Author: Rob Belloni
History/Overview: The original A.C. Plug was the first bait designed to imitate a full sized planter trout. The bait was made available in the early 90's and has caught a whole lot large fish since. You can still buy the original A.C. Plug and it comes in 5,7,9, and 12" sizes and although you don't hear as much about the A.C. Plug now as back in the day, it's a bait that unquestionably catches big fish. Pros: Original and Arbogast VersionThe A.C. is a surface running bait and fishing it on top or just barely subsurface is the way to go with this lure. It has a very strong kick to it which produces a big wake. The A.C. is an easily tunable bait and is a bait that you can catch a whole lot of fish on per bait. Putting 50 or 100 fish on a bait wouldn't be anything too extraordinary. The hookup ratio on this bait is great and with two hanging trebles you typically hook and land a large percentage of the fish that hit the bait. Cons: Original Version: The paint jobs can wear off pretty easily from my experience with baits bought several years ago. I don't know if the paint has changed since then, but on the ones I had they were pretty chewed after a few trips. The stock hooks are VMC's and they sharpen up well, but for freshwater bass I like the more subtle bronze gammie hooks. If I was going for stripers, I'd leave the stock hooks on and sharpen them. The A.C. is more of an action bait than a realistic bait. Meaning that I believe most bites on this bait are because of how it moves vs. how it looks. This bait creates a big commotion on top that works best in choppy conditions when the wave action can add to the action of the bait and cause it to move very erratically on top. Arbogast Version: I would say that the paint on the Arbogast was somewhat better than the Original A.C. although it still had a tendency to peel up in the corners. I'm not sure why they chose the very blue color for production, but it seemed like it worked pretty well for me when I was using the bait. The Arbogast hooks however are total garbage and should be thrown away and replaced. They are about like the stock hook on a rattletrap. The Arbogast version is no longer in production. Luhr Jensen Version: I have not owned the Luhr Jensen version, but for some reason on this bait they picked some really bizarre colors. They appear to have a better hook than the Arbogast version. The Luhr Jensen is also no longer in production.
History/Overview: The original A.C. Plug was the first bait designed to imitate a full sized planter trout. The bait was made available in the early 90's and has caught a whole lot large fish since. You can still buy the original A.C. Plug and it comes in 5,7,9, and 12" sizes and although you don't hear as much about the A.C. Plug now as back in the day, it's a bait that unquestionably catches big fish.
Pros: Original and Arbogast VersionThe A.C. is a surface running bait and fishing it on top or just barely subsurface is the way to go with this lure. It has a very strong kick to it which produces a big wake. The A.C. is an easily tunable bait and is a bait that you can catch a whole lot of fish on per bait. Putting 50 or 100 fish on a bait wouldn't be anything too extraordinary. The hookup ratio on this bait is great and with two hanging trebles you typically hook and land a large percentage of the fish that hit the bait.
Cons: Original Version: The paint jobs can wear off pretty easily from my experience with baits bought several years ago. I don't know if the paint has changed since then, but on the ones I had they were pretty chewed after a few trips. The stock hooks are VMC's and they sharpen up well, but for freshwater bass I like the more subtle bronze gammie hooks. If I was going for stripers, I'd leave the stock hooks on and sharpen them. The A.C. is more of an action bait than a realistic bait. Meaning that I believe most bites on this bait are because of how it moves vs. how it looks. This bait creates a big commotion on top that works best in choppy conditions when the wave action can add to the action of the bait and cause it to move very erratically on top. Arbogast Version: I would say that the paint on the Arbogast was somewhat better than the Original A.C. although it still had a tendency to peel up in the corners. I'm not sure why they chose the very blue color for production, but it seemed like it worked pretty well for me when I was using the bait. The Arbogast hooks however are total garbage and should be thrown away and replaced. They are about like the stock hook on a rattletrap. The Arbogast version is no longer in production. Luhr Jensen Version: I have not owned the Luhr Jensen version, but for some reason on this bait they picked some really bizarre colors. They appear to have a better hook than the Arbogast version. The Luhr Jensen is also no longer in production.