primetime

darter heads are generally used for suspended fish in the finesse world but line tie for jigs is an important aspect to how you fish them and what baits, kind of of complex but a swim jig has line ties more in the 30 degree angle and a darter jig is good for darting action and action on the fall, not for swimming a tube in my opinion, I use a slider jig head to swim a tube or peg a bullet weight

Vary the weight on the worm, sometimes pegged is better in open water or sandy rocky bottom, I like to not peg the weight and usually prefer a slower fall but in clear water sometimes a heavy weight works better and I usually do a lift and pause and try to keep the bait falling as often as possible and pause it for a good 10-30 seconds every so often...They tell you what to want but a change of weight from 1/8 to 3/8 on the initial drop or other drops if feathering the worm up a few feet after it hits the bottom can be the difference of catching a few or tearing them up...I also use weighted hooks alot if possible, or swing jigs,jig rig, or jigheads with weedguards like the kalins darter head with a wire guard. I rarely peg a weight right at the worm unless flipping or pitching to targets, if working a weed edge, I often leave the weight unpegged or pegged a few feet up, but I believe the weight and tungsten since it is smaller and sensitive is very important piece, all worms work, curly, ribbon, straight, or creatures etc.

Here in Florida I only dropshot when shallow if I know fish are in a negative mood and I am confident they are in a piece of cover I can target with a small finesse bait and I usually barely work the rod and just wait for something to pick it up... I also use it when I have a muddy bottom which is often since a shaky rig or even a texas rig is frustrating but alot of time fish are suspended this time of year and if a place gets high pressure or I am going behind a few boats on a shoreline, I will power shot instead of flip a jig or punch bait into cover. I find the dropshot to be very effective when you are near fish, and it is a bit boring, however, you can work it faster if you use the hooks with good swivels like the vmc or gamakatsu drop shot hooks to elimiate line twist. If you get line twist you are probably shaking too much, I don't shake much, the right baits move on their own....Baits with ribbed bodies, boot tails, ribbon tails, or floaters will move on their own, just make sure you can feel bottom at all times. I love the Mister Twister 5" poc it worms I grabbed on clearance at dicks, they are soft, ton of action, translucent, and also the damiki baits are good, Gulp floating minnows, small GYB Ika's, trick worms and senkos wacky rigged, or for power shotting, I like using the keitechs, trigger x minnow baits, gitzit flash tubes. I do like the split shot, mojo rig the best, Another quick set up is to leave a 18" tag end on your regular soft bait of any knid and crimp a large split shot on the end of the line or simply use a true floating worm with a split shot and you kind of have a drop shot...If you like moving a bait then drop shot probably not the best, c-rigs with light weights and lifts will catch fish suspended and keep bait up in the column, I catch fish on modified c-rigs with heavy weights for loud splashes when fish are active but have lock jaw, and it often works in 2-3', same as drop shot with 1 ounce, but overall I use mainly 3/8 drop shot weights and vmc swivel drop shot hooks and nose hooked baits have best action in my opinion, I will try crazy stuff, sometimes a lizard suspended in the water works but nothing is better for catching spawning fish if you don't sight fish than the drop shot. Find the flat they are on, and simply cast and move it maybe 3' every minute, few taps of rod, and a bait with crazy action like the damikia air craws or small minnow baits I forget what they are called...

I buy the triple grips in bulk, same with vmc and daichi trebles so they end up costing almost nothing, I also use Eagle Claw Lazers, and I keep the Owner Hooks from all my Sebiles I change to larger hooks, and I experiment. I like to buy a few of my favorite lures and I will put at least 2x strong if I know I am throwing them on 50lb braid without a leader all day, or using 20lb test with a 3" Ripbait or crank..... If you use light line you are better off using thin trebles for better penetration, and barbless is great for lipless cranks especially if you rip them out of the grass, they come out much easier and the grass falls off the hook. If you look at all your lures, you can almost always go up hook size quite a bit on many if you use a smaller ring but make sure it is a quality ring, I also always put an oval ring for a line tie no matter what. I have alot of cranks with a triple grip on front and ewg on rear and on stick baits, I like to often cut off a treble to make them more weedless, buy the double hooks from mustad- #4 is size I use the most and I will use them for a weedless presentation on cranks, jerkbaits and topwaters so they are weedless, I mess around with the way they face etc. I would say after I changed out hooks on maybe 10 of each lure I can almost just know if I am doing something wrong as I change out my trebles an awful lot, if I use a crankbait for a few hours, get a few fish, I change both as soon as I get home, and I save stock hooks, saves money since the hooks on the Evolve Soul I just purchased were silly small, #8 and #10 I think, so I upped to a #5 and #6, 2x short, and one short daichi in red ewg. Vmc makes a #3 and #5 which is really helpful, same with gamakatsu but I would never pay retail pricing, I buy in bulk from Captain Hooks of the world or Hagens and get triple grips elites for under a .25 each...Deathtraps are only $88 for 1000 or something silly.

