ICAST 2015 Coverage - Lucky Craft

ICAST 2015 Coverage

Sub $10 Cranks from Lucky Craft!?!

Date:	7/29/15
Location:	Orlando, FL
Admission:	Buyers & Press Only
Manufacturer:	Lucky Craft
Reviewer:	Cal

Introduction: Lucky Craft's dizzying array of quality baits does not get any easier to wrap your tackle box around this year with several new bait introductions designed to fill out their product lines and overflow your tackle management systems.

Introducing Lucky Craft's new Crazy Colorado Spinnerbait.

Crazy Colorado Spinnerbait: We begin with a bait just about every bass fisherman has owned, thrown, and tinkered with. Apparently, tinkering is not just limited to the consumer. This year, Lucky Craft, under the behest of Skeet Reese, has released what their calling the Crazy Colorado Spinnerbait. It features one large willow leaf blade at the back of a compact arm, preceded by double Colorado blades designed to spin, crash, clash, bump and otherwise cause all sorts of unorthodox commotion. They will be available in 5/8 oz and 3/4 oz sizes, in three colors. Retail is set for only $6.99 - $7.99 per bait.

Featuring double Colorados in front of the trailing single willow.

This is more of a topwater bait than a true subsurface glider, the Real Ayu.

Real Ayu: When we first saw the Real Ayu in person, we thought Lucky Craft was jumping on the ever growing glide bait band wagon, but as it turns out, the Real Ayu is a sort of surface bait. It is designed to swim in the typical S fashion of a 2-piece and dives slightly when you begin your retrieve, but once you stop, it floats back up to the surface slowly. This is when most strikes will occur. The bait measures just 7" in length, weighs 2 1/6 of an ounce and will sell for $19.99. There will only be three colors - at least to start - Pearl Threadfin Shad, Pearl Ayu, and Half Metallic Ayu.

The Real Bluegill is a traditional 3-piece big bait.

Real Blue Gill: This nearly six inch (6") long and two and five eighths ounce (2 5/8oz), three-piece bait is designed as a typical swimming big bait. It is designed to get to the bottom quickly (Lucky Craft refers to it as a super-sinking bait), where you can crawl it along the bottom, or swim it inches above. It is also designed to spin and dance if you jerk the rod tip or bring it back on an erratic retrieve. Price is set for $19.99 and there will be seven (7) different colors.

With traditional, killer Lucky Craft finishes.

The Sammy Bug is a hybrid of sorts between an old school Jitterbug and a Sammy.

Sammy Bug: Ever wonder what might happen if you cross a Jitterbug with a Sammy? Well, if you have, Luck Craft now has the answer and it's called the Sammy Bug. Featuring a stockier, Sammy body, the Sammy Bug has that tell tale metal lip of the former Jitterbug only with this bait, that metal lip is not secured tight to the body. Instead it is set loose so that it wobbles, clacks, and vibrates as you work the lure giving it an almost buzzbait like annoyance that is sure to cause bass to strike. The Sammy Bug weighs three quarters of an ounce (3/4oz) and measures three inches (3") in length. It is set to retail for $15.99.

Except this bait features a prop in front of the dressed rear treble hook.

Speaking of old school, how about a blade bait?

iLV50: Ever use those bladed vibration baits for trout and other salmonids? Well, with the iLV50, Lucky craft has upsized the bait (2" @ ~3/8oz) and updated it with more bass oriented colors and a head reminiscent of their own LV baits. The iLV50 is designed to be cast far and retrieve quickly at depth, or jigged up and down. This will be an intriguing option for Summer when the fish in some reservoirs are deep and scattered, or during the Fall when bass are schooled up and feeding on bait balls. Price is set for $8.99 - $9.99 depending on color (there are 28 colors).

The iLV50 is made to help anglers target schooling bass.

Can you guess the price of these LC Cranks?

LC Crank 1.5: Fans of Lucky Craft are already familiar with the LC Crank 1.5. The bait has been available for quite some time first as a BPS exclusive, and later as a regular production line bait for the manufacturer. So what's new about the LC Crank 1.5 for 2016? How about a new price of $6.99 - $7.99? That's right, a Lucky Craft crank for under $10! Minoru Segawa, president of Lucky Craft USA says it's the company's way of thanking their many customers and supporters over the years by offering this bait at virtually no profit.

How about $6.00 - $7.99?!?!

Look! the SKT Magnum had babies!

LC 5.5D20 & 6.5XD: Having the distinction of being the charter member of our L.O.U.S. (lures of unusual size) club with their SKT magnum cranks, Lucky Craft showed us their new LC 5.5D20 and 6.5XD deep diving cranks with bodies smaller than that of the SKT series, but still larger then most of the other members of the L.O.U.S. club. These two baits are designed dive to 20 and 25 feet respectively. The LC 5.5D20 is specified at 3-1/2 inches and 1-5/8oz while the LC 6.5XD is listed at 3-1/16 inches and 2-1/64 ounces. There's actually a squarebill version of the LC 5.5 as well rated to five feet deep. Retail price for the entire family is set at $13.99.

Not really, but maybe really, these are the new deep diving cranks from Lucky Craft, the LC 5.4D20 and LC6.5XD.

Brent Ehrler finally gets his own custom color.

Thanks Brent for showing us what's new with LC this coming year!

Conclusion: Lucky Craft continues to expand upon an already diverse lineup of baits to the point where it's difficult to keep up with the company's direction other than providing quality product - and in some cases like the LC 1.5, at an incredibly affordable price. The company's finishes continue to set the bar for what consumers should expect, as a baseline, from any manufacturer that is concerned with top notch products, and now we're seeing prices drop below $15 a bait? We're not sure we recognize this Lucky Craft, but we certainly welcome the consideration!