I saw these two Swim Baits on E-Bay today, Are they worth spending $125.00 on these two Baits?

What are they worth? $$$

Are they collectors pieces or would you take them out of the boxes and just fish them?


http://cgi.ebay.com/JERRY-RAGO-2-SWIMBAIT-DISCONTINUED-GENERIC-LIVE-HARD_W0QQitemZ160166252606QQihZ006QQcategoryZ31693QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem




http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/6234-jerry_rago_front_pic.jpg

I have them both on my boat and they have decent action. I think Jerry has much better more evolved baits out know. They are worth what ever someone will pay for them and have just been re listed. They did not sell the first time around when they were listed seperately.
Hope this helps
Rich:-)

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageSWMJRAGO-JRHBT.html#

if i had 100 bucks i would prefer that over the other two

I have an 2005 guide In-Fisherman magazine, It has a picture of Rob Belloni fishing from a kickboat holding a 13+lbs large mouth bass caught on a 12" Jerry Rago's Genetric Trout Hard bait, Also in the Member Galleries Rob has caught many nice Bass on both these swim baits, The question I realy want to ask if everyone is throwing the newer Swim Baits out, Will/do Bass get Seasoned on these newer Swim Bait? If so, Is this the time you would want to throw the Old Trusty Dusty out? Am hoping Someone want say is not the Lure or Lures it the Fisherman or its all about Presentation and or Tactics or am not Holding my Mouth Right LOL. One Question for Rob are these Swim baits worth the Money?
The Seller Reduced to $115.00

I like the live trout hardbait as a night bait. It's very good on the troll, but I've caught them casting it as well. The bait has a lot of thump to it, a lot of kick that you can feel in your rod tip. I haven't done well on that lure during the day. I cut all the fins off my live trout hardbaits and file them down with a dremmel tool. My best fish on that bait is an 8lber, though I once had the hooks bent out on it at night by a DD.

The original generic trout hardbait is an interesting bait. The pic you are referring to was a fish I caught on literally my 4th cast ever with the lure. I was working the bait very slowly and the fish ate it with 3 feet of line off the tip of my rod. That was one of my more memorable swimbait bites. For whatever reason, I never caught another fish on that lure. Don't know why, only the fish know that :)

There are many good lures on the market now. I sample from them all when I go to the lake. A great benefit of being a lure reviewer is that I spend the time to think objectively about each lure that I add to my tackle collection. I think about situations where it might work well, the "pros and cons" if you will. As I learn each lure, I place it in my memory bank and frame a set of conditions where I think it will catch a big bass for me.

Jerry Rago is one of the most prolific lure designers around, and without a doubt the most prolific swimbait maker in terms of the number of models he has produced over the years. Each of his lures has a value at a time or a place. What makes Jerry unique is his background as a fisherman. He doesn't just fish one location or one species. He fishes stripers, bass, and browns and he fishes the entire Western U.S.

The result of Jerry's background is a wide variety of lures to cover a wide variety of conditions. I have no doubt that when Jerry sees a new condition at a lake - he goes home and makes something to match that condition. As fishermen, we should rejoice at this! I am always of the opinion that the more lures there are on the market, the happier I'll be. It can make it a little hard though - as you are experiencing - to pick out what lure to buy.

In this regard I am only sad that I don't have more time and money to put toward the lure reviews. I would love to have each and every one of the Rago Baits on calfishing.com (and Jerry has been very generous in helping to make this happen over the years). Unfortunately I am not caught up on the lure reviews - but the good news is that we have this forum where more people can chime in.

If I could offer some advice, it would be this....

1. Think about where you are fishing, and what you are fishing for. Think about conditions like size of fish, water color, time of year.

2. Search this forum using the search feature for the products you are interested in. You may find some fascinating posts from several years ago about the lures pictured above.

3. Think about what this information means to you as a fisherman, given your fishing conditions from #1.

4. Compare the new Rago products to the old. Make your decision on what to buy.

There is no perfect answer to questions like yours, but there are ways of thinking that can help you arrive at the best decision. I struggle with things like this all the time when I have some money to spend on baits. I rely on the internet, and the people on this forum in particular for advice about new products more than you might think, and I would encourage you to think the same way. Many of the best swimbait fishermen in the world are right here on calfishing.com.

Conversely, this site is only as good as the people who choose to participate in it. If you use my thought process above to help make your decision - it would be a great thing if you took the time to feed back in to the system and give your honest opinion of the lures either on the trophy board or in the review pages. What makes the site great is when people move their butts out of the bleachers and in to the game. I encourage you to be a part of it :)

I hope this helps.

-Rob

great write up....the search function has helped me out quite a bit.

I've got the Live Trout Rago and have had it repainted twice...I'm actually waiting for it now. I haven't put major time behind it but like that it's both hard and soft and has some serious thump.