them late in the season like Bink did and didn't get to use them in the "jerkin primetime of spring"...One thing i noticed though is that you gotta give that spine a little "chiropractic massage" to get it loosened up right...Or it will take more time to break in and see that tail action like its suppose to "theoretically perform"...

I will say this about LC...Their pointers 78, 100 and even 128 move thru the water better than any jerk i have ever tried...BTW, out of the box, they do not truly suspend in springtime water temps like a HJ...They are slow risers like Rogues and the rest of em...You have to tweek them a little with some weight...I would first buy a Pointer 78 and a 100 before the Live Pointer to start with...You will get more utility from them overall...

You know I have close to 100 LC in all kinds of models, including some jap only colors and models and custom colors, but the Pointers and Sammys are by far the most important to me...

That spine concept that they are using on the Live Pointer seems to have caught on from some swimbaits and hybrids like Castaics, Possums, etc that have been marketed in the past...I recently saw a Megabass walker called a Hamakuru that looks like a Sammy with vertebrae just like that live Pointer...It looks sick...You know I will have one soon enough...Megabass are ridiculously priced though...

Anyway, you are welcome to check out any of my baits anytime...Try Anglers Attic online...I bought many staple LC baits from him in quantity for 9.99 each...He hasn't re-stocked in a while, but keep checking anyway...You can never have too many...

Mark D

 

[basserachi]

This space reserved for my deleted post with comments I made towards Paladin...

My apologies...

Mark D

 

[Mark G]

Mark, Scott, and fishinut thaks for the replies. They were helpful and informative.

Again, I'm less interested in finding out knowledge about these specific products for myself and more interested in a holistic question about bass tackle and how it is marketed. These products are simply timely examples to use in a discussion forum.

In some cases the feedback is great. In other cases the boat is being completely missed. Again, I'm lees interested in how much is too much to spend on a bait/rod or whether or not you get what you pay for (although that is closer to the point I guess).

I'm more interested in the question of how much of this marketing spin is just that...spin. $17.00 is a lot to spend on a jerkbait. In return you get several features that other jerkbaits don't have. The question is do those features help you catch more fish?
That jointed tail sure looks great, but do bass care?

Anyway I'm sure I'll end up buying one and trying it for myself. But in the meantime any feedback is appreciated.

 

[basserachi]

Mark,

Perhaps I should say this...

Is LC worth the extra money at 15.00 each ?...

Absolutely...

Can I do the same things i do with other "stock baits" that i can do with LC baits ?

No...No way...

Would I fill my box with them because they are a better product and catch more fish ?....

Absolutely...At times they are the best thing for the job...Now they are a staple in many anglers boxes for that reason....

The Live Pointer at 2.00 more, for the gimmick of the flexible spine, may be worth it, but who knows...They came out too late last year to make any good comparisons...But i cant see that much more of an improvement over the regular Pointers except for the fact that they have some exclusive colors and are realistically an "in-between size" from the traditional 78 and the 100 baits...

And to answer your question about marketing, yes its all marketing...The mystique that is the Japanese import bait is just a ploy to rape your wallet...Thats LCs angle... R&D has come back a "gazillion-fold" for them, and why not, they have a great product...Many other companies are doing the same thing, overcharging for their baits...Some were originators, but some have done by a sort of "coat-tail effect" to LC...Just look at the Rico TW baits, Jackall Bros, Team Daiwa, Cultiva and Megabass...Heck, even Yo-zuri has broken the 10.00 each threshold with their baits and they are really just "plain jane" when it comes to the innovative stuff...The company that manufacturers many of YZ's baits, DUEL, sells them for 150% that cost in some cases and its the identical bait...But because again, that mystique with the import issue, they get the higher bid...Shit, Yo-Zuri could almost be considered a domestic company as far as most people are concerned...I think I made a point here, I hope...

LC is worth the extra money as they fit another complementary piece of the puzzle into your arsenal of baits...Thats a price i'll pay for that solution...

The Live Pointer however, may be beyond the peak of effectiveness and cross over into gimmicky...Whether it is worth the the extra two bucks above and beyond the already high cost of traditional LCs, remains to be seen...It may even turn out that the spine concept will drop that bait's worth to less than LCs baseline price of 15.00...That is a very likely possibility...


Mark D

 

[earthworm77]

Although very early on, I stated I wouldn't be sucked into the vaccuum of fishing with 15.00 crankbaits, I've become a big Sammy fan. I also own several pointer minnows which I do like a lot. They are effective but I do not think the Pointer live will be more effective to justify owning one. It's a neat concept but I believe a gimmick. There has to be a reason we have not seen a bait segmented like this before now.

 

[Mark G]

Thanks again Craig and Mark! There were a couple of points that to me hit the nail right on the head. And without my needing to resort to Bill Dance's Dancing Buzzbait to get to that 'threshhold.'

The Live Pointer however, may be beyond the peak of effectiveness and cross over into gimmicky...

They are effective but I do not think the Pointer live will be more effective to justify owning one. It's a neat concept but I believe a gimmick. There has to be a reason we have not seen a bait segmented like this before now.

These quotes are more in line with what I had in mind when I started these threads. Not the 'you do or do not get what you pay for' and certainly not 'its easy to catch reservoir fish' arguments. Althought the former of the two was an interesting debate.

But to me there is a fine line between helpful and gimmicky, at least there has been to me in the past. This year's trip through the catalog yielded more and more of these items that to me seemed to cross that imaginary line into the gimmick. The live pointer is a subtle transition. Some of the others...not so subtle.

Marl

 

[earthworm77]

Mark, when I first saw the bait I kind of had my doubts. A few of my friends really throw the snot out of jerkbaits and laughed at it. They have more experience than me throwing those baits so even though I thought it to be gimmicky, their reasoning is the true motivation for staying away from it.

 

[Donv]

Is it a marketing ploy? Probably. The bottom line in business is to make much money. Is it a tool that will aid us fishermen? I don't know, yet. Will I buy one? YES. I own lots of Pointers. I will spend the extra buck or two, in order to see if it is worth it. I simply catch too many fish jerkbaiting w/ Pointers (78 & 100) to take a chance that this might not be worth it. Too many times, I've loaded the livewell w/ the LC's, while my boater failed to match my catch using something else, especially in the early to mid Spring time period. If it fails to meet my expectations, I've apparently bought a lure that won't see much, or any, time in the water. Yea, like that has never happened before. A nice, thought-provoking thread.

Don

 

[Fishin Dude]

Here's a copy of a reply I made (back in Sept) to a post from another board regarding the Live Pointer:

I purchased 2 as soon as they became available. They have a nice action as all Lucky Craft lures do. The flexible body and feathered tail hook gives it additional action.

The neg. sides are... Now matter how hard I tried I could not... can not... get the lure to run true (straight) I even tried replacing the tail hook with another un-feathered Lucky Craft to no avail. Also the lures length to weight ratio is poor. So it has alot of drag when thrown = shorter casts. It a floater so it does not suspend like the pointer 78.

Final opinion- nice lure, not great, so I won't buy anymore than the two I already purchased.



Fishin Dude

 

[Bink]

Dude, sounds like you had the same results as I stated above.

 

[Lpbassman]

I use LC Pointer 78's in American Shad & Ghost Minnow colors. I do find them to be VERY effective jerk baits, perhaps more so than a HJ. I also find that the BPS minnows are just as effective. I will most likely invest the $17 in ONE and only one of these just to give it a try.