Hey all

So the Karashi is one of my favorite baits to catch fish on, but to be honest about it, the majority of fish are smaller bass, pickerel, and crappie/sunfish, which is fine, but there are times I'd like something bigger that would mainly target bigger bass.

 

I mainly fish the Karashi as a sub-surface walk the dog type. I fish I pretty fast, but not fast enough to be topwater. I typically prefer to walk it 6-12" under the top.

 

Ive also played around with the rapala sub-walk 09 and it seems promising, but it's 5/8oz if I remember correctly.

 

I'm curious if there is anything that behaves like the Karashi that is around 3/8 oz and with a larger profile.

Evergreen JxJ Minnow (@5/32 oz) looks like a completely different types of bait, but has that same type of sub-surface darting action when retrieved IMHO.

See if the Rapala Twitchin Mullet fits what you’re looking for 

I have a yozuri saltwater bait that is 3/8 or 1/2 oz that i like a lot. Have to change out the hooks of course. I think L & S Mirrolure also makes some.

Those style baits are generally smaller in profile and heavier in weight than most other hard plastics.

Most twitching baits that will walk, are more round instead of flat.

The X rap twitching mullets and minnow can walk, just not as sharp.  The action is more linear.  You can modify them by dressing the tail, using lighter supple line and playing with the hook layout. 

Mirrolure has a ton of twitch baits.  The classic 17mr is more of a pilchard or shad shape, with the taller body.  They dont really walk that well. 

I smash blues and bass on the catch 2000.  Its a round twitching bait that can get to about 2".  They have a catch jr, which I think weighs 3/8 instead of the 1/2 of the full size.

The MirroMinnow is closest in profile to karashi.  It has the profile of silversides or spearing.  It stays relatively shallow, not much more than 1'.  Just like the other twitchbaits, you can modify them to get a wider action by dressing the rear hook and playing around with line and rod action.

Sinking pencils like the LC Wander and Duo 85 Underwalker are probably the closest, especially in the case of the Duo.  They are heavy baits though.  The Wander 80, which is just over 3" weighs 3/8, the 85 is 9/16, the 95 is 3/4 and so is the slim 110.  LC did start making the bladed wanders again, but I've got no experience with them.

The Duo 85 Underwalker is just over 3" and even heavier than the Wander 80, coming in at 1/2.

 

  

Duo Bayruf Seek 85 Under Walker

85mm and .5oz (along with other sizes)

 

Top 3 in this search

https://thehookuptackle.com/search?q=seek&options[prefix]=last

 

The Megabass vision 110 SR "shallow runner" my be exactly what you are after, though, it doesn't walk like a Karashi.

With it's popularity, I'd give Megabass a little time and I bet they come up with one.

I've seen it but haven't done it.... weighted tungsten stickers on a Megabass Dog-X Jr. Depending on the weight,  it will make it go subsurface.  It might take some experimenting. 

Don't they make a bigger version? 

 

Allen

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Checked out a video of the Duo under walker on YouTube and it seems to fit all my criteria with how it moves. 

 

They're on sale for $10 a piece at tackle warehouse so I ordered a couple.

2 hours ago, Munkin said:

Don't they make a bigger version? 

 

Allen

There is one, but it is a spinner.  Quite a bit different characteristics on the retrieve.  Sinks faster too.

Mirrolure 17MR is most popular sinking twitchbait here in Florida on the flats for saltwater and is on the smaller size, they make some walkers that sink slow or suspend as well. They have a huge lineup of sinking lures. Website may be under L&S in Largo Florida. You can find Mirrolures much cheaper than what BPS charges.....

 

Yo-zuri makes a few sinking pencil lures as well and some are on smaller size. I believe the karashi is 59mm so just over 2", I have seen a few at Dicks that look close. 

 

Twitchin rap as mentioned above is similar but I think they are gonna be same size as subwalk but will be light around 3/8.

 

My best suggestion may not be a popular one.....I get all my BFS stuff from overseas, mainly Aliexpress and the pics below are branded as Leydun, come in a 2 pack for like $3 with tarriffs, BKK Trebles, and the paint job looks like it should be a $20 JDM lure. (Could be?) Comes in 59mm and 80mm. I purchased 2 of the sinking pencils and was blown away at the quality of treble hooks as BKK are crazy sharp, first cast to test, it sank slowly so figured it was garbage...Fast forward a couple years and now I get why, took it out a few times this year and it catches fish for sure....

 

I find alot of stuff is cheap quality with lures (like say Ozark Trail or Creme hardbaits etc.) but for BFS and topwater lures, jerkbaits etc.....if you buy brands made in good OEM's, you will be happy with what shows up. Brands to buy that can be .99 up to $10, but will make you question lure buying habits are (Kingdom, Noeby,Bassday,Bearking, Hunthouse, Top Tackle Industries, Go Bait, Chan Huang.....) and Greenspider for the little BFS walking lure. 

These are pics of the Leydun that come or came in a 2 pack. You can still find them super cheap and the paint job and hooks alone are worth more than the price paid. 

 

 

I also picked up the Leydun baits in both sizes.  I replaced the rear trebles with feathered and finding a size 10 feathered was not easy.  I’ve found a number of hard and soft baits on that site that perform extremely well and some that did not.

There are knock off versions of the Karashi which come longer and heavier. I've only bought the "original" size knock off (59cm, 5 gram) so no experience with the larger version (80mm, 11g...3/8 th) .

 

 

2 hours ago, Columbia Craw said:

I also picked up the Leydun baits in both sizes.  I replaced the rear trebles with feathered and finding a size 10 feathered was not easy.  I’ve found a number of hard and soft baits on that site that perform extremely well and some that did not.

 

I learned how to tie my own. And I have ZERO artsy-fartsy skills. Cheap and easier than trying to find them. I also weighed everything to make sure to get as close to origina weight as possible.

 

 

I bought some unpainted blanks for $1 each to try.

 

Allen

Like many here I'm going to suggest something out of the saltwater world. The smaller Pencil plugs for tuna/jacks are about 5.5" long, i think about 1.5 ounces and do a subsurface walk better/easier than any inshore style salt walking minnow I've tried (mirrolure etc). Admittedly I havent tried them for bass yet cause i was always borrowing the lures and the hook rings and line tie are waay overkill but the moment I first used one on a yellowtail jack trip my immediate thought was these would kill for bass if you threw some 1/0 Owner st-36s on there. They are dead simple to walk and they dart extremely wide.