{"id":1731,"date":"2021-02-27T17:51:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T17:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-711416-2356891.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=1731"},"modified":"2021-12-07T23:43:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T23:43:40","slug":"are-googan-squad-baits-actually-any-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gofishingoutdoors.com\/are-googan-squad-baits-actually-any-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Googan Squad baits actually any good?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
You may have recently found a new brand in the fishing lure game – Googan Baits or Googan Squad lures<\/strong><\/a>. They began with 5 soft plastic lures but have grown into selling almost all bass fishing lures. Soft plastics, crankbaits, frogs, jigs, you name it. And they\u2019re available at some major fishing retailers like Bass Pro Shops<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> For those who don\u2019t know, the Googan Squad is a group of YouTube fisherman who banded together to create content and eventually start a fishing empire. And they\u2019ve been pretty successful at doing so. They have rods, reels, a headquarters, and now have partnered with Catch Co. on a whole line of baits. They market to a younger fishing audience which makes them somewhat controversial in the fishing field. But teaching a young generation to enjoy a worthwhile pastime outdoors<\/strong> is pretty okay in my book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> This will be an over-arching reviewing of their branded baits as a whole as I obviously cannot get into every single lure they have on the market. It\u2019s more a question if they can be a trusted brand in the fishing industry? Can they join the likes of Strike King as a solid manufacturer of everything bass fishing? Or are they a gimmick built of branding? And are they worth the money you spend on them?<\/span><\/p> To save you from the entire article – the short answer is yes Googan Baits\/Squad can be a trusted manufacturer for all of your lures. They aren\u2019t a gimmick. They all will catch bass.<\/strong> But are they worth the money?<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Perhaps nothing frustrates me more than spending a little more on good soft plastics only for them to come loosely packaged in a bag. The tails of worms get bent, the claws of craws get turned, and a swimbait will never swim right after being squished at the bottom of a bait bin. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t So while it may be a minor consideration, the fact that googan soft plastics come in a good durable clamshell<\/strong> that keeps their form perfect is a good start. Even after opening and closing several times I found all baits to stay in their clamshell and it never tore. They also easily opened and closed but kept baits protected.<\/span><\/p> Hardbait and other packaging is less important as most people keep lures in tackle boxes or cases, but they had sturdy construction and kept baits safe as well. I have never opened a googan bait and found it was damaged.<\/strong> Their buzzbaits also came with a wire holder to keep the light wire from getting damaged – a nice addition.<\/span><\/p> Overall, I found the packaging to be top notch for all Googan baits and it really puts a good foot forward for me recommending them. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Something else you\u2019ll notice when looking at Googan Baits on the shelves is that they come in a good variety of fish catching colors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Their soft plastics come in the usual suspects – variations of greens browns and black with flake and no flake options mixed in. You might not be overwhelmed by color options, but they cover the ones that are known to catch bass. So this is certainly an area they can grow<\/strong>, but you won\u2019t find yourself severely limited by the color options either.<\/span><\/p> Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and all other hardbaits are similar. You\u2019ll find your craw-mimicking colors and a variety of shad or baitfish colors. They also offer a bluegill color for those pond fisherman who don\u2019t fish in waters with baitfish aplenty which is a good offering, even though more in this area would be nice. Especially since they target younger anglers who often can\u2019t afford boats and the like and only fish ponds. But they have the mainstays you\u2019ll find in any fisherman\u2019s tackle box<\/strong>. They\u2019re also all quality paint jobs that look as good or better than any competitor at their price.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> One more unique offering which I did enjoy seeing is their Ghost Gill<\/strong> and Cash Craw<\/strong>, which have a more clear or transparent body. I haven\u2019t used them widely enough to recommend or not, but it\u2019s nice to see something a little different from the company instead of hitting colors everyone knows and uses already.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t One area I would like to see some improvement is in their skirt options for jigs and spinnerbaits. Again, your mainstays are here but they don\u2019t vary widely and I would like to see some different options for multiple situations. But as a growing company just starting out, it\u2019s reasonable.<\/span><\/p> So color options are solid, but nothing to write home about.<\/strong> Some other mainstay companies have them beat here in my opinion, but I\u2019m sure over time Googans’ will introduce more colors to keep up with the competition. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t The real question to most baits that sets them apart is if they move in the water and entice bass into biting. I have not used every bait so this is not intended to speak for all, but for those that I have tested.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Googan worms are made with a shell-shaped body that is not completely unique to their brand but not often seen on the market. According to their packaging, it creates an action and vibration unlike any other soft plastic worm. Did I notice an action like no other? No.<\/strong> And I didn\u2019t get crazy bites that made me feel like it\u2019s vibration was unmatched. I also don\u2019t believe that vibration is a major factor in getting fish to bite worms.<\/span><\/p> But it does have a good action that I was very pleased with<\/strong>. When dropshotting the drag-n-drop worm<\/strong><\/a> I could make the tail shimmy with just slight twitches like it\u2019s supposed to. And fish seemed to like the action as well. So I do approve of the worm action, even if unsurprisingly it isn\u2019t revolutionary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Their craw-style and creature style baits also have elongated claws with raised edges which leads to a good action in the water that I found noticeably better than some competitors. I found their action very similar to the rage-tail<\/strong><\/a> products that I swear by. So I was impressed here, even if not completely original it was noticeably above average. The bandito bug<\/strong><\/a> in particular got my attention for its movement and I had good success with it. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Googans offer a variety of hard bait options including flat-sided crankbaits with wide wobbles, deep divers, squarebills, jerkbaits, etc. I found all crankbaits to run well out of the box and straight. Some crankbaits tend to sit sideways or hunt in one direction. I didn\u2019t find that with the few I have tested. They all ran true right out of the box.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p> The rattles in their flat sided crank were also extremely loud, which depending on your position can be a good or bad thing. Personally, I liked the loud rattle to match the wide wobble it had. If their jerkbaits include a similar rattle I would very much like to test them soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> I tested the Googan buzzbait and found that it created that sound known and loved so well, though it wasn\u2019t the noisiest buzzbait I\u2019ve ever heard. I admittedly have not tested all their hard baits, as mentioned before, but see no reason based from my experiences that they wouldn\u2019t run well out of the box. Their frogs walked, though not very easily. I haven\u2019t tried spinnerbaits to have an opinion, but would expect they spin as well as any other.<\/span><\/p> Overall, I found the action on all Googan lures to at least be acceptable and in other cases better than expected.<\/strong> They will certainly catch fish and I don\u2019t believe any would disappoint a fisherman.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Most baits will work well out of the box though. The real question is how long they hold up?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\tPackaging for Googan Baits<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
Colors for Googan Baits<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
Action of Googan Baits<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
Soft Plastics<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
Hard baits and other<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
Durability of Googan Baits<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
Soft plastics<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t