# All time favorite Red fish lure... whats yours?



## BallisticJoel

So this year, this has become my go to red drum lure. Ive used other colors but not nearly the same amount of bites as this guy. Its also tough enough to withstand the lizard fish.


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## tcov




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## BrownDog

ZMan minnowZ 
I can swim it like a mullet, pop it like a shrimp, drag it like a crab with a claw waving


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## Zika

Aqua Dream weedless spoons. 1/4-ounce in the winter, 3/8-ounce the rest of the year. Various colors to match the water.


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## MELank

Damnit don’t tell everyone about that paddlerz in pinfish color!


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## spc7669

I throw jigs a lot, but a Johnson gold spoon will get them when nothing else will.


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## Smackdaddy53

Sight fishing or blind casting?


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## DBStoots

Really like the Slayer Lures 4" Sinister Swim Tail (SST) in Cockroach color.


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## MariettaMike

Live Mud Minnows


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## Sdia03

Can’t beat the durability of z man


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## Brandon Alexander

tcov said:


> View attachment 192130


👆👆👆👆👆👆


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## m32825

I like the paddlerz setup in post #1, but rigged on a 4/0 EWG hook that's skin hooked to be weedless. Add a 1/8 oz bullet weight for something I can crawl along the bottom without having to pick weeds off after every retrieve.


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## anytide

cut ladyfish.
can of beer.


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## TheDude

I've probably caught more reds on that 4" Scented PaddlerZ over the last 10 years than all other lures combined, mostly rigged on a 3/0 weighted EWG. Redfish Toad color is my go-to.


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## RennieRae

MELank said:


> Damnit don’t tell everyone about that paddlerz in pinfish color!


And definitely don't tell anyone that they work great for snook also!


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## BallisticJoel

MELank said:


> Damnit don’t tell everyone about that paddlerz in pinfish color!


Lol!!! Hey just trying to help our skiff brother out. Not sharing all the secrets or what the extra scent is i ad in the bag.


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## BallisticJoel

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Sight fishing or blind casting?


Your choice buddy! Either/or/both......


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## CKEAT

Love the slider style flies


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## Smackdaddy53

Down South Lures Burner Shad on 1/32 or 1/16oz short shank plain lead screwlock jighead for sight fishing conventional gear.

Down South Lures original or Super Model size for blind casting. Jighead weight to suit conditions and depth.


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## TX_maverick

Down South for me as well. TX Roach burner shad, or the bone diamond.


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## Brett

What? They work...nuff said.


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## Smackdaddy53

Brett said:


> What? They work...nuff said.


Fool ‘em don’t feed ‘em!!!


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## Brett

Feed 'em to eat 'em.









If I'm just enjoying the day, I don't use hooks.
Topwater plugs sans hooks to watch the blowup.
The hit is everything....the tug of war when hooked can seriously injure/kill the fish.


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## DocHoliday

What kind of hook in Post#1 with the jig eye built in?Nice set up!


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## omegadef

All of my redfish this year have been on 3/8 oz jighead with pink champagne matrix shad. 
My wife has caught a few on live shrimp. 




BallisticJoel said:


> So this year, this has become my go to red drum lure. Ive used other colors but not nearly the same amount of bites as this guy. Its also tough enough to withstand the lizard fish.
> View attachment 192129


Clearly I was using the zman jighead wrong. 

Are you finding that the scent matters? I seem to find that matrix shads hold up better for me, but I haven't really had a day where I've hammered the reds either, mostly just picking them up here and there.


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## omegadef

DocHoliday said:


> What kind of hook in Post#1 with the jig eye built in?Nice set up!





https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/z-man-texas-eye-jighead?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Shop%7CBPS%7CTopPerformers%7CFishing&gclid=CjwKCAiAzrWOBhBjEiwAq85QZx9WZRI_S-asKuEWPwI_ByYTvDNvDx3ZnUHwskVNY_C6BVSAL5QFFhoCRMgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


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## tigerfly

Either

1/8oz Texas eye finesse with purple/black zman minnows

1/8oz Texas eye with wright stuff paddlerz


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## DocHoliday

Thank You
Happy New year


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## Capnredfish

Said this in a post years ago. Anything as long as you have a sandwich out ready to eat, it never fails you will get hit


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## Cej2525

So I don't share this much but I land 90% of my marsh fish on this presentation. It's the TRD Crawz on a Jika rig I make up myself. I tie a mono keeper to the hook with my tying gear to keep the craw in place. The articulated weight allows the craw to stand up in the mud. I tried a jig head in the beginning but I primarily fish the Pascagoula river basin in Ms. and its a soft mud bottom. This little jewel catches it all. Sheepshead and Flounder love it as well.


