Top 10 Lucky Craft Lures - #2
By: “Triton” Mike Bucca
(www.tritonmike.com)

With the extensive lineup of baits that Lucky Craft has I can certainly understand why it might cause a lot of people mass confusion on what tool to purchase and for what job. I have received countless emails pertaining to my opinion of various baits in the Lucky Craft lineup. I have been fishing with Lucky Craft lures since the late 90’s and I have also been on the Lucky Craft Pro-staff for the past year and a half. As a fishing guide here in Georgia with over 200 days a year on the water, I have extensive experience in using pretty much every bait in their entire lineup, and several Lucky Craft baits that aren’t even offered here in the U.S. I felt this top 10 list would help ease your pain in your bait selection before you plop down the bucks for one of these fine pieces of craftsmanship. Do keep in mind that these are the top 10 baits that I find myself using most often and they are listed in no particular order.

Be sure to check in here at Probass.net often, as I will give a different review on my top ten Lucky Craft baits that I rely on the most. You just might be surprised to see some of the baits I rely on everyday that you might not think is an effective bait.

#2 Flashminnow 110SP

Dang!! Did I tell you I am biased on jerkbaits?? Lucky Crafts Flashminnow 110 jerkbait gets my nod for #2 rank in my top ten listing. If I had to pick my favorite jerkbait to fish with that dives in the 4-5ft range it would have to be the Flashminnow 110sp hands down. It is absolutely an awesome working jerkbait with a very cool action. The Flashminnow 110 comes in 27 different shad colors and dives anywhere from 4-5 feet according to the website. However, I feel that I can get this bait closer to the 4-4.5ft range with 12lb fluorocarbon line. The Flashminnow is also a suspending jerkbait and the numerous color selections can be seen at the Lucky Craft website.

The Flashminnow 110 is unique in many different ways. Unlike similar jerkbaits on the market the Flashminnow allows for very long casts, even more so than the Pointer 100 or Sammy 100. The long casts help the bait dive deeper and also allow it to stay in the strike zone longer by covering more water. Another great selling feature of the Flashminnow 110 is its ability to suspend perfectly during any pause in your retrieve. The suspending feature of this bait is absolutely lethal in catching inactive bass. But the above reasons are only minor reasons why the Flashminnow 110 is my favorite jerkbait. If you are into jerkbait fishing for any amount of time you will find that anytime you can get three sets of treble hooks on a bait vs. two sets of trebles that’s a good thing. I personally would much rather have 3 sets of #6 treble hooks than 2 sets of #4 treble hooks on any jerkbait that I use. If you can get all 3 sets of treble hooks into the fish, that takes off the stress of the other hooks to keep the fish buttoned up until you get it put into your livewell. Also 3 sets of treble hooks cover more of the bait than 2 sets of treble hooks, which helps in catching those Spotted Bass that are notorious for trying to pocket pick or tail slap your bait.

Georgia Shoal Bass caught on a Flashminnow 110SP

Another feature of the Flashminnow is the unique action of this bait. Most jerkbaits that have 3 sets of hooks on them are notoriously lacking in action, unless they are jointed somehow. What I like to do a lot of times is to jerk the bait down to its maximum depth by jerking my rod tip straight down in front of me. Once I get it down to the 4 ft range I like to start jerking the rod sideways vs. straight downward in a walk the dog fashion. What this does is makes the jerkbait walk the dog under water. When I mean walking the dog with a Flashminnow, I mean this bait is capable of a true 180 degree side to side sweep with no problem. I know at first glance this bait doesn’t seem very unique, but in my opinion it blows the Pointer 100 out of the water in the action department hands down and it has 3 sets of treble hooks for that extra fish holding insurance.

I like to use the Flashminnow in the clearest water I can find. I do the best with it, Late February (once the fish are moving up shallow for pre-spawn and spawn) through Late May, which is basically through our post spawn and into early summer. Due to its 4.5 inch slender profile it reflects the shape of some of the main forage in our lake like the Spot Tail Minnow. The length of this jerkbait is also a good medium size to attract both big and small fish alike. As I stated earlier I like to walk the dog with this bait, but I do allow the fish to tell me what they prefer the best. Sometimes they want a long pause and other times they want you to keep it moving very fast.

As far as equipment is concerned, I like to use 12lb Triplefish fluorocarbon (www.triplefish.net) fluorocarbon line when fishing the Flashminnow 110. Fluorocarbon is a sinking line and it also allows the bait to dive more effectively to its maximum depth better than monofilament lines. Also, due to the low stretch characteristics of fluorocarbon you will have no problem detecting the strikes, which are often very subtle when fishing jerkbaits. Besides fluorocarbon line being more expensive than most monofilaments I am finding that fluorocarbon also lasts 3 times longer than regular mono making it a very economical choice for the frugal angler. Most medium action 6ft to 6.5 ft rods are great choices for using jerkbaits.

The knot that I use for fishing jerkbaits is called a “Loop Knot”. I feel that the loop knot allows the jerkbait more freedom to move more erratically since the knot is not cinched around the split ring in the eyelet of the jerkbait. Here is an Internet link with directions to the loop knot that I use on jerkbaits. http://www.stren.com/knot4.htm

That’s my review of my #2 pick of my most often used Lucky Craft baits. Give the Flashminnow a try in your favorite waters. It is actually a breathtaking sight to watch wolfpacks of some Magnum Spots or Smallmouth approaching and attacking this bait while doing its 180 degree walk the dog especially in ultra clear waters.

Coming very very soon!!! My #1 TOP GO TO BAIT in the Lucky Craft lineup that I rely on the most. Is it a topwater? Jerkbaits? Cranks? Hmmmm Keep an eye out here at probass.net to find out what in my opinion is the best bait in the ENTIRE Lucky Craft lineup that I rely on the most to catch bass for me on a consistent basis.

I have also decided to do a few “honorable mention” reviews of a few baits that didn’t make my top 10 rankings, but I have relied on these honorable mentions baits quite heavily over the years. In reality it’s hard to pick just 10 baits from Lucky Craft for all situations.

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