Introducing the Pro Craw by Lake Fork Lure Company – the ultimate versatile fishing bait designed in collaboration with MLF pro angler Jeff Sprague. Whether you’re Texas or Carolina rigging, flipping, or looking for the perfect trailer for buzzbaits, jig heads, or vibrating jigs, the Pro Craw delivers top-notch performance. Its innovative design features patented technology and custom-formulated plastic that gives the claws unmatched lifelike action, mimicking real prey to entice the most elusive bass. Take your bass fishing to the next level with the Pro Craw – built for anglers who demand results.
Here is a little sneak peak at the bait. 3.5" long and will be available on December 1st.
Go to the website and sign up on the mailing list to get early access to them.

Bait looks like it would do some gliding and swimming on the surface like a zoom horny toad. I wish you guys success on getting it going again, used to really like the Lake Fork brand.

looks great! Now get that craw tube cookin again!!

You got that right!

Nice looking bait!

Looks sick!!

Chris did you have a hand in the design?

I didn't Doug. This was all Jeff.

Sinkey - On that Pro Craw are the appendages on the front attached to the side of the body all of the way to the end or do they pull away from the body?

They are attached all the way.

Good looking bait

It would be a od punching bait!

With the little wings I bet it'd be a pretty good Carolina rig bait. Like those Billy bait shad I think they're called?

Hi everyone,

My name is Matt Morgan, and I’ve been leading operations at LFT for the past two years. While I may not be a frequent contributor to the forum, I’m here to answer questions and provide as much transparency about the company as possible. I know many of you have a deep connection to the founders, and as a company, we are committed to honoring their legacy moving forward.

Our ownership group took over LFT in July 2022, and the past two years have been focused on retooling the plant, reformulating the plastic, and getting our existing bait lineup back to its original standard. Now that these tasks are complete, we’re moving into the next phase: innovation and expanding our product offerings.

The Pro Craw is the first of several new designs you’ll see from Lake Fork Lure Company (we’ve rebranded slightly) over the next year, and we hope you’ll join us on this journey. This new bait is our first collaboration with our pro staff, which includes Jeff Sprague and Kelly Jordan. We’re proud to have them on board because of their proven success, strong Texas roots, and exceptional character.

When designing our first new bait in over 10 years, we wanted something versatile to fill a gap in our lineup. The craw-style bait, perfect as a trailer or stand-alone, fit the bill perfectly.

In addition to new baits, you’ll notice updated product packaging with a fresh look. By year’s end, we’ll fully transition to our new packaging. Our pro baits and best-sellers will now come in clamshells inside the bag to ensure you don’t open a pack of kinked baits again.

The anticipated release date for the Pro Craw is December 1st, but we’ll offer early access to our subscribers. If you’d like to stay updated, please sign up at www.lftlures.com.

Thanks for your support, and I’m excited about what’s to come!

Wish we could. I’m afraid that that mold is owned by Southern Plastics and they produce it for Big Bite and Bass Pro. We may develop something comparable in our pipeline in the future.

Thanks! First stands came off the machine this week and we couldn’t be more proud!

So a bit about the design. The appendages you are referring to are actually planers. When we developed the bait, we noticed a tendency for it to roll or even spin in some cases. The wings (and a barely noticeable concave on the bottom of the bait) help it stay on plane.

Roger that.

And again, great looking baits!

Did you really use exceptional character and Jeff Sprague in the same sentence? The dude has been caught twice cheating in tournaments. He shouldn’t even be allowed to fish a tournament.

Looks good. How much for how many?

Baits will come in a pack of 7 for $7.99. Subscribe to our email list for savings, including a pre-release deal.

Sorry you feel that way. I’ll just say this…. We did our due diligence and asked the tough questions. We liked the answers we received from him about the one (not two) DQ (which is his story to tell, not ours). Jeff is an Army vet who finished his service, then became a first responder before beginning his pro career. I have a deep respect for him and his service to our country. After spending a great deal of time with him working on this and other projects, I consider him a man of high character. Again, sorry you feel otherwise.

Thanks for the well wishes! We’ve got some big stuff coming and I think you’ll really like it. And yes, it’s great on the surface. I threw it on a buzz bait a few weeks ago and had some fun top water action.

Good looking bait. And I like seeing you out, promoting your product & defending your guy.

