Lunker Punker 8" problem and defect

[Carlos Carrapiço]

I need help with this one.

I have a Lunker Punker (the first one I bought) that seats in the water tilted to one side.
But that is not all. It also has a move vertical standing position.
When I bought it, I didn't have any other Punker to compare with and I didn't knew anyone owing one around me, so I accepted it as a feature and not as a defect.

Now that I own two other punkers, I can see it as a problem:


The strange standing position in the water compared with the other two punker I own (8" and 6").
This has been there since day one and it is evident specially without hooks on the lure.


Comparison of the problematic punker (8" foiled trout) with the other two (8" delta shiner and 6" trout).



Standing position of the lure without hooks.


This year I went to Sweden for some pike fishing and I took the problematic punker for a good workout.
It worked well (I guess) and manage some impressive strikes (white shark style) and even some fish
Unfortunately, my girlfriend took the lure for a ride and manage to hit a rock with it. Nothing major, just a bent rear eye screw and the epoxy finish cracked. The lure barely touched the rock as it was almost stopped by a hanging tree.

I inspected the lure and put it aside for repair.

When starting the repair, what I found was a surprise:

- The rear eye screw was not glued at all. I took it out with my fingers without any effort before even removing the epoxy.

- I removed the cracked epoxy, checked for cracks and assure myself that everything was 0K with the wood.

- The primer epoxy finish wasn't dry and was very sticky. This was not water related but instead seemed more like not cured epoxy.

- After letting the lure dry for a few weeks, the weight inside the lure start rattling loose. what else

I ended up gluing the rear eye screw properly and sealed the area.


The sealed area with a first layer of epoxy.


I put the lure on the water and it is as always, standing differently.

After my work on the lure, my concerns increased greatly:

- Are the other eye screws well glued?
- Is the weights rattling a bad sign concerning the gluing process?
- Are the more vertical and tilted position in the water normal or I got a lemon?

I was thinking in sending the lure back for inspection and contacted BlackDog company using the web site but received no answer.

What to do

[MDisbrow]

I had an old wooden shellcracker that wouldn't swim. The hinge would bind. Problem was, I didn't find this out until maybe 3 years after I bought it because I bought a couple and this particular one just sat in it's box, waiting for me to wear out or break the others.

I emailed them, talked to Grant, explained the whole deal, and he just told me to send it in and he'll take care of it.

I have had punkers that sit just slightly different than each other, but nothing like that. All had the same posture, some would just float a little higher. I don't recall ever having loose hardware, or poor epoxy coating. I have had an eye rip out of the bait on a fish but that was a huge striper in Chesapeake Bay.

They've always been good at taking care of any problem, from my experience. I'll PM you the contact info.

There shouldn't be any weight rattling inside the bait. They should all sit like your 6" and 8" shiner.

[Carlos Carrapiço]

I had an old wooden shellcracker that wouldn't swim. The hinge would bind. Problem was, I didn't find this out until maybe 3 years after I bought it because I bought a couple and this particular one just sat in it's box, waiting for me to wear out or break the others.

I emailed them, talked to Grant, explained the whole deal, and he just told me to send it in and he'll take care of it.

I have had punkers that sit just slightly different than each other, but nothing like that. All had the same posture, some would just float a little higher. I don't recall ever having loose hardware, or poor epoxy coating. I have had an eye rip out of the bait on a fish but that was a huge striper in Chesapeake Bay.

They've always been good at taking care of any problem, from my experience. I'll PM you the contact info.

There shouldn't be any weight rattling inside the bait. They should all sit like your 6" and 8" shiner.

This problematic bait has been seating on its box for a year or so, but this year I gave it a shot and it worked.

I'm just disappointed that it has a "different" standing position from the ones I bought this year (the 6" arrived past week and the 8" delta shiner in the beginning of the year) which seems to be the correct one and the poor glued rear eye screw.

Nevertheless, I received an answer to my email asking me to ship the bait.

It seems that Black Dog company stands behind their products

[Fbass]

I wonder where you got the idea to buy a punker in the first place! Gee, next time I'll just throw a JDM bait like every one else!!
In a case like this you should just give them a call first. I talked to Grant a couple of time and he seems like a good guy. I'm sure he'll take care of you.
On the other hand, you can't expect the wires to be thru and thru. It's a wooden bait and eyes are usually screwed in. You also can't expect them to have the exact same density. I'm not saying what you're discribing is normal though.
Next time you'll let your lady fish a megabass crap, she can brake all of those!! Ho, and get her a shimano, that way the bait will stop long before it can reach the rocks!!

[damian_megabass]

I wonder where you got the idea to buy a punker in the first place! Gee, next time I'll just throw a JDM bait like every one else!!
In a case like this you should just give them a call first. I talked to Grant a couple of time and he seems like a good guy. I'm sure he'll take care of you.
On the other hand, you can't expect the wires to be thru and thru. It's a wooden bait and eyes are usually screwed in. You also can't expect them to have the exact same density. I'm not saying what you're discribing is normal though.
Next time you'll let your lady fish a megabass crap, she can brake all of those!! Ho, and get her a shimano, that way the bait will stop long before it can reach the rocks!!

Anyway, I know the first gen punkers had no issues at all. I had two 6" punkers before selling them, they were perfect and had no floating issues when I fished them. I heard they have out sourced where the punkers are made and that's when problems started to occur. I know some ppl on SU can probably tell you more about it.

[MaxZmus]

If it catches fish, id leave it alone regardless of how it sits. I had a crankbait that didnt run true but i caught fish, so i decided to tune it to run straight and the bites stopped. I was baffled

[Carlos Carrapiço]

If it catches fish, id leave it alone regardless of how it sits. I had a crankbait that didnt run true but i caught fish, so i decided to tune it to run straight and the bites stopped. I was baffled

I will send it for repair. Lets see what they say about the standing posture.

If it catches fish, id leave it alone regardless of how it sits
This crossed my mind

[VEEDUBGYRL]

like the others say, if it catches DO NOT FIX!!!

i have a few baits that no longer swim straight, and no longer have tails. i have yet to stop fishing these - and they always catch fish!

[Carlos Carrapiço]

I would like to thank Grant Olguin from Black Dog baits for all the attention and outstanding customer support.
Everything was solved in a very professional way.

A brand that really stands behind their products

Best regards,
Carlos Carrapiço