Here is a short little video interview with Shaw Grigsby where he is asked what his most productive baits are.

http://www.strikeking.com/journal/00355/2.php

Bigger is not always better when talking about soft plastic bass baits. The new Baby Rage Craw might be smaller but, it packs quite a punch for anglers seeking something smaller for a finesse approach.

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Coming in at just 3 inches, the Baby Rage Craw has already proven to be a superior solution for small jigs and/or Texas rigs in finesse applications for proffesional anglers and everyday fisherman. For those of you fishing ultra-clear or hi-pressured lakes; the Baby Craw may be just what the fish doctor ordered.

It can be rigged on a standup jig head, used as a finesse jig trailer, rigged alone on a light line T/rig or drop shot rig and can even be used as a smaller Carolina rigged bait. Available in 9 fish-catching colors for the 2009-2010 season, the Baby Rage Craw is sure to be a great addition to the bass anglers arsenal.

Checkout the RageTalk area of the website for more information and to add your comments or ask questions concerning this great new soft plastic bait from Rage Tail.

The introduction of the Smokin, Rooster is an amazing alternative for just about anything. Flippin’ grass pockets and bluff banks with a T/rig, Carolina riggin’ some main lake points and even swimming it around any available structure or weed line. Select from six great colors before your next big fishing trip and see the amazing difference for yourself.

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Be sure and visit Rage Talk for further information concerning the Smokin Rooster where you may add a comment and ask questions.

Finding a flipping bait with more action is easy when looking at the new Rage Hawg. Our patented flanged-tail design creates more thump, more slap and delivers a flipping bait with more bang for your buck.

The Rage Hawg is available in 8 great colors shown below and is sure to provide bass anglers a soft plastic bait they can depend on. Click on the image for a larger view.

The Thumper worm by Rage Tail is positively the biggest step forward in worm design since the creation of the curly tail. This new 10″ soft plastic worm offers more of everything to bass fisherman. The Thumper produces more tail vibration and the design of this worm has gone even further with the addition of a score line on the tail for an easy transformation into a cut tail worm. The segmented body allows anglers to create a plastic worm in a size with an action that works best for them and the eagerly awaiting Bass in a lake or river near you.

The Thumper is a great worm for T/Rigging a steep bluff bank or dragging across a main lake point on a Carolina rig and everything in between. You can swim it! You can bounce it! You can hop it or drag it and the Thumper does it like no other worm on the market. With the great color selection shown above; we are confident we have a color to suit every angling situation.

Be sure to visit the Rage Talk area of the website to read much more about the Thumper and get your questions answered. RageTalk

Hey RAGETAILERS, Hope the title got your attention and these Instructions are as important and necessary as ever before with any Rage Tail Design. If the Eeliminator is hooked right, it cant be fished wrong . This illustration is very detailed for that purpose and the hook type and size is extremely important as well.

This bait can do it all extremely well if rigged properly in each application: Weightless, Tx and C rigged, Flipped or pitched and Swimbait.

Hooking in the center on the nose and body as well as maintaining the original shape and design of the bait when hooked is imperative and not bowing the back of the bait up when skin hooked

In the future, we will hear of others that are content using a variety of different hooks and I will be happy for their success, but I have used every hook and design under the sun for several years and here are my ideas for best usage and hook ups on hook sets.

1) Standard 4/0 EWG Gamakatsu Superline hook as well as other EWG’s that are of the same approximate size and weight. It is very important not to over hook this bait or use too long of a hook because it will alter the action of the bait by disturbing the tail connection at body. Stretching the body from original length or shape will impede or damage action results as well.

Different hook brands are slightly different in sizes so they should be ckd thoroughly.

2) Owner 5/0 twistlock is excellent also and gives best longevity to bait as well as centering pin in screw lock to make sure that it is exactly centered in nose…Very Important. Make sure that the back of bait is not bowed up when light skin hook.

Other screwlock hooks can be used but can’t be too long and must be exactly centered in nose and body of bait for proper action results.

3) I don’t use keel weighted hooks because they kill the side to side action.

4) My favorite use is Carolina rig from extremely light weight like 1/8 pegged upline 10″, to standard C rig with heavier weights for deeper or windy conditions.

5) Weightless extremely slow or quick retrieve.

6) Tx rigged with light unpegged weight 1/4 or less for best action results.

7) If the weight is pegged, it should never be pegged directly to the front of the bait as it will cause the bait to roll over if the weight is pointed off center even slightly.

• For flipping, I use a Bobber Stopper style Sinker Stop approximately 3/8 inch ahead of a Max 1/4 oz slip weight so that he weight is free and doesn’t drive or try to guide the baits swimming action.  http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_44440_100010004_100000000_100010000?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

• For Swimbait style application, use 1/16 or 1/8 slip weight on line, unpegged for slow swimming at desired depths.

The Eeliminator is available in 5 great colors for the 2009-2010 fishing season and is sure to be a great addition to the arsenal of any bass angler.

Please let me know if you have any other questions regarding use or hooking instructions in the RageTalk area of the website and I will be glad to discuss them with you. Getting this info out there prior to baits being fished will guarantee best results for everyone and hope you enjoy this bait as much as I do.

Question: What trailer are you putting on the football-head jig?

VanDam: I’m either using a Rage Chunk or a Rage Craw. I personally like to fish the Rage Craw on the football-head jig. The Rage Craw is a little longer than the Rage Chunk. I like the Rage Craw because when it comes over a rock, that crawfish-looking trailer on the back appears to jump over the rock just like a crawfish will.