I am loyal to Okuma as much as possible since they have been more than generous over the years and have gone well above what I expect from a company. I am also loyal to Culprit and Fenwick because when I was 11 my friend and I sent letters to all companies to ask for decals for our new aluminum boat, we thought it would look cool at the time, and Fenwick sent 2 spinning rods, hats, shirts, and tackle boxes...Culprit also sent a ton of worms and they were in packages, not seconds, and Harrison Hodge-Panther Martin, sent us each a dozen spinners which we used to love back then..... Wow, I have not even heard the name Panther Martin since moving to Florida years ago, I guess inline are more trout and panfish, but I used to like them for bass as a kid. I wonder if they still make the Sea Eagle boats or bass Hunters, Those were top prize for Long Island Bass Tournaments back in the day, Thanks to my brother we had a few...Going to check them out, I want an inflatable kayak actually, but I buy Fenwick and Culprit as often as I can....Not all companies are good, I won't name them since I hate when people blame the brand if 1 employee was rude. It takes alot of courage and money to start a tackle company and with all the competition these days, it is impressive when you see small companies grow and not evaporate these days. I would hate to see Culprit go away but imagine Strike King, and Zoom and eating every companies lunch for the most part, Gambler as well.

The very next day after cold front in Srping I will usually find the fish backing out of the spawning flats, bays and first areas of warm water so I figure the fish either went out to the first drop and it will be the one that has structure and deeper and shallow water both easy to get too so they can flee or feed. Most of the time I find that they move tight to cover and shoreline structure so I bring my spinning rod, tubes and flukes, and skip to get the bait deep under and in laydowns etc. cause they won't move far. I look for good structure water temps usually stay the same unless it is super cold for 3-4 days, but they are usually on bottom and you need to put you bait on top of them and if you work a weed edge and say a crank bait 2' to the side it is probably not going to produce but get a finesse jig with a slow fall and trailer that allows it to flutter like a paca craw or rage chunk, use as light as line as possible, I usually try to go 8-10lb camo line and just struggled but I finally started getting them in the afternoon on a 1/8 weedless spoon with a 4" double tail grub in watermelon orange and the slower it fell the better, same with a jig, we actually started to throw hair jigs and road runners and did well, I always try a 4" senko on a darter head as well, or any bait on a darter head to work the water horizontal and vertical to cover shoreline. If you get one fish you will usually find more with them especially now, usually the 2nd day after cold front is better and if it gets sunny they will suspend in upper 2-3' to get sun and warmth so I love using shallow running minnow baits, soft baits, lately I am into the subwalk from Rapala and SLender Eel from Sebile and Max rap which all suspend under surface any depth you want...the sebile is awesome finesse jerkbait with a killer action and detail, but Patrick Sebile is a legend when it comes to designs, He has a killer line of baits and just wish I could work a few like he can...Pins minnow by yo-zuri is a good lure this time of year for long casts and action on tough days, i don't like alot of flash after cold fronts unless it is something small.....just what I do but I have done well if later in spring on topwaters like the Devils Horse since they will get back to feeding if spawned out for sure much quicker.

One of my buddies who is a really good at punching flipping etc....loves it and is all he ever wants to do, he loves the Gambler baits and he always uses the Otter in both sizes and I can smell them from a mile away. He now uses the Wy not a lot but I can say 100% it is as good a beaver style bait you can buy. They are up their with RI beavers, Rage, Rodents, Gambler is a fantastic company and I don't think they make a bad bait now that I think about it, I use the otter sometimes on a ewg weigted swimbait hook and swim it slowly, just so many options but lots of guys I know Think Gambler is the best all around company for soft baits, some think strike king, Lake Fork, Zoom...All great imo.. Awesome deal, I would have grabbed 30 packs and sold 15 on ebay for $6 a pack as they are expensive and in demand. Gambler has a cult following, enjoy.

