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The ones in the link are LVR 500 KOs. The guy's ebay id is unpainted lures....bbb's cost more. He runs a lot of auctions on lure blanks and they always seem to get several bids, making me think they must be pretty good. I have tried adding weight (BBs) to my favorite rattlebait (Yoshikawa), although even though they run true when packed full of weight they just won't hold bottom. In addition they are too small for the this time of year. Should have bought those magnum 'traps for $2 / piece when I had the chance.

They caught my eye on ebay. Just wondering if anyone has tried the various offerings. I've seen them at Bustin' Bass and here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-PREMIUM-UNPAINTED-CRANKBAIT-LURE-BODIES-LVR-500-1-/170636109910?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bab46856 I usually dislike paying more than $2 / piece for KOs but these seem to be a little bigger, which is a plus. Weight is about 3/4 oz. Maybe they would run deeper on the burn? That would be good - a lot of rattlebaits won't bump cover better than 5 feet at high speeds. I heard something about the LV max having a diving surface on the nose that helps it stay down.

Ditto for me. Neither was worthy.

Tape - it is a pretty common brand - chances are most people should be able to find the brand name at least, if not the product.

This stuff works very well. I masked off a few cranks, painted them up with ctex pearls, and left them on standby for a few days. Upon unmasking, I could feel no residue on the lip at all- very refreshing vs. the gummy chunks left behind by my slightly expensive roll of yellow 3M Automotive masking tape. I always mask right on the line between lip and body, as I dislike having any excess paint on the lip. Edges were crisp and hard. No bleed. I was going to lay the clear down without cleaning it up but just to be safe I ran a qtip soaked with rubbing alcohol over the lip. $1.00 / roll at Dollar Tree. You get a roll that's about 1" wide and 1" thick, color is green, brand is Tape-It. They make a claim about "residue free" for x amount of days and I believe it. Just thought I'd spread the word for those of you that have seen this but didn't want to take a chance. This stuff isn't only adequate, it's great. Five stars value/performance.

Has anybody tried hacking off the front section of bill to produce a square bill? It seems like I remember the pros used to do this a lot back in the 80s - maybe that's how it all began - but it seems you would need a crank with a nose - mounted line tie in order for this to work. The Predatr 2.5 KOs look like a lot like this was done to them.

Knew I should have picked a different username! Bwahaha! But I cut the "brush cams" off the side of the bait and the 2 I have painted up and tested hunt like it's the first day of the season. I'm not sure if they run like this because of the mod or not because I haven't tested the other 8, which I have left unmodified. You should get some of these - they have been relisted, but I'll warn you the bills have yellowed with age. But at least that's the mark of pre - Rapala quality. I've heard things have gone to crap over there at the plant, as Rap reportedly has fired all the experienced managers.

Mine have that lazy sway even with the full lip. But I work them with the rod tip low, ripping the tip down with a bit of slack before and after ripping the tip, which makes the bait dart side to side. Sometimes it rolls belly up and breaks surface. Nice. Why did you grind the lip...they barely run 1.5 feet as it is?

I used to fish those and DD22s but it seems like they crack and sink a lot in the rocks. Plus everbody and there brother throws them...plus they cost more than KOs. The brush babies I mentined below go down to about 12 and are about the same weight....what I'm really wondering (now) is if you could transplant a DT10 KO lip onto a DT16 with good results. I know one thing: I won't ruin a lure like that at least and effort is near zero! Although I'll be suprised if it works. I wish I had some sitting around - but my last order from Predatr got lost in the mail.

Killer looking crank you have there. Those short shank #1s aren't the easiest thing in the world to find!But for the most part I'll need tighter swimming cranks - most of the water I fish is clear to ultraclear. For stained water I expect the bass to be 5 ft or shallower and I have 2.5 square bills for that. Although I reaaallly wish somebody would mold a 3.5 KO....wet dream come true. I'm on a tight budget, I'm afraid, after dumping a bunch of money into an AB compressor, supplies, 2 ABs, some urethane clear, etc...I'm limited to KOs only for now. I just bought 10 Luhr Jensen Brush Baby blanks (yes, blanks...and I think they are pre- Rapala) but the lip geometry looks too complex to mess with. But as far as those go I can control depth a bit w/ line size or rod tip positioning. I dislike doing even this, though, because 0.015 dia line in clear water means going to a fluoro leader. And they aren't really big cranks at all. When fall patterns happen I get the shakes if i'm not throwing big!

By this do you mean "loss of swimming action" - or "loss of deflection"? I haven't been around here in a while...you have a new profile pic I see...is that your invisible girlfriend?Heh heh.

Sounds like I might be in over my head. I wonder if I could take the lip from a DT10 KO and put it on a DT16? Because the fit is exact. Might have to try that and post results.

How big of a crankbait body are you looking for and what do you consider "mid-depth"? 3/4 oz - 1 oz range, 7 - 12 ft. I could up my line size but burning a 6xd or similiar is a lot of work.

I think I may try sanding down the bill on some big cranks to get to middepth fall bass...any experience out there? A big shallow crank is kind of hard to find. I might also shape into a coffin bill...would this alone reduce the diving depth and make it easier to crank? Also, of course, I wonder if I'll screw up the action. If anybody has tried this I'd love to hear about it...good or bad.

What's a good way to clean the tip / nozzle? I've tried the rolled up corner of a paper towel, which could be better. And rolling the needle back and forth in there, which would probably open it up over time. My smallest cleaning brush is too big.

Well, I recently shot urethane clear through my brush and a teardown is pretty much mandatory for that. Also I use Plegde with Future and sometimes I'll have to take it apart the day after, although 4 times out of 5 a full jar of rubbing alcohol sprayed out leaves the action smooth like new the next day. From now on I'll be brushing the urethane though. Spraying it wastes too much and 10 other reasons. I should be more careful with the packing...it's one of those situations where I got the disassemble/reassemble method down pat. Then I forgot the method that worked so well and wound up screwing up the little rubber chunk when I tried to shove it all the way down the barrel with the cleaning brush (repeatedly failing to seat it flush) rather that sliding it in until the point where the packing grabs the barrel, yet the brush can be pulled free leaving the packing partly inserted down the barrel. I then finish by taking a plastic q-tip wand with the cotton pulled off to tap it down and fully seat it. But the brush bristles are really rough on the rubber over time if you get too agressive.

Probably not the valve - it is smooth and I lubed it recently with superlight, fully synthetic (amsoil) fork oil which has seal conditioners in it. I could check it , though. When I get my new brush hopefully today I'll swap out the nozzle first then the packing to eliminate/ identify the problem.

No, definitely not. I'm just saying a length of tubing would produce a number of packing pieces for dirt cheap, and instead of cleaning it just toss it.

The inside diameter is ragged and torn; I believe as air blows by this roughness the noise is generated.