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Is the Lucky Craft Real Skin “really” good?
(continued)
  Retrieve
cont'd:
On the third trip we mixed
it up a bit and decided to only target largemouth bass in a local reservoir.
There were no stripers in this lake so we ripped slower, at times just twitching
the lure in an attempt to walk the dog underwater. Though the rip bite wasn’t
excellent that day the Real Skin did outperform the standard version, though
only by two strikes, which equated to a 15% improvement over the original. We
repeated the same tests on our forth trip and this time the Real Skin only got
one more hit than the original. The fact that the Real Skin did outperform the
original, though only by only a slight margin, led us to believe that when the
fish are not on as strong of a reaction bite the Real Skin can add an extra
element to entice fish to strike, we also wondered if a few more fish hit the
lure simply because it was something different than what they had seen before.
The underside of the lure doesn't
have the real skin...
On our fifth and final
test day we head for Lake Berryessa, a body of water that is home to largemouth,
smallmouth, and spots. Halfway through the day we had no small smallies, a few
largemouth, and a ton of spotted bass. The score was once again just about equal
for the traditional and real skin pointer. We decided to switch out the American
Shad pattern to Aurora Black on both versions and our strikes suddenly went up.
At the end of the day the traditional version actually beat the Real Skin by
three strikes.
...but the top does
Obviously during our tests
the ripping style of our individual editors is a factor that has some influence
on the results, but what suffice to say we didn’t see the explosion of strikes
that we hoped to with the inclusion of the Real Skin finish.
A close up of the head. Like all
Pointer's the Real Skin version features quality hardware
Durability:
Throughout the tests the Real Skin took damage just like any pointer, and the
same semicircle scratches appeared on the lure from the hooks as with the normal
lure. Whether or not these scratches released any amount of scent seemed
irrelevant, as the lure continued to perform similarly in our tests to the
original. Overall durability of the lure’s body is good, and the only area where
we really had an issue was with the bleeding hooks. Just after a few strikes the
red finish started to flake off.
One area of concern was the
bleeding red hooks losing color. This shot was taken just after three fish
Price & Applications:
The Lucky Craft Real Skin does take quite a bit more time for the factory to
produce, and handmade craftsmanship does have a price. In the case of the Real
Skin that price is an additional five dollars over the already premium priced
14.99 that the original commands. While from a manufacturing standpoint we can
understand the price delta, when it comes to real world applications the price
is hard to justify unless you are a die hard Lucky Craft fan. The lure did prove
to be effective, and while it is no worse than the original, the return on
investment on this lure over the original won’t be worth it for most anglers.
There are times when a new finish and design will increase the catch ratio, but
the original is available in so many realistic patterns and colors already that
anglers already have a serious arsenal to draw upon.
There is no doubt this lure can
catch fish, only problem is it didn't outperform the original by any large
margin, and it certainly costs more
Ratings:
|
Lucky Craft
Pointer Real
Skin Ratings (?/10)
|
|
Construction/Quality |
Anglers can't
argue with the
quality of this
bait, the
construction is
excellent and
the
implementation
of actual
organic skin on
top of an
already quality
finish is an
impressive feat.
The lure's body
deals with
normal wear and
tear as good as
the original.
However one area
where we saw
problems was on
the bleeding
hooks |
8 |
|
Performance |
The lure
performed as
good as the
original, but
unfortunately in
our tests it get
knocked a few
points because
we expected it
to perform
better than the
original, after
all it is an
upgrade in
design and price |
7 |
|
Price |
Want Real Skin,
get ready to pay
an additional
five dollars for
this feature. We
respect the
innovative
approach and
special
production
methods, but the
price doesn't
match up with
the performance.
Part of the
problem is the
original is
already that
good, perhaps
the company can
come up with a
new lure that
plays off the
Real Skin
better. We don't
mind paying more
for a
differentiated
lure, but it
also has to
equate to
improved
performance |
5 |
|
Features |
The only real
feature upgrade
on this lure is
the use of the
real skin. Lucky
Craft raised the
bar with the
original,
unfortunately
the Real Skin
doesn't make the
same leaps and
one could even
argue that the
company could
come close to
duplicating the
finish without
the use of
actual skin
|
7 |
|
Design (Ergonomics) |
The lure is no
different in
terms of basic
design than the
original. It
would have been
great to see
more upgrades
moving forward,
especially to
make up for the
price delta |
7.5 |
|
Application |
You have to pay
more for it, yet
the only area
where we saw the
Real Skin
outperform the
original (though
just by a tiny
margin) was in
slow varied
retrieves. When
fishing a
reaction bait
like the
original pointer
the fish are
drawn to the
erratic nature
of the bait
already |
7 |
|
Total Score
|
6.91 |
Pluses and Minuses:
|
Plus Minus
|
| J
Has all the
effectiveness of
the original |
L
Did not offer
more
effectiveness
than the
original in our
tests |
| J
A proven design,
the original
profile is among
the best on the
market |
L
5 dollars more
than the
original is a
lot when the
original
performs just as
well |
| J Quality hooks and split rings |
L Hooks
lost color quickly |
Conclusion: When
it comes to ripbaits
Lucky Craft already has
the recipe down, and
finding ways to improve
on an already winning
formula can be a
daunting task. The Lucky
Craft Real Skin Pointer
is if anything, an
innovative and
interesting idea, one
that is implemented
surprisingly well. If an
angler did not know the
story behind these lures
and saw them at the
store they would likely
assume that the lure was
simply a new pattern,
not actually a real
layer of skin actually
affixed to the surface
of the lure. While the
design must be
respected, in terms of
performance the Real
Skin Pointer didn’t meet
our expectations. Part
of the problem was that
the original Pointer is
already that good, and
the Real Skin did little
to affect performance on
what is normally a
reaction bait. Only on
very slow retrieves did
we see any measurable
amount of difference,
and even then it was
dangerously close to the
margin of error. Lucky
Craft could make more of
an impact with the Real
Skin if it was put on an
entirely new lure. The
combination of the new
finish with a fresh
action would be met with
greater interest. Add in
the fact that the lure
costs so much more than
the original, and we
have an even harder time
justifying the purchase.
While it is great to see
innovation in finishes
when it comes to
performance and bang for
the buck I’ll gladly
stick to the “real”
performance already
obtainable with the
original.
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