You can see in these images that the rattles along with the Lindy float in the nose really help bring this bait to life. Notice the top image and the claw bent back the next photo was taken a couple seconds later after the claw slowly moved to the front it was great watching it in my fish tank. I never use a rig at the lake without testing it in my tank first. It can tell you so much about the action and the best way to retrieve the bait for the best results. Sometimes the Paca Craw stands straight up and the rattles act just like legs and I know if my bait lands in these positions 90% of the time It will trigger bites even when the bite is slow. This is a great flipping rig that will help you hook-up more. The Trokar hook is awesome and will pentrate the hardest part of a bass' mouth. I believe this rig will help you catch more bass this season so give it a shot and have fun!
Adding the Lindy Snell float to the nose cavity of the Paca Craw really makes this rig special. This float in the nose helps the bait maintain its defensive posture while you let it soak in the strike zone. Watching this thing in the water is awesome as the claws actually will move for a couple seconds without any movement from the line as long as the head stays up and this Lindy float keeps those claws up. The hollow body traps air and occasionally will release a bubble. If the bass thought this crawfish was fake I am sure that the bubbles go a long way to convincing an otherwise reluctant bass into striking your bait.
That lower barb that was mentioned above now comes in handy for my next favorite addition to this rig. John Peterson's Buck-Shot Rattles. Notice the lower bait keeper barb is a perfect rattle keeper barb and the addition of this rubber ring on this barb also acts as a bait keeper in and of itself.
I use the rattles for the noise as I always use a rattle and these double leg rattles seemed perfect for this rig and as you can see in the final photo on this page you will see it helps the bait stand up and keeps it from falling onto its side which will eliminate one of the most important aspects of this rig. The defensive posture of the bait. One of the complaints of finesse anglers is that the craws do not stand up like a worm. The worm tail will float up no matter what way it lays the craw needs to be up-right and with these added rattles it does that. The 5" Paca Craw is great for all these addition as it has enough room to add them and the NETBAIT PACA CRAW is the only 5 inch craw I have seen and the hollow body just makes it better.
The 5" Paca Craw is a great bait for this rig. The hollow body means versatility in the bait providing a cavity to load with scents, a place to hide your hook point to keep it weedless and my favorite, the Lindy Rig Snell Float inserted into this cavity. This is explained later in this tip. Read on!
If you notice in the photo the lower bait keeper barb is on the outside of the plastic. The hook eye is brought deep into the Paca Craw. Visualizing in the photo where the hook eye is in the bait you will notice it is about 3/4 of an inch from the bullet weight. This allows for hook point movement even if the bass has the weight against its mouth. When the hook eye slams into the weight it flips up or down depending on which way it is facing when you set the hook or just pull on your line. Remember this rig is to help you hook fish even when you didn't know they struck your bait.
The beauty is that the line slides in the weight and will pull the hook inside the bass' mouth and before it can spit the bait out your hook set is already in progress. Either the point will find meat or if not the bass must open its mouth much further to clear the hook point.The bobber-stops you see in the first image are important not only to peg your weight where you want it but the bottom stop protects your line all the way through the hook eye. The rubber bobber-stops in my opinion is the only way to go. The ones shown here are made by Eagle Claw.
A great way to rig the 5 inch Paca Craw is with a straight shank hook. The snelled straight shank is going to give you the most solid hook-up of any other configuration. Not only does the snelled straight shank, like this Trokar flipping hook, provide for the most direct power to the hook but when threaded through the eye correctly as shown in the image ( click to enlarge) the bullet weight slams into the hook eye and causes the hook to slam into the mouth of the bass. You can see a slight off-set in the photo but when more pressure is applied to the sinker the cam action is even more pronounced.
I like this rig all the time but especially when the bass are biting lightly. When a cold front moves through or when fishing pressure has the bass a little lathargic and their bite is so light it is barely detectable this rig allows the hook point to move inside the bass' mouth even when its lips are clinched only on the sinker. Many times a bass will barely take the bait, usually a jig when flipping, and their teeth are aligned perfectly to grip the soft lead of a weight and the hook point never touches the inside of the bass' mouth even though you might have had the bass on for a few seconds before it spit your bait. Anyway this rig is to help avoid this. I have pretty much stopped using a jig and this cam action isn't the only thing in this set-up that improves hook-ups. Read on!
