About a month ago I was looking for some whopper plopper 90's. Scheel's had the 90's for $14.99 and the larger one for $17.99. I see that BPS has them for $12.99. I figured, what the heck, I bought a 3 pack of plopper lookalikes on TEMU for a little over $6. They look like a whopper plopper, sound like a whopper plopper, and catch fish like a whopper plopper. I did upsize the hooks, but I do that on a brand name whopper plopper anyway.
Your thoughts. Would you, or do you buy the lookalikes or stick to the name brands.

I've bought look a likes when I felt like I was being duped by the OEM. When I realized that the knockoffs use inferior hardware, hooks, etc. I decided it wasn't worth the risk or cost to upgrade everything so I felt comfortable.

Exactly.

I bought some copy Chinese jackhammers and they were ok, some would wiggle great and some were sporadic and blew out while retrieving.

Tried some knockoff MegaBass 110's. I guess there's a reason they can charge what they do.

The academy brand square bills work just fine.

Underrated for sure.

I normally stay with the originals... Dan

Yes, they do. On a side note, I can't believe what stores are charging for hollow body frogs! There is nothing to them!

X3! More times than not cheaper “knock-offs” are not as good as the original. Often the phrase “you get what you pay for” proves to be true. I don’t know if I would call the Academy H2O brand “knock-offs” but rather just another brand of fishing lures. That said for many, many years I have found the H2O square bill crank baits to be easily the most productive squarebills I have used. None better for me. Neil

I try my best to not reward companies for knocking off others’ pproducts.

Its ABS plastic. They can clone the bait pretty much exactly but like has been mentioned the hardware will be inferior. Thinner wire and less expensive materials affect density which can affect action. That is less of an issue with top waters such as ploppers but can possibly be noticed with walking baits due to balance. Most definitely with jerkbaits and cranks. There are websites out there where you can buy these clones and all you need is an airbrush. The ploppers are like 3 bucks and some are dirt cheap in the 1-2 dollar range. Its a no brainer if you need dozens of ploppers but the cost of the paint and brush along with the accessories may outweigh the weekend warriors needs of a plopper or two in his box. Temu is probably the better choice for those trying to save a little but the hook upgrades need to be factored in. Split rings too. It all adds up.

I bought some mega bass 110 jerk baits look alikes and I did up grade the hooks paying attention to the suspending of the bait and they worked great. Paying attention to small details makes a big difference

I also use the Rage bug look alike and they work very well also

I buy a lot of Bass Pro look alike lures. The XPS stuff catches fish just as good as the brand name stuff. After buying a few square bills, top waters, and jerk baits I quickly realized I didn't have to spend in the neighborhood of $20 to catch fish, that same $20 could get me multiple lures that work just as well. I buy Strike King and Berkley lures as well, they aren't super pricey either.

Some baits have meticulous weighting and casting systems....these are typically not successfully reproduced. Sometimes it's not just the weight and location of the weight, but density and friction coefficient of the weight moving in the lure. Jerk baits and some suspending swimbaits are very difficult to copy.....but you can get closer with modifications.

Other lures are very easily reproduced, often with slightly inferior and cheaper components....spinner baits, square bills, lipless cranks, topwaters, hollow body frogs, the vast majority of plastics....etc.

I have many Mega Bass lures. About 40% have come apart in the Plano storage box! The finish flakes off and bubbles up. A few 110's have actually bowed to one side or another. They always are stored in my shop when not in use.

Even name brand I change out the slit rings !

We stand behind our products 100%. If you ever have an issue go to https://megabassusa.com/f-a-q-s/ and it will be made right if it's a product issue. You are also more than welcome to reach out to me. We want happy customers and always appreciate it when people choose a Megabass product.

They have some good topwater baits also! 100% underrated

You can catch fish on gummy worms.

One thing is sure ! Anything related to bass fishing is way over the top in price. Ray Scot set it in motion back in the 60's and it has gone thru the roof .. Like a drug your addicted to your going to pay it no matter what or until you die from overdose LOL

The thing that seems insane to me, is the cost of DFI oil. Went from $30-$40 a gallon, to $60-$70 per gallon.

Thank you for the link! I'll definitely check it out,

Use some of that voodoo math to show your wife how you’ll save money with a new 4 stroke…😆

She’d be like

This is 100 percent true!! I'd like to add that sometimes the knock offs have colors the fish haven't seen and nuances that literally make them work better, sometimes they are inferior. I just try it and listen to the fish

Or grow a pair and quit letting her be the pants wearer of the house?🤔😉🤘