Ok, we've had plenty of threads asking about everyone's favorite tackle brands, but I just wanted to see if anyone had LEAST favorite brands.
One of mine is probably Bomber. Their stuff doesn't seem to run straight for me and it just feels very cheap. Another is some of the Strike King cranks for the same reasons.
Bill Lewis rat-l-traps. I like fishing lipless cranks but the hooks on those are not sharp, and they feel cheap. I much prefer diamond shads, cordell super spots, or pretty much any lipless bait over them.
Also, the Cabelas brand Auqa-glow plastics are garbage.
Eagle Claw? I don't really have an explanation....
I agree with the bomber they have bad hardware on them.
For me, it's either Strike King or Storm. I have tried several different items over the years and have been disappointed. What I have purchased has either not caught fish or has fallen apart. They both have been a total waste of money.
Bagley spinner baits. I love their cranks though.
storm! hands down. I dont know that I have ever even had a bite on something made by storm.
Yea, I agree. Storm is the worst tackle brand I can think of.
I would have to agree with storm. The only good thing they ever made was the wiggle wart.
i don't really like storm either, but i have caught a few nice bass and walleye on their swimbaits..
i'd have to go with YUM and bandit. i've never liked the action of bandits and i've never caught anything on YUM stuff. a lot of it is to fancy looking
Culprit I just dont like the stuff.
Rapala, I once bought 3 Husky jerks for a trip to Champlain. Was told they were killing this paricular bait. Started throwing one, and it felt wierd. Brought it to the boat and let it set in the water. The thing sank like a rock tail first. Thought maybe the balls got jammed in the end, or had a crack and filled with water. Could not find anything wrong. :-/
I unboxed #2, worked fine. Out of curiosity, unboxed #3, SAME F'IN THING AS #1! > >
I should have taken the same money and bought one Lucky Craft, I would have had the same number of baits that worked!
Never spend another nickel on anything Rapala!
Also agree with Eagle Claw. If Eagles claws were that crappy its no wonder they were on the endangered species list for so long, they couldn't hang on to fish.
Won't use Stren or Trilene, not even for hanging pictures.
QuoteThe only good thing they ever made was the wiggle wart.
Yup..one of the best crankbait designs ever made - and one of the most erratic plastic cranks I've ever used. Aaron Martens is snagging the pre-Rapala Warts off of ebay if that is any indication.
I also have some deep diving Lightnin' Shads from Storm (discontinued) that are a solid flat-sided plastic crank - especially for the price they were.
I also like Bombers - - I generally prefer the 3/4 and 1/2 oz. Fat Free Shads over Norman's DLN and DD22's...they kick harder and I've generally caught bigger fish on both of them. I also think the Flat A and diving Flat A are the closest a low-cost production lure has ever gotten to the action of custom hand carved flat-sided baits.
If I had to pick a brand that I just don't care for, it would probably be Strike King.
QuoteIf Eagles claws were that crappy its no wonder they were on the endangered species list for so long, they couldn't hang on to fish.
South Bend makes some junk. So does Renegade, Storm, Cotton Cordell, and Lucky Stike.
Storm has a lot of adherents for both the Wart and the Chug Bug. They also make the suspend dots and strips that most of us use. I have had bad luck with some Berkley products. The Vanish line seems to rot after three day's use. Gulp may catch fish, but it's not allowed in my boat. Too stinky.
My vote is for the worst line ever made..TRILENE. Guaranteed to break when you hook a fish.
When I see rod and reel combos with the brand Shakespeare on them I automatically think"cheap junk".
Maybe some trilene line is crap, but I know a lot of pros use Berkley Trilene Big Game, that line is awesome. I agree with Renegade they suck, I haven't fished my Storm stuff but the chug bug is an awesome top water lure, and also I recentely bought two Norman crank baits and I couldn't get either of them to run straight. I love the berkley frenzy series hard baits I have always caught a lot fish on the Frenzy Ratl trap in fire tiger color. My least favorite brand is probably Rapala, for no reason really I just don't like them.
Id have to go with Rapala as well, their lures in my opinion are made well but wayyy too expensive compared to many other crankbaits and so far i have not had luck with these lures, have recently purchased the dt series to fish deeper to target bigger fish, but as of now their my vote, other cranks at cheaper prices catch me quality fish
QuoteMy vote is for the worst line ever made..TRILENE. Guaranteed to break when you hook a fish.
No no no.....Berkley Vanish is the worst. It will break while you tie a knot!
