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Several months ago, I came across an excellent article at In-Fisherman, speaking volumes about “ Might Mini Cranks.” The author discussed a wide range of tips, tactics and lures to use for ultralite anglers wanting to throw tiny cranks and jerkbaits. Since then, I've built up an ever-expanding collection of ultralite fishing lures and I wanted to take this opportunity to share with everyone what I have found.  (Please excuse any typos in this post; it’s a fairly long one!) Jet Tackle Lures is one of the best sources I have found of ultra cheap fishing lures in the United States. They also happen to offer a fantastic line of micro lures, perfect for ultralite anglers on a budget. While I love my expensive Yo-Zuri micros, I also maintain a collection of cheap small lures that I’m not afraid to cast near heavier cover or other snag-prone areas. Here’s their page of micro lures ( web link -view ALL micro lures from Jet Tackle here) and following are profiles of several of ...

After taking a look at wLure's excellent trout swimbait and chunky sunfish swimbait , let me turn your attention to another interesting Chinese swimbait they offer. The HS6 from wLure is an affordable sunfish imitation lure, not frequently seen in the United States. (More after the jump) Design The HS6 is a 4 inch swimbait, shaped after a basic sunfish pattern. wLure offers 4 unique patterns for this lure, including a black crappie one (seen in my photos). They all look pretty great, especially for a bargain Chinese swimbait. The joints are rather unique for a swimbait. Instead of using the typical hinge metal joints found in many swimbaits, wLure has opted to go with a flexible band of tough material to link the swimbait. It's pretty unique but doesn't seem to detract from the motion of the lure. Price The HS6 is priced fairly competitively, at a little over $7 with free shipping from wLure. For this price range, a comparable model is the H2O Academy Sports line of swi...

For the second lure in my series on wLure's Chinese swimbaits, I have the HS145F2 , a jointed, chunky swimbait somewhat shaped after a bluegill. It sells for $5.49 online, with three different color options, length of  5 3/4'', and a weight of 1 2/3oz.  (Continued after the jump) The HS145F2 swimbait is pretty chunky. It's certainly not a "knock-off" of any specific lure I've encountered, and it seems to be a hybrid swimbait/crankbait style lure. The entire lure is hard plastic, complete with a nice set of fins sticking out both dorsally and laterally. However, the tail is a soft plastic/rubber piece, attached by two pins. If any part of this lure was to fail after repeated hits, this may be it. Still, it's fairly well attached and shouldn't present too much of an issue. This swimbait will float, diving around 2-3 ft on retrieve. When using the HS145F2, I found it had excellent action, even at slower retrieval speeds. The added crankbait lip r...

ODS Swimbaits The ODS HS5X374 from wLure is jointed, hardbody trout swimbait, selling for $8.99. It's a completely new bait to me, as I have never seen this model before. I ran into it on the wLure website and couldn't resist asking about it. I have purchased several Chinese knock-off (KO lure) or non-name brand lures in the past and had mixed experiences, so I was a little wary at the time. Thankfully, this swimbait turned out to be quite a keeper, with a great price, great motion in the water and a great design. Size Comparison wLure is a Chinese fishing lure website with a local US branch in Houston, Texas. I recently stumbeled upon their website and was amazed at just how low the prices on their lures was. Also, they offer free shipping, no matter how small the order, which is super nice on top of the low prices. If you do order from wLure, do expect to wait at least 15 days for your order. After all, it's coming over from China and is not going to arrive at your doo...

Coming soon: Exclusive, in-depth look at a previously-unheard of, dirt-cheap, line of swimbaits never before reviewed in the USA, courtesy of wLure . Expect photos, videos and complete reviews of these impressively-affordable swimbaits. Stay tuned.