It's time for a major tackle cull. I'm at the point where I'm carrying so much tackle that my boat struggles to get on pad when the live well gets full. I think my opportunity is to limit myself to one bait in each style instead of going the Tactical Bassin route and carrying 8 different craws for 8 slightly different situations, so I'm asking y'all to check this logic. 

 

For my shallow Texas rigs I need a craw, a bug, a beaver, a creature bait, and a tube. Beyond those, I still have senkos and finesse worms which crossover to other techniques. I'll carry four main colors in each; green pumpkin, black and blue, white, and a laminate like California 420, GP/BB, or Bama Bug. 

 

Am I missing anything? Do you carry multiple baits in one style or stick to the one that's been good to you?

Other than White Rage Bugs for sight fishing spawning beds I use….
 

Rage Bug,

Rage Craw, 

Sweet Braver

Standard sized Brush Hog 

 

All in June bug, watermelon red and maybe 1 or 2 in green pumpkin which I hardly ever use. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

During summertime, my number one pitching bait become a ribbon-tail worm. Usually a Culprit or Rage Anaconda. Summer is actually when I spend the least amount of time flipping and pitchin though.

 

All other times a year I’m usually using either a Rage Bug, NetBait Paca Craw, or a Jig and Craw. 
 

If I’m punching, it’s always a Rage Bug. 

 

Generally I’m using natural colors. Greens and browns. Bama craw is a favorite color of mine. 

Ahh of course the first two comments are the Rage Bug. That's the bait I'm most torn on. I had planned on removing it from the roster in favor of the Bronco Bug which has been doing well for me. They're such different bug styles, though. My craw of choice is the Cleanup Craw (has passed the Z Craw in terms of confidence of the last year), so I figured that claw action was similar enough to the rage bug to make it redundant. But I do like the idea of a having a flatter-bodied bug in the arsenal so maybe I'll include those and the Broncos. 

8 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

During summertime, my number one pitching bait become a ribbon-tail worm. Usually a Culprit or Rage Anaconda. Summer is actually when I spend the least amount of time flipping and pitchin though.

I have no confidence in a regular ribbon tail. I've caught some fish on them in ponds, but never done anything with them in bigger bodies of water. I will throw the 10"+ ribbon tails off shore, but that's a whole different ball game. 

My current lineup:

Bronco Bug

Cleanup Craw

Sweet Beaver

Spicy Beaver

 

The main lake I fish is pretty clear so colors are usually green pumpkin mixed with purple/blue/orange type, watermelon and black/red flake for dirty water.

I keep it very simple. For flipping/pitching (per your title) I use:

- First choice: Strike King Rage Bug

- Slightly less action: X-Zone Adrenaline Craw

- Even less action: Berkley Pitt Boss

- No action: Yamamoto Senko

 

I have no more than 2 colors for each: green pumpkin and something either lighter or darker. I am convinced that color matters wayyyyyyy less to fish than it does to fishermen. 

I carry probably 100 different soft plastic lures on my boat... and I use probably 10 of them. I could totally get away with 10 total soft plastics for all of my fishing. The problem is... I love buying fishing gear... *shrug*

Anymore I use one color for soft plastics like craws and worms.  That color is called different things by different manufacturers, but it is essentially half black/blue flake and half green pumpkin.  Bladed jig style trailers I use electric shad.

 

I do still have quite a bit of soft plastics I have accumulated in various colors, but really no longer buy colors beyond what is listed above.  If not available in the plastic I want, I will resort to just black/blue flake and all white.  Green pumpkin as a stand alone has NEVER worked for me.

Just use the rage bug as your craw, bug, and beaver bait.  Rig it normal, but choose to separate or pinch (or not) apendages.  For instance, leave the pinchers together and remove the legs to have a single flappy bug.  Leave the legs on and separate everything for the full on action.  Take the legs off but separate the pinchers for a craw.  Then you really only need to carry one plastic in 4 colors to cover basicalyl everything in that realm.  It's also a good jig and bladed jig trailer, so save the ones that you texas rigged and tore up the head.  Finesse jig or downsizing?  Use your scissors to trim a half inch off the nose.  Really downsizing?  Do the same but trim the sides closer to straight than bowed out.

 

I have a pack of scounbugs for when I want all of the action but need it more compact (heavy pads and milfoil).  I have a pack of rodents that were for the same purpose as a trial.  I could take both out of the boat and be happy.  I threw in a pack of bronco bugs this year for some variety but don't need them.  

1 hour ago, Texas Flood said:

My current lineup:

Bronco Bug

Cleanup Craw

Sweet Beaver

Spicy Beaver

 

The main lake I fish is pretty clear so colors are usually green pumpkin mixed with purple/blue/orange type, watermelon and black/red flake for dirty water.

We have the same taste in the top 3 on your list. Is the Spicy Beaver really that much different than the Cleanup Craw?

 

1 hour ago, JackstrawIII said:

I keep it very simple. For flipping/pitching (per your title) I use:

- First choice: Strike King Rage Bug

- Slightly less action: X-Zone Adrenaline Craw

- Even less action: Berkley Pitt Boss

- No action: Yamamoto Senko

 

I have no more than 2 colors for each: green pumpkin and something either lighter or darker. I am convinced that color matters wayyyyyyy less to fish than it does to fishermen. 

