[clemmy]

I saw a Japanese homemade lure website with a silicone skirt attatched on the first hook, this was the "legs", the "claws" were represented in the bait itself. Kind of like an improved version of the old Creek Chub crawdad.....


Clemmy

[Hughesy]

Mine isn't a skirt but soft plastic claws that just super glued to the belly. I like the legs also. Its suprising how long you can fish it before it gets torn up. This is on an old Rebel Super R.

[Crimson_Death216]

Originally Posted by Spike-A-Pike

Hold on Coley. I haven't seen a real rattlesnake since I left New Mexico in 1986, but looks like real rattlesnake hide to me. Did you hunt it up at one those rattlesnake roundups out west? Used to see them a lot lying around the sound suppressor pad soaking up the heat as sundown was going on. All the sudden, it they'd hear a noise, you'd hear rattles. The most I ever saw at once was 5, but my old supervisor claimed to have seen 7.

The good ol' days???

I've lived in NM all 18 years of my life and never seen a rattlesnake...

[LooksLikeSinbad]

I like this idea.

Another option would be instead of drilling a hole to feed the plastic through, you could put a coil on the back of the bait and attach a plastic craw trailer.

OK, I just tried it and it looks pretty good. I suppose you'd want the paint scheme to be the other way though so the head is in the back and the tail is in the front.

Coil


Full trailer:


Small trailer:

[Crimson_Death216]

Nice, I like it.

[captsully18]

"OK, I just tried it and it looks pretty good. I suppose you'd want the paint scheme to be the other way though so the head is in the back and the tail is in the front." LooksLikeSinbad

Do you really think the fish know difference? Great idea. Have you fished it yet? How does the weight of trailer affect the crankbait action? I do like the idea though.

David

[LooksLikeSinbad]

Originally Posted by captsully18

"OK, I just tried it and it looks pretty good. I suppose you'd want the paint scheme to be the other way though so the head is in the back and the tail is in the front." LooksLikeSinbad

Do you really think the fish know difference? Great idea. Have you fished it yet? How does the weight of trailer affect the crankbait action? I do like the idea though.

David

I have not fished it, I just did it today after reading this thread. I am sure that the plastic will affect the action, but if your fishing the crank along the bottom to simulate a craw it might work fine. I'll def. try it this spring.

Oh, and yes. All fish notice the most minute details we put on lures.

[Travis]

Try it and see how you like it. Many designs over the years have included soft plastic craws, leather, rubber, skirt material, foam claws, etc..... See how you like your design and how it stacks up to similar bait without claws. That is one of the fun parts about making lures trying out new things. Always interesting concept I know the Moonlight and Paw Paw craw was always one of the "old" lures that I thought looked neat. I have a Paw Paw Crawfish but legs and claws are long gone.

I believe research articles indicate that bass show stronger predation on clawless craws (last time I collected craws I did to!!). I think berkley scientists came to the same conclussion when trying to design a super craw. I think they were disappointed to find a boring hunk of plastic elicited the most strikes. I did have a paper somewhere that suggested that it was also dependent upon size of the bass with larger bass being less intimidated but haven't been able to locate it.

I like the skirt concept or other permanent styles better. As much as I get cranks snagged temporarily on stuff soft pastics would be a constant reattachment issue. I have only messed with a few and most of my concerns were with the action of the crank being deadened, but am sure could be worked around.

I had a guy want a craw done like the one below with foamy claws so they would rise. Not for sure what would happen to the action.

[senkoman85]

Take a look at the River2Sea Crawler for some ideas, as well. It's a sweet little crankbait with claws that are free-swinging and made from (I assume) plastic, along with the rest of the bait.

[captsully18]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeSinbad

I have not fished it, I just did it today after reading this thread. I am sure that the plastic will affect the action, but if your fishing the crank along the bottom to simulate a craw it might work fine. I'll def. try it this spring.

Oh, and yes. All fish notice the most minute details we put on lures.

Yeah, right.

David