Strike King Lure Company is never satisfied with status quo. They are always tweaking, and their Rage line-up of products have received rave reviews since their inception a couple of years ago
The Rage Craw and its little brother the Rage Chunk both work well on a jig. The beveled pincher design puts out a ton of pressure waves that attract bass. The Rage Craw also works well fished solo in both casting and flipping applications
Soon after the Rage Craw was introduced, Strike King pros asked for a larger craw and the Rage Lobster was born. A larger body (4.5 inches) and larger pinchers makes this a great flipping bait, and larger hooks (5/0) can be used effectively. The body of the Rage Lobster is fuller and has four segments with two triangular shaped “guide fins” placed on the sides of the bait that allows the bait to glide when dropped. It also gives the Lobster an armored look that mimics a crayfish to a “T” and adds to the overall balance we have found in this line-up. The body of the Lobster is football shaped with dimples, two large eyes and two antennae. Because of the width of the body, it maintains a large profile that big fish can’t resist.
We like this larger craw during the spawn, in particular, as its menacing look makes bass on or near the bed angry, and they hit it violently. Sitting on the bottom, the pinchers rise in attack position, and we have had bass do an about face to come back to the bait after they were spooked. The size of the bait also adds weight and allows the Lobster to be pitched longer distances flawlessly
Our Gear
We most always use tungsten for our weight selection, and during testing, we used a Tru-Tungsten 1/4-ounce watermelon painted weight teamed with a Trokar Flipping Hook tied on TATSU 15-pound fluorocarbon line. Our rod was a Setyr 7-foot jig and worm rod, and we used an Ardent Denny Brauer Signature Series F700 reel. We used watermelon red as the color of choice for our tests and dipped the ends of the pinchers in Poor Boys new dye to accent their movement and give them flash.
The Tests
We flipped dead water willow and brush and most of the bass came out of less than two foot of water. Keeping the boat positioned away from the cover was critical and a long pitch was most effective. The Rage Lobster does not hang up as much as its smaller brother in this type of tangled cover and we had a few bites while reeling it in on top. The pinchers throw a lot of water and we will definitely want to try this bait later in the year over matted vegetation and in and around holes in the grass.
We caught several bass in this test and the largest was a 5-pounder caught while hopping the Lobster vertically in the top of a dead-fall tree.
We recommend the Rage Lobster if you are in the market for a big bass.
