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Is the Lucky Craft Real Skin “really” good?
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Date: |
12/16/07 |
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Tackle type: |
Lures |
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Manufacturer: |
Lucky Craft |
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Reviewer: |
Zander |
Total Score:
6.91
Introduction:
Released at this year’s
ICAST show the Lucky
Craft Real Skin Pointer
is now becoming more
available in retail and
e-tail stores
nationwide. What makes
the Real Skin unique is
the application of
actual natural skin in
the lure’s construction.
While novel, the
question remains…. is
the bait “really” any
better than the
original?
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Lucky Craft Pointer Real Skin Specifications
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| Type |
Jerk/Rip Bait |
| Depth |
4-5 feet |
| Class |
Suspending |
| Size |
100mm (~4 inches) |
| Colors/Patterns |
5+ patterns/colors |
| Hook Sizes |
#5 front and rear |
| MSRP |
$19.99 |
Impressions: When
we first saw
the Lucky
Craft Real
Skin at
ICAST we
absolutely
loved the
concept. The
company was
looking for
a way to
make their
already
realistic
lures appear
even more
authentic to
fish, and
had tried
multiple
times to add
actual fish
skin to the
surface of
their lures.
Unfortunately
this proved
more
difficult
than
originally
contemplated,
and scores
of early
prototypes
failed. It
was only
after the
heads of the
company went
for some
sushi did
they make a
breakthrough.
The Lucky
Craft Real
Skin Pointer
actually
makes use of
actual skin
in it's
construction
During lunch they saw the
Sushi chef discard something from his cutting board, and when asked he remarked
that it was simply the leftover skin. They headed back to the labs and found
that the finely cut skin actually suited their application. In most lures Lucky
Craft is now using squid skin, and all of these skins are actually procured
through a number of sushi bars. The skin is laid over the LC traditional bait,
and wrapped tightly, clipped off to dry, then dipped into gloss. The lures are
produced in four variants, Squid, Black Sea Bream, Halfbeak, and Cod. The latter
three exhibit scales while the squid pattern is spotted.
The lure makes use of squid skin
which Lucky Craft procures from local sushi restaurants
Lucky Craft went on to
explain that the lures have not only increased realism but have the added
benefit of actually putting out some scent. When the gloss breaks down through
normal use and scratches pierce the lure’s surface the skin will put out minute
amounts of scent similar to a real fish. Lucky Craft didn’t create a new styled
lure to implement the “Real Skin” instead they turned to some of their proven
performers to wrap including the Pointer, Slender Pointer MR, and Staysee.
At first glance the lure reminded
me of a very bad case of the measles
In terms of tournament
pros the biggest supporter of the Real Skin is pro bass angler Gerald Swindle,
who caught many fish using the lure while giving seminars at this year’s
Saltwater Fishing Expo in Greensboro North Carolina.
“I had been throwing a couple Lucky Craft crankbaits and I did have some fish
come up and look at it, but that was really it,” Swindle said. “That’s when I
tied on the
Real Skin Pointer (Chartreuse
Shad). I still had about thirty minutes left in the hour-long
seminar, so I thought I’d do a little jerkbait fishing for the fans and explain
the importance of the action when fishing a jerkbait. I jerked twice and let it
pause, and that’s right, I caught every fish in the tank. It was incredible.”
Lucky Craft goes on to say “some skeptics may think it was a fluke, but flukes
don’t happen two days in a row. Swindle came back for another day of seminars,
fishing in the same tank of bass, and caught them all again.”
The lure casts just like the
original, a good thing in my book considering how good the traditional Pointer
already is
Real World Test:
Like many other anglers the Lucky Craft Pointer and Staysee have gained our
respect, and continue to be a staple in both our tests and personal tackle
collections. The lures have received glowing reviews, so rather than focus on
the actual performance of these new variants we looked to see if the Real Skin
added increased firepower to an already winning solution. We logged five trips
targeting both largemouth bass and stripers to see cast for cast if the Real
Skin variation of the Pointer increased the effectiveness of the lure.
The Real Skin comes armed with two
bleeding hooks
Casting:
The Pointer is one the best casting rip baits out there, and the lure arguably
upped the standard for all other ripping lures. The Pointer is above all things,
reliable. I’ve only two baits out of countless lures ever not run true out of
the box, and when it comes to casting the Pointer goes the distance. Making use
of internal brass weights the lure casts exceptionally well. These same brass
weights improve the lure’s unique ripping action on the retrieve. When it comes
to ease of use and casting distance the Real Skin is no different than the
original and that is a very good thing.
In tests the Real Skin performed
similarly to the original, though the lure does look better in the water than it
does at first glance on the boat
Retrieve:
Currently only the quid models are readily available, and were the only ones
that we found on e-tail stores in the US. I have to admit the first time I saw
the variation the first thing I thought was a Pointer with a serious case of the
measles. The squid Real Skin adds a red spotted pattern throughout the lure. The
original version of the Pointer is already available in a slew of colors and
patterns, but nothing quite like this. To be fair the lure does look better in
the water.
A close up shows the squid skin
overlaid over the original American Shad scale pattern
In our tests we cast side
by side to the same spots time after time with one editor wielding the identical
pattern without the Real Skin, and the other tossing the new variation. After
two trips to the California Delta and over five hundred casts between the two
versions the early results indicated that the Real Skin seemed to have little
effect on both our strike and catch ratio when targeting either largemouth or
striped bass. It seemed the action of the lure was what was inciting most
strikes, and the strike count was almost identical.
The skin covers even the detailed
edges of the lure
Next
Section: The Test Continues, and we mix it up
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