Magic Man CP Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 (edited) How's it going fellow SU members, Just wanted to take a moment and submit a review on a bait that I've been recently having a lot of success with. Having been a bait designer/manufacturer going on twenty years now, you can pretty much guess if I haven't seen it from other designers, or attempted something similar myself, it's probably not worth the time and effort. You can probably also imagine it may take a bit more for a bait to grab my attn and keep it, more so than most guys. Having a lil understanding of what makes baits tic, much like a watch repair guy to a clock, I do admittedly tend to over analyze a bit. I received a couple slow sink Phoney Frog USA glide shads about five weeks ago. My first impressions were; Unbelievable aesthetics rt outta the package! The paint scheme was true and very natural, not overly exaggerated on color hues, in fact once under water, the pigments become even more realistic. The finish wasn't too thick either, but I could tell it had a high level of durability. The eyes are truly lifelike, I'd almost say close to that of what a taxidermist would use. It always amazes me why other high end companiesstill use cheap peel backer eyes. The fins were very realistic, anatomically correct, and appear to be extremely durable! Some very notable features; rotating hook hanger swivels, a very helpful aid in hook retention. The hinge/connection design is exactly how I'd design it myself. A stainless connector pin, I'm guessing .075" thick, extremely durable, joins the two halves via sunk in heavy duty stainless eyelet screws. You can hardly see the hinge system from a side view. This system provides the most durability without question. Unlike molded in door hinge systems, very difficult to break on unforeseen hard structures, (we've all done that a time or three... lol). Another great attribute to this system, is adjustability, cause we all have that buddy who thinks he's the next Kevin Van- Skeet- elite who claims to know exactly how the fish want it served to them, lol! Well it is possible to tune the glide yourself with this system, although I wouldn't mess with it, it comes factory tuned just to my liking. But nevertheless, a great feature to know you have so you can fix down the road without having to try to count on some guy helping you fix it, the same guy that took eleven-teen months to even get you the bait... So this far I'm actually pretty impressed! One awesome thing,, I didn't have to wait three, five, ten months to a year and a half to get my order either! The owner of Phoney frogs ensured me I'd have no longer than six weeks to receive my order. He was wrong! It only took three!!! Lol. Granted this was during pre-spring time, a less busier time than I'm guessing now would be. But another great fact about this company, HE DOESN'T CHARGE YOU TIL YOUR ORDER SHIPS!!!! Now I absolutely do not agree this is something we as consumers should ever feel necessary to get excited over, but the fact is, and many of you can vehemently relate, the other popular shad bait producers have nearly successfully got us to believe prepaid lists are normal business practices. Well they're not! Not hardly close to ethical or responsible. Have you ever asked how the heck you'regoing to get your money back heaven forbid one of these bait makers decides he's done making baits, or just disappears, or even dies...? Believe me, I've thought about it, actually quite a bit lately, I have several hundred dollars floating around out there, with no idea when my bait's arrival is going to be, or if at all... And quite possibly after publicizing this review never see my baits or money again. And want to know an even better part? You get ALL that, at a fraction of the price of those bigger names out there, who only have the popularity because of lil groupie like followers, who have yet to impress me very much. With a retail of a $100.00 bill this bait will sell itself. Putting the Phoney glide next to others almost makes you feel a lil bad for them, no rough wood rasp exteriors, no funky tails that are going to look like a frazzled mess after a fish destroys it, just a great all around replica of a shad, the way it should be, a tool that's going to look good, function well, and provide you a lot of great memories the more you use it. Ok, so now time to get it wet. After tieing it up to my stick of choice, a Loomis IMX 957 and a Curado 301 spooled w 25# sunline super natty green, I gave it a short handed test run. Could immediately tell this bait was quality! It had a very smooth feel, looked extremely fluid, and best attribute was it's balance. On the pause it didn't want to nose dive, or roll, it almost stayed rt where it was paused like a REAL fish would. I varied my retrieve to see if it possessed the ability to duplicate all the retrieves I demand from a glide. I require the bait to have a smooth fluid like motion with a near suspension-like pause, to be able to be burned, and to have a real lively "fleeing or attacking" look when needed, ironically all the swim attributes found in nature. I immediately started catching quality fish on this bait, and it has now earned itself a permanent place on my deck. So to sum it all up,, I'd absolutely recommend this bait to you, my best friend, even my own mom! You will not be disappointed, I promise you that much,, and in the unlikely event that you are, please come visit me, I'll show you what you're missing. Edited April 20, 2016 by Magic Man CP porkmeatballs, ATFISHING1234, PhoneyFrogsUSA and 29 others 32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottsman21 Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Awesome review Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Man CP Posted April 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Thanks Mike,, been getting a lot of pm's about specs, weight/length,, I'll try to post that when I can, from the best I can tell, it's very comparable to the other popular shads. Maybe around 5ish ounces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OkeechobeeJC Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Good stuff Chris.Great insight and very thorough bait review.Well done Sir! peter_the_fox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayl Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Looks sharp, he just needs a perch colored one! It looks like the fins are plastic, do they seem to be pretty durable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirschnerck1 Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Sent an email to get on the wait list for one of these bad boys... Hope I get one soon : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyW Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 been on waiting list myself , chris how long where you on waiting list before you got the you up email? just curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeAinNH Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Thanks for the review of the phoney frog Chris... Can't wait to get mine even more now! Magic Man CP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirschnerck1 Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 been on waiting list myself , chris how long where you on waiting list before you got the you up email? just curious I emailed them and tried to contact them through instagram. I have have received no conformation that i am on the list at all. I tried to email them again this morning hopefully I hear from them JeremyW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Basser Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 I emailed them and tried to contact them through instagram. I have have received no conformation that i am on the list at all. I tried to email them again this morning hopefully I hear from them I e-mailed and instagram msg'd Jason at Phoneyfrogs right when the list opened up 4 weeks ago and he msg'd me back the same day via insta. Then 2 weeks later he confirmed it via gmail. I believe he has his gmail set up to collect msgs in group vice straight chronological order so I'm sure eventually you'll get the msg back that he has the specifics of your order. Hope this helps. kirschnerck1 and BigSlant 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirschnerck1 Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 I e-mailed and instagram msg'd Jason at Phoneyfrogs right when the list opened up 4 weeks ago and he msg'd me back the same day via insta. Then 2 weeks later he confirmed it via gmail. I believe he has his gmail set up to collect msgs in group vice straight chronological order so I'm sure eventually you'll get the msg back that he has the specifics of your order. Hope this helps. I hit up his intsagram it said he read the message but didnt respond... i just want to make sure im on the list lol...i need one Island Basser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSlant Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 I emailed them and tried to contact them through instagram. I have have received no conformation that i am on the list at all. I tried to email them again this morning hopefully I hear from them You will...took me a few days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Speller Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 The bait looks great, 100$ or so a piece right? Glad to see it produces good, would be a killer on the TVA. or anywhere for that matter. BigSlant 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 (edited) Kick ass review CP! Hopefully I'll be getting mine soon. Edited April 20, 2016 by pickle Magic Man CP and BigSlant 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnchips35 Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 I would like to be put on the list but i do not have Instagram or FB. Is there another way to contact to be put on the list? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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