What's old is new again, The Megabass Bait-X Concept
 

Total Score: 8.58

Introduction: Megabass updates their very first plastic molded crank from the 1980's and injects it with new technology to create the all new Bait-X Concept crankbait: a bait designed to imitate the sometimes frantic but always erratic swimming action of shrimp and crayfish. We acquired three of these eye catching masterpieces to see for ourselves what this new-fangled bait is all about.

 
The Field Tests: For our real world tests, we matched our Bait X cranks to one of our dedicated cranking setups: a custom Seeker BS706-S S-glass blank built for us by George Roth and complimented by our Daiwa Millionaire 103L Bay Casting Special. For line, we continue to rely on 12lb Yozuri Hybrid for its higher than rated breaking strength and good casting performance. 

Casting: Internal to the Bait-X crank is a patented Multiway Moving Balancer System that adjusts the bait's balance depending upon whether the bait is flying through the air during a cast, diving during a retrieve, or swimming once it has reached maximum running depth. Indeed, even for a bait as light as 3/8ths of an ounce, our Bait-X cranks casted effortlessly even into the wind.

Retrieving: During initial retrieve, the Multiway Moving Balancer System shifts to the front of the lure presenting a more pronounced head down position of the lure forcing it to dive more quickly than other cranks of the same size. Initially, we were only able to achieve approximate depths of about 6 or 7 feet. We later switched reels to something with 10 pound test and could feel the lure reaching to greater depths of approximately 8 or 9 feet. As with all crankbaits, be sure to choose a line with the proper diameter that will allow your bait to reach the desired depths quickly.

  
Another of the marketed features of this crank, with its unique, pointed bill and wide wobbling motion, is its ability to deflect off underwater structure and move off erratically to the side often enticing strikes. While we were unable to see this action directly in the stained waters we fished, we did notice, on occasion, our line moving off in a different direction after striking something underwater. The movement, at times, was so pronounced, I snapped the rod back to set hook on several such occasions only to have the return to me by its lonesome and with that seemingly silly grin on its lips as if to mock me. In areas that had a good amount of rip rap, the bait did have the tendency to wedge between rocks but released easily once the angle of the line could be changed and the lure backed out of its snag.

Application & Effectiveness: We had our best success with the Bait-X when fished in areas of rip rap or other structure where the erratic action of the lure allowed us to deflect it against the bottom to illicit strikes. When fished in areas of weed cover, we had to work a little harder to get the Bait-X working for us by fishing it almost like a jerk bait creating our own erratic action. Of interesting note is the sound produced by the internal rattles of this lure. On those occasional, quiet spots when the wind wasn't blowing and the water was almost glass, the sound of our Bait-X coming through the water was very audible and almost as loud as some lipless cranks. The Bait-X is definitely not a subtle finesse bait.

Durability: Given the type of cover we fished these lures in and around, the finishes held up incredibly well. The exclusive Katsuage hooks held up fine through several months of fish, branches, rocks and pilings staying sharp and true throughout. We encountered no cracking in the body of our three test baits despite the inadvertent toss of our baits up against the rip rapped levee banks of the California Delta.

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