Loved this video! Your breakdowns are the absolute best!! Three additional points in my opinion: scent, price, and availability. Everyone knows the Powerbait scent flat out works. Gulp, max scent, and powerbait are fish catching machines for fresh and saltwater. Other companies that use licorice and coffee.. while they smell good to us, they don’t catch any more or less fish compared to an unscented lure. And the mega bass has no scent. Price.. the Berkley Agent E comes in a TWO pack, that costs less than a single mega bass dark sleeper. Last.. is availability. It’s berkley, so before you know it, it’s gonna be available at your local Walmart, if it’s not already. Not all tackle shops carry megabass, so depending on where you live, you may have to order them online. Then you have the extra waiting time, AND shipping fees. So if these lures are pretty close in design, how they skip, how they fish… then the three points I just added made this no contest at all. Berkley for the WIN. Lol.
This is absolutely a "Gobi" representation. Either of them would work great here on Lake St. Clair and the other great lakes. Will have to give each a chance to see how it works out. Thanks for the comparison video. Appreciate it... as always.
I never tried the dark sleeper because I didn’t understand how to fish these style of baits… i watched Edwin Evers video on the Agent E and i gave them a try and boy im glad i did! 3rd cast and then again 4-5 cast later. Im sold
I find the dark sleeper to be a proven bass catcher. I lost a couple big largemouth on it initially and found I really had to keep them buttoned up and get the fish to the boat quickly. I haven’t thrown the E yet but if it’s half the fish catcher the sleeper is, it worth the purchase.
I lived in the US for quite a few years but I’m lost in the translation of “give them the bananas”. I think I got the sense anyway, but I never heard that before. I love it 🤣
Was out on a lake last week, and fishing all day off cranks weightless senkos jerk baits and drop shot, bunch of stuff and nothing was just biting for some reason. I mean i caught 3-4 before but in a long time period. Pulled out the megabass dark sleeper and caught 3 back to back in less than 10 mins.
Great video as always. I agree completely regarding the hook set with the Agent E-“give them the bananas!” I do find the dark sleeper has better hook ups, but they’re both cool baits.
Enjoy your comparison videos. I would love to see a comparison video on scents for those of us that use them. Been going through a variety of scents recently ( Bang, Bait Fuel, Smelly Jelly, and Mega Strike), and see if your results match my experience.
The Agent E looks like a swimbait but is supposed to be fished like a jig. I recently started using them on a lake where the fish don't like jigs. Fished it just like a jig and it worked like a charm - started catching fish right away. Didn't snag much while fishing on big jagged rocks. Great bait.
I am glad that you looked at both baits side by side I have been fishing the dark sleep for a long time and one thing that I have learned is that the bigger line that you fish it with but I fish mine on lighter line and it has a lot of head wobble you have to play with your line size
Thank you for the review! I have both lures and never used yet. At targeting hybrid striped bass in a paddle only lake in Ohio, I'll going to try the Berkley due to depth. Last hybrid snapped off near my kayak seat, forgot the net, used light set up with a Berkley 3" pogy swimbait natural shad.
Great breakdown. I’ve been fishing the dark sleeper now for two years and have caught dozens of bass on them. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was buying some to catch smallmouth in Canada. I had smallies crushing these in no time. I’ve considered Edwin’s version of this lure but haven’t bought any to try yet. Maybe later, but for now the dark sleeper is my choice.
Love the breakdown and unbiased opinion. Cost could be a factor on what one people buy as well . If they get hung up about the same I might tend to use a less expensive bait . Great video as always
But the less expensive one is more weedless in my experience. Though I haven't caught a fish on either, so it's good to know to give it the bananas on the agent E.
Tyler off topic but can you make a video actually showing all types of lake vegetation. On your other channel you rattled off a few types of grass and vegetation but I would love to know to correctly identify each type and what way to fish that certain type of vegetation. Love the new channel btw
Actually Tyler,I very much appreciate the fact that Berkeley decided to copy the dark sleeper and give me 2 of them for cheaper than the sleeper...it's a free and open market out there
Here was my take on the two there both great. However the dark sleeper wins only because it comes in 1/4 oz. The 1/4 just killed it for me for crappie/ white bass/ and large mouth this year.
Never tried the Agent E, I know the dark sleeper is probably the biggest sleeper bait on the market. It's a sneaky good saugeye bait and killer smallmouth bait too. Super versatile..
8:35 or so, weird splash in the background. LOL. Should also check out the new Savage Gear Structure Gill. I haven't fished it enough yet to say anything about it, but has a good profile.
