YUM’s Wooly Bug has a similar ribbed and grooved body shape but with more pincerlike side appendages, in addition to a serrated beaver tail. Voodoo Baits recently released the 41⁄4-inch Cannibal Creature, with smaller lateral appendages and a serrated beaver tail. This bait has large lateral ribs like Larew’s Ring Tube, which serve to slow its fall and produce underwater vibrations.

Bass Pro Shops offers the 41⁄2-inch Flippin Craw, with a Beaver-style body and a pair of antennae and substantial pincers, producing a sort of hybrid between a beaver bait and a craw worm, while Bass Assassin has the hand-poured Eager Beaver. Lake Fork Tackle added the Flipper Killer Craw to their line, with beaver-style body and small clawed appendages, plus a serrated beaver tail. Culprit’s Water Beetle (3- and 4-inch) has a thicker, rounder body and small paddle appendages at the tail, along with a more craw-like beaver tail that’s separated, not serrated. This bait forms a transition of sorts to the new generation of flippin’ craw baits. Both the beavers and flippin’ craws have excelled for the flippin’ bite, a hot tactic this season.

Flippin’ Craws

This craze started with the Paca Craw, which Braxton McNaughton designed for Netbait Baits of Alabama. Initial acclaim came from Florida, where pros rigged the 5-inch bait with a full 1-ounce tungsten sinker and flipped the combo into weedmats, where the dense sinker dragged the craw into the weedy lairs of big bass.

The wide but thin claws of the Paca Craw flap actively as it falls, resembling the flapping of a bat’s wings, while the hollow body allows a great hook-set. The Baby Paca Craw (4 inches) and 2- and 3-inch Paca Chunk jig trailers are recent additions.

Following the success of this new bait and its sales boom, plastics manufacturers rushed into the fray. Culprit produced 3- and 4-inch versions of the streamlined Flippin’ Craw, with two paired legs, antennae, and claws angled toward the tail, to allow the lure to drop into the tiniest holes in a grass mat.YUM added Craw Papi, a 4.5-inch big-bodied craw with an impressive pair of pincers that flap wildly as it falls. Zoom’s UltraVibe Speed Craw uses the same reverse design as the Horny Toad to give this 3-inch craw super action in a small package, while the Kicker Kraw and Kicker Kraw, Jr. from Kicker Fish Bait Company have ribbed bodies with side fins to prevent line twist.

In its new HardNose Series, Mann’s Bait offers a streamlined 4-inch Flippin’ Craw, with claws folded back to vibrate as it falls. The HardNose locks sinkers like Bullet Weights Screw-Ins and reduces tearing when rigged on big flippin’ hooks.

Swimbaits

This lure category has gradually grown from a western specialty to an international groundswell, with anglers using various types for nearly all species of predatory fish. Among many new offerings, don’t miss Northland Tackle’s Slurpies Swim Shiner and Swim Shad, infused with holographic flakes and sporting bright natural colors. Swim Shiners have a Curly Fin Teaser Tail, while Swim Shad have a Wobbling Paddle Tail. Both are available in 3-inch, 3/8-ounce models and 4-inch, 1/2-ounce editions.