PH Custom Lures Crazy Ace Review

PH Custom Lures has created a top water bait that can be fished in so many different ways. It’s extremely versatile and is the only top water you will ever need.

PH Custom Lures prides itself on their hand made, hand painted, hand tuned lures. They use balsa wood for all of their lures. Each one is hand made and fully tested before it leaves the factory. They are based out of Cincinnati, Ohio.

First of all, the Crazy Ace floats. So you can do almost anything that a floating top water can do. You can walk it, you can pop it, and you can jerk it. It can function as a frog if you twitch it and hop it around. It can function as a popper due to the shape of it’s mouth. It also darts from side to side if you jerk it, mimicking a darting bait fish. You can walk it like a Zara Spook. When you jerk it a certain way, it even dives under water mimicking a crank bait. It darts from side to side with the right cadence on slack line. It’s incredibly versatile.

It’s also unique because the entire bait from mouth to tail has an aluminum tube that it rotates on. So when you are reeling it in, if you do it slowly enough, it sways from side to side. No other lure we’ve ever tried has done that. Ever. It just has this lazy sway where it starts leaning right, then slowly back left. It works incredibly well and illicits a lot of bites. We’ve never seen anything like this before. It just looks like a dying bait fish making its way back to the shallows to beach itself and die.

It also has a propeller on the back. So it can function as a buzz bait or a prop bait. It chugs along churning up water making waves and bubbles. The propeller does not cause a crazy amount of commotion and does not displace a ton of water, but just enough to say, “Hey, look at me, I’m here”. Bass will see it from a mile away and come over to inspect the situation and strike.

Below is a bluegill that tried to take out our Crazy Ace during spawn season. Bluegill striking at a large bluegill colored bait always amuses us.

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We aren’t sure what the bluegill was thinking, but it was fun to watch. He probably wanted this other bluegill out of his territory.

We also caught plenty of bass. Below is one of our bass catches.

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Just barely hooked on that bottom lip.

We chose a color that mimicked our bait fish (bluegill) most reliably. The color above is called Baby Bream. If we had to go back and choose a different color, we’d probably pick Magic. It’s a mostly white colored body with a chartreuse spot on the back. We’d probably modify it to make the entire belly of the lure chartreuse. As you may have noticed, we love anything in chartreuse. It glows underwater and reflects UV rays, which bass, walleye, pike, trout, and many other game fish see very clearly.

We had a lot of fun fishing this lure. We actually bothered to get a paddle boat to retrieve it when the lure broke off when the line wrapped around a rod guide and we cast it. We don’t ever go back after lures. This one is definitely a keeper.

The only concern anyone may have is the price. Each one costs $25 dollars. We didn’t buy a ton of these due to price. But will slowly add to our collection over time. Their balsa wood crank baits cost $23 a piece. Think of it this way, this lure replaces 8 lures, so you are saving a ton of money in the end.

Th Crazy Ace does come in a big and a little size. The big is 2 and 3/4 inches. The little is 2 and a 1/4 inches. Both are very suitable, but we liked the larger offering. You catch bigger fish on bigger lures.

PH Custom Lures does make a ton of other lures. We especially like their all balsa wood square billed crank baits. They are all hand made, hand painted, and hand tuned before they leave the factory. Look for a review soon.

It was nice to find a top water lure that replaces 8 other lures. It has very unique characteristics and can be fished in so many different ways.

If you had to have one single top water, this is it. We recommend this lure strongly without hesitation.

 

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Editor in Chief

Over 40 years of fishing experience! Began as a young boy at age 10, and slowly grew deeper and deeper into this hobby! Have been a writer and technology reviewer since 1990.