YUM F2 Wooly Hawg Craw

The 4" YUM F2 Wooly Hawg Craw has the bulk and lifelike appearance to fool even the seasoned bass of high-pressured impoundments. An extension of Yum's highly successful lineup of Wooly baits, the Wooly Hawg Craw gives anglers a creature bait with a twist by combining the vibration creating ribs of a wooly bait with the craw pinchers of the Yum Chunk and the twin tails of the Wooly Hawg Tail. The result is a flippin' bait with the bulk that is ready-made for power fishing in covers.

This is by far my favorite bait for bedfishing...

YUM'S F2 Salleemander

YUM Soft Plastics’ new F2 Salleemander features swimming action never before seen from a soft plastic lizard, and because it’s infused with F2 attractant it continuously releases the most potent attractant on the market. With four swimming-action legs and a knob at the end of the tail that creates a realistic swimming action to the entire lizard, the Salleemander pushes tremendous water displacement. The 6-inch Salleemander is perfect for Carolina rigs and Texas rigs, but also catches bass weightless worked over grass.

Attract. Enrage. Engage. YUM F2, or Ferocity Squared, is a highly concentrated natural formula clinically tested by the Mississippi State University under the strictest scientific conditions. The result is documented proof that bass prefer YUM F2 by 30 percent over the leading attractant. Additional advantages include its ability to be infused in traditional soft plastics in any shape, as well as long-lasting effectiveness and continuous dispersal of scent (no need to “refresh” every six casts!).

Six bait styles are infused with a powerful scent, and unlike other attractant-injected plastics, YUM F2 infused lures retain their suppleness and swimability no matter how many casts you make. They also don't dry into hard, wrinkled and useless shrivels when left out of the package. The YUM F2 just took over the top spot in bass attractants. It's documented. It's been scientifically proven through testing that bass prefer F2 and the Salleemander is the new lizard of choice.

The YUM F2 Salleemander is great on a Texas rig but most anglers will throw it on a Carolina Rig. One hint – give it a try Texas rigged weedless with no weight, then work it over weedbeds. When you hit an open spot, give it a twitch and watch the tail slash sideways and the whole body move in a swimming motion. It triggers violent stritkes!

The new YUM F2 Salleemander comes in 12 fish-catching colors.

Rapala's Clackin' Minnow

One of the hot new lure for 2011 is Rapala's Clackin' Minnow. Like the Clackin' Crank, the Clackin' Minnow features the same unique Clackin' Cadence chamber but in a jerkbait / ripbait form factor. The Clackin' Minnow is sort of a cross between the X-Rap and the Clackin' Rap. It's got great side to side erratic action and a very unique sound among other jerkbaits. The sound is somewhere between the high pitched rattles you get with small beads like a Smithwick Rattlin' Rogue and the duller one-knocker sound you might get with a Lucky Craft Pointer. But the Clackin' Minnow sounds seem to emit further, enabling it to draw fish from further away at times.

It's not the prime time for jerkbaits as of yet in these part, but sure can't wait for the jerkbait bite to come to see how this new lure compares to the other baits I've used.

The bait in two sizes - 09 and 11 - and will come in 16 colors to start. It features a big VMC SureSet Flash Feather Teaser Tail for a rear hook and a standard Black Nickel VMC round bend hook on the belly. Each bait is hand-tuned and tank-tested prior to packaging.

One other important note is that the baits are slow sinkers. This should make the bait more of a fast moving application jerkbait as opposed to the dead of winter type jerkbait. The CNM09 is 3 1/2 inches and will run 3 to 4 feet deep, while the CNM11 is 4 3/8 inches and will run 4 to 5 feet deep. These new Clackin' Series lures are now available at your favorite tackle shop or the Rapala website.

Species:         Walleye, Pike, Musky, Trout, Salmon and Panfish     

Technique:     Casting & Trolling

Environment:  Freshwater