Real World Tests: I've had the Cloud 9 for over a year and have fished it on a variety of setups most recently of which was a Lew's combo of a Custom Speed Stick Mag Cranking stick matched with a Custom Pro Speed Spool SLP reel. I spooled the Custom Pro with 14lb Sunline FC Crank.

It is a very clean looking bait

Castability: Baits of this size and weight don't really need moving balancers to maximize casting distance. They make up for all of that with their inherent mass. The Cloud 9 is a very easy bait to launch making it a really good choice for a bait with a larger than normal profile that you want to use to cover a lot of water quickly. You can really bomb this lure.

I often inspect the bills of my crankbaits to see if the manufacturers pay attention to unsightly air bubbles. Bubbles don't affect performance, but they do speak to quality control. The Cloud 9's bill has perfect clarity, and a nice subtle branding element

Dive Time: Click your reel over to begin cranking and it feels like Cloud 9 goes to work right away. I say "feels like" because it casts so far, I can't see what it's doing when I begin my retrieve! For a better look, I've tossed the bait out to the side of the boat to view its action and dive behavior and am really surprised each time I fish the bait, at how far down it goes. I just have it programmed in my mind that a square bill crank goes about 4-5 feet deep, but the Cloud 9 is rated to eleven and easily goes down further than I can see.

The Cloud 9 is rated to 11 feet diving depth

As it swims, the Cloud 9 exhibits a nice, wide wobble that you can feel through the line. I value this feel in my cranks because it helps me to determine what's going on at the end of the line. When that wobbling stops, you either have a fish, or the bait is caught up in the weeds. A little pressure on your rod tip helps you quickly determine between the two and when it's a fish, those stock hooks on the Cloud 9 do a very good job of hooking up and keeping you buttoned.

That weight ball beneath the eye and in front of the gill in the bait's chin moves from side to side in the rattling version. It is held in place in the silent

Speaking of which, when you do hook up with a fish using a bait like the Cloud 9, do your best to keep the fish from jumping. With the size and weight of this lure comes the increased chance the fish can toss the bait when it jumps if you didn't get a good hook set. This is true of any similarly sized and weighted bait.

Conclusion: 6th Sense's Cloud 9 Magnum Squarebill kind of walks the line between a standard sized crank and one we would typically classify as an L.O.U.S.. Nevertheless, it does have the benefits of a larger sized lure in that it will help cull out the smaller fish when you're in search of a quality bite. Of course, there are always those crazy, smaller fish, that will attack anything so that's why I said "help" and not eliminate. What I really like about this bait is how far you can cast it and how much feel it provides as you're cranking it back to your position. It does a good job of bouncing off obstructions, but of course, not so great when you encounter grass. If you're looking for a larger than normal crank to upgrade the size of your catch, 6th Sense's Cloud 9 is a good place to start.