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## DocHoliday

Cej2525 said:


> So I don't share this much but I land 90% of my marsh fish on this presentation. It's the TRD Crawz on a Jika rig I make up myself. I tie a mono keeper to the hook with my tying gear to keep the craw in place. The articulated weight allows the craw to stand up in the mud. I tried a jig head in the beginning but I primarily fish the Pascagoula river basin in Ms. and its a soft mud bottom. This little jewel catches it all. Sheepshead and Flounder love it as well.
> 
> View attachment 192544
> 
> 
> View attachment 192545


What a great idea.How slow do you have to fish it?I have been fishing frogs in the grass without the weight using the same setup.There is a product called Snap-Loc we used to use for Lindy Rigs walleye fishing.The weight just snaps on and off for free lining.Happy New Year.


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## Cej2525

Man, where to start! I've fished it almost every retrieve possible except top water. The standard retrieve for me is from bottom, jig, jig, pause. When sight fishing a slow drag through the mud then a pause works great. In deep water beside bridge pilings a sharp and high double jig followed by a slow controlled fall is killer on Sheephead. Just make sure there is a arc in your fall, not straight down. I would also like to add that with the durability of Elaztech plus the bait keeper added I have caught over 50 fish on a single bait. It's a 1/8 bell sinker, #1-15lb split ring and a Owner rig'n hook in 1/0. I may be changing over to a Berkley Fusion in a #1 as they seem to be a little stronger and half the price. But the cutting point on a Owner is the sharpest around. I thing it matters when it comes to the convicts.


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## Steve_Mevers

tcov said:


> View attachment 192130


More redfish have been caught on a Johnson gold spoon than most other lures combined! I usually fly fish, BUT my favorite lure is a large skitterwalk surface plug, love to see them explode on the surface.


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## ebr

That Pinfish colored Zman Paddler was my go-to for all inshore species for a couple of years but I have to say the Salt Strong Slam Shady soft paddlers have been money for the last year. That pearl-like color seems to work in most all conditions.


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## Nathan Disher

Castaic Jerky J Swim


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## dwyermw

4 inch Zman


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## 17hpxt89

Zman…. And a gulp shrimp for nostalgia


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## Smackdaddy53

Cej2525 said:


> So I don't share this much but I land 90% of my marsh fish on this presentation. It's the TRD Crawz on a Jika rig I make up myself. I tie a mono keeper to the hook with my tying gear to keep the craw in place. The articulated weight allows the craw to stand up in the mud. I tried a jig head in the beginning but I primarily fish the Pascagoula river basin in Ms. and its a soft mud bottom. This little jewel catches it all. Sheepshead and Flounder love it as well.
> 
> View attachment 192544
> 
> 
> View attachment 192545


My son and I used your rig Monday and caught no telling how many sight cast redfish on it. I used a 1/16oz drop shot weight and the “Bubble Guts” color Zman TRD Craw.
Thanks for the tip! They smash it.


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## Copahee Hound

Cej2525 said:


> So I don't share this much but I land 90% of my marsh fish on this presentation. It's the TRD Crawz on a Jika rig I make up myself. I tie a mono keeper to the hook with my tying gear to keep the craw in place. The articulated weight allows the craw to stand up in the mud. I tried a jig head in the beginning but I primarily fish the Pascagoula river basin in Ms. and its a soft mud bottom. This little jewel catches it all. Sheepshead and Flounder love it as well.
> 
> View attachment 192544
> 
> 
> View attachment 192545


I was looking into the jika setup as a bass friend suggested it to me, but as I see how you rigged the trd crawz, would it not be about the same to rig them on the eye strike finesse texas eye hooks? I'm going to try both but thought I'd ask


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## WC53

Copahee Hound said:


> I was looking into the jika setup as a bass friend suggested it to me, but as I see how you rigged the trd crawz, would it not be about the same to rig them on the eye strike finesse texas eye hooks? I'm going to try both but thought I'd ask


Haven’t tried the crawlz, but the baby goat stands straight up with the 1/16 ounce finesse texas eye.


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## Smackdaddy53

WC53 said:


> Haven’t tried the crawlz, but the baby goat stands straight up with the 1/16 ounce finesse texas eye.


What the hell is a baby goat? A kid? Post a photo of this thing please, I am intrigued.


