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Old 12-22-11, 12:58 AM   #1
Fish-N-Fool
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Default Cool new rig from the Fish-N-Fool, the guy that brought you the "Boob Tube Rig"



I'm kinda the mad scientist of bass fishing world. I invent new things all the time like my world famous "Fish-N-Fool knot" as well as new lures (like my soon to be world famous Sink-N-Fool bait) and I'm always looking at things and figuring how to make it different and or better. Last year I posted my "Boob Tube Rig" here and just re-posted it with some improvements I made this last year.Now I've come up with a new off shoot of my "Boob Tube Rig".
I took a couple things and turned it into a new technique that I call the "Craw Weighted Dropshot Rig". First I tie on a dropshot hook like the one in the picture below a ways, (Sorry I forget who makes these) with a double Palomar knot. I like this type of hook for larger minnow baits. I leave about a foot of tag end to tie on my craw weight. Tie a wide gap Gammy Finesse hook on the end of the line. I like to tie it on with a Snell knot on hooks that have a bent eye. Snell knots are very ez to tie and very strong.
To make my "Craw Weight Rig" I take a medium size tube bait in a craw looking color (this is one of my home made tubes by the way) either in a brown or green. I take a large egg style sinker and push it up into the tube till it hits the top of the tube. Now take an old round worm and cut it into 1/2" long pieces. Note you can add a glass rattle into the tube before you plug it for extra sound effects.



Apply a little glue (clear window silicone works great for this as does some of the soft plastic glues) and push the piece into the tube like so,



That will give you a bait that looks like this



Then after the glue is totally dry I insert the wide gap finesse hook into the center of the plug you glued in place and out the side of the tube. I make these up a few days ahead of time so they are good and cured. It should look like this.



(Note this is a off-shoot of my boob tube rig I showed here last year.)
So with the craw weight rigged under a dropshot hook like so;



The cool part of this in now your dropshot weight that looks just like a crawdad standing up in defense mode and you have a nice minnow bait swimming just above it. So it looks to a big hungry bass like the minnow is after the craw. Another great thing about this rig is the craw tube weight hardly ever gets hung up and if it does you only loose the tube and weight inside it.



I first tried this using the craw weight alone and got some nice fish but by adding the dropshot hook above it it is like fishing two techniques at once.

Now I just shake the rod tip to make the minnow dance and make the rattle in the craw tube clack. If you are in a good rocky area a slow drag works great too.
Check out this short video to see how the craw tube works.
Just click on the pix to watch,



So try out my craw weighted dropshot rig next year and give it a shot. I think you will like it!!!! and please tell me what you think of my new rig here.
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Old 12-22-11, 09:17 AM   #2
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So, instead of a tube, you could actually use a hollow craw for a more realistic approach. My question is have you caught fish on these rigs, & when you do, which hook gets hooked up the most, and two, snags, part of the effectiveness of a drop shot rig is the ability to pull loose from snags, saving your hook, do you experience snags with this rig?
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Old 12-22-11, 12:02 PM   #3
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Looks cool, but it would be illegal for me to use here in MN.
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Old 12-22-11, 02:13 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
So, instead of a tube, you could actually use a hollow craw for a more realistic approach. My question is have you caught fish on these rigs, & when you do, which hook gets hooked up the most, and two, snags, part of the effectiveness of a drop shot rig is the ability to pull loose from snags, saving your hook, do you experience snags with this rig?
I have used the Craw tube on it's own for a few years and it definitely catches fish and I have used the dropshot for years also with a pig & jig for a weight but I have not yet fished this method. I would guess it would work as well or better then with the jig and I got some nice fish on it. Most of the time the drop shot got the most fish with the jig head but I think that will go up when using the craw tube as the Smallies really seem to like it.
The craw tubes are pretty snag free and most of the time will pull out of the rocks if it gets stuck without loosing anything.
If it did get the weight stuck it would just pull the hook out of the tube. If I fish the craw weight rig where there is any wood in the water I use a weed guard hook that I make myself by tying a loop of 80 lb. mono to the hook shank with a snell knot and bending it back over the hook point. These are EZ to make and work very well.

Waterboy; I'm really surprised that this rig would be illegal anywhere, I can run up to 5 hook/bait rigs here in this state. I sometimes use 2 dropshot hooks about a foot apart and have gotten 2 fish at once a few times
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Old 12-22-11, 06:32 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish-N-Fool View Post
...

Waterboy; I'm really surprised that this rig would be illegal anywhere, I can run up to 5 hook/bait rigs here in this state. I sometimes use 2 dropshot hooks about a foot apart and have gotten 2 fish at once a few times
I'm pretty sure MN regs would consider your rig to be 2 lures. This is from our 2011 regs:

"Anglers may use only one hook. An artificial lure is considered one hook. A treble hook, when not part of an artificial lure, is considered three hooks
and is not legal."
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Old 12-22-11, 06:44 PM   #6
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Hey fnf That's interesting enough, maybe just playing a little fast and loose with "new" but the constant tinkering-modifying-toying with off the shelf stuff and whatever's laying around has always been fun and productive. I mean look what it did for ole Shoestring DuBois!
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Old 12-22-11, 06:46 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WatterBoy View Post
I'm pretty sure MN regs would consider your rig to be 2 lures. This is from our 2011 regs:

"Anglers may use only one hook. An artificial lure is considered one hook. A treble hook, when not part of an artificial lure, is considered three hooks

and is not legal."
Does that mean that in MN if I put a glob of chicken livers on a treble hook I'm illegal??
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Old 12-22-11, 07:08 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WatterBoy View Post
I'm pretty sure MN regs would consider your rig to be 2 lures. This is from our 2011 regs:

