STILL one of the best post-spawn/summer cranks ever. “Citrus shad” and “citruse” are tough to beat, but also check “shadtreuse” (pictured), “mimosa” and “pure shad.”

Here’s a vid I did a while back with Alton Jr about how he fishes it:

Here’s a few famous dudes educatin’ you on it:

Are flat-sided cranks only good for colder water? Uh, no — and remember we’re talkin ’bout bass which are the equivalent of:

Lol it’s true! Anyhow, since David Fritts is only capable of designing killer cranks and this one got a lotta use and success as soon as it came out, gonna say you need to have one. I need to have one — haven’t been able to get my hands on one yet! I’m like, “hey Fritts, where’s my care package man! Don’t you even care??”

Anyhow, now this bait comes in 3 sizes — 2.25″ (1/3-oz), 2.5″ (3/7-oz), 2.75″ (1/2-oz) — which means Tackle Warehouse gets to process more funds…and we have more options. Thinkin’ I’m gonna start with the 2.5″ — maybe in a specialty Fritts color like “cream pie” ^ — cuz it’s in the middle of the range and I’ve never knowing owned a 3/7-oz bait before.

Soooo many sick colors. Those are “citrus shad,” “prism chartreuse perch” and “green shad.” Here’s FLWer Braxton Setzer talkin’:

Lots of talk about purple-back colors now, and that “midnight magic” for sure has some purple so…2 things about this series of baits (2.5″, 1/2-oz):

Aha! What happens when a bait company has 2 of the “same” baits, in this case squarebills? Well, they get a guy whose accent is tough to understand to explain why…lol just kiddin’ (sorta) Cliff! That’s Cajun Baby Crochet o’ course, and he did a dang innerestin’ short vid on how he fishes each squarebill differently. In brief:

Full vid:

Had to include for this time o’ year.

Summer no-brainers:
– Rapala DTs — here’s the Ike colors, might wanna wait for the new “big shad” color.
– Strike King XDs — 5XD, 6XD, 10XD if you’ve been working out…don’t forget the silent versions.
– Norman DD22s — Great colors, still catch ’em.

Up-and-comers:
– Berkley Dredgers — tighter action, believe David Fritts helped design these too.
– 6th Sense Cloud 9s — regularly pop up in TX tourneys in the summer.

Notables:
– Lucky Craft 1.5
– Bandit 200 and 300

Okay 1 thing:

HAHAHA! Here we go:

Pick a color any color. Some folks swear by the lighter “bone,” “clear” (pictured) or “nickel,” others dig “Okie shad” or “baby bass.” I believe this size gets more bites than the full-sized Spook but YMMV. Walk it in open water for schoolers or over points, boulders, drops or deep cover, or walk it near cover. You know the drill, like these dudes:

Little tip with the Super Spook Jr is add a small split-ring to the line tie so you can work the bait faster. ‘Nother little tip is Tackle Warehouse has a deal on 3.

Not much you need to know except that this is more bite-sized size and sometimes that’s the deal. It was for Seth Feider and his mullet in this vid, where he force-feeds some largemouths…I mean, not really cuz biting is optional but you know what I mean. Fish choking it and 2 hooks in the roof says it all mang!

True story: Once I was in the boat with Justin Lucas, when this bait was new, and he couldn’t stop fishing it and talking about how great it was. I mean, he could NOT stop. I was like, “Okay man, pretty sure I’ve seen something like it before?” Well yep but then I fished ’em and I kinda love ’em too. Few things from Justin:

1. “The hard tail and more cup to the tail on the Choppo give it more durability and a different sound they haven’t heard before.”
2. “They won’t roll over on you.”
3. “They come with super-sharp Berkley Fusion19 trebles.”
4. “Only $10!” [$10-$10.50 on TW vs $17-$21 for the Plopper.]

Everyone’s all about the 130 size on the Plopper and the Choppo’s biggest size is 120, but I actually like middle 105 size because:
– It has a couple good plop sounds.
– The hooks don’t hang as low as the 120 so it doesn’t pick up as much veggies.
– It’s easier to “aim” — not as much of a bomb — especially in smaller waters.
– The bass like it so….

Asked Justin if I was nutz and he said, “If I could have only one size it would be the 105!” so there you go. Also said his fave colors are “bone” and “maverick” (black). But…here he is fishing one of my fave colors, “MF bluegill:”

Side note: Pretty sure all the pros only fish white and black on top, and gp and b/b in plastics unless they’re in FL when junebug mkes an appearance….just sayin’ that I need to be gettin’ that through my thick skull a little better….

Not out yet but coming soon. Elitist Brandon Card helped develop the bait and says:

One of the biggest deals with this bait is how you can walk it without moving it forward much:

Full vid:

Lunkerhunt makes a lots o’ different baits, but are known best for their what I’d call fun topwaters — a variety of critters, not just frogs. There’s ^ just 4 — clockwise from top L:

– Phantom Spider (dock)

– Compact Frog (green tea)

– Froglet (leopard)

One quick deal: If you’re just fun-fishing, especially with kids, these are some of the funnest baits to have for ’em.

Here’s the thing with Japanese baits that might look “weird” or different to us: They work. They do something cool. Like the NOI-Z — check this:

Fast:

Walk:

In place:

That wild or what! Pic above is “matte ghost bluegill,” here’s the full YT vid.

Had to include these….

Frowgs:

– BOOYAH Pad Crasher and Poppin Pad Crasher — Get Jason Christie’s 3 fave Pad Crashers here.

– SPRO Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog 65 — Duh!

– River2Sea Ish Monroe Phat Mat Daddy Frog — No-brainer cuz Ish is a frog hammer.

– Jackall Kaera Frog — Jared Lintner turned me onto this smaller frog (vid).

– BOOYAH ToadRunner — Super fun, like the Teckel Sprinker but different.

– Teckel Maracker Frog — Loud rattles, great on mats.

– Lunkerhunt Combat Frog — Or the original Lunker Frog.

Walkers/Proppers/Spitters:

– Berkley Drift Walker — More subtle for slick conditions.

– Yo-Zuri 3DR Prop — Works and sick colors.

– Evergreen Shower Blow — Restarted the pencil popper deal for good reason.

Poppers:

– BOOYAH Boss Pop — Believe Zell Rowland helped design this one.

– Storm Arashi Cover Pop — The Rapala pros like it so….

– Lobina Ricos — TW has blemished “bone” ones for half price.

Other topwaters:

– Arbogast Hula Popper 2.0 — Gonna try these again, why not….

– SPRO BBZ-1 Rat — Swims great.