One of the baits you make is the finest flipping bait in the history of the world. I'll not disclose it here. Sinkey knows the one I speak of.

Thank you Matt, I thought it looked like it was attached and I really like that profile since I would rather have a flipping stick in my hand flipping heavy cover and it looks like it will be a good compact bait for that application and can't wait to give them a try. Would love to see some in the old Fork Secret color.

No kidding. I don't understand why any company would want to be associated with someone like Jeff

Have either one of you met the guy before?

Edit: I said what many potential customers will be thinking. I really don’t want to sound like a cranky old man, so deleting the comment.

Grout
I can respect your opinion. Everyone has the right to have one. Doesn't make anyone right or wrong. But if you look at how many times you had to use the word "Allegedly" to support your thoughts, that should say something.

I’m gonna delete what I wrote above to not sound negative about the new adventure. Keep up the cool designs!

I thought there was a separate forum for topics like plugs. I drew out Jeff in a tournament. He told me he would never look at the Texas Fishing Forum. Now I know why.

Thanks for the kind words! We’re excited about the bait and can’t wait to get it out on the market. Frustrated that it’s not out yet, but we are waiting on packaging to arrive. So much more goes into developing a bait than you’d think…

Had a few PMs about colors…. The bait will initially be provided in 13 colors that were identified by our pro-staff and select dealer. More will follow as we ramp up (and we’d love feedback on what you’d like to see), but here they are:

Black/Blue
Pearl Flash
June Bug Red
Houdini
California 420
Honey Craw
Green Pumpkin Purple Swirl
Green Pumpkin
Green Pumpkin Magic
Watermelon Candy
Watermelon Red
Magic Craw Swirl (green pumpkin/blue swirl)
Black Flash

I have not. I also have never met Biden or cameltoe but I have an opinion on them. I have never met the 2 guys that got caught cheating in the walleye tournament but I have an opinion on them

Half green pumpkin, half black with blue flake laminate
Blue Fleck
Summer Craw

I take it as Sinkey was telling all of us about a product that he thought the forum would be interested in. He and a few others do that time to time, no foul.
The owner jumped in and let us know when it would be available and a little backstory. Again no foul.
Then, the owner was drawn into his choice of prostaff and discussions ensued.
Like Facebook, we always have the option to scroll right past, yet here you are.

Uhhh.... no need for packaging. I can swing by and bring a ziplock for now..............js

Sorry for being drawn in. I simply wanted to share things in the spirit of transparency. I know a lot of you have an emotional tie to the company and Mark’s legacy. Hope everyone is proud of what we are doing.

I agree with the first two, however, watermelon red is all that needs to be with the first two. Haha.

I got to meet Matt, Zach and all others involved at Icast and have talked with them at the store in Emory last week and all of them have been very nice and happy to be in the business. I for one am glad the LFTL is open and back to making baits again. As far as the Sprague comments, I have interacted with him a few times and he was nothing but nice to me and others that was around, whatever the issue is with him has nothing to do with me and certainly won’t give me a reason to buy or not buy anything.

Noted. Thanks for the input!

Super happy to see LFT on the comeback trail! Now can someone please bring Mann's back to life??? Im running low on my one minus' and tired of paying $40 on ebay....

Thanks for the update, got me to sign up on your website!

Looks like a rage menace grub knock off.

Looks like a copy of a rage tail type bait to me/

New color name should be “Lake Fork Smasher”.
Thanks for the continuing success of Pack’s vision, success and Ronnie Parker’s dedication.
Look forward to continue fishing with some of he best baits in the world.

Matt - Would love to see the old "Fork Secret" color again. Through all of my years of fishing the baits it was for a lot of the year my most successful color.

Thanks for your kind words! We've got a lot more on the way.

Working on Fork Secret. It won't be part of the initial offering, but will be added soon.

We don’t have to meet someone whose antics (cheating) are publicized nationally on various media platforms! We can assume an opinion on him based on his actions that we see and hear on said platforms. With that said, LFT is not on my list of products I will buy now that his name is behind them. Today’s antics on MLF Live were not surprising.

Bingo

Curious as to what I missed.

Cussing a junk trolling motor and some cigarettes being lit up, been there done it!

Ooops, thought we were on the MLF thread, just realized it was the Lake Fork bait thread.