"Anglers may use only one hook. An artificial lure is considered one hook. A treble hook, when not part of an artificial lure, is considered three hooks
and is not legal."
Quote:
Originally Posted by kennethdaysale View Post
Does that mean that in MN if I put a glob of chicken livers on a treble hook I'm illegal??
That's how I would read it, wouldn't you? I don't claim to be an expert on interpreting these types of things however.
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Old 12-23-11, 09:21 AM   #9
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Many states have laws pertaining to how many lures can be used at one time,thus not a good idea to buy an alabama rig off ebay and go fish with it at your locale without actually reading those fishing regulations.Ohio,Ind,Tn have three bait laws,the state of tn even considers a spinnerbait blade a teaser thus a lure.So three and four blade grass spinnerbaits are technically illegal.
I may not agree with them just have to obey,and in answer to the treble hook,some states do count hook points and a jerkbait with three trebles may not be legal.
There are those on ky lake that toss 5 lure a rigs in ky and moan and groan about tn having a three and generally enter the reciprocal area saying they are only fishing in ky,stating sign is over on east bank,lol it runs smack down the middle of the channel,have yet to see a sign in middle of 60 ft of water.Point being impossible almost to go from point a in it to point b without crossing over,so if you come to ky lake to visit use a 3 rig,once past the 68 bridge.
If tn tires of this the fine would be enormous x number of illegally caught fish in the boat.
I use this as an example to treble hooks as a multiple bait rig,with two states having different regulations and sharing the same water.Ky actually owning 12-15 percent of ky lake and many miles of that even are shared.Generally speaking both states tend to have same regs so when you cross the line not creating an illegal act,thus why ky lake is 15 across the board and elsewhere 18 on smallies.
Barkley try crossing the line with a short under 18 in smallie,ky lake can become the same if ky or tn dont match only with multiple rigs with a not so clear defined line.
The state of tn has been studying a 5 bait rule so hasnt enforced it,most likly tiring of trying to pass,so be ky turn to change.
25 or 30 FLW guys getting boats impounded,dq and hefty fines running out of ken lake.big bear or dam headed south might just spur that on.

Last edited by lilmule; 12-23-11 at 01:12 PM.
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Old 12-26-11, 12:31 PM   #10
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This looks very interesting. In many lakes I fish, there is a weedy bottom. I may substitute a large weedless hook in the craw. Thoughts?
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Old 12-27-11, 08:05 AM   #11
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Quote:
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This looks very interesting. In many lakes I fish, there is a weedy bottom. I may substitute a large weedless hook in the craw. Thoughts?
I would definitely use one when I fish. If you read OP's(FNF's) response to my post, he makes his own weedless hooks for those conditions.
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Old 12-27-11, 09:45 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kennethdaysale View Post
Does that mean that in MN if I put a glob of chicken livers on a treble hook I'm illegal??
Correct. You can't fish bait with a treble hook.

But if you put a small spinner blade on the line right above the hook, it's legal, even if you're deadsticking it. That's what MN guys do when they want to fish bait with a treble hook. Having that spinner on the line makes your treble hook a lure, and thus, legal.
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Old 12-28-11, 12:01 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kennethdaysale View Post
Does that mean that in MN if I put a glob of chicken livers on a treble hook I'm illegal??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan View Post
Correct. You can't fish bait with a treble hook.

But if you put a small spinner blade on the line right above the hook, it's legal, even if you're deadsticking it. That's what MN guys do when they want to fish bait with a treble hook. Having that spinner on the line makes your treble hook a lure, and thus, legal.
Not that anyone else cares, but I checked with the MN DNR just to see exactly what the regs are on Bryan's spinner blade tip. Here was their response:

"The spinner blade needs to be within three inches of the treble hook. Enforcement will than consider the above to be a lure and is legal."
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Old 12-29-11, 03:09 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JCsGoneFishin View Post
This looks very interesting. In many lakes I fish, there is a weedy bottom. I may substitute a large weedless hook in the craw. Thoughts?
I fish this with a weedless hook a lot if I'm fishing in or around any wood.
I make my own weedless hooks out of the same Gammy 1/0 finesse hook.
I take a short piece of 80lb mono and make a loop out of it and tie it on the hook with the tag ends facing toward the front of the hook and tie it on with some small braid using a snell knot ,like this.




After you get it tied on just bend the mono down over the hook point in a V and trim the ends just long enough to cover the hook point.
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Last edited by Fish-N-Fool; 12-29-11 at 03:17 AM.
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Old 01-02-12, 03:31 PM   #15
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Along these lines, what's the largest hook any of you have used with a drop shot rig? Weight? and depth you fished them? Thx.
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Old 01-02-12, 04:51 PM   #16
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1/0---3/8---30'
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Old 01-12-12, 02:52 PM   #17
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Along these lines, what's the largest hook any of you have used with a drop shot rig? Weight? and depth you fished them? Thx.
I have fished drop shot rigs as deep as 80 ft. for bass (and as deep as 180 ft for Mackinaws) but mostly it's under 15 ft. I only use a 1/0 hook of 2 types the Stand out hook shown here and a straight eyed long shank hook. If I'm fishing current I use a weight like a bottom walker used in walleye fishing so the weight don't get hung up.
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Old 01-12-12, 05:21 PM   #18
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How shallow can you use the drop shot? The ponds i fish in usually only get 3-7 ft deep.
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Old 01-12-12, 08:25 PM   #19
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How shallow can you use the drop shot? The ponds i fish in usually only get 3-7 ft deep.
As shallow as you like, and as you can see above pretty damn deep too.
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Old 01-16-12, 09:08 PM   #20
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Drop shots are actually a great sight fishing bait for when bass are on the beds. You can give the bait a lot of action without actually moving it forward so you can keep it on the bed and give it action to annoy the bass.
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