The 5 Best Ways To Rig A Soft Plastic Craw (Video)

For good reason, soft plastic craws are among the most popular bass fishing lures. Craws are one of the most predominant types of forage for bass and soft plastic craws can be fished in many different ways. In this video, TightLineTV breaks down his top 5 ways to rig a soft plastic craw!

5 Ways To Rig A Soft Plastic Craw

1) EWG Hook

Texas Rigging a craw soft plastic on an Extra Wide Gap hook allows you to fish through and around cover like grass, wood, docks, and rocks. Pair your Texas-rigged EWG with the lightest bullet weight you can get away with to let the craw bait fall slowly to the bottom while its legs slowly dangle. Most anglers tungsten bullet weights ranging in sizes from 1/8-3/4 oz for this technique and adjust their weight depending on current, depth, and cover.

2) Shaky Head Jig

Crawfish nestle themselves in between rocks and hardbottom areas and you can easily mimic their action with a shaky head jig and craw-style soft plastic. Generally, shaky heads are best fished in water deeper than 10 feet with areas that have hard bottoms.

3) Punching Rig

Heavy braided line, beefy tungsten bullet weights, and a craw soft plastic bait is the basic starter pack for punching grass for largemouth bass. Using a slender creature bait with minimal appendages works best in thick grass when you need your bait to slide through potential hang-ups.

4) Skirted Jig

Sliding a craw bait on the back of a skirted bass jig is an easy way to bulk up your presentation with a realistic profile. As you drag, hop, or swim the jig back to you, the baits appendages will be kicking, swimming, or flapping back and forth. This action mimics both crawfish when the jig is worked near the bottom, or baitfish when it's brought back with a steady retrieve.

5) Bladed Jig (Chatterbait)

Some anglers will say they don't need more than the classic chatterbait trailers like a Yamamoto Zako or 10,000 Fish Yoto Worm. However, craw trailers like the BioSpawn VileCraw put off an enticing action as well, especially in the spring when you're likely targeting bass with bellies full of crawfish.