I'm using soft plastic crawfish more and more. I think they look terrific in the water with their fluttering claws and the local bass do too. I started using them with twitching and letting them fall, but I've settled into a slow, steady retrieve. I even troll with them, all with a T-rig setup. Here's my latest Tackle Warehouse order:

 

 

 

 I love crawfish imitations as they’re consistent and always on the menu. Plus big fish seem to bite them. I really love them on a skirted jig, but a good t rigged craw ain’t no joke. No doubt wider, floppy claws are best. I’m very anal about getting my craw on as straight as possible to get the desired scoot and glide I look for 

Nice. They work. I like them in all sizes.

Fun baits, though I’m a bit selective on what I keep on hand. They pretty much all work, though.

 

@Swamp Girl Well well, just checked the mail and my small order of new smallie candies are now ready to be deployed…pretty excited!

 

 

Ive used lots of the old style baits, not so much the new ones. Larew Salt Craws T-rigged and jig trailers are probably the ones I used most. Guido bugs probably second.

Guido bugs were killer. Throwing a lot of Rage  or Zoom 

Big bait, GP!

OSP DoLive Craw is great.

 

Great Lakes Finesse Craw also great.(bite sized).

Nice haul! I haven’t fished a proper plastic craw in a long time, I may need to procure some!

13 minutes ago, ElGuapo928 said:

Nice haul! I haven’t fished a proper plastic craw in a long time, I may need to procure some!

 

Cool! Even if you don't catch a bass, watching those claws flap is a blast. 😉

 

4 hours ago, Team9nine said:

They pretty much all work, though.

 

This has been my observation too.

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

Big bait, GP!

Big presence for night missions. 

Just now, GreenPig said:

Big presence for night missions. 

 

I wish I weren't too fraidy to fish at night. I bet I could catch some belugas. 

Just now, Swamp Girl said:

 

I wish I weren't too fraidy to fish at night. I bet I could catch some belugas. 

If I wasn't so fer south, we'd have to find out.

1 minute ago, GreenPig said:

If I wasn't so fer south, we'd have to find out.

 

Oh, I wish! I wouldn't disappoint you and you wouldn't be disappointed. When I launch at four a.m. and it's dark for a few minutes, I hear the GALOOMPS of big bass feeding yonder. I usually manage to catch a couple before the Sun rises. 

Zoom Speedcraw for the win

I keep it pretty simple for the most part. I buy the YUM Christie Craw and Craw Papi in the bulk packs in green pumpkin/purple and black and blue. Other than that, I like the Croc-O-Gator ring craw.

I used to think craws were meh. So either I learned to fish them better, or the local bass simply decided enough was enough and they were just going to whack the heck out of them for spite. They’ve become one of my favorite soft plastics and out of the many, I’ve had better luck with a good ol’ Rage Craw than any others. 
 

It’s not fancy-schmancy. But those claws really have a great action, and they last awhile on a hook. 

Craw baits like the rage craw used to work really well for me when I lived in the northeastern US. Since moving to south Florida I haven’t had the same success with them. I’ve noticed beaver baits work much better for me down here. Beavers worked well up north too fwiw. 
 

I only mention this because I find it perplexing and I’m always curious to hear if others have had a similar experience to me or the opposite. 

6 minutes ago, woolleyfooley said:

Craw baits like the rage craw used to work really well for me when I lived in the northeastern US. Since moving to south Florida I haven’t had the same success with them. I’ve noticed beaver baits work much better for me down here. Beavers worked well up north too fwiw. 
 

I only mention this because I find it perplexing and I’m always curious to hear if others have had a similar experience to me or the opposite. 

I LOVE the Dolive Beaver on a Free Rig.

 

And you're not alone. Things that work well elsewhere get zero bites here. For example, green pumpkin is one of my least productive colors here...to the point that I don't even use it anymore.

 

I'm most disappointed that night bass fishing doesn't work at all here.....which is heartbreaking because I'm a night person.

32 minutes ago, RRocket said:

Things that work well elsewhere get zero bites here. For example, green pumpkin is one of my least productive colors here...to the point that I don't even use it anymore.

 

Yeah, it's weird how baits work here and not there. You can see from my photo that my local bass like blue, green pumpkin, and red. I use red a lot, even though I recently read that red is a spring color.

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Yeah, it's weird how baits work here and not there. You can see from my photo that my local bass like blue, green pumpkin, and red. I use red a lot, even though I recently read that red is a spring color.

Here? I have best success with purples, blues and blacks for LMB.

 

The SMB here seem less fussy.

 

My first use of a soft plastic craw was a “craw worm” that I would always steal from my dad’s tackle box. It was a plastic craw that was basically a finesse worm’s body with claws and antennae. Haven’t seen them in over 20 years but I can picture it clear as day. 
 

These days I throw Rage Craws and Baby Craws, as well as NetBait Paca Craws. 

I have been using the Larew 4” Salt Craw (now made by Yum) since it was introduced in the 1980’s. 
 

It is rare that I don’t have one Texas rigged  or as a jig trailer on the deck of my boat. 

I love crawfish too. They just went out of season a couple months back. Can’t wait for March to roll around again. I like mine pretty spicy and yes, I do suck the head. Throw some corn and sausage in the boil and I’ll sit there and eat my weight in crawfish…

 

Never tried one raw, but the bass may be on to something!! 😂😂