The soft-plastic craw has undergone quite a revolution. First there was the flatter-style basic craws like those from Zoom and Berkley. In the mid-'90s, western hand-pour craws like those from Basstrix (with foam legs) or the Angler's Choice Chubby Craw and later the Roboworm Kickin' Kraw led the design front. Then the Paca craw hit and started to dominate tournaments, and that design was largely copied and refined throughout the latter part of this decade.
The trend has certainly been
toward a more compact, "punch" style of craw that can be flipped by itself to penetrate dense weedmats, or placed on a jig as a trailer.
Although there are countless craws on the market right now, and although I've fished most of them, there are several factors that make the new 4" Jackall Sasuteki craw stand out as one of the premier craws available today.
At its core, the Sasuteki is a no-nonsense craw that can stand on its own, or sit comfortably on the back of a jig. But when you dig a little deeper and fish it for a full season, like I did, it's obvious that designer Seiji Kato thought through every single angle on this product.
First, the body's streamlined for penetration, but is extremely robust. It'll easily fish as heavy a hook as you like – something many of the softer craws can't do – and can withstand multiple catches. That's a big plus for places like Texas, Alabama and Florida.
The injection process is flawless – I didn't find a single throw-away bait in any of the packages I fished.
The claws include pronounced bumps that Jackall says helps disturb the water and increase vibration – key when silently flipping into dense cover.
The six available colors are all spot-on and the core colors like junebug, green-pumpkin/pepper and black/blue-flake represent pretty much the only colors you'd want to fish.
The price is a touch steep at $4.99 for a six-pack, but as noted, they're extremely sturdy and will catch multiple fish per bait.
When all is said and done I believe this is one of the best craws on the market. I fished it heavily for about 5 months in all types of situations – from bare bottom on a football head to dense milfoil to downed timber and docks – and it never disappointed. It's now a go-to confidence bait for me, which is the highest compliment I can give it.
Notable
> For Jackall's Sasuteki craw page, click here. The baits can be ordered at the BassFan Store.
> Jackall also makes the Cover Craw, which when rigged backwards will fall toward and into cover.
