Knockoffs And Their Action

[Flatfish]

I recently purchased a few "knockoff" clear crankbaits to paint myself. Once I got them painted and rigged up, I was excited to get them wet and see how they did. Needless to say, they looked good tied to my line (nothing like some of the paint jobs I've seen on here I will admit), and sailing through the air on the first cast. It was once they hit the water and I started cranking that I became more than a little depressed. The action was horrible. I thought that perhaps it was just that one, so I tried another, and another, and another, etc. All in all, I threw 8 different baits -- deep divers, shallow divers, and even a couple of topwaters and none of them had even close to the same action as the "knockoff" bait. All but the shallow divers action might have been classified as adequate, but not close to what they were meant to mimic. My question is, is this common? Are the "knockoffs" just meant to "look" like their more expensive relatives, or should the action they impart be similar too? I'm not trying to throw anyone under the bus that makes/sales the knockoffs, which is why I'm not listing the names of the baits or where they were purchased, I'm just trying to figure out if my expectations were too high, or if there's another issue I'm not aware of. Thx in advance for any wisdom you may share on this.

[flyguys]

It depend on alot where you buy your blanks and which kind. Alot of companies offer some good ones and ome bad ones. Personally i only buy from stamina and Predatorbass(sponsor of this site). Lately though Predatorbassbaits.com i the only place i will buy from the quality is perfect and swim true. I hope this help you and welcome to TU

[BobP]

Welcome to the world of plastic knockoffs! I've tried dozens of knockoffs and found exactly two that I would actually fish with. The problem is the Chinese copy the exteriors but never get the internal structures and ballasting right. You are most likely to find rattle baits that work like you want them to. If you see a popular $15-20 Japanese crankbait with brass ballasting and multiple ballast chambers and expect your $2 Chinese knockoff filled with BB's to perform the same, well, you're in for disappointment. Every once in awhile I get seduced into trying another knockoff but like you, my hopes are always dashed.

The cheap Chinese knockoffs are usually worth less than zero. I say less than zero because not only do they waste precious fishing time, but you could have been fishing baits that actually catch fish. If I buy a custom wood crankbait for $20, or build one that works great and catches fish, I'm a happy guy these days.