If you didn't catch this past week's show, Stricker went after smallies, using crawfish imitating jigs. What was most interesting about this segment was his underwater footage on how the bass "selects" a crawfish as it's next meal.

The bass actually "tests" the hardness of the craw (by closing it's mouth on it), instantly rejecting some, before selecting the one it wants to eat. Amazing! Explained later in the show, by a fisheries biologist, the smallmouth will select only the "softest" of the softshells. These are more easily ingested in the mouth and throat, without the problems of the harder shelled neighbors.

What this means for us is, a soft plastic crawfish imitator could actually be more effective than the real thing! I know here abouts, a lot of folks go out of their way to find, buy and use live crawfish for smallmouth bass fishing. Maybe it's not as effective a presentation as they think it is!

Actually, this is pretty well known among the live crab fisherman.  We use "softshell crabs" which are crayfish that have recently molted.  They often exhibit some pretty wild colors and patterns, and indeed are soft, and pose no threat to a hungry smallmouth, since their claws are pretty small after molting.  You can induce a molt by providing clean water, some food, and trace quantities of iodine.

No soft plastic can out fish live softshells, most days.  Seriously.  I don't use them much anymore because of the trouble and they are expensive, but once a year I like to go old school like my grandfather and I used to.  You still have to find the fish, and understand bass, so don't go buying a couple dozen thinking you'll automatically smoke them.