New jersey rig...... lol
I have to say I'm a bit surprised at some of the responses, but I'm sure there isn't a brand out there that an angler hasn't had a bad experience with. When I think cheap, I think of Strike King. Their cranks are hands down the worst in the business, and their spinnerbaits use cheap components and horrible skirts. The only thing Strike King makes that is worth a darn are the bleeding tubes.
Uh oh! Surprised at some of the responses. I always considered Rapala to be great quality at a decent price, I've used Stren for years until I discovered Yo-Zuri Ultrasoft and I think eagle claw makes a decent hook, not as good as an Owner but a lot more affordable.
Disappointing to hear the negatives about Storm-O lures. I was planning on using them more frequently this year, perhaps in lieu of the more expensive swimbaits. Gotta reconsider now.
wow! I am really surprised to see storm, cotton cordell, and strike king in the listing so much. I like strike king's diamond shads, jigs, plastics, topwaters, and spinnerbaits. In fact, i like all of their baits excluding a few cranks. Cotton cordell makes the wiggle o, a great smallie bait for me, walleye divers and grappler shads are also essential in my tackle box. Storm makes the wiggle wart and the chug bug, so they get props for that. Sure thier plastics are rediculous. I also like their thundersticks. Now a company i DONT like is renagade, which is basically wal-mart brand. And i would not miss berkley if they went out of buisiness either. Never used their plastics, and just dont like thier hardbaits.
SK for just about everything they make? and Frenzy baits.
Allen
QuoteMy vote is for the worst line ever made..TRILENE. Guaranteed to break when you hook a fish.
My PB begs to differ
Never really liked storm lures/softbaits, just seems low quality. Another brand I don't really like is strike king, they also seem low quality to me (excluding their 3x softbaits). Im surprised to hear such bad things about rapala though. Their huskyjerks, skitter pops, xraps, and original floaters work well for me. They don't seem nearly as cheap made as storm or strike king.
Agreed with storm lol
I would have to say my least favorite brand is berkley. Everything I have ever got of theirs has been garbage except big game. It has stood up well. As far as lures go, I hate terminator spinnerbaits. I had one that wanted roll over when you burned it back to the boat. Couldn't tune it because of the titanium. Also not a big fan of strike king.
My least favorite brand would probablly be a cheapo like Renegade. I also can't stand Shakespeare.
If this topic shows us anything, favorites vs. disliked brands = personal opinion.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BAD BRAND OF TACKLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Bait Monkey.
im reading this and trying to think of the brands that havent been mentioned. I came up with Smithwick and Zoom, and gamakatsu. Only ones i can come up with that everybody else have not mentioned problems with.
As for what i dont like, Stren line and Berkley Vanish. Vanish frays way to easy it seems like to me. And not just at the bait i had to keep pulling line off till half the spool was empty before i found good line on the spool. As far as baits there not really any brands more just baits. Like i like the yum wooly hawg tail, but i hate the crawbug. Other then that i havent really had a problem with many other brands.
I don't like Terminator spinnerbaits, Berkley soft plastics, culprit soft plastics, and I don't really buy many cranks so I can't talk about those.
Theres no brand I've been TERRIBLY disappointed in (shakespeare makes red cast which is a GREAT monofilament line, IMO), Berkley makes good lines and good rods.
I love strike king spinnerbaits..my biggest fish have all come on strike kings. Never had one break, and the skirts are easily replaceable and I agree that they are not the best skirts.
I like Eagle Claw hooks..never had one that was dull, that failed, that just flat stunk. I think we often get caught up in the "new brand" and the "expensive brand" and dismiss a lot of cheaper stuff as junk.
Storm, I sold most of mine on Ebay.
just goes to show some people will buy anything on ebay lol
Not a big fan of storm, but I can't stand the strike king crankbaits. My alltime hatred is for the bandit flatmax. Stupid lips break off so easy. I guess I shouldn't throw them right against the rocks! ;D
Good idea on the ebay thing! There's a sucker in every crowd!
QuoteQuoteMy vote is for the worst line ever made..TRILENE. Guaranteed to break when you hook a fish.My PB begs to differ
Dude, your a Red Sox fan, how big could your biggest fish possibly be? ;D ;D
Just kidding!
well, I live in Arkansas, home of the biggest fish in the world (I wish). I'll show you the pics..... wait...my dog just ate them. Sorry.
Anyway, the only triline I hardly ever use is the Big game and the XL. Both good lines in my opinion.