That troller motor looked more loose than my ole Brute I took off my 1996 champion. It seemed to act same way too clanky and old. That was weird, did the troller motor come loose or did they get the boat like that? I bet it's a little more loose after sprague being mad at it, MAN THAT WAS AWESOME!

Pro craw looks cool, like its own thing kinda,
cant wait to try it flipping and for a chatterbait trailer

I don't buy products based on who does or does not endorse them. I buy based on whether or not I like the product and it is a value for the money.
LFT has always produced quality baits at an affordable price and they get bites, plus they are made in Texas, so I will continue to buy them as long as that holds true.

Yes, made in Texas; will buy.

x2

Yeah right, if Jones was endorsed by a product, I can 100% guarantee most of these guys wouldn’t buy that product.

X3

They are smashing them on it today.

I hope Black Flash is actually South Africa!

Good luck and I will be supporting this brand going forward.

Honey Craw was on fire today

Proudly made in Emory, TX!!!

Glad I got on that list early.

Pre-orders available now. https://lftlures.com/pages/pro-craw

Black

Black flash is actually a laminate with black on the bottom half and chrome on top. Our version of SA special is called Black Magic and it will be available later.

What size hook is recommended for these?

I was lucky enough to receive a bag to check them out and have already rigged them a few different ways. I have them on rigs right now with a 5/16 ounce weight which is my preferred flipping weight and 3/0 and 4/0 hook. One on my McCoys CoPolymer 15lb line and one with 40lb braid. I also rigged one up on my Shakey Head setup (I don't finesse so my Shakey Head has a 4/0 hook) and one on my Carolina rig using a 3/0 hook.
I only briefly had a little time this weekend with the Fish for a Cure tournament going on all day Sunday but did take them next door to my neighbors pond for a little bit.
Heading to Fork this weekend to really put them to the test.

A 3/0 is perfect. We designed the ridges so the hook should come thru right on the 4th line.

Congrats on the Pro craw, y'all couldn't have asked for much of a better release than that! Great name, looks like a nice bait!

I bet every fisherman and woman heard about that! My girlfriend came out of the other room and was like "what is that" haaaa

Thank You! We hadn’t planned on releasing it this quickly, but Jeff had a different plan! He used it so much during the first two stages that we had to drive more out for the championship round.

Magic Craw Swirl in production

Im glad everyone in here that wants to dog Jeff Sprague and Lake For Tackle for using him is perfect. Let me tell you not one of us is perfect and never made a mistake. Everyone wants to see the negative things but not the positive things. Like he said Jeff served his country and was a first responder, There truly is only one person that is going to judge us one day. I can tell you when I worked with Jeff as a first responder nothing but positive interactions. I hope everyone has a blessed day.

I see just another flipping bait…

Bass taco did you not see Sprague put on a SHOW with this bait on a swim jig? He/They whooped the dog snot out of Defoe, wheeler, etc... If this bait wasn't dialed I doubt he wouldve been using it. Looks like an awesome bait! Good original too compared to all the other baits in the past 6 years. Id love to buy some when I can get more tackle next. Im not big on sprague, just saying he flat out dominated with this bait as a TRAILER. not just another flipping bait

that is why it's the Toxic Fishing Forum

many here are older and now realize just how unsuccessful they are and that is their legacy

Not all old men are as you say!

I remember when multiple guides and bait companies used to post on this forum all the time… some quality information. reading this thread was a quick reminder as to why that doesn’t happen anymore.

Thank you LFT for braving the bash-a-holics and posting here. Looking forward to trying out the new bait once I can get my hands on it, looks awesome!

These look a lot like one of my favorite lures I throw when I'm fishing for heavily pressured fish. I throw the SK Baby Rage Menace in these situations. May have to come by and get some of these.

Sprague cussed a trolling motor? Been there, done that, and got the T-shirt as well as several other things on my boat when I was younger, when I was his age I had a heck of a temper. I can't hold that against him.

No big deal Buda. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We’ll continue to post on here as we develop new baits (expect another next month).

The menace is a great bait and I agree there are similarities. Our bait has a flat bottom and the planar wings to keep it from rolling. Theirs is a round grub body.

The other upside to the flat bottom is that it skips a bit easier.

x2

Here’s a close up on a swim jig from Saturday.

