| Date: |
5/8/06 |
| Tackle type: |
Lures |
| Manufacturer: |
Lucky Craft |
| Reviewer: |
Cal |
Total Score: 8.00
Introduction: In November of 2005, we shared with you, our thoughts on Lucky Craft's Big Daddy Strike (BDS) Crank, a large bodied, shallow crank built to churn up and tear into thick cover areas. Today, we look at the BDS's more refined sibling, the Lucky Craft Flat CB MR, a flat bodied, mid to shallow depth crank built for open water and finesse cranking applications. In fact, this bait is seemingly so popular, Lucky Craft is even producing a customized version for a certain retailing giant under the name of bass fishing tournament veteran Rick Clunn.
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Lucky Craft Flat CB MR Specifications
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| Type |
Crankbait |
| Depth |
0-4 ft |
| Class |
Floating |
| Size |
2 1/2" (3/8 oz or 11 grams) |
| Colors/Patterns |
Approximately 46 different colors |
| Hook Sizes |
#4 front & rear |
| MSRP |
$15.00 |
Impressions: Lucky Craft seldom disappoints when it comes to the packaging and finish of their lures. They have this part of the entire equation figured out rather well. The plethora of colors offered is more than any sane angler could want and then some, and after looking closely at the selection in the tackle store, how could any avid enthusiast such as myself want for anything less at least one in every single color?! Well, the key to any situation like this, of course, is to keep it simple, so we walked out of the store armed with only a half dozen of the more than two dozen presented before us at the time.
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The Lucky Craft
Flat CB MR up
close and
personal
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A
look
inside
the
internals
of
this
slim
bodied
lure
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The Field Tests: We took the Lucky Craft Flat CB MR out for tests in some of our local reservoirs in Northern California as well as the California Delta. We fished the Flat CB on a variety of rigs, but for the most part, used one of two. As is customary with the majority of high priced baits I acquire, before hitting the water, I replaced the split rings of all these Lucky Craft Flat CB MR's with LureSaver titanium split rings to mitigate against potential loss as the result of a snag.
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Complete test rig for Lucky Craft Flat CB MR Field Tests
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Rig One |
Rig Two |
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Rod |
G.Loomis MBR842C GLX |
Kistler Helium He76MC |
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Reel |
Conquest 101 |
Conquest 51 |
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Line |
12 lb Yozuri Hybrid |
10 lb Yozuri Hybrid |
One of our featured graphite cranking sticks is the Kistler Helium He76MC. We paired this rod with a Conquest 51 and spooled this reel with 10lb Yozuri Hybrid. For closer-in situations we also enjoy throwing cranks on our G.Loomis MBR842C GLX and for these tests, matched it up with a Conquest 101 spooled with 12lb Yozuri Hybrid.
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The silkscreen
says it
all...for
finesse cranking
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A
detailed
scale
pattern
adds
realism
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Casting/Pitching: Thanks to the internal tungsten bearing and an overall solid body design, the Flat CB MR casts just about as well as any other lipped crankbait can cast. There is nothing extraordinary nor deficient in this area of the lure's performance and that's just what we've come to expect. In headwind conditions, we found the flat bodied design of our baits to perform respectably. This is probably due more to the internal tungsten bearing rather than the bait's profile as we expected to encounter some difficulty casting in these conditions. Those difficulties simply did not materialize.
