Tips from the Fish-N-Fool on my new idea "The craw weight dropshot rig"

[Fish-N-Fool Lures]

Hey fellow Bassholes;
   I'm kinda the mad scientist of bass fishing world. I invent new things all the time as well as new lures (like my soon to be world famous Sink-N-Fool bait) and I'm always looking at things and figuring how to make it different and or better.
   I took a couple things and turned it into a new technique that I call the Craw weighted dropshot rig. First I tie on a dropshot hook like the one in the picture (Sorry I forget who makes these) with a double Palomar knot. I like this type of hook for larger minnow baits.  I leave about a foot and a half of tag end to tie on my craw weight. Tie a wide gap Gammy Finesse hook on the end of the line. I like to tie it on with a Snell knot on hooks that have a bent eye. Snell knots are very ez to tie and very strong.
  To make my craw weight I take a medium size tube bait in a craw looking color (this is one of my home made tubes by the way) either in a brown or green. I take a large egg style sinker and push it up into the tube till it hits the top of the tube. Now take an old round worm and cut it into 1/2" long pieces.  Note you can add a glass rattle into the tube before you plug it for extra sound effects.



Apply a little glue (clear window silicone works great for this as does some of the soft plastic glues) and push the piece into the tube like so,



That will give you a bait that looks like this



Then after the glue is totally dry I insert the wide gap finesse hook into the center of the plug you glued in place and out the side of the tube. I make these up a few days ahead of time so they are good and cured. It should look like this.



(Note this is a off-shoot of my boob tube rig I showed here last year.)
 So with the craw weight rigged under a dropshot hook like so;



The cool part of this in now your dropshot weight that looks just like a crawdad standing up in defense mode and you have a nice minnow bait swimming just above it. So it looks to a big hungry bass like the minnow is after the craw. Another great thing about this rig is the craw tube weight hardly ever gets hung up and if it does you only loose the tube and weight inside it.



I first tried this using the craw weight alone and got some nice fish but by adding the dropshot hook above it it is like fishing two techniques at once.

Now I just shake the rod tip to make the minnow dance and make the rattle in the craw tube clack. If you are in a good rocky area a slow drag works great too.
Check out this short video to see how the craw tube works.


Guests are not allowed to view links.
Register or Login

So try out my craw weighted dropshot rig next year and give it a shot. I think you will like it and please tell me what you think of my rig here. And Jared if we do the tips contest this year consider this my first entry "Thank You":
1. joe waller, 2. CaptainMo, 3. Jared    

[Moaner Hooks]

Great idea Fish-n-Fool. 

[joe waller]

Looks like you have come up with a great idea. Keep us posted on how many fish you catch with it.

[mlsims]

You guys have got to quit giving away all the secrets!!!   


Really a great Idea FNF, that really should be a great technique.   

[Fish-N-Fool Lures]

I thought more people would be excited about this then just a couple.I get no luv.

[lunchbox]

The hooks are "stand out" hooks. Great drop shot hooks.
I do not understand why you would not fish it with a standard tube rig. It seems like this rig would give the fish far more leverage if they hit the bottom lure. With the way the hook is facing and where the weight is placed it would seem like a few good head shakes would throw this set up. Speaking of hook facing... With the line + hook orientation it would seem like fish attempting to hit this lure would strike/bump the line more often than not. It does look rather snag resistant though. I agree that the concept of a 2nd hook for a weight is a great one. I have been using a lighter jig, or a shaky head jig for quite some time in stead of a straight D.S. weight. Where the regulations allow of course.  I have found that most often that set up works well when i am fishing "blind". I know fish are in the area, but not sure if they are suspended or bottom hugging. (Yeah yeah i know, get better electronics.) With the jig+d.s. i can cover my bases until i figure out what i need to be throwing. I would assume this would be a similar set up.

brandon

[knapperhead]

very creative sir
I will sometimes use a football head jig with a hula grub for the weight or my top secret weapon.......a shaky head worm below the drop shot bait.