what is the above bait? I hear quite a few older fisherman say it 

Stanley/Hale’s Craw Worm (top) or Larew Salt Craw (bottom) are probably the two most popular versions of this bait.

 

 

Tommy Biffle won a lot of money on them back in the day .They still work today 

@Team9nine

 

5 minutes ago, Catt said:

@Team9nine

 

I think they’ve fallen out of popularity enough these days that our “secret” is still safe ?

I purposely bought this mold so I could make these as they are harder to find around here these days. 

 

I've stated numerous times on this Forum that the Gene Larew Salt Craw has been one of my favorite plastics since they were introduced in the 1980's. I have always got one of these tied on either a Texas rig or as a trailer on a jig.

 

And I never see anyone else using them which suits me just fine.

 

Unsafe to use a Craw worm at night?

Tom

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Unsafe to use a Craw worm at night?

Tom

 

Ya might get your arm broken!

I thought a craw worm is just what they called soft plastic craws back in the day. I learn some thing new  here everyday.  

Anyone else 

Didn’t realize it was a brand or type 

still won't leave the house without a Salt Craw in my bag.......

1 hour ago, Derek1 said:

Didn’t realize it was a brand or type

 

They are not, they are what you described...plastic craws. Now Hale's is called a "craw worm", Gene Larew's is called a Hawg Craw. 

 

I throw everything from Zoom's 3.5" Ultravibe Speed Craw to 6-7" craws of a couple brands.

37 minutes ago, Catt said:

They are not, they are what you described...plastic craws. Now Hale's is called a "craw worm", Gene Larew's is called a Hawg Craw. 

Is this just because the original plastic lures were all worm style baits ("worms"), and the term "craw" worms was applied since these newfangled baits were in the style of a craw?  Or... who knows.

34 minutes ago, snake95 said:

Is this just because the original plastic lures were all worm style baits ("worms"), and the term "craw" worms was applied since these newfangled baits were in the style of a craw?  Or... who knows.

 

Don't really know who was first!

 

Maybe @Team9nine can find something in bass fishing archives.

 

Hale's Craw Worm is from the 70s, Guido's Bug is from that era as well.

When I think of a craw worm, it is an elongated craw with pinchers that are lifelike that don’t have any flapping action. 
Another juicy craw worm:

11 hours ago, snake95 said:

Is this just because the original plastic lures were all worm style baits ("worms"), and the term "craw" worms was applied since these newfangled baits were in the style of a craw?  Or... who knows.

 

10 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Don't really know who was first!

 

Maybe @Team9nine can find something in bass fishing archives.

 

Hale's Craw Worm is from the 70s, Guido's Bug is from that era as well.

Plastic crawfish have been around for a long time. You might remember as a kid, the old Snagproof ads with their plastic crawfish that you would put a split shot in the tail segment and it would run backward when retrieved. Dion molded the Guido Bug in 1977, but it didn’t really “get out” until 1981 after Guido’s first Bassmaster Invitational win. But those were both just examples of standard craw baits.

 

Robert Hale created the “craw worm” for Hale’s Lures in the 1970s. It featured a blend of a standard crawfish body combined with a thin plastic worm extension that allowed for easy Texas rigging or threading on a jig head, the first to do so that we know of. They sold to Stanley Lures in the early 1980s, and Stanley trademarked the “craw worm” (2 separate words) in 1983.  
 

As such, I’d consider a ‘craw worm’ as a completely different class of baits (craw body combined with elongated worm segment), with Hale’s Craw Worm as the first/original lure vs. traditional soft plastic crawfish (Guido Bug, Critter craw, etc.).