Apparently I make a decent spinnerbait....

[Kevin Cochran]

Because JAW Spinnerbaits copied my blade design set-up that I developed last year. I remember the owner approaching me at the Chicago 2008 Muskie Show and asking me if this set-up worked. I never thought that anyone would ever go as far as to copy the shrink-tubing and blade design but it looks like they did. Oh well, whatever it takes to make a dollar in these harsh times. I talked to the owner on the phone today and he seems like an alright guy, but still come on.

[Scottie Thomas]

The all around quality/effectiveness of YOUR baits is obvious to anyone who has picked them up or used them before. Enough said.

[Grimm]

What's that saying...imitation is the best form of a compliment...
Glad to see you can pat yourself on the back instead of your ego.
What's best about you is that your down to earth and I think your clients appreciate that quality.

[Kevin Cochran]

"What's that saying...imitation is the best form of a compliment..."

Yeah the people that say that have probably never had their unique design copied.

I am sure if you told that statement to Brad from Musky Innovations he wouldn't have a cheery look on his face.

Musky anglers are interested in quality baits and originality. When you have both of those attributes working for you there is no reason to worry. It just makes the copier look like a fool

[tomcat]

I'm sure it's frustrating when a smaller bait maker has part or all is his bait copied and sold elsewhere. it's fishing..it's baits...there are not many unique items out there.
Remember when Voigt and Long said you copied their double bladed spinnerbaits? but you defended yourself saying you didn't copy them? this seems like a very similar situation. Your baits are little different than theirs, right? JawBreakers are a little different than yours too.
Spinnerbaits are a very basic bait. adding shrink tubing isnt' much innovation to be upset about. maybe you were the first baitmaker to offer it to the public? i dont know. But this kind of stuff will never stop happening.
Speaking of Mayhem....you also sell double 10 and 12 Maribou Bucktails. bucktails are bucktails..but i think Shumway and Mayhem sold double bladed maribou bucktails for years before you started making and selling them too.

I'm not trying to start a fight online here...but you have now been on both sides of the fence Kevin with the bait making stuff. a spinner bait is a spinner bait. everyone has a slight variation of the next guys but NONE of it is earth shattering.
tc

[AWH]

Kevin,

Good baits are always going to be copied or imitated. Unfortunately, you'll never get around that. If you were putting out junk, you wouldn't see similar designs coming out. It'll never be a good feeling to feel like your design is being copied. But just keep on doing what you're doing with making high quality baits and you'll do just fine.

Aaron

[Kevin Cochran]

I agree to alot of the points you made Tom. I first started making spinnerbaits with the same arm design as Steve Voigt. He originated double tens on a spinnerbait. Looking back this is something that I should have never done and I regret it. However, I never sold any to retail stores with this design, only through the few shows that I did. These numbers were fairly limited. I made some mistakes when I first started getting into the baitmaking and guiding game and learned from them.

I knew that there was something that I needed to do differently and through weeks of field testing and research I came up with my OWN design. The shrink tubing was needed on the spinnerbaits to hold the swivel stationary. This was essential to keep the blades from turning inside out. I feel that the improvements that I made to the double ten spinnerbait make it work more like a spinnerbait (meaning more weedless). I am not knocking other double ten spinnerbaits as I am sure that Steve Voigt makes an excellent bait. He is the one that inspired me to make my baits. I had excellent success with the style that he makes. My first fish was a 50.75 X 25.75 then a 47 about ten minutes later.

In my earlier post I talked about Brad from Musky Innovations and not Brad Hoppe from Musky Mayhem. I make a few dozen double ten bucktails every year for my friends and do not sell them at the shows or through any retail stores. Musky Mayhem baits are incredible and I use them religiously. We have put many many fish over 50 in the net since 2006 on them. I do make double bladed #12 marabou bucktails and sell them through Musky Tackle Online. I try to focus people interested in purchasing baits from me to take a close look at my spinnerbaits. They are something that I take pride in building and have alot of confidence in. Spinnerbaits will never be as popular as bucktails but I am just trying to fill that small niche for the few people that are looking for spinnerbaits with large blades. Believe me I am not selling a ton of them.

Thanks for the post Tom. Sometimes I get tunnel vision and tend to focus on one thing. I hope this helps.