I'm looking at beefing up my tackle for the upcoming season, and I'm curious if anyone has any experience/success with Cabela's crank and stick baits. My guess is that they'll probably work just as well in BWCA as Rapalas and other more expensive brands.

The sale prices are only around $1 off, but if I can get 5 for less than $15 vs $40+ for name brands, that's worth doing. Also stings less if you lose the lure. I may pick up a few while they're on sale.

Cabela's discounted crank/stick baits

Find a pool or a pond and tune them ahead of time and they should work fine.

...the pond would be good for you...yeah pool or a pond :)

I've never noticed a fish checking the lure for a brand name before it bites. I'm guessing they'll work just fine.

I see good sales at Fleet Farm once in awhile on brands other than Rapala and I usually stock up then. I've been able to pick up various Lindy crankbaits for $2 a piece when they are on sale and the fish seem to like them.

quote nofish: "I've never noticed a fish checking the lure for a brand name before it bites. I'm guessing they'll work just fine.

I see good sales at Fleet Farm once in awhile on brands other than Rapala and I usally stock up then. I've been able to pick up various Lindy crankbaits for $2 a piece when they are on sale and the fish seem to like them."

I hear you. The fish don't care. But there's a slightly irrational part of my brain that wants to think that, somehow, superior action on a more expensive lure will increase the % of bites. ;-)

Then again, I've been in situations where the bite is so hot I could throw a piece of tinfoil with a hook into the water and catch something.

I've used their walleye runners with success. But the fish don't care what brand they are, more they care about the action.

It really is all about the action and I doubt there is that much of a difference between the various brands. Crankbaits also tend to appeal to aggressive fish. If they are aggressive slight variations in the action of lures probably won't make much of a difference.

I would have to say there isn't too much of a difference but I prefer rapala because of their reputation and the success I've had using them. I buy my rapalas off eBay 5-10 at a time. You can get them for half the price you would buy them at a normal retail store.

quote Arlo Pankook: "...the pond would be good for you...yeah pool or a pond :)"

Subtle, but nicely done.

Beware of Walleye Runner. Took a bunch to Ontario last fall, broke hooks, bills broke(not on rocks), and paint chipped off. I could not believe it, hooks broke off on 20" Walleyes(hooked with other hooks) and 18" SMB.

I have used them all with a lot of success. I think they work great. I'm just your average fisherman so maybe a tournament fisherman would turn their nose up at Cabela's lures, but I catch enough fish to satisfy my needs on them. If you shop the sales or discontinued you can stock a tackle box fairly inexpensively. I like Rapalas and I have used them for years, but quite honestly I am starting to grow weary of their line becoming too big and complicated...and the subsequent pricing. Let's face it, there's a handful of Rapalas a guy should never be without and the rest are all just variations better at catching fisherman than fish.

quote bassnet: "Beware of Walleye Runner. Took a bunch to Ontario last fall, broke hooks, bills broke(not on rocks), and paint chipped off. I could not believe it, hooks broke off on 20" Walleyes(hooked with other hooks) and 18" SMB."

Yikes! Did you reach out to Cabelas at all to express your disappointment? Looks like one of the reviews complains about cheap/weak hooks as well.

I had the same experience with the Walleye Runner that SummerSkin had. Caught my first laker on it though.

A few years back I spent 9 days on Basswood. One afternoon I put down a dipsy diver and a flutter spoon in 100 ft of water and trolled for a few hours. The large dipsys will definitely kick your tail.......no bites on lakers.

So I decided to troll for walleyes. A friend had recommended the walleye runner which is cabbalas brand crank (rather similar to a tail dancer in style). I stuck one on and commenced trolling. Wham! Very big fish whacked the lure and a solid 5 minutes later the last thing I expected to see surfaced..........a whopper laker! And not just any laker.......ones going 8lbs are nice fish and I usually manage several that size every trip but this was heads and tails (no pun intended) bigger. I weigh my fish with a boga grip which is a certified scale and this fish was a smidgen over 15lbs. Nice! Caught in August on a drop off in the early afternoon about 25ft down. Go figure!

Anyways, I have used the real image walleye runners with considerable success. I like the Real Image patterns and I use the larger size. Trolls deep with light line, say 25 ft. The big trout hit the real image lure which had an orange belly.

Not sure about other folks having had bad luck with quality. I never have had an issue whatsoever.........no broken bills and hooks are premium hooks.

I did not complain to Cabela's. I am not a lawyer, nor did I have video evidence(which can be faked).

I've used them with success, but that was in Quetico in June, so that might not tell you much. I did not have any problems with quality, for what it's worth.