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## Copahee Hound

Smackdaddy53 said:


> What the hell is a baby goat? A kid? Post a photo of this thing please, I am intrigued.


Baby GOAT™ (zmanfishing.com)


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## Smackdaddy53

Copahee Hound said:


> Baby GOAT™ (zmanfishing.com)


Greatest of all time


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## WC53

Baby Goat on regular finesse hook. It’s raining so I’m not going to the barn  They don’t stand up on regular finesse. Just got the Texas eye finesse last week, and they do stand up.









other goats? No kidding around here


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## 19Mako79

Super spook!


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## boneappetite

Love me some penny Gulp shrimp on the flats!


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## smitty

Watermelon colored Cabela's Go To Series 3 inch soft plastic paddle tail on a DOA 1/8 oz chartreuse jig head. It's money


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## Cej2525

Smackdaddy53 said:


> My son and I used your rig Monday and caught no telling how many sight cast redfish on it. I used a 1/16oz drop shot weight and the “Bubble Guts” color Zman TRD Craw.
> Thanks for the tip! They smash it.
> 
> View attachment 193961





Copahee Hound said:


> I was looking into the jika setup as a bass friend suggested it to me, but as I see how you rigged the trd crawz, would it not be about the same to rig them on the eye strike finesse texas eye hooks? I'm going to try both but thought I'd ask



I'm glad it worked for you and your son. Over here in the Pascagoula river system it's a killer. Keep me posted on how it's working for you.

As far as the Texas eye jig head. I have a friend that uses them a lot with Zman and has great success. But I do feel the Jika rig has a small advantage in the "Finesse" category. When I first thought about this rig I had no idea a Texas eye even existed. The main reason I went with the Jika rig with a bell type sinker in the beginning was due to mud. 90% of our bottoms are mud. I tried the standard Ned head first and it would sink in the mud a bit and not have the freedom of movement a Ned rig capitalized on. So added a articulated joint that would allow the rig to move even after it sank in the mud. It was only afterwards that the same friend said "hey, I think that's called a Jika rig". To add even another level to it. A bell sinker has a silhouette like a wider crawfish tail. So when you "pop" it off bottom like a fleeing crawfish it folds under the bottom of the plastic in the same natural movement of a swimming crawfish. I know this is a lot of info on the subject but myself and a few other people have really been trying to get down to what makes it so dang deadly.

Plus the added mono keeper will make the Elaztech last FOREVER. It's always a bitten off claw that makes me change out.


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## Megalops

Cej2525 said:


> So I don't share this much but I land 90% of my marsh fish on this presentation. It's the TRD Crawz on a Jika rig I make up myself. I tie a mono keeper to the hook with my tying gear to keep the craw in place. The articulated weight allows the craw to stand up in the mud. I tried a jig head in the beginning but I primarily fish the Pascagoula river basin in Ms. and its a soft mud bottom. This little jewel catches it all. Sheepshead and Flounder love it as well.
> 
> View attachment 192544
> 
> 
> View attachment 192545


Can you explain more how you tie the mono in? Just thread wrapped and hit with uv cure? What pound mono, and how long typically?


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## Cej2525

You nailed it. 20lb Mason hard mono, thread and Solarez UV. Another good combo I found for clear water is to use some fluorescent orange thread under a Trick Shot in Bad shad color. Makes a nice little 3D hot spot.


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## skinny_fishing

So what's the purpose of gluing a small piece of mono leader in that spot on the hook? I didn't even catch that part of it until I saw the zoomed in image. Thanks for sharing.


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## Cej2525

If you've fished with Zman plastics you know thay can be tought to deal with. The Elaztech is almost indestructible but it's hard to keep it in place on your hook. I had the same issue with the crawfish riding down the hook and knotting up in to one big mess. The mono keeper is pulled completely through the hook and lays on the outside of the plastic keeping it in place. Saves time, plastics and sanity

Best picture I could find was a snagged mullet...


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## skinny_fishing

Oh ok I get it now. Would an EWG hook with a spring lock work just as good you think?


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## Cej2525

You have no idea how much I wish a screw lock worked well on Zman products. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's definitely a PITA.


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## skinny_fishing

Lol not surprised, I have a hard enough time getting Zman lures to look right on a damn jighead. The Salt Strong videos make it look so easy 

Someone would probably make a killing producing hooks with a little barb on them like your setup


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## Cej2525

If I were them I would make it it look easy too...

I've had a lot of people tell me to start making them. I just don't want to mix business with one of my most enjoyable escapes from life. But I have thought about it.


