Lures That Mimic Crayfish

The lures that mimic crayfish -- a favorite food of many important game fish including bass, crappie and perch -- typically come in a soft plastic form. These crayfish imitations are extremely effective, especially when you rig them correctly and fish the presentation in specific situations where fish would expect to find, capture and dine upon the real thing.

  1. Lifelike Plastics

    • The pincers on a plastic lure imitating a crayfish are of the utmost importance when it comes to making the lure seem real. Crayfish will defend themselves vigorously against a predator, using their sharp pincers to try to deter an attack. Plastic lures that have well defined features such as the crayfish's pincers, legs and antennae will work well in clear water, fooling fish into thinking they are alive and edible.

    Where to Use Crayfish Lures

    • Choose a soft plastic crayfish lure when you go fishing in rocky or gravelly-bottomed rivers and streams. The crayfish is a natural inhabitant of such settings on a year round basis and a food that is a staple of the diet of bass, with the smallmouth bass in particular quite fond of a crayfish dinner. You can also use soft plastics mimicking a crayfish in deeper venues such as rock-strewn reservoirs and lakes featuring grassy weedbeds, where crayfish often congregate.

    How to Rig Crayfish Lures

    • Some plastic crayfish lures come ready made with a hook already in them, making it necessary simply to tie them to your line to utilize. Before doing so, you can add weight to the presentation by slipping a worm weight, shaped like a bullet or small cone, onto your line in front of the lure. Other soft plastic crayfish work well when Texas rigged. This presentation requires sticking the point of an offset worm hook through the tail of the lure, bringing it out about 1/2 inch from where it went in. Pulling the tail up past where the shaft of the hook offsets near the eye keeps it from falling back down the shaft. Anglers then stick the hook in the head portion of the crayfish; they use this rig with a worm weight in front of it on the line.

    How to Fish Crayfish Lures

    • Fishing with plastic crayfish in a current keeps them moving, as they bounce up and down, thereby attracting the attention of fish. By setting up upstream, anglers can cast downstream and allow the current of a river or stream to move the crayfish. Bass and other game fish will grab the lure and gulp it down. When in a boat, you can cast the crayfish toward shore where bass may lurk in the shade.