8" Swimm'n Joe crankbait by Joe Bucher ,i saw this on ebay on wodering what was Bucher thinking when he made this bait,its a blatant rip off of the megabait charlie.
brian

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/3785-02_1_b.jpg

I have never seen this bait or seen the thing on Ebay, but the odds of someone in their garage making a bait that is an exact copy of the Charlie with all of the detail... slim to none. More likely its an OEM deal or the guy is just repainting them and reselling them.

There's three factories in China that you can get this bait from. One thing to notice is that Bucher's bait is a 10 inch floater with the diving lip and the bait that you get from Megabait is the sinking version without the diving lip. I'm pretty sure that the Megabit's are sourced and they don't own the molds so it's fair game. It can't be considered a knock off just because Megabait brought it to the market first.

Maybe "Blatant" is too strong of a word,but the similarities are amazingly close.Its the first bait I too have seen of this company,Will research around and see what else they make ,will post my findings here.
Tight lines, brian

OEM ,whats that mean outta curiosity?

brian :-)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7163674308&fromMakeTrack=true

heres the other colors they make in 10 " .

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/3786-swim_joe_10inch_large.jpg

Brian,

OEM is basically... manufacturer A produces a bait for brand B. Okuma for instance started by making reels for other brands / manufacturers and put there name on the product. People thought that the product was being "produced" by the manufacturer that had their name on the reel but in fact Okuma produced it for that brand. These baits are most likely the same thing. Nick (owner of Megabait) probably sources his lures meaning he doesn't produce them but buys them from a manufacturer that produces them and slaps his name on tha packaging. That's why I said that Buchers baits aren't knockoffs. Megabait just found the source to get these baits before Bucher did. Another cenario is that Megabait paid for the molds (very expensive) and the baits were copied by other factories. I have seen the baits from the other factories and you can definitely tell that they are knockoffs. Anyhow, Bucher offers the 10 inch version that floats and is a good bait. I received samples from the same factory and will be a good night / dirty water bait.

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer

Think of it like Bass Pro Shops brand tackle. Bass Pro Shops doesn't make many of their products. Most of their products are made by other companies and sold under the Bass Pro Shops brand.

What SWMB8R is trying to say is that the bait you are seeing is manufactured in China, and it is probably sold around the world under different brand names. Maybe Megabait has exclusive rights to the smaller sized Charlie and this guy has rights to the bigger size. Maybe the companies manufacturing the baits don't do exclusives and anyone who wants to source the baits from them can go for it. Maybe if you called up and said you wanted 10,000 pieces, you could get your own lineup of colors and sizes and sell them under your own brand. See what I mean? Just because this guy is selling that product, does not mean he's ripping anyone off.

I dont think it matters anyone here gonna buy one of those? To me it looks like those are basicly musky colors. Personally I have never cared for the charlie and don't care who makes them.

Hey I 've got 2 Charlies,and one came from you(now i know why i got it cheap)..LOL
there not that bad,there better than some,not as good as others.River 2 sea,megabait,and this bait all look similar, so i believe SWMB8R when he says they are all made at the same places.
brian