Those pincers have great action. When you combine that action with the fish-catching ability of the Rage Craw on the back side of big bass bait like the football-head jig, you have the most potential for catching the biggest bass you can catch in a Part of fishing. I’m not trying to catch 100 fish a Part when I’m fishing the football-head jig with a Rage Craw trailer. I just want to catch a quality stringer of bigger bass.

Question: Denny, what’s your take on the new Rage Toad?

Brauer: Toad baits have been around for a while, and they’ve been really popular for the last few years. Most lure companies have their own versions of the toad. Strike King’s Rage Toad is different from other toads because Strike King has enabled the angler to slow down the retrieve of the toad type of baits and keep it in the strike zone of a bass for a longer time. We’ve incorporated the best features of a toad bait and a frog bait into the Rage Toad. A frog bait hops along and sits still, and a toad bait has a swimming action. Strike King’s Rage Toad does both.

The Rage Toad also produces a different sound than any other toad on the market. Most toads make a plop-plop sound as they’re reeled across the surface. A Rage Toad has more of a swimming action, which Strike King has achieved by changing the material of its toads to tough plastic. All the Rage baits are made from a plastic that has the toughness and the density to match the fishing application for which they’ve been designed. In other words, if you’re fishing with a toad made of really-soft plastic, that lure is a one-time fish bait. Then it’s destroyed, or it slides down the hook, making it hard to fish the bait correctly. Strike King’s Rage Toad has all the advantages of the soft plastic, yet it’s a much-tougher bait.

Question: Denny, how do you set the hook when a bass takes the Rage Toad?

Brauer: All fishermen are guilty of setting in the hook too quickly when bass take a top-water bait. When fishing toad baits, it’s critical for your success to fish braided line. A higher percentage of bass that strike the bait are landed with braided line, especially when fishing the bait over and through heavy vegetation where most people fish toads. Because the braided line has no stretch in it, most fishermen will jerk their baits away from the bass before the bass have the baits in their mouths.

For that reason, making sure the rod tip is at the right angle is critical to getting a good hook set and timing the strike correctly. To get the fastest hook sets, most anglers point their rod tips straight at the toads as they retrieve the baits. Instead, I hold my rod at a 45-degree angle to the surface of the water. This way, when the bass takes the toad, the fish can load the rod by pulling the rod tip down and continue to load the rod when I pull the rod tip up and set the hook.

Getting the proper hook set when fishing the toad is a timing issue. Yes, I’ve pulled the toad away from a bass before the fish has the lure in its mouth. But I don’t like to let the bass have the toad too long. If I let the bass have this lure for an extended time, the bass will go down in the vegetation and swim toward the boat to reach deep water. Even though braided line is designed to cut through vegetation, there won’t be nearly as much force in the strike if the bass swims toward the boat as there will be if you strike the bass before it makes the turn and starts swimming toward the boat. If I can feel the fish before I strike it, I know which way the bass is moving and how to set the hook before I actually set the hook.

I also can learn a lot from the way the fish attacks the lure. If there’s a big explosion on the bait, I assume the fish has the toad. If the bass take the bait like this, I can’t react fast enough to take the toad away from the bass. If I start missing strikes, I have to adjust my tactic. I have to slow down and wait to feel the fish before I set the hook. I have to adapt each day to the way the bass take the bait on that day. I’ve seen days when bass won’t blow-up on the toad. They’ll just boil the water and suck in the bait. On those days, I really have to be concentrating on the lure as it comes across the water, give the bass more time to get the bait well in its mouth and almost feed the bass the bait before I set the hook.

Question: You can’t daydream and fish the toad, can you?

Brauer: Yes, you can. On some dayss, you’re better off being almost semi-conscious when fishing this bait. If you concentrate too hard on the lure, you may see the water move, the fish readying to attack the bait, and you may concentrate so hard on the lure and the fish that when the bass comes out of the water to take the bait, you immediately try to set the hook and will end up jerking the bait away from the bass. There are times when daydreaming and being less focused will enable you to catch more bass.

In this situation, you have to know how well you can control your emotions and reflexes when you see a bass approaching or blowing-up on the toad. When you see the bass move, if you can’t slow down your emotions and your reflexes, you’re better off daydreaming and waking up when you feel the fish take the bait. If you can force yourself to not strike the bass when everything in your body and mind tells you to hit it, you can watch the bait, let the bass take the toad and then set the hook. Most people probably are better off daydreaming when they’re fishing the toad.

This was not my idea but was referred to me by one of our Pros……Folks are now rigging the Rage Shad on a jig head, both skirted and unskirted, with the Tail upright toward weed guard and deep cranking it like a chatter bait presentation.

I had heard of this previously but never gave it much thought till last week and decided to try it……WOW, search bait deluxe and I was just running it like a spinner bait, throwin it along weed bed edges and around brush in 6 ft water and was getting hammered.

The Rage Shad and it’s superior action is not limited to topwater. The Rage Shad can also be used as a wake bait, sub-surface search bait and even a swimbait with some slight rigging changes.

By using a light weight swimbait or keel weighted hook (preferably 4/0 EWG – 3/16oz -1/4oz), the Rage Shad can be fished just below the surface and deeper with a lot of control. One of my personal favorite methods to fish the shad along these lines is to rig the shad on a Carolina rig and create a disturbance well below the surface and trigger the strike of deep water bass.

Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think.