I recently picked up some Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craws to try. I’ve used Christie Craws and Rage Craws. Wanted to try something different. First time I tried one was as a jig trailer on a swim jig. Caught a fish within the first few casts. It broke one of the “claws” off. Not completely, but at the bend where the end piece gives all the action. I went on fishing it with one claw and soon caught another fish. That one took the other claw off. Fast-forward to yesterday. I Texas-rigged a Speed Craw on. VMC Rugby jighead. Wasn’t long before I landed a decent bass, maybe 1-1/2#. Both claws were broken off at the bend. 
 

So….my question is…is this common with Speed Craws? I’ve used Rage Menace, Christie Craw, Rage Craw, and other assorted trailers and caught multiple bass before having to replace the trailer. Are Speed Craws just too flimsy to last? Did I get a bad batch?😳

With most soft plastics that are not a z-man plastic, I usually get about 2 to 3 fish per plastic if I'm lucky sometimes just one. I can't control how the fish are biting the lure and this time of year a lot of fish are nibbling at it because of fishing pressure and the fact that they're on bed.  There's also a lot of sunfish around that will grab things and tear them apart before the Bass get to them. 

 

The good news is bass don't really care and will eat plastic even while it's a little bit torn up. 

 

I fish every piece of plastic until it doesn't stay on the hook anymore and I will bite it down until it doesn't fit on the hook anymore and catch fish with it.

 

With a thinner profile bait it's going to tear a little easier but not every fish is going to nibble at it. Eventually you'll catch a few where it comes back in one piece. 

 

For me what really makes them not work anymore is when I set the hook hard and blow out the center of the bait and that just tends to happen with any plastic that's not elaztech.

Sometimes, the bass will hit a worn torn up plastic bait better than a new one. Only the fish know why.

7 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

With most soft plastics that are not a z-man plastic, I usually get about 2 to 3 fish per plastic if I'm lucky sometimes just one. I can't control how the fish are biting the lure and this time of year a lot of fish are nibbling at it because of fishing pressure and the fact that they're on bed.  There's also a lot of sunfish around that will grab things and tear them apart before the Bass get to them. 

 

The good news is bass don't really care and will eat plastic even while it's a little bit torn up. 

 

I fish every piece of plastic until it doesn't stay on the hook anymore and I will bite it down until it doesn't fit on the hook anymore and catch fish with it.

 

With a thinner profile bait it's going to tear a little easier but not every fish is going to nibble at it. Eventually you'll catch a few where it comes back in one piece. 

 

For me what really makes them not work anymore is when I set the hook hard and blow out the center of the bait and that just tends to happen with any plastic that's not elaztech.

I'm the same way most of the time, but the Speed Craw has absolutely no acton whatsoever without those claws.

Just now, born2climb said:

I'm the same way most of the time, but the Speed Craw has absolutely n acton whatsoever without those claws.

 

 

It's okay - the bass don't care!  Only the fisherman does.

I am just curious as to whether or not Speed Craws are a particularly delicate bait. If so, I'll be steering clear of them. I've had a Menace trailer last for 6-8 bass.

7 minutes ago, born2climb said:

I am just curious as to whether or not Speed Craws are a particularly delicate bait. If so, I'll be steering clear of them. I've had a Menace trailer last for 6-8 bass.

 

 

I think you've just had some bad luck?

 

I've had menaces last 0 fish!  😂😜

I'll say it again, you can have lures in your tackle box or fish in the livewell, ya can't have both.

 

Speed Craws come 12 to a sack for about 5 bucks, if each one catches a bass that's .42 cents per bass. 

 

I'll take that 😉 

4 minutes ago, Catt said:

I'll take that 😉 

I'd rather 'lose' one Zoom bait per fish than one Yamamoto bait per fish....much more reasonable cost/benefit ratio.

Okay…I get it…I’m a bit of a tightwad. But I’ve caught several fish on one baby Brush Hog, which I would think is made of the same plastic, and has more appendages to fail, yet they don’t. I was merely wondering if others had experienced the same failure rate. 

28 minutes ago, born2climb said:

Okay…I get it…I’m a bit of a tightwad. But I’ve caught several fish on one baby Brush Hog, which I would think is made of the same plastic, and has more appendages to fail, yet they don’t. I was merely wondering if others had experienced the same failure rate. 

 

I'm not calling you a tightwad and I don't think you are one - just pointing out that correlation does not equal causality and you have a very small sample size to deal with, even if you've got a few hundred fish biting.

 

I would just fish the plastics that the fish are biting the best and not worry so much about the durability because that sort of thing is kind of a chaos element. 

 

Maybe if they're nibbling the claws and biting them off before you get a chance to set the hook - Play around with dyes and markers or try different colors to see if you can find one that they will choke all at once.

 

I do not believe that there is any difference in durability between a speed craw and a brush hog.  I have had every plastic get destroyed instantly at least one or two times and I've had plenty of them last for multiple fishing trips. I don't think we can control this kind of stuff is all I'm saying bud!

 

Fish on!

I throw Speed Craws a lot, I buy em by the 100. My average is probably 2-3 pre lure. There will be times its only 1 & there will be times its more. 

 

Oh by the way if it ain't ElaZtech that's pretty much every manufacturer's average.

The Zoom Ultravibe Craw has a tighter  vibration than many other craws - better for cooler water temps but will also work well in warmer months  . In warmer water temps I tend to favor craws with a wider wobble / vibration .

Been my go to finesse jig trailer for 100 years, I tear it back 3 rings for ball heads.

I personally don't think water temp has anything to do with the trailer but how fast the jig falls does matter. As streamlined as the speed craw is it's going to fall faster than say a chunk.