There’s a big misconception that topwater lures are only effective in calm conditions. It does not have to be a glass-smooth, picturesque morning or evening to get on an awesome topwater bite. With just a simple change in lure selection, you can catch a lot of big bass.
The Lucky Craft Gunfish 117 is an awesome topwater lure, especially when you’re dealing with breezy conditions. I’ve been testing it for quite some time and it has become a major player in my topwater arsenal.
Below are my full thoughts.
The rundown
Designed with a slim body and cupped mouth, the Lucky Craft Gunfish 117 was designed with the best of both worlds in mind. It will pop and walk-the-dog at the same time. It measures 4 1/2 inches, weighs 3/5-ounce and is available in several beautiful colors.
The price point is very reasonable, especially given the quality components and on-the-water performance. Starting at $8.99, it’s much cheaper than many anglers would assume. Lucky Craft has done a great job of lowering their prices and I can see no difference in quality.
My thoughts
I’ve used this lure a lot over the past few months and I’ve caught dozens of quality bass on it. I believe there are a few particular design features that have made it so effective.
The castability of the Gunfish 117 is hard to beat. Its thin, streamlined body helps the cause but most notable is the rear-weighted design. It loads your rod excellently on the back cast, allowing you to make some pretty remarkable casts. Whether I see fish breaking the surface or I’m fishing a shallow area in clear water, this lure has given me the ability to keep my distance from the fish and put it exactly where it needs to go.
It’s also easy to use. There are a lot of topwaters out there that are hard to work—especially for the beginner angler—but that hasn’t been a problem throughout my testing. It begins its cadence on the first downward twitch of the rod tip and continues its fluid walking motion seamlessly, even when the water is a bit choppy.
I will, however, incorporate more aggressive, downward twitches while using the Gunfish 117. Its size and small cupped mouth are tailor-made to be noticed from a distance and a more deliberate retrieve method is a perfect match for its design. It spits and sprays water with each twitch of the rod and finishes each movement with a nice, long glide. It’s also easy to fish quickly, too.
In regards to components, there’s no need to change anything on this lure—it comes out of the package ready to catch fish. The split rings are very strong and its three treble hooks are impressively sharp and seem to stay sharp for dozens of fish catches.
You shouldn’t have to get carried away with your color selection. I’ve used three of the five available colors on Tackle Warehouse and I’ve caught just about the same number of fish on all of them. Here’s all you need to worry about: Get one shiny color for sunny days and one matte color for cloudy days. That’s it.
Final impression
This is becoming a staple in my collection. Especially for those cloudy, breezy days on the water, I think you should have a few of these nearby.
The Lucky Craft Gunfish 117 is available at TackleWarehouse.com.
