Pro's Choice Lures - A Product Review

Pro's Choice; the name alone raises one's expectations. So when I received
four of their products for review, the Sink Worm, French Fry, Wart-Hawg, and
Super Minnow my expectations were high.

I couldn't wait to tie one of them on and see what they could do. But I
received my package in early March when the lakes and ponds in my neck of
the woods were still frozen over. So to kill my desire I left them in their
package and waited until the water temperature reached at least 56°. The
temperature when the bass around here start to become active.

After nearly two months I couldn't wait any longer. I scooped up the package
and headed over to my bass pond where the water is super clear and I am
almost guaranteed to catch fish.

The first thing one notices is the packaging. Which to my delight was very
easy to open and reseal. But all were missing something rather important,
product information. None of the packages had the name of the product they
contained, size, or color. One can only assume the product labels were not
available at the time of shipment.

The first package of lures I opened was the Super Minnows. As I pulled one
out of the package I noticed how hard the plastic was, and my immediate
thought was this lure is going to lack a lot of action. I grabbed my 6'6"
medium, moderate action rod, spooled with 14-pound Fluorocarbon line and
tied on a 3/0 heavy wire offset hook. I rigged the minnow and made a short
cast to get a good idea of the lure's sink rate and action.

It did lack the tail wiggle I am accustomed too, but it had a great glide
and darting action. After a couple more short casts to get use the lure's
action, I made my first cast to an island point. Twitch, pause, twitch,
twitch, and I noticed a large white flash and then felt the weight. I
immediately reeled down and set the hook into what turned out to be a nice
3-pound largemouth. Out of a dozen casts, I caught 5 keeper fish, and one
little guy no bigger than the lure itself. I also tried this lure on a
smaller 1/0 light wire hook on a 7' MH, Fast Action spinning rod spooled
with 8-pound fluorocarbon line to see if I could get more wiggle out of it,
but to no avail. So while the Super Minnow lacked the wiggle I prefer, it is
an effective bass lure that caught 6 fish and still looked almost as good as
it did coming out of the package new. Definitely a Good Buy at $3.25.

The next lure I tried was the French Fry in pumpkinseed/chartreuse. This
lure too was a little harder than I prefer. I fished it using three
different techniques (wacky, drop-shot, and weedless/weightless) to no
avail -- all on the 7' MH spinning rod. I spent more time using this lure
than I did all the rest. This actionless, do nothing bait did just that,
nothing! I could have had a stick on the end of my hook and gotten the same
action and results. So while it may be durable, if it never attracts a fish,
it is useless. Just to be fair I put on another company's French fry and
managed to catch two fish with it. So it wasn't the lure type, just the lure
itself. Save your money on this one.

The Sink Bait was my next selection. This Senko look alike was no Senko. It
too was made of the same durable plastic, so it lacked the action I expected
and desired. Although it had a fair amount of salt impregnated into it. As a
sink Bait it was less than desirable. But as a soft jerkbait it had a great
glide and darting action that drew the attention of some bigger bass and I
managed to land a few on it. As a Wacky worm, it again lacked a lot of
action, although it drew a couple strikes. So while it was not what I
expected, it did draw fish and it stayed looking good fish after fish. I
would say it is worth the money! $3.65-$3.75

The last lure I fished was the Wart-Hawg, and it turned out to be my
favorite. The plastic was just right - not too hard, nor too soft. In fact,
it is actually quite a lively little bait (4"). I rigged this lure on a
3/8-ounce weedless ball jig with a heavy wire 3/0 hook, using a 7' Heavy,
Fast Action Rod, spooled with 17-pound fluorocarbon line. I flipped and
pitched this lure in and around laydowns, and bottom debris. I loved the way
this lure looked falling to the bottom and when I occasionally swam it off
the bottom. Out of a couple dozen casts, I managed to land four really nice
largemouth, one walleye, and one 7-pound channel cat. So it appears to be a
great multi-species lure. Definitely worth the money! $3.25

Overall, Pro's Choice brand of lures are worth the small amount of money
($3.25-$3.75) they charge for their lures. Although I don't think too many
professional anglers will seek them out.


--
Craig Baugher
Be Confident, Focused, but most of all Have FUN!