Tyler ,,, I am curious to see how the durability compares because from my experience Berkeley products seem to be softer and not as durable also I have had tons of dark sleepers as they have good durability, also when it comes to the dark sleeper weights they have a sink/fall that is one size lighter then a standard jig , so for example a 3/4oz dark sleeper will have the same fall/sink rate as a 1/2oz jig and a 1/2oz dark sleeper has the same fall/sink rate of a standard 3/8oz jig etc…..
Im definitely going to have to go with the dark sleeper i have way to much moss in my ponds to not take advantage of that weedless hook. Ill just sacrifice head shakes for less snags
Great review. One of the best. Sad that copies happen, but if a copy is better and satisfies patent laws, then so be it. A "name" or copyright is beneficial imho because a copycat cannot have the same reputation that a household name has built.
I think there is a case for both of them. The agent E has a rattle and can handle wood a little better while the dark sleeper has a better weedguard for grass and the tail can move better at slower speeds. Otherwise it’s pretty much just pick your poison.
Sup Tyler. Great video as always. Couldn't pick 2 better baits to compare. Like the results! I have a package of Powerbait pre-rigged swimbaits. They are white I believe shad? I don't have them in my waters, think they will still work? Ty tc
I believe both of these baits were designed to be fished on the bottom, hopping them like jigs instead of swimming them. In that case the megabass’s tail should have more action since it takes less to start up.
The dark sleeper is original & I do think Berkeley copied the dark sleeper. But all lure companies do it. Thier about making mew baits & making $ Seeing the swimming next to each other the Berkeley has secondary action of head wiggle like a magdraft or other good swimbaits. That secondary action is huge plus if your fishing though water column. If you're just crawling on bottom obviously won't matter. Both seem like great baits, I've had dark sleepers for few yrs now. I'll have try the Berkeley ones. Are you from Ohio? What area? I'm from Cincinnati Ohio. I just moved to southern SC end of last summer. Bass fishing down here is on another level!
Great comparison video but ill say the dark sleeper in my opinion has a horrible hook and snags a lot around wood. My home lake here in fl is lake Rousseau and its a mini rodman in terms of wood. Stumps everywhere. The sleeper hung up a ton in my experience. Ive also lost a few fish on the hook itself bending out quite easily.
I've tried a few dark sleepers and haven't caught anything with them. any suggestions for a retrieve? I've tried swimming it and jigging it with no luck.
I pretty much only use the 2.4" version in the 1/4oz size. I only use the Donko color and it has caught me so many fish, I've lost count. I also have the 3/8oz in the 3.4" size and I've got maybe 10 fish on it
Though I have caught bass on a straight retrieve I find you get more bites if you hop it off the bottom moving it a foot or two then letting it sit on the bottom. Most times they will hit it on the fall.
I like your videos very informative but I was wondering you talk about Japanese lures but they are hard to get I was wondering if you knew of a website that might make it easier to buy them. If not it’s ok I live. Thanks
I'd watched a guy carve a bait out of cottonwood bark at the side of a river. He put hooks on it annnnnd, caught fish. He also caught fish with a stick and a hook on the stick, caught fish, with a stick... ... .
How can i be more efficient at finding submerged brush piles and rocks without a fish finder cause right now i am using jigs and Carolina rigs sometimes deeper crank baits to find them but it takes a very long time to mark out this by dragging
Unless there is some new technology I don’t know exists … I’m pretty sure the only way to find submerged brush piles… is either by finding them on accident (dragging).. or with sonar. And there really is no reason not to use sonar. You can buy them for as cheap as $100, and all you need is the most basic 2D sonar. Watch a few RU-vid videos on how. Even if you don’t have a boat… they have sonar “bobbers”, that you can attach to a rod and reel combo, cast from the bank, and see exactly what’s going on underneath the surface.
This morning, between 11-12 o’clock, with the wind blowing whitecaps on Lake Champlain, I caught 7 smallmouth bass from a floating boat ramp dock. They were all keeper size, 2 of them were 19.5 inches and 3.5 pounds. All caught using the Dark Sleeper. No boats on the lake today!
I feel like if you weren’t the first company to produce a bait or lure, it’s going to be very hard to come up with something that doesn’t take pages out of someone else’s playbook. The Agent E has characteristics of both the dark sleeper and the BPS mean eye swimmer. Now savage gear has come out with the structure gill which is almost identical to the dark sleeper as well. I prefer the structure gill over the Agent E.