I find straight shank best for finesse texas rigs like on a 4" trick worm or any small thin bait. I only use them on lighter line and in lighter gauges, but will sometimes use a straight shank if punching and I will snell the hook to get the bait to land in the water properly which is something a guy showed me 2 years ago and it is a fantastic trick if you snell the hook and stop the bait at right time before it enters the water...I am sure they have videos doing this, I know the guy who showed me did not invent the way to punch or flip but it has helped me get more strikes, land more fish, but now I am going van d**n approach, power shotting with 25 lb fluoro since fish are way to pressured and they are not hitting small creatures like they were when Crews won with the BB Cricket in Florida years back, Fish learn for sure...Power Shotting is awesome if you know the bottom composition and how deep it is under the mat, key is heavy weight I am learning as it kicks up little crustaceans etc and gets a frenzy going, I just let a trick worm sit suspended off the bottom or simply use a floating 2.5" gulp minnow and 1 ounce drop shot sinker with 18" leader seems to be best but I am a long way from being proficient at this method still.....I will use it every time instead of punching now or sure, I see the potential as a drop shot never fails to catch fish.

How is the 3:16 and the Hudds are a must is what I am getting....Thanks for all the info, I am going to look into each one, I want some unique lures to throw that the fish hopefully have not seen. I know what you are saying about only buying a few, great advice, I have found I need to be alone to fish a big lure or bait as I can't watch someone getting bit when I am not, but I love to lunker hunt here in Florida in places that are in areas people never fish due to access and figure I want to get a go pro and chase a true trophy in the 13 pound range......I am afraid of losing them due to pickerel but I am going to use coated wire like I do in saltwater for Snook and they make some just as tough to detect as braid if not better now. Thx again.

Thanks for all the info, I am only buying 2-3 of the really big swimbaits since I have a bunch of 4-6" and looking for the next step up from River2sea and after buying a bunch of less expensive swimbaits from Reaction Strike, Academy, Cableas knock off of Spro and Sebile, I compared them to the real BBZ a few weeks ago after I found a deal on a bunch, and I have always liked the smaller 95sk Magic swimmers from sebile, and in pool you could see that although they are identical copies, they sound, and do not move as natural. I then saw the Gyron and S-waver and realized how all the baits are specialty as the S-waver glides and the BBZ swims so I never made the connection, always thought a glide bait was a suick, or Musky style lure, so I may go Megabass, Ms Slammer, and a bluegill bait of some sort that casts better than the Gyron.... I know strikes are few and far between once you cross the 168mm size, even that is a huge bait, but I get good fish on the huge Savage Eels and watch 4lb bass eat Shiners 10" long and fat like nothing so I figure it Is quality on the big baits that matters most. I have only thrown the 168 river 2 sea a few times and smaller fish hit it but I don't mind upping size and hitting Toho for a day throwing just big swimbaits that are realistic and unique since the pressure is killing the place but weeds are gone this year so a possible giant should come out of West Toho this weekend actually at the B.A.S.S. event, full moon, spawn just starting as males crusing shallow last week but moved back out last few days due to cold front.

I have the savage 4 play version and actually love the detail and action, I actually love Sebile lures and baits, I use the soft Stick shads with the tungsten weight system it comes with and love that bait, I should try the sebile bigger soft baits, they are on clearance at a nearby shop for like $4.99 a pack, colors were not my style though...I have to start checking ebay since I have been finding some steals on good lures in lots, I know they sell 4 bags on auction and end up paying maybe 25 shipped, I found the AT worm that way, best worm you can buy, Complicated but Sebile lures are amazing...Thanks man, If never tried the Ghost walker or *** topwater walking lures they are my favorites by far, and the slender Eel best finesse jerkbait as well...Good stuff, I love how the savage look, going to see if they are available in larger sizes, I believe same OEM makes both, Savage stuff is super cheap in Florida right now, store full of all Savage stuff nothing more than $5 and it includes the 4 play hard and soft and low riders etc...love liquidators especially when a tackle shop goes out of business from a major lake because you see the good stuff in person like Ima, Duo, Imakatsu, etc...

