A soft-plastic craw can do a lot of different things. Though these baits often work best as trailers on the backs of jigs and ChatterBaits, they can also be rigged on terminal tackle like wobble heads and Tokyo rigs. And don’t forget about the trusty old Texas rig too.

Yes, there’s a lot you can do with a soft-plastic craw. And there’s really even more you can do with the Z-Man Hella CrawZ in particular, since they’re made from Z-Man’s super durable, ultra buoyant ElaZtech material. So today we’re going to look at three effective ways to use the Hella CrawZ in the month of May.

Texas rigged for spawners -

The Hella CrawZ are the perfect bait for targeting those last few spawning bass. Rigging a natural color Hella CrawZ on a light-weight Texas rig and just going down the bank flipping to isolated cover is a great way to cross paths with a bedding fish while not actively looking at the bass on bed.

You can swap over to one of the CrawZ in white if you do spot a bass on bed. The white bait will usually be easier for you to see in the water and you’ll be able to better tale whether the bass has eaten the bait completely or is perhaps just holding it by the pinchers.

Lastly, there’s the added advantage of the buoyancy of ElaZtech that makes this bait great for bed fishing. Spawners are very protective of their beds. This bait mimics the profile of a crawfish well, while the buoyancy also lifts the claws up off the bottom in a defense posture, making it seem even more real.

Swim jig -

There are lots of baitfish that start to spawn about the time the bass spawn winds down. Throughout the month of may, shad, herring and bluegill will be spawning on lots of fisheries. A swim jig is a great bait this time of year for targeting bass that are feeding on these baitfish.

If you find a shad spawn in shoreline grass, there’s probably nothing better than a shad-colored swim jig paired with a white Hella CrawZ trailer. This combination is extremely weedless and the bass can slurp the subsurface bait down with ease. Fishing around bluegill instead? Try a black and blue swim jig with either a green pumpkin or blue Hella CrawZ and you’ll find another great combination for catching big bass.

Football jig -

As the spawn winds down and the water warms, many monster bass will flee the shallows in search of cooler water and plentiful bait. These bass will collect on main-lake points and river ledges, setting up shop until food washes by.

Crankbaits, swimbaits and big Texas rig worms are all great ways to catch these fish. But so are football jigs. Taking a Hella CrawZ and sliding it up on the back of a football jig is a great way to complete the crawfish profile of a football jig. And those same claws that floated up in a fish’s face on the bed will wash around up off the bottom on the back of the football jig too.

Final thoughts -

There’s not likely a better material for trailers in particular than Z-Man’s ElaZtech. You can barely break and tear this stuff when you’re trying to. Baits made from ElaZtech hold up to dozens of fish catches, where baits made with traditional soft plastic materials do good to put five fish in the boat.

The extreme durability and the buoyancy of the Hella CrawZ sets them up perfectly for fishing in May, whether trying to pluck those last few spawners off the beds, working a bait feverishly through a shad spawn or dragging one slowly across the bottom in deeper water. The Hella CrawZ are versatile for sure, and you should be able to take a pack of them and at least one of these tips out to your local fishery and boat a big bass to prove it.