O.S.P. DoLive Beaver Product Review #OSPDOLIVEBEAVER

Lure Review

A Reliable Check Down when Fishing the Blitz of Pressured Water : O.S.P.'s DoLive Beaver

Date:	11/13/24
Tackle Type:	Lures
Manufacturer:	Missile Baits
Reviewer:	Cal

Total Score: 6.91 - FAIR

Introduction: JDM rods, reels, and hardbaits are one thing, but soft plastics take a bit more inspiration for me to explore. My positive experience fishing the DoLive Craw from O.S.P., delivered on that inspiration and had me anxious to dive a little deeper into O.S.P.'s soft plastic arsenal. Trouble was, with roughly a dozen other profiles, the decision wasn't easy. Lacking any true direction, I defaulted to a tried and true profile, the creature bait. O.S.P.'s DoLive Beaver is the manufacturer's take on the popular do everything profile. Let's see if we can uncover the appeal.

O.S.P. DoLive Beaver Specifications
Type	Creature Bait
Material	Soft Plastic
Colors/Patterns	20
Sizes	3.5, 4, and new 7 inch sizes
Scent/Plastic Treatment	Shrimp and Squid Powder
# per package	6, 5, and 3 relative to size
Resealable Bag?	Yes
MSRP	$10.99 (3.5"-4")- $29.99 (7")

Impressions: Beaver baits lend their namesake label to the flat, cone-like, oval tail at the end of the bait. In most of these profiles, that tail is split down the middle, but attached at the ends so it can be fished either as a solid piece, or, with that attachment broken, as two flailing appendages. O.S.P.'s DoLive Beaver has no such option. In fact, the bait looks more like a craw than it does an ambiguous creature.

Introducing O.S.P.'s DoLive Beaver

The bait's body takes up a hair more than half it's length (not counting the antennae) and is similar to what you'd find in a traditional creature bait, but more narrow. The body is segmented mimicking the tail of a crayfish. The appendages is where it gets interesting. The DoLive Beaver's claws are distinctly separate like a craw bait but uniquely shaped. They are thin in the vertical plane and beaver-like in profile. Perhaps this is where the bait derives its name.

The DoLive Beaver's claws have a unique shape

Real World Tests: The DoLive Beaver was originally offered in two sizes, three and a half and four inches, but the manufacturer recently debuted a seven inch variant. I only fished the four which came in a clear plastic clamshell container holding five baits. The three and a half comes with six baits, and the new seven inch with three.

From the side, you can see the shape of the claws is what has inspired the bait's name

As with any soft plastic bait, the DoLive Beaver can be rigged and fished any number of ways. My primary method of rigging this bait was with Zappu's Bredy Weedless Underspin. This is a miniature swimbait style hook with a small willow leaf blade at the bottom, you can fish on lighter line for a more finesse presentation.

I fished the bait on light line and Tex-pose the hook point for a better hooking ratio

The very intriguing result of this bait and hook combination is, when dropped in the water, the DoLive Beaver will swim away from you like the famed infomercial product, the Flying Lure. I don't have to tell you this back-sliding behavior is very helpful around docks and other surface cover. The only difficulty is doing so on light line can be hazardous to your landing ratios.

Doesn't take much for the DoLive Beaver to get beat up

The other difficulty with this bait is durability. While there's little doubt it is a highly effective profile, the durability of those unique claws is questionable at best. It only takes one or three bites for the bait to lose its claws at which time you need to re-rig making it a possibly expensive venture during a hot bite.

Not only the claws, but the body too

Design & Ergonomics: O.S.P. offers the DoLive Beaver in at least twenty different and intricate patterns along with the afore mentioned three different sizes. The bait's clear hard, clear plastic clamshell packaging is molded to safely house each individual bait and keep them from getting fouled during storage.

Make no mistake, O.S.P.'s DoLive Beaver is a premium bait, it draws strikes consistently but fish do blow through packs quickly

Price & Applications: This is where it gets tough. Hovering around $2.00 per individual bait in the smaller profile, and $10.00 per bait in the new, 7" size, the O.S.P. DoLive Beaver is a premium soft plastic. While anglers are often prepared to pay premium prices for a rod, reel, hardbait and more, soft plastics are a more difficult sell. Which in turn means fewer other anglers are likely to be throwing it, so if you enjoy fishing something other anglers are not... see, there's always another side.

Ratings:

O.S.P. DoLive Beaver Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	Very intricate and consistent soft plastic bait	8
Performance	That back sliding action was surprising and very effective (when rigged with the Bredy Underspin)	8
Price	Right around $2 per bait on the small size and $10 per bait on the new larger size, this is a premium priced soft plastic	5
Features	Packed with flavor in shape preserving packaging	7
Design (Ergonomics)	Clearly an effective profile but durability is questionable, they lose appendages quickly when struck	6
Application	As versatile a soft plastic can be but durability reduces some applications, like use as a trailer on fast moving baits	7.5
Total Score		6.91
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ Undeniably effective	- Questionable Durability
+ Really unique and intriguing claw design
+ Scent infused
+ Shape preserving, reusable packaging

The DoLive Beaver may not be an every cast bait for me, it has certainly become one to break up the monotony of a slow day.

Conclusion: Even I, with my roots as TackleTour's Enthusiast Tackle Editor, have difficulty paying a per bait premium like this for a bait that only lasts a couple of bites. However, the effectiveness of this bait in a BFS presentation using that Zappu Bredy Underspin is difficult to deny. So while the DoLive Beaver may not be an every cast bait for me, it has certainly become one to break up the monotony of a slow day. If you're fishing pressured waters and want to show the fish something different, O.S.P.'s DoLive Beaver is a reliable check down during that blitz, just be ready to blow through them quickly as the fish seem to disarm them aggressively.

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