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Lure Review

 


The KJ Flat Silent - But Lethal Crank from Lucky Craft

 

Date: 9/17/17
Tackle Type: Lure
Manufacturer: Lucky Craft
Reviewer: Cal






Total Score: 8.00 - GREAT

Introduction:
When conditions are tough like in cold weather or post frontal days, there's no more valuable a tool than a bait to help you eliminate water and locate fish in a hurry. One of the best search baits you can use is a crank, so to have a crank that excels in these situations is something every bass angler needs. BASS Elite Series angler, Kelly Jordan recognizes this need and together with Lucky Craft, designed a bait for just this situation. Here's our look at the KJ Flat Silent Crankbait by Lucky Craft.

 

Lucky Craft KJ Flat Silent Crankbait Specifications

Type Shallow Depth Crankbait
Length 2 1/4" & 2 1/2"
Weight 1/4oz & 3/8oz
Depth 3 feet
Material Hard Plastic
Colors 29
Hooks 2x #6 & 2x #4 VMC Hooks
MSRP $15.99

 


Introducing Lucky Craft's KJ Flat Silent Crankbaits (1.0 & 1.5 sizes).

 

Impressions: The KJ Flat Silent Crankbait comes in two sizes that Lucky Craft refers to as 1.0 and 1.5. This translates to two and a quarter and two and a half inches respectively (2 1/4" & 2 1/2"). Personally, 2.2 and 2.5 might be more intuitive. Both baits come stock with VMC treble hooks and feature a relatively small circuit board material diving lip with a rounded edge. These baits are only designed to dive down to about three feet (3').

 


The KJ Flat Silent, is of course, a flat sided crankbait.

Real World Tests: For the KJ Flat Silent's on the water tests, I chose my G.Loomis NRX 852C JWR paired with a 2017 Shimano Scorpion DC spooled with seven pound (7lb) Sunline Sniper FC. This stick is intended for jig and worm techniques but also excels in topwater and shallow cranking applications.


I fished this bait with 7lb Sunline Sniper Fluorocarbon.

Castability: The KJ Flat Silent is a interesting bait when it comes to castability. It's a silent bait with internal moving parts. As such with its flat sides, I expected the bait to be susceptible to catching a cross wind or other wind currents, but paired with the afore mentioned combo casting with this bait was very precise. I was very surprised by this bait's ease in flying through the air cast after cast.


Typical Lucky Craft detailing.

Dive Time: The KJ Flat Silent is rated from one to three feet in diving depth depending on the diameter of your fishing line and how far out you cast the bait. It has a relatively shallow diving angle, but when you're only expecting one to three feet in running depth, you don't need the bait to get down to maximum depth in one or two cranks.


These crackle finishes are now a signature of Lucky Craft.

As the bait is swimming, it has a very tight wobble that you can feel through to the end of the rod. This is significant because a few of the bites I received while fishing this bait were very stealthy. All I felt was nothing - meaning the bait stopped vibrating almost as if hung up, but there was also zero resistance. What happened was the fish were in shallow to feed and as soon as they scooped up the bait, they were headed for deeper water hence the zero resistance. If you ever experience this phenomenon, swing! You may be rewarded, as I was, with a fish at the end of the line.


This bait is available in up to 29 different patterns.

The other really nice thing about this bait is it swims straight and true at all speeds slow or fast. In fact, this bait swims so true that you can even rip it through the water like a rip-bait and it won't foul or spin out. You can really fish this bait in a variety of ways.


Baits come stock with VMC branded treble hooks.

Design/Ergonomics: Like most Lucky Craft baits, the KJ Flat Silent Crankbait is not short on available color patterns (there are 29 available colors). It is a very compact bait with no internal rattles. The 1.0 size comes with two #6 VMC hooks while the 1.5 size comes with two #4 VMC treble hooks.


The diving lip is rounded at the end and made of circuit board material.

Price & Application: The KJ Flat Silent Crankbait comes with a retail price of $15.99 and is a really good search tool in and around shallow water areas when the bite is tough. It's not quite a square bill that deflects off rocks, stumps, and the like, but you can buzz it over submerged grass, over hard bottoms, etc.. Its very shallow run pattern helps keep it away from potential snags and hangups.


The KJ Flat Silent Crankbait retails for $15.99.

Ratings:

Lucky Craft KJ Flat Silent Crankbait Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality Very consistent bait to bait quality in and out of the water 9
Performance Casts surprisingly easily and runs super true at any speed 9
Price Right on the border between intermediate and enthusiast pricing 7.5
Features Good quality hooks and silent running 7
Design (Ergonomics) A host of available colors 8
Application A good bait for when the bite is tough made even better by the variety in ways/speeds you can fish the lure. 7.5

Total Score

8.0
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ Can be fished at any speed - Stock hooks are ok, but could be better
+ 29 different, Lucky Craft colors  
+ Easier than expected castability  


The KJ Flat Silent crank a very fun, versatile bait to fish which is pretty much what we've come to expect from Lucky Craft.

Conclusion: It's very easy to take the KJ Flat Silent for granted. It's a compact little crank that has virtually no pizzazz other than the very pizzazz-worthy Lucky Craft palette of colors. Yet once in the water, you can fish it at any speed with no worry of the bait fouling or spinning out. In fact, one of the most fun ways to fish this bait is like a rip bait with several seconds between pauses and mixing in straight retrieves in between. The KJ Flat Silent crank a very fun, versatile bait to fish which is pretty much what we've come to expect and more often than not have the opportunity to experience when the bait at the end of the line is branded by Lucky Craft.

 

Looking for Lucky Craft KJ Flat Silent Crankbaits?

Try TackleWarehouse


 

   

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