Tsunami Timber Lures (Pencils, Poppers, and Needlefish)
 

Have to say I was pretty surprised to see these. Noticed them on page 59 of the Cabelas '09 cataglog. Rigged with w/ triple (but probably crappy) split rings and 4x vmc's. The needlefish certainly look to have a hab influence and the bottle popper seems like a pretty close to being a Gibbs knock off. I feel like I've seen that exact pencil befor too but who knows.

Anybody pawed any of them yet? I doubt I'll bite but 15 bucks for a 3 oz. pencil ain't too bad if they work.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/co...&Go.x=7&Go.y=9

aaahhhh.....looks like this is old news. 7 pages old at least on the other site. :blush:

LOL

I noticed those too. First time I've seen them in Cabelas. Might be worth a try.

I have seen em.I don't really need to go there..
So many people make good pencils right here in the good ole USA..Most for a mere cup of coffe more than 16 dollars..
I don't need to be learned any more mistakes from chinese crap.

I've seen these models at a local B&T. The input I got was that the pencils that were hdro tested were inconsitent. Some floated nose up, others tail angled down etc. I 'm sure if you want to test b/4 you use you can find the desired float you prefer. Nevertheless they will always trick a Bluefish.

I tested them last year. Everything I got from them floated good and they had a bullet proof finish. 4X VMC and tripple splitrings . I don't think they are Wolverine tripples . I'm going to give them a try in the shop this year.

I'd be curious to hear how they are if anyone tests them. But, at $15 a pop, they better be good. That's still a lot of money for a fishing lure to a lot of people. There are plenty of proven wooden plugs for close enough to that price that I'm very happy with. The Superstrike Littleneck poppers are cheaper than the Tsunami's and I know they work great and can take a beating.

As for the designs, they do look like Gibbs and Hab's knockoffs. I guess that's to be expected from a mass producer. Why try to find a new design when there are enough proven one's already out there?

Too many others out there, to get these.

I wonder if they sent a thank you note to Gibbs.

It really pisses me off that companies can do this, too bad Stan didn't do patent rights on his designs.

And Luds youre right chinese crap all the way, thier faults will eventually show, just like the chinese Creek Chubs.

Gertrude Stien characterized people who mimicked others as "measuring worms." A measuring worm is one who "measures the great art he sees, and copies it badly."
It's just like a Habs, but there were a lot of things Habs did that can't be measured or discerned visually. They only look the same, they don't fish the same.

maybe sub'd out to the same factories / sweat shops putting out the RI lures? they look a bit similar.

eels'll work :hihi:

'

Mike I find this interesting as you have your own and the guppies in the shop.They are very good top of the line producers..If you ask me you really don't need another pencil.

We are making a hard effort to keep ours in stock, but there are times when we are sold out of a size or color and people have to have it NOW.

The other thing is these lures should not retail for over $13-$14

What piss off a few guys are their copies of RM Smith plugs that will mostly be selling on ebay as originals.

Luds, I think Tsunami is going to sell a Danny stlye plug also that mimicks the Gibbs model. I think it's going to sell for about 15 bucks. A salesman came into the store last summer and showed off these lures.

I think it should be noted that Tsunami does not make any of these lures. They are a distributor of the lures. I found the MFG in China they sell direct to anyone for a 500pc minimum order. You will see the same lures and sold under many names this year.

I'm sure this whole thing is because of the wooden plug craze that we're now seeing. There are a lot of really talented plugmakers out there and some plugs are selling for crazy prices at both retail and on ebay. Most guys will be loyal to the originals and some might switch over to try the knockoffs. If they're bad quality, they'll get a reputation and won't be around very long. If they're decent, they'll probably sell mostly to people who aren't serious plug junkies like a lot of us on here. I like fishing quality wood and even some plastic (Superstrike).

This is how I look at it. If I can pick up a Tsunami knockoff for $15 or a Hab's Jr. for $18 - $20 (I think that's what they were selling for at SWE), I'm going with the Hab's Jr. because I know it's proven.

Increased competition degrades existing sales of mature companies.

Fishbones, I think most serious surf guys feel like you.

Mike, how do you think the sale of the Tsunamis will effect the sale of your plugs?

I can’t keep up. So it will take some pressure off.
I'm only going to get in a limited amount of polaris Style & Pencils and see how it goes.

I'm surprised they cost $15. The only thing of value in a plug is the design and labor. They don't have any development costs and their labor costs must be very low. How do they get to $15 each? Six or eight bucks I could understand, but somebody somewhere is profiting handsomely if they are selling at only a 25% markdown over "comparable" stuff made over here.

I agree it was only a matter of time that with the plug prices increasing at an exponential rate that the Chinese were going to flood the market with knock offs. I am sorry but the price of plugs is way out of line and I am glad to see inexpensive plugs hitting the market....although I think 14.99 for that Tsunami pencil is still too much.

Habs Jr. plugs for 18$...I would like to see that! Gibbs are in the 18-20$ range.

:bs::nailem: chinese crap
you are correct George, someone is marking up a huge amount and making a sweet profit = the middlemen, some shops jump on that as well but Mike always seems to keep things reasonable.


BUY AMERICAN!

I'm pretty sure that's what John Jr. and Jess were selling them for at the RISSA show last spring. And when they were at SWE a while back I think it was pretty much the same give or take a couple bucks. Whatever the case it's a good deal, as he makes em' just like his dad did.

I cant see it being a bad thing. Where we have American companies charging 20$-25$ for something similar maybe this is the beginning of what will bring lure prices back to reality.. 25$ for a 5 or 6 inch piece of wood is NUTS. But thats just my opinion :wave:

Call me cheap, call it tough times, call it whatever... but 15$ is
still a lot of money for a plug (for me). I have a few really nice ones that I've won and found, and a few I bought... thats it...

Those Habs Jr plugs and other good plugs are sold out in minutes so most people cant get them. I agree with you that the Habs Jr plugs are durable but Tsunami plugs (if they are well built) will be good enough for me and most fisherman.

IMO spending 25$ on a plug to fish with is INSANE but that is just me.

I used to think spending 15 bucks on a plug was ridiculous. Over the past 5 years or so i got the plug bug pretty bad. The most ive spend was 30.00 on a BM wad. I guess that is reasonable for that plug. It better hook up in a certain place. I find there are as many must have plugs as there are places i fish. Its gotta end soon.

ive always been from the school of thought that If I cant catch a bass with one
of the 20-30 plugs i have, then I have no business surf fishing and I should take up something else... i never felt I needed to own hundreds of plugs in every color. (as bad as i want them, damnit!!!) its a $$$ issue. But I think I have become a more confident fishermen because of it... I am forced to make it happen with what i own, and the fewer plugs I own, the less im going to change every 3 casts... believe me, I would love to have some of your plug collections... but i somehow have a greater confidence with a narrower selection. does that make sense???