I always wondered this....With soft baits, since only a handful of american companies make their own baits in house, does the OEM own most patents which is why their is so much rebranding and copies of each other,and as for the Flange on Rage Tail- didn't Lake Fork adverstise the Flange on their beaver years ago,same with Netbait? paca craws very similar..I believe Netbait makes their own baits in house but Lake Fork 99% sure does not, so OEM may have had that Patent and Strike king defiinately tweaked it and improved it on better designs as well, but I would venture to say that Strike Kings business is way more valued of little lake fork to the OEM..... I was curious if Strike king is only big enough to put in the patent and afford it first and then that way they can stop the other baits which are popular. Kalins made in same place has a flange on their new grub...Confusing.

Their is a new citica 200 series I saw at Gander for 119 and it felt better than the older citica in the store which is a reel I like. I see the White Citica G online at alot of places for under $100 and some in the 80's, same with Revo R, BB1, and Okuma Serrano is silly low right now $85 for a reel I paid $279 when it came out 3 years ago, and it has double shielded Saltwater grade bearings and components....Plus they honor issues,Okuma casting reels are way better than they used to be, I have 3 serranos now and they are now my favorites over Daiwa Tatula, Curado, only issue is Daiwa and Shimano hold value if you want to sell and upgrade in a few years. I was able to get close to $100 for a Curado almost 10 years old...Crazy, you can buy a 1 year old Quantum Pt Smoke for $60

I have seen them on Ebay from reputable sporting good stores for $90 shipped, and also on sale at gander mountain right now for 10% off 99 so steal them while you can...

I just started throwing them after a suggestion from a member on this site and I like the craw color so far which makes sense for the spring and I purchased some shad or silver patterns as well. Not sure what they were called, found them on clearance for $5 so I grabbed the last 4-5 in stock and love em so far, great Gammy trebles and run like a boss right out of the box...Been using only the yellow brown craw color and it is producing for sure....Silver has to be good, All lakes I fish are loaded with shad, I wanted a bluegill color but didnt have one, will order some more from TW soon. Spro makes good stuff for the money, especially byecause they come ready to fish with the right terminal tackle on them I can trust...Good company, just ordered a Spro shirt actually, I thin they make the best oval rings for lures and coast locks or snaps so I have been happy with Spro and the quality.

Ok, Fell in love with the Spro BBZ, S-Wavers I just picked up as the new batch I ordered worked better than first lot, but I also like the Gyron but I know the stuff from Mattlures, Hudds, Lunker Punker, Black Dog etc..are all better than the knock off H20 gills and Reaction Strike etc... I like the Sebile Magic Swimmers but I don't like the larger sizes of them over 95mm and I want a few bigger baits for some Big Females this year and I just purchased a new large swimbait/glidebait rod and reel for the wide glide which I like and I was thinking some of the Musky baits maybe? I want a Mattlures Swimbait for 100% so any recs on what is best from his line would help as they all look awesome, I wish I could get them all but want to start with a few. Any help appreciated, I don't want to spend $50 on a Vagabond and have it not swim right....I like the S waver but the quality is not consistent and I like River2sea, but I want to see why so many guys I respect are buying these expensive baits and telling me they are great. I jus.t grabbed a great deal on the Okuma EVX Swimbait rod that can handle up to 4 ounces, nice soft tip, will pair with my okuma cedros which holds plenty of heavy fluoro or braid and I was able to get it at a crazy price so that is what it will be....Grabbed a 6:4:1 on advice from my buddy who has now gotten me addicted to glide baits like the wide glide and Herky Jerky, Musky baits like Suick etc..Found a larger Pflueger that will hold enough Flouro and will be good for now. Thanks in advance, I know some of you guys throw these baits with success and understand why you are paying for each lure, not just buying them to say you have them as I think alot of the dock talk I get sounds to be off from what I read and see....I want what works not what is going to look best in the box. Thanks in advance. Ready to move up to the darkside I always said was silly..You always get better and learn, I once hated fluoro and Expensive $15 lipless cranks until I fished the Jackall Tn and some Sebiles and now I see that most expensive baits fit a niche and I like fishing shallow no deeper than 8', Florida clear waters...Thanks again, I apologize for ramble...excited to buy more lures...

