Entry 233-2
Greg Hackney’s Lure Choices
Editor’s Note: Strike King pro, Greg Hackney of Gonzales, Louisiana, has fished his entire life and fished professionally for about 5 years. A regular on both the BASS and FLW circuits, Hackney is ranked No. 14 in the world for 2007 on www.bassfan.com.
Part 2: Fish the Rage Craw Successfully Anywhere You Believe Bass Are
Question: What’s your second-favorite lure that Strike King has come out with this year?
Hackney: It’s the Rage Craw. I do a lot of flipping and pitching. I can flip the Rage Craw out to a target, and those pincers will swim and give off a lot of action as the bait falls. Then I can swim the bait in, and it will produce action all the way to the boat. I can hook it up to a jig, and there are many other ways I can use a Rage Craw to get a fish to bite it. Most of the time, I’ll rig a Rage Craw Texas style with a No. 5/0 straight-shank hook. If I’m flipping mats with it, I’ll be using a 1-1/2-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight. If I’m flipping shallow cover, I’ll have a 3/16-ounce Tru-Tungsten screw weight screwed into the head of the Rage Craw. But regardless of how or where I’m fishing the Rage Craw, I’ll be using that No. 5/0 straight-shank hook.
Question: Greg, how are you working that Rage Craw?
Hackney: I can fish the Rage Craw anywhere I believe the bass to be. I can crawl it on the bottom like I’ll crawl a jig or like I’ll fish a Carolina rig. 
If the bass are suspended, I can swim the Rage Craw through the middle story of the water because it’s got such great swimming action. I can pitch this lure out, swim it on a steady retrieve and catch bass on that middle story of the water. I can control the depth that the Rage Craw swims by the size of the slip sinker I use.
Question: How do you set the hook when you’re fishing the Rage Craw?
Hackney: I swing on them hard. Chances are I’ll be fishing this lure on my Greg Hackney PT Flipping Stick, which is 7-feet, 11-inches long. So when that bass picks it up, I’ll hit that fish really hard. Now the Rage Craw isn’t a real-thick piece of plastic, but I do want to get a really-hard hook set when the bass picks up the bait.
Question: What’s your favorite color of Rage Craw?
Hackney: I like black neon. My number-two color is the green pumpkin. I can pretty much take those two colors anywhere in the nation and not need any other colors to catch bass.
Question: Are you using the lure mainly as a swim bait or as a flipping bait?
Hackney: I’m primarily fishing the Rage Craw as a flipping bait. I’ll only swim it when I find the bass suspended. Or, I may put it on the back of my jig and use it as a swimming jig. It’s the best trailer I know to use when you’re swimming the jig because it has so much action. Another thing I like about the Rage Craw is the pincers are tough. They don’t break off like the pincers on other soft-plastic crawfish do. Because the body of the Rage Craw is solid instead of hollow, it doesn’t tear-up as easily either. That makes it better for punching through matted grass than a hollow bait.
