I am a HUGE fan of Rapala. I have had a lot of success with Rapala lures, especially Floating Minnows and Husky Jerks. I'm not a fan of the jointed minnow though, it seems to just snake on the top and not dive at...maybe thats the point though.

Anyway, I had one of the countdowns which my brother used to catch a salmon with, but then it got snagged and lost. I have never used them for bass fishing as most of my bassin is done from shore or down on a small shallow pond with no need for countdowns.

I would figure though that these would be great for suspending bass, or deeper holding bass that show up on the Fish Finder.

Anyone have any opinions?

Countdowns work, but since they hang up so much, they are hard to use around cover. That suspended bait is the deal in colder water, better than a sinking minnow most of the time. You can psuse it over tree tops, then b-l-u--e-e,  fish on!

I also love Rapalas. I never could get the Hang of this bait, my friend Jeff slays them with it. I have had much better sucess with the fatter DT line.

I use them (the smallest ones) and catch quite a few crappie and bluegill on them.  They work well.  they sink pretty fast and they pick up a lot of grass if you let them sink into it.  

I'm not a fan of the jointed minnow though, it seems to just snake on the top and not dive at...maybe thats the point though.

You might try fishing this lure (or the floating Rapalas) with a split-shot about 18" ahead of the lure.  By varying the size of the split-shot you can determine how deep you go.

The Countdown is an outstanding lure that will will catch anything that swims, including SM and LM bass. It is an underused and underrated lure.