I get flack for having way too much and for always having one off packages showing up in the mail box every other day..I like to buy at least 1 of every lure on the market to to see what they are all about and also as a "Collection" I won the last argument by showing how I was able to fetch on average $37 for the 7 Rapala Twitchin Raps I sold on Ebay when I found them for a few bucks at a flea market in a bin and picked up 22....I need to keep the remaining 15 or so I still have in case I ever use one and like them, I think I made a few casts with one a few years ago and just thought it was not needed for my style, plus the Mirrolure 17mr is better imo anyway, but apparently saltwater guys want them and are scared as they are legendary for snook.. I have an addiction to lures, I really do, If it was drugs or Alcohol or Gambling I would be in alot of trouble, but I would call it a healthy addiction because buying expensive lures even just 1 every few days on Ebay allows you to find some awesome lures that you would never normally buy but once in a while you get lucky and can pick up a lot of 5 s-waver 168's for $7 each....Learn the Ebay tricks of how to find the guys who are new to listing and make mistakes so listings are hard to find, I would never give away my secrets, but if you want something, don't bid or look at it more than once that is all I will say, If you see a deal too good to be true, just check feedback or look at other items, many times guys are compulsive like me and will just spend a few hundred bucks on lures I don't need and when I need money I will dump a bunch since I don't open many until using them and I will sell a $15 lure in a lot with 3 others and only ask $30 for it to get money quickly usually to buy more fishing tackle...I am insane, this place makes me worse, and never, never, view demo videos of lures, especially from Sebile, guy can make any lure look like the best invention ever created because he is so good with that rod and reel it is scary......I own every sebile lure created and I can't make half of them do what he gets them to do, but they do work great, Bass rarely see them and I was thinking of going all Sebile for hardbaits since I rarely throw anything else this week, but next week I will get over Sebile and love Strike Pro maybe? Duo? VIntage stuff? or maybe I will do some custom pours, I have enough soft baits to keep every angle in my county stocked for at least 10 years, no Joke, and they cost money to store since they reek like salt and scent.

Love me some Bagley's, I read they are starting to use the older molds that were so good (I hear) from back in the days when they were legend...I love the shad raps, actually the Cabela's Shad raps are not bad at all, in fact I would say the Cabelas hard baits are as good as Academy and Bass Pro since they have come out with much better color patterns in my opinion and very different than the norm....but good info, Bagleys has so many classics, They rarely make bad baits but have had a few that were so-so....Tough to beat the bang o lure or the First legit Live forrage look to crankbaits...I hope the new baits do not have bill problems like in the past 10 years or so when the company went away for awhile. Excited to see new innovation and the fact they will be using original mold from 70's again, Best balsa baits for the money in my opinion, Bagley's cranks do things other crankbaits can't do for under $10

I break down lipless baits into categories....here are my favorites and I use them more than most hardbaits... 1- yo-yo style retrieve or ripping-Rapala Rippin Rap, Red Eye Shad, Yo-zuri VIbe For a bait that glides on the pause the Rapala CLackin rap is great, for a one Knocker the xcalibur bait are top quality and so are the colors, and for a nose down and bottom walking style nothing touches the Jackall Tn in my opinion but the spro Akuru shad is great but I like it more for the head down swim and ripping from weeds.. Favorite lipless crank- Sebile Flatt Shad-Snagless (Truly weedless)- Best lipless invented- Sebile flatt Shad 77 suspending, you can pitch it like a jig, only needs 6" of water and will sit still like a boss, swims head down, glitter filled body gives a scale falling off effect and translucent baits work best imo of all the colors, you can fish this bait anywhere and it vibrates nicely with flat sides no rattles, catches bigger fish as it is larger. Honorable mention- Cordell Spot and suspending spot especially the smaller ones, Sebile flatt shadd sinking 66mm and 54mm, Reaction Strike Xv-65,75, Floating Rattle traps, storm rockin shad, H20 Express 3/8 and 5/8 lipless cranks... Alll of these baits have completely different actions, some magazine broke down slow cycle vs. fast, fall rates, better for ripping etc...I also make sure if ripping grass I use barbless hooks, and use thinner guage, Triple grips are good, but favorite is xcal Rotating t3 trebles for lipless cranks as they stay tight to belly, also check out the mustad 2 prong trebles and pull of the rear hook and add either a blade or flashabou without a hook to make any lipless crank weedless, or take a rubber band and wrap hooks to belly, it works, big fish choke em, hooks can be on top as well...Sebile is the best imo for lipless cranks anywhere anytime as they have the sizes and they do all the things you want without the loud sound which I am starting to use less and less

Just buy some D.O.A. chug heads and it turns any soft bait into a bait with eyes, keel, added color, and a chugging head for texas rigs and c-rigs etc...D.O.A is considered a saltwater company and not popular up north, but owner Mark Nichols loves to Bass Fish and many of his baits were designed to be fished for Florida bass so he offers swimbaits, awesome soft baits, terminal tackle and his videos on how to fish his stuff on you tube are some of the best period. Also if trying any D.O.A. stuff every bass fisherman needs the tough guy, look at it and you will agree, one of my top producing lures I am surprised I am talking about right now since I do keep a few lures secret since Pressure is getting worse in Florida and you need different stuff. Pop Shads will suck in my opinion since they are going to be light, D.O.A version is my best piece of terminal tackle period and I have tackle like an insane person, so it is saying alot....

