Okay, I know it's a great bait but I'm so tired of tails ripping off after only a couple casts. I just bought another brand new pounder and used it once for about 15 minutes. Tail has now fallen off. That's now 5 brand new dawgs that tails have come off with no fish caught on any. It's all from gentle casting. I keep all dawgs by themselves in my tackle box so now hooks stick in them. I've now been using "mend it" but it's still frustrating buying brand new dawgs that are runied after only a few casts! It wouldn't be a problem if they were ruined by catching muskies but so far I can't even keep them in the water long enough to give them a chance. I'm switching to Super D's!!
I can't remember ever loosing a tail that wasn't from a fish. By no means am I saying it isn't happening to you but this just seems strange. I know there were some dawgs from last year that had very soft plastisol which could be the problem. I would contact musky innovations and let them know you have had some problems that are not related to fish.
I can tell you that the 2009 bulldawgs are by far the best and most durable bulldawgs ever made.
I did notice a difference between the older dawgs and new 2009 dawgs. I bought a pro -dawg and it's pretty good but I've even had eyes fall off after a couple casts as well on the older dawgs. The pounder I have was just bought and I fished it for a bit, switched baits and later went back to it only to find the tail falling off. I've also had the internal harness break through and start poking out of the dawg. The "mend it" glue seems to be holding pretty well but I'll see how well it really does when I fish it. The last pounder was bought on sale at Cabelas so maybe it was really old and tampered with?? It's a great product but so frustrating when I can only use a dawg for a bit and then I have to repair it.
"swanezy" said:
im assuming if the tails are falling off its cause ur hooks are getting caught in the lures? thats the only way anything like that happens to the baits i throw
Bingo. It happens to me when the hook gets caught in the tail leaving a hole, and if it's near the edge, it can rip. Then a few casts later the tail is gone, and you find it floating if you're lucky.
I wish they made them of the same plastic they used for the Twin Fins, or that I was a Superman pro like Will who never gets a tangle. I've never had a tail come off on a Twin Fin, and I throw them a LOT, and get tail-tangles, too.
To me, it seems like planned obsolescence designed to get me to buy more bulldawgs.
"detroithardcore" said:
I bought a pro -dawg and it's pretty good but I've even had eyes fall off after a couple casts as well on the older dawgs.
I wouldnt worry about that at all. I doubt the fish care if the bait has the eyes on it.
"Will Schultz" said:
I can tell you that the 2009 bulldawgs are by far the best and most durable bulldawgs ever made.
I second that! The new Pro dawgs are crazy good! My brother has caught a half dozen fish on one and it looks brand new. Makes me mad cause I like my SuperDs so much lol
Scott, I feel your pain. If you do a search on the MMA website you will see many posts regarding dawgs/repair. I was frustrated as well but realized the baits were just too effective to not throw. I bought a Hardhead by H2O Tackle thinking that would be the dawg savior, but am realizing that although it is a great bait/tool it is still different than the dawg. We did some comparisons this weekend with some Super D's and although very similar, they are not the same as a dawg and I do know they are lighter & have a different fall than the dawgs. I am waiting for some colors to come in on the new pro dawgs and will be ordering soon since I have heard the newer rubber is much better. I also don't buy into the fact that dawgs are ineffective without the tail. My fishing partner Mark has caught several fish on a tail-less mangled pounder we nicknamed stumpy and he has torched that bait several times and is still throwing it and I am sure will continue to catch fish until the thing can't be mended anymore. I know several members have discussed their preferred dawg mending techniques & I know there is a video on youtube that shows how to mend a dawg as well. Buy yourself a torch and don't let your wife see you heating up one of the good butter knives as a dawg mending tool or your ass will be in the bulldawg house-first for ruining a good knife and secondly for having to repair a $30 pounder that you haven't even caught a fish on yet. Good luck and welcome to the dawg repair club!
"jasonvkop" said:
I second that! The new Pro dawgs are crazy good! My brother has caught a half dozen fish on one and it looks brand new. Makes me mad cause I like my SuperDs so much lol
"robhj" said:
I am waiting for some colors to come in on the new pro dawgs and will be ordering soon since I have heard the newer rubber is much better.
The new plastisol is on all the dawgs for 2009 and not just the pro dawg. The pro dawg is a whole new animal, with a clear layer over the painted on color and an internal harness that is hinged allowing the body to flex.
It sounds liks Scott's issue is with older, but not old enough, dawgs that had soft plastisol (why cabela's cleared them out). This was the same issue with the first couple years of super d from what I understand, manufacturing problems in China happen to everyone.
I'm not going to lie to you…
If you don't want to be frustrated with lures that get cut in half, tails that come off while fighting a fish, etc., etc., then the bulldawg (or any other soft plastic bait) isn't for you. Personally, I'll deal with the frustration after dawgs have accounted for 250+ fish in my net and 15 over 50".
"Will Schultz" said:
The new plastisol is on all the dawgs for 2009 and not just the pro dawg. The pro dawg is a whole new animal, with a clear layer over the painted on color and an internal harness that is hinged allowing the body to flex.
Do you notice a difference in action for the pro-dawg vs. regular dawg due to the hinge and other differences?
"jasonvkop" said:
[quote="Will Schultz"]
The new plastisol is on all the dawgs for 2009 and not just the pro dawg. The pro dawg is a whole new animal, with a clear layer over the painted on color and an internal harness that is hinged allowing the body to flex.
Do you notice a difference in action for the pro-dawg vs. regular dawg due to the hinge and other differences?
I still don't own any pro dawgs. There aren't/weren't any regular or show colors I needed. I did throw a pro-mag in the pool in Chicago and it is a little different from the last five years, very similar to the old seven strand models.
I agree, I'll deal with the frustration as well if they catch fish which I know they do. I personally still havent had any luck as of yet so that's why it seems a little odd to have such issues in such a short period of time. I did however buy a pro-dawg and see a huge difference in the quality vs dawgs bought at Cabelas or any old dawg. They feel so much stronger and seem to last when thrown. I also could care less how much my dawg is destroyed if it's from a fish. So far the "mend it" seems to work well and I know there's a place for soft plastics in musky fishing. Just was a little frustrated to see so many fall apart after one outing.
Wonder if you could send back your broken old dawgs with a nice note about how they failed w/o toothy contact? All lure companies have different return policies (not sure about MI)…Musky Mania used to send back a bonus lure or 2 to boot when a lure was deemed defective. Pretty cool way to earn long term customers.
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