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## Smackdaddy53

skinny_fishing said:


> Lol not surprised, I have a hard enough time getting Zman lures to look right on a damn jighead. The Salt Strong videos make it look so easy
> 
> Someone would probably make a killing producing hooks with a little barb on them like your setup


They do


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## Cej2525

Who makes them? I would love to check them out.


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## Cej2525

I would think they couldn't be any bigger than a 1/0 or they will not fit the craw. But if there is a better option for my friends that don't have tying supplies it would make their life easier, and mine.


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## skinny_fishing

Yeah, don't have any tying supplies lol....Maybe I could use a tiny zip tie then put the epoxy over that


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## Megalops

skinny_fishing said:


> Yeah, don't have any tying supplies lol....Maybe I could use a tiny zip tie then put the epoxy over that


Time to break out the buggy whip.


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## skinny_fishing

Cej2525 said:


> You have no idea how much I wish a screw lock worked well on Zman products. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's definitely a PITA.


Wanted to bring this up again because I just saw a trick to do this specifically with Zman lures.....You start a good "pilot hole" with the hook first before you try to screw it in and it goes in a lot easier. It's even better with Owner twist lock hooks because they have a (patented I think) "guide pin" through the middle of the screw to guide it in straight. I ordered some of the hooks today, also ordered the Zman craw and picked up the bell weights and rings.....Can't wait to try this out!


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## sydngoose

paddle tail : dirty boxer on 1/4 ounce jig head.


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## BilgeFumes

White scented Paddle tail with white 1/4 oz head bouncing along the bottom on the mud flats and sand spots between grass. If you find a good bottle neck where the tide flows in and out of an area, you'll catch slot reds all day long depending on the season.


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## GaryBee

CKEAT said:


> Love the slider style flies


I tie that exact fly, same color combination, for Southwest Florida. I did notice it looks like you tie it on a jig style hook. Any reason?


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## skinny_fishing

Tried that rig with the craw and bell weight yesterday. First cast a shark ate it and broke it off lol.

Didn't have anymore than that one so will have to try again next time.


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## Cej2525

skinny_fishing said:


> Tried that rig with the craw and bell weight yesterday. First cast a shark ate it and broke it off lol.
> 
> Didn't have anymore than that one so will have to try again next time.


Sounds like a win to me! Let me know how the next time pans out.


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## skinny_fishing

Must be a good lure because I've never had a shark eat any of my lures before. Was kind of upset i didn't get to try it the rest of the day!


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## Mac 763

1/4 oz. jig (Knotty Hooker and/or Slayer-weedless) Black (w/chartreuse tail) paddle tail or Big Bite Baits Swimming Craw-White


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## WC53

Always a pinfish  redfish, snook, grouper it works for all


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## ElLobo

The ChinlockZ hooks work wonders for the Zman artificials. Never had a problem with them slipping.


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## TailHunter13

Kung Fu crab fly 🤌🏽


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## Bradtothebones

Rootbeer chartreuse swimming trout trick seems to get a bite most days here in SC🎣


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## TroutNreds12

Megalops said:


> Can you explain more how you tie the mono in? Just thread wrapped and hit with uv cure? What pound mono, and how long typically?
> 
> View attachment 197206


If you can’t tie this super glue on the head of craw just a few drops holds forever!! You can also still remove with some force if needed to replace


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## Capt.Ron

Lure? Nacho Daddy spoon, or vudu shrimp


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## SupergrandslamIII

A bucktail jig you just cannot beat the versatility


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## mmcintyre44

Beastie Bug hair jig for tailers.


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## Zika

Aqua Dream/Capt. Mike's 3/8-ounce weedless gold spoon with single hook was/is my go-to. If the water is tannin stained, the pink works well. If clear, chartreuse. I do downsize to 1/4-ounce in the winter when the baits are scarce/smaller.


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## Sightcast

For conventional/spin…
For a soft plastic, AM Fishing TX 4” blue crab; redfish love it. Their bro’s gold and money colors are close behind. Good dudes, real fishy, and made in south Texas. Love me a bone spook jr. when conditions dictate too.


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## DBStoots

Sightcast said:


> For conventional/spin…
> For a soft plastic, AM Fishing TX 4” blue crab; redfish love it. Their bro’s gold and money colors are close behind. Good dudes, real fishy, and made in south Texas. Love me a bone spook jr. when conditions dictate too.


How do you rig this bait?


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## Sightcast

DBStoots said:


> How do you rig this bait?


I like to use Owner or Gamakatsu weighted, weedless, twtistlock hooks. Regular jighead works great too though.


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