Beginner’s Guide To Fishing With Crawfish Lure

Do you want to use crawfish lures for bass but don’t know which type of lures should be used and which suitable place to start?

Crawfish lures became common since the first jigs were creat to simulate crawfish many years ago.

However, the disadvantage of this improvement is that there are plenty of crawfish lure kinds, colors, and sizes to select, all of which require different fishing methods.

Now, we’ll go over the different types of crawfish lures available. We’ll discuss which ones are the greatest and how to fish them efficiently.

What fish eat crawfish?

Catfish, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, spotted bass, striped bass, trout, and steelhead are the most common fish species that consume crawfish. In addition to these primary species, numerous other fish, such as yellow perch, panfish (sunfish), northern pike, and muskie, sometimes eat crawfish.

You should note that crawfish start small after hatching, and they will be an excellent snack for nearly small to medium-sized fish in their early stages.

However, due to their exoskeleton and claws, the list of fish species that consume crawfish shrinks after they reach maturity.

The different types of crawfish lures

Soft plastic crawfish, crawfish crankbaits, and crawfish jigs are the three main crawfish lures. Each of these is commonly used, and when used correctly, each of them consistently catches fish.

Let’s discuss these different crawfish lures deeply.

Crawfish crankbait

Crawfish crankbaits include hard plastic and have a hollow body with beads that rattle when the crankbait is moved. Crawfish crankbaits are best fished by bouncing them off rocks, tree stumps, and other covers, which simulates natural crawfish behavior.

Soft plastic crawfish

Soft plastic crawfish perform more practically than crankbaits and jigs, and they may be fished in various ways. While using them as a trailer on a naked jig head is the most popular method, they can also be used with multiple bottom fishing rigs.

Crawfish jig

Crawfish jigs are the oldest and most common type of crawfish lure, having been used for decades. They are composed of a jig head with a colored skirt attached. The skirt’s colors usually look like the crawfish color phases of pumpkin green, orange, or red. Skirted jigs have the advantage of being weedless and may be fished efficiently near to the bottom without becoming snagged.

Do crawfish lures work?

Certainly yes. Crawfish lures are the most common types of fish that eat crawfish fluently. On the other hand, crawfish lures must realistically simulate crawfish and be fished near the bottom, as this is where fish expect to discover crawfish. 

Fortunately, there are numerous great crawfish lures on the market. When used appropriately, they regularly catch fish, especially when crawfish are the primary feed for bass and other predatory species.

What do crawfish lures catch?

Crawfish lures work well for catching largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, as they all eat crawfish regularly. Crawfish lures are also useful in catching walleye species that eat crawfish (but not if the walleye are focused on baitfish).

Moreover, crawfish lures can also be used for trout, panfish, and perch. Crawfish lures are frequently better than other lure types for these species. When catching these smaller species, micro crawfish lures are suitable to use because compared to crawfish lures used for bass, they are much smaller.

Is a crawfish lure good for bass?

Crawfish lures catch bass all year, but they work very effectively in the early spring and early fall when bass find crawfish as their primary food source. When bass are concentrated on eating crawfish, it might be tough to catch them on other lure types; you should also have some crawfish lures to use.

Are crawfish lures well for trout?

Crawfish lures help catch trout in areas where crawfish are the main food source for trout. If you’re really into large brown trout, use the same size crawfish lures you’d use for bass, but if you’re seeking smaller trout in streams, utilize micro crawfish lures like the Rebel Wee Crawfish instead.

What are the best crawfish lures?

There are three greatest crawfish lures: The Strike King KVD Square Bill (the best crawfish crankbait), the Strike King Rage Tail Craw (the outstanding soft plastic crawfish), and the Terminator Weedless Football Jig.

Even though there are a lot of excellent crawfish lures on the market, the three listed above have been proven to work, and they consistently attract fish season after season. Next, we will consider each of them.

Strike King KVD Square Bill Is The Best Crawfish Crankbait

The Strike King KVD Square Bill is an original crankbait lure designed by Kevin VanDam, a crankbait legend. A square bill crankbait is suitable for resembling crawfish. It is designed to deviate from the surfaces of tree stumps or rocks when it interacts with them.

Strike King Rage Tail Craw Is The Best Soft Plastic Crawfish

Although the Strike King Rage Tail Craw is not the most lifelike crawfish lure sold on the market, it gives an outstanding swimming action in the water that truly reflects a real live crawfish when skipped around the bottom with a jig or bottom fishing rig. The Rage Tail Craw remains a favorite among most bass anglers.

Terminator Weedless Football Jig (best crawfish jig)

The Terminator Weedless Football Jig’s weed guard keeps it from getting snagged on the cover, and the football jig head doesn’t get stuck in rock crevices. Jigs are perfect crawfish lures, but because they are created to be thrown along the bottom, they are prone to be easily snagged.

What is the best crawfish lure color?

Because crawfish color changes with seasonal patterns, the optimal crawfish lure color is determined by the season. Green pumpkin is frequently the most suitable color to throw in early spring, followed by vivid orange and eventually watermelon red in the summer. Dark brown or black is usually the ideal color throughout the fall and winter.

How do you rig a crawfish lure?

Using a soft plastic crawfish lure as a trailer on a bare jig head is the easiest way to reg it. It would help if you certainly rigged it backward, with the tail end at the jig head, because it will assist you in simulating the actions of wild crawfish, which swim backward when frightened.

Another suitable method to rig a soft plastic crawfish is to use it with a Neko rig, which requires attaching your hook to the middle of the soft plastic crawfish lure with an o-ring. An ideal way for you is to stick a tiny nail link to the crawfish’s head to ensure that it sinks to the bottom properly.

And the final way, you can utilize most bottom fishing rigs used for bass fishing, such as a Texas rig, Carolina rig, or ned rig.

How do you fish with crawfish lures?

It’s crucial to throw crawfish lures as close to the bottom as possible, and this applies to all sorts of crawfish lures, including crankbaits. Crawfish survive near the bottom and are hardly found higher in the water column. Therefore this makes basic sense.

Crawfish lures are best fished by hopping them through the bottom and bumping them into rocks, stumps, and other covers.

It’s also a good choice to rest sinking crawfish lures (such as jigs or soft plastic craws tied with a weight) on the bottom frequently, as this closely mimics the behavior of real crawfish.

On the other hand, when fishing with crawfish crankbaits, it’s usually ideal to retrieve them immediately to ensure that they consistently hit bottom. Once again, it makes them look like wild crawfish and is the most efficient way to get bites.

Where do you use crawfish lures?

Crawfish lures work best in areas with rocks or rocky bottoms. Crawfish are keen on rocky bottoms as they can hide from predators between rocks and feed by scraping zooplankton off the rocks.

Any place with a natural concentration of crawfish will also attract bass that eats them, increasing your possibility of catching fish with crawfish lures.

The water clarity will determine the appropriate water depth for crawfish lures. In stained water, stick to the shallows under 5 feet, but crawfish lures can be used in deep water up to 30 feet in clear water.

Crawfish can only live at depths where sunlight can access them, which varies depending on whether the water is clear or stained.

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