Bomber Timmy Horton Long A Pro 15,Smithwick Rogue and Perfect Ten, Sebile Slender Eel, Xcalibur Evers E shad, Ima Flit, Pointer 78 and Max raps, also like a suspending rapala xrap shads, xraps, subwalks, Deep- I rarely go below 6-8' but If I do I would use the spoon bill rogue and all smithwicks are usually good for getting deep quickly compared to others in class, all depends on what model and size....usually using a glass shad rap or jointed suspending shad rap for deep, I like the spoonbills especially in dirty water the older metal lips are awesome for bouncing bottom like a jig which some days works really well, otherwise I am weak in the deep suspending game..... I love working suspended and shallow 6"-8' suspending when I do, but also love floaters all year even in winter, a good slow floater like the old Lews and now they are the bass pro 2.99 xps minnows in broke back and regular, 4 sizes, nice arch for action, rise super slow...new favorite "find" add a suspend dot and it is a suspender, best minnow lure for 2.99 in my opinion pound for pound, still would fish a bomber or bagleys in summer though.....

Only for a float and fly otherwise my tackle is too heavy although a small tiny shad as pictured is a great little bait after the spawn of any fish, kind of like catching a mayfly hatch, those little 1" baits on a ballhead jig work on fish of all sizes when nothing else will...Problem is Crappie and panfish get them first, big bass won't compete many times except very very cold float and fly 4lb test type stuff, streamers, marabou jigs, or dragon flies in summer on a split shot rig 6lb test is small as I go and have caught a few nice fish doing that since uncle bucks makes a nice 2" version that makes a good teaser in front of a plug as well....so do those tiny shad, nothing wrong with double rigs.

Crème Midget crawler....spybaiting in the early 80's.

live target makes one identical if you want realisim, so does Academy, I find baby bass to be any crank with green or brown in it, I do have some J-5 baby bass Rapala shad raps and they are nice looking and would make sense in clear cold water especially in ponds where I do well with those balsa flat sided cranks...Bomber is ranked 5th by bass master for cranks, try the flat A for cold and flash, fat Free, Model A, not the bait bonanza, Bandits are good and inexpensive, and a cordell big O is still a classic for a reason, Firetiger doubles as panfish and bass if you use a sharpie to hide some brights but you can add them again, I am always coloring and dying lures on the fly, sanding, color is not a factor for me except for my show off lures for special days. A good crankbait should not have paint after a few good days of fishing.

I have read in a few biology studies that large Female bass crave the Iodine that Crawfish provide more than anything else including shiners etc. for the time they are in pre-Spawn and Spawn mode, but obviously they need food so I have been using larger chigger craws and Jig profiles hoping that the next tight line is a trophy. It makes sense...orange and Green Spinnerbaits as well as Red and black cranks, green pumpkin, summer craw, all seem to work well in spring and I must say that orange in a spinnerbait is something I have been doing for many many years and it is much better in Spring than Summer for me anyway. After the spawn the fish need Protein and calories to recover so that is when I like to throw the larger easy to catch presentations like the floating Minnow bait, Sluggo, slow roll a big swimbait, but anytime is good for craws, if you can turn over rocks at the dock you may get lucky and find them in between color changes and if you can nail it when they are that pumpkinseed color, have blue in them, or simply see a dark red in the mouths of fish you are catching, match hatch and color because it could be a great day....I have also been a few days late on color and it matters for craws at times, more so in spring for some reason, and remember, craws in one area could be a few days ahead in color change but if you keep it simple with color usually 1 of the big 3 works good, plus a lipless crank with some brown in it or red could be anything to that fish, I notice I sell a ton more crawfish style baits on weekends and also craw patterns for lures than in summer and spring when everyone wants chrome blue and chrome black, chart shads....Right now Gp and purple is working in Florida.