I was on a pike trip many years ago and at the last gas station before the trail i saw a little rack with some cheap no name 2$ spoons maybe 3-4" long, i normally would have ignored it but there was a couple pink 5 of diamonds that caught my eye so i bought them both.
Day one on the water i spotted a big fish in a shallow weedless bay that wanted nothing to do with anything i threw at her, i continued to go back over the next 3 days trying everything everywhere to hook this fish with no success. I even spent a couple hours with a 10" sucker under a slip float swimming around with free reign to no avail.
Day 4 i was back for another shot and having exhausted all other options i snapped on ol pinkie and 3 casts later it was game on, a short battle later and my pb at the time was in the boat.
This fattie was just under 40" and weighed 17 lbs.
I wont ever discount a cheap lure again but i will swap out hooks and split rings because those are the first things to fail, cheap doesnt always mean bad... As for the ripplin redfin you guys wouldnt like it?
I lost one of those pink spoons but the one i caught that fish on still resides in my pike box and has been known to make an appearance from time to time on those days that nothing else seems to work.