I carry probably 100 different soft plastic lures on my boat... and I use probably 10 of them. I could totally get away with 10 total soft plastics for all of my fishing. The problem is... I love buying fishing gear... *shrug*

This is where I'm at too. I have a 55 QT tub filled with nothing but soft plastics, but I'll use the same 6 or 8 every time. Part of my thinking here is if I can simplify flipping to just a few baits, I'm more likely to cycle through and find out what they want that day. Instead I find myself not wanting to dig through the plastics to then decide between a handful of baits that do about the same thing. I like your strategy of starting with the most action and working back. I do that with moving baits, but never dawned on me to do the same with soft plastics. I tend to start with a 1/4 ounce pegged Cleanup Craw on one rod and a 3/8 unpegged Bronco Bug on another rod. Switch back and forth until I find what they want. But then I get analysis paralysis when neither of those work and often fail to move on to beavers, tubes, or something more subtle.

 

59 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Anymore I use one color for soft plastics like craws and worms.  That color is called different things by different manufacturers, but it is essentially half black/blue flake and half green pumpkin.  Bladed jig style trailers I use electric shad.

I've just recently gotten turned on to the GP/BB combo and am a big fan. I like two-toned baits and GP and B/B are my favorite single colors, so it's awesome having them combined. There is one lake here that California Craw/420 just out fishes every other color and I don't know why. 

 

40 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Just use the rage bug as your craw, bug, and beaver bait.  Rig it normal, but choose to separate or pinch (or not) apendages.  For instance, leave the pinchers together and remove the legs to have a single flappy bug.  Leave the legs on and separate everything for the full on action.  Take the legs off but separate the pinchers for a craw.  Then you really only need to carry one plastic in 4 colors to cover basicalyl everything in that realm.  It's also a good jig and bladed jig trailer, so save the ones that you texas rigged and tore up the head.  Finesse jig or downsizing?  Use your scissors to trim a half inch off the nose.  Really downsizing?  Do the same but trim the sides closer to straight than bowed out.

 

I have a pack of scounbugs for when I want all of the action but need it more compact (heavy pads and milfoil).  I have a pack of rodents that were for the same purpose as a trial.  I could take both out of the boat and be happy.  I threw in a pack of bronco bugs this year for some variety but don't need them.  

Interesting strategy. I've never really messed with modifying them too much. I think I'll probably keep a couple packs of GP and B/B Rage Bugs in addition to the other bait classes for that versatility. 

my pitching bait is green pumpking Flappin hog.  double duty as my jig trailer.  

my punch bait is a green pumpkin palmetto bug.

my worm is a 5" #925 Senko.  the Magnum Vibe worm in other thread looks kinda awesome. 

i free rig a Dolive Beaver.  

i'm working tubes into the rotation, but that is kinda it for me.

 

if i dropshot.  Zoom dropshot worm.  you know what color, you do.  

32 minutes ago, JHoss said:

We have the same taste in the top 3 on your list. Is the Spicy Beaver really that much different than the Cleanup Craw?

 

The action is slightly less on the downfall compared to the Cleanup, so its nice to have variety. I like the presentation of a smaller body with big claws too. 

Daily carry…

 

X-zone adrenaline craw

Gambler burner craw

Flappin hog (knockoff)

Rage bug

Netbait bug

D-bomb

 

Usually 2 colors of each.

The craws are jig trailers only.

Too many worms to list.

Gambler Burner Craw and a BB Crickets is all I flip, pitch and punch with .

Something wide and flat and something long and slender.  

Right now I just bring trick worms and 10" ribbon tails for pitching and flipping!

 

The trick worm i throw weightless, t rigged, shaky head, neko rig, wacky rig.

 

Maybe a lizard or a mag speed worm - but pretty much trick worm or big ribbon tail.

I would say from about June until about September - I pretty much only throw the big ribbon tail on a weighted t rig.

 

Why?

 

Catches the biggest fish in the lake and will also catch fish smaller than the worm all summer long deep or shallow.

 

Yeah they really do not expect you to flip a fat Roboworm after they've seen Beavers all day.

You can narrow it down to one creature if you are conscious of what you are trying to do in a given situation. Personally I like to have one that has little water resistance and will bomb straight down, and one that has more water resistance and has a more angled slower fall. 

 

I think its a trap to classify your selections based on genre of bait. A zoom brush hog and a nories escape twin look very similar and are in the same sub-genre of creature baits, but their rate and angle of fall is completely different. Conversely some hawg style baits effectively do an identical thing to some beaver baits, which creates redundancy. Focus on what the bait is doing through the water column(rigging etc being equal) instead. 

 

If the bronco bug and cleanup craw fill the two niches I mentioned above(i've never used so idk), I think thats a good starting point. 

I carry a bag each of Yum Dingers (Senkos), Rage Craws, Rage Bugs, lizards and whatever other worm I think I might use. Usually, I leave the Yum Dinger on. I just occasionally switch it up. The Rage Bug is good for skipping under limbs. I might use a bigger worm, like an 8" ribbon tail or a large lizard if I'm fishing open water. I haven't used a regular jig in a couple years.

6 hours ago, PGA Dropout said:

Yeah they really do not expect you to flip a fat Roboworm after they've seen Beavers all day.

Can confirm. The bubba/flipshot rig is my goto and in my hands 50+ percent of the time I'm on the water. The 6in fat roboworm and netbait t-mac are the 2 main lures used for this rig.

If you need to get rid of any tackle I’m happy to accept donations! 

I only pack one type.  a Flappin Hog.  the smaller one.  I have some leftover brush hogs as well.