Big Bite Baits Russ Lane Real Deal Craw Product Review

Lure Review

Creature Fever : Big Bite Bait's Russ Lane Real Deal Craw

Date:	10/4/17
Tackle Type:	Lures
Manufacturer:	Big Bite Baits
Reviewer:	Cal

Total Score: 7.58 - GOOD

Introduction: In the world of soft plastic crawfish baits, there are two approaches - ultra realistic, and well, not. In the ultra realistic camp, we see baits like the River2Sea Standing Yabbie, Huddleston's Huddlebug, and Savage Gear's 3D Craw. In the "not" camp, you can name your pick, but basically any bait with small main body and two appendages coming out the end is it - think Reaction Innovations Sweet & Kinky Beaver, Missile Bait's DBomb, and more. A couple years ago, Elite Series Pro Russ Lane showed me a bait he was working on for Big Bite Baits that kind of skirts the line between ultra-realistic and not. We had to keep it under wraps until they were ready to bring it out, and somehow in the interim we missed the announcement. Well, better late than never. Here now is our look at Big Bite Bait's Russ Lane Real Deal Craw.

Introducing Big Bite Bait's Real Deal Craw.

Big Bite Baits Real Deal Craw Specifications
Type	Craw/Trailer Bait
Material	Soft Plastic
Colors/Patterns	7 (+ 4 "HD" patterns)
Sizes	4"
Scent/Plastic Treatment	Big Bite Baits Bite Juice
# per package	7
Resealable Bag?	Yes
MSRP	$3.99 ($5.99 for HD)

This Craw-style trailer comes with its claws attached.

Impressions: The Real Deal Craw is essentially a crawdad style bait, but if you look closely, it's kind of a cross between something ultra realistic and a beaver style bait. It has a flat body like a beaver style bait, with similar large appendages coming out off the end, but it also has legs along the side, ridges on the underside, detailing around the head area, and antennae like a real life crawdad. It's an interesting hybrid style bait.

But the claws are easily separated giving the bait a different action.

Real World Tests: The great thing about the Real Deal Craw, because it is this kind of hybrid bait, is that you can fish it like a traditional trailer or on its own Texas Rigged, Carolina Rigged, heck you can even use it as your primary bait on a bubba-sized drop shot offering (bubba-shot).

Detailing of this bait is very good as is witnessed by taking a look at its belly.

In the water, the Real Deal Craw behaves very much like a traditional trailer bait. There are no air chambers or anything in the bait's claws, and as expected, it lays down when at rest. That's ok, because when you hop this bait along the bottom, it's claws really undulate and flap accentuating the bait's movement in the water.

Fishing around patches of weed on Clear Lake, CA.

That's if fished right out of the package. If you separate the claws, each arm swims independent of the other and flaps around even more. The Real Deal Craw has a very enticing action as it sinks in the water with its claws detached. Additionally, when swim the bait, that same arm action is a really nice compliment on back of a swimming jig presentation

The HD versions come in this clear, hard plastic clamshell.

Design & Ergonomics: Big Bite Bait's Real Deal Craw comes in seven (7) standard colors all packed in a standard resealable bag. There is no additional packaging within this plastic bag to help the baits maintain their shape, but if you upgrade to the one of the four HD colors, these baits come in a clear, hard plastic clamshell packaging to preserve the bait's shape. Both versions of the bait come infused with Big Bite Bait's proprietary "Bite Juice".

The underbelly of the HD versions have different colors.

Price & Applications: The standard Real Deal Craws are sold in packages of seven (7) for $3.99 or fifty seven cents ($0.57) per bait while the HD colors are sold for $5.99 per four (4) pack or $1.50 per bait. Quite a price difference, but if you consider the detail in the coloring and the labor that goes into painting the HD version, you can see why.

The standard Real Deal Craws sell for $3.99/7pack while the HD version sells for $5.99/4pack.

Ratings

Big Bite Baits Real Deal Craw Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	Nice cross between ultra realistic and not	8
Performance	Really enticing swimming action especially with the claws separated	7.5
Price	The standard version is very well priced while the HD version is approaching enthusiast pricing in a soft plastic bait	7
Features	life-like detailing and Big Bite Bait's Bite Juice	7.5
Design (Ergonomics)	Resealable bag and claws that can be fished together or separated	7.5
Application	A very versatile crawdad style bait	8
Total Score		7.58
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ Versatile Design	- HD versions are pricey
+ Arms have good action in the water
+ Realistic detailing

If you're looking for a craw-style bait to entice hungry bass in the waters you fish, this craw bait from Big Bite Bait's' is the real deal.

Conclusion: Big Bite Bait's Real Deal Craw strikes a nice balance between being realistic in appearance, yet delivering an action that elicits strikes. Its flat body may remind some anglers more of a land based, brown crawler than crawdad, but the bait's detailing is very good for a trailer bait and the HD versions only accentuate these markings. If you're looking for a craw-style bait to entice hungry bass in the waters you fish, this craw bait from Big Bite Bait's' is the real deal.

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