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Concealed weapons courtesy
of the CL8 Bait 9” Swimbait (continued)
  Durability:
The area that we thought might potentially be a problem on the CL8 bait in
regards to durability was the tail and rubber fins. We have seen fins come off
on many competing baits and tails are a notorious weak point on many swimbaits.
The CL8 bait surprised us in this category, and even after multiple violent
strikes all the rubber portions of the bait remained intact.
The CL8 Bait has an oversized
reflective eye
Though not as durable as
some other tails on it’s own the CL8 Bait’s tail manages to stay out of trouble
thanks to the cleverly designed joint on the last section of the bait. When a
fish inhales the bait the tail can completely curl over to protect it from
getting torn or used as leverage to shake the bait.
The frog hook on the underbelly in
the open position
As expected the Gamakatsu
hooks held up to plenty of abuse, and the hard wire rings that CL8 uses to
secure the hooks are strong enough to keep the hooks from ripping out of the
body of the lure. Because the hooks on the CL8 bait are all held in fixed
positions the lure also doesn’t take any damage from it’s own hooks when fished,
this is quite unlike most swimbaits which will often scratch their own paint
finishes through normal use.
When fished the hook resides in a
recessed channel and is held in place with a magnet (notice the hook is painted
to match the lure's body)
Price & Applications:
The CL8 Bait is a very fun bait to fish, and with the many concealed hook points
you just can’t help feel more confident that when you do gets a strike that you
have a better chance of actually landing the fish. The lure is built with high
quality components and for a first offering from a new company the CL8 Bait is
extremely impressive. Innovation and quality do come at a price however, and
that price is 80 dollars per copy, making it one of the more expensive new
swimbaits on the market.
The CL8 Bait features a flared out
gill design
Swimbait fanatics will
likely have no problem shelling out the dough to buy a CL8 bait but anglers just
getting into swimbait fishing will probably think twice. Still when it comes to
hard swimbaits the CL8 Bait is among the most interesting new swimbaits to come
out for a while, and is certainly worth the investment if you are looking for a
fun to fish and very effective swimbait to both entice strikes and hold onto
fish.
Ratings:
|
CL8 Bait Swimbait Ratings (?/10) |
| Construction/Quality |
Clayton has built a quality swimbait and the use of slightly softer plastic in the baits construction actually improves durability. Top notch hooks are also used for long term resilience |
9 |
| Performance |
The CL8 swimbait proved effective for both Stripers and Largemouth and the hidden hook design does improve the strike to hookup ratio, the rear hooks help prevent fish from shaking the heavy bait |
9 |
| Price |
The CL8 Bait is a quality custom made bait but comes with a premium price tag making it one of the more expensive swimbaits on the market. We rated the lure "mediocre" in this category |
5 |
| Features |
When it comes to features the CL8 swimbait is better than the average swimbait and exhibits added realism with protruding rubber fins, but the real feature that wowed us was the hidden hook designs |
9 |
| Design (Ergonomics) |
The CL8 bait can be fished both with pauses and jerks or a steady retrieve, it is easy to fish with a true swimbait rod |
8 |
| Application |
Best for bass this lure is designed to target big fish and accomplishes it with three different versions and five different patterns |
8 |
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Total Score |
8.0 |
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
(For a detailed explanation of the ratings go here) |
Pluses and Minuses:
|
Plus Minus |
| J Clever hidden hook design |
L Only one profile for all patterns |
| J Excellent swimming action |
L A premium swimbait with a cost to match |
| J Exceptional durability on joints and fins |
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| J Four section swimbait protects tail and can collapse in fish's mouth |
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| J Great for both experienced and novice big bait anglers, easy to fish |
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Conclusion:
The CL8 Bait
is cleverly
designed and
can be
effectively
fished right
out of the
box, no
tuning or
changing out
of hooks is
necessary on
this lure.
Armed to the
tooth with
concealed
free
swinging
hooks the
CL8 Bait
make sure
that strikes
are
converted
into more
hookups.
Overall this
new bait
feels
refined and
for a first
offering
from a new
company the
CL8 is
really quite
impressive,
the
attention to
detail is
phenomenal
ranging from
the variety
of finishes
to the
painted
hooks.
Clayton
Bryant’s
innovative
creation is
a winner,
and it is
refreshing
to see that
even a
smaller new
company like
CL8 can
design and
manufacture
big baits
that are
still able
to offer
anglers
something
distinctive.
Though
costly these
new
swimbaits
are great
for both big
bait experts
and those
just
learning how
to land
lunkers on
swimbaits,
and with
baits as
good as this
CL8 Bait
won’t be a
small
company for
long.
Looking for the CL8 Bait Swimbait, check out the selection at
Tackle Warehouse
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