I'm heading to the lake tomorrow to do some Pro Craw fishing and really check the bait out. I have the lure on the following rigs.
Jig trailer on Swim Jig and Flipping Jig.
Texas rig.
Shakey Head.
Carolina rig.
I don't think I would ever replace my Chatterbait trailer, the Magic Shad V-Tail, but will do so tomorrow just to see how the Pro Craw feels.
I also have one tied weightless just to see how it fishes like a Horny Toad on the surface in shallow vegetation area's.

Went to Tawakoni on Saturday and just wanted to give my impressions of the Pro Craw. And be aware that this is coming from a 71 year old who has a lot of years of experience but in my past few years has not had the best success in chasing down and catching these creatures.
Had all of the rigs ready and headed to our first spot with tournament partner Isaac and immediately realized I hadn't been on the lake in quite a while and the lake level was lower than I was expecting. I am what most people would call a shallow water power fisherman and some of my productive spots in this area was out of water. So we wandered around for a while and eventually was fishing a lily pad field. Tried a few different things and then went to my favorite way to fish and picked up my Texas rig and started flipping the pads. About 30 to 45 minutes in I got a bite and pulled in a small 1 1/2 lber. Not much of a fish but my first bite on the bait fairly early. Fished around more pads, a rocky point and some shallow grass with no bites and then backed out to some timber out in the middle of the flat and I was rotating between the Texas rig and Swimming and Flipping my Jig with Pro Craw trailer. I really started paying attention to the action and size of the bait and the more I used it the better feel I got for it and it looked awesome in the water. Even though it measures a little smaller than other soft plastics I have used most of the time it was still a good profile and I was liking how the flat bottom and sides of it gave it somewhat of a gliding effect. I threw the Chatterbait and Carolina rig a bit and seemed to work fine with both techniques but the fishing was really slow and no bites for a while.
After covering that flat and different areas we finally decided to head down the lake and just see if we could find an area that looked better with the lake level. The one other thing that stood out for me during the first part of the morning was that the bait especially on the Texas rig came through the pads and some brush and stickups really well without hanging up at all.
We then came up on an area which was a row of about 6 docks on the main lake kind of bunched together with some rock banks between them and it looked like a good area to congregate fish in that part of the lake. I tried a few different things but finally got back to flipping a pitching the Texas rig and Jig. Really quick I ended up picking up another small fish on the Texas rig at the first dock I came to. Fished down a little ways and decided to start with the jig. Spent a lot of time at first swimming the jig through areas of the docks and was loving the way the jig and trailer were working and was spending more time just feeling it out and watching the bait but didn't get any bites for a while. Then I just figured the fish weren't aggressive at all so started flipping the bait working it really slowly in the corners of the poles and out on the fronts of the docks. Within a few minuites I got another bite and managed to pull in a nice lille 2+ lber and then a few minutes later another bite and a 3+ lber.
Now the day get's interesting. We get to a dock and I am paying attention to some sloping steps under the dock and I tell Isaac that if I can make a good flip under those steps there ought to be a good one there. About my 3rd flip I put it right where I expected a fish to be and a get a really good thump and when I set the hook I almost felt like I hit a solid stump that didn't move at all. I did know if was a fish and knew it had some weight on it but my 50 lb braid snapped and sounded like a gun went off. I took the time to get another one of my jigs out and me and Isaac were talking about how that would have probably been a good one to get in for picture taking. We went on down to the end of the row of docks catching another fish that hit the jig. The most bites on a Jig I have had in quite a while but it is that time of year and main lake boat docks even though they only had 2 to 4 feet of water just sits up for this type of bite this time of year.
We decided to head back through the row of docks one more time before we headed in. By now I am really taking in everything about the Pro Craw and really thinking about how much I was really liking the bait. We are now really having a good time talking about the day and the upcoming year and we get back to that dock with the sloping steps and I tell Isaac that I was going to flip back under those steps and catch that big un. I put my first flip right back into the spot where I broke off the fish and immediately got a thump and set the hook and the fight was on to get that fish out and around a couple of the rusted old metal poles of the dock. As soon as I got it out front it surfaced and we got to see the fish and realized it was a pretty decent one and I got it to the boat and flipped it in. It was awesome getting a decent fish in to be able to get a picture of it to send to Lake Fork Lures. It end up weighing 4.13 lbs so not a monster but a good quality fish I would love to have in any tournament. Now the strangest thing of all happened as I was moving the bait out of the fishes mouth to take a picture showing the Jig and Pro Craw and while moving the bait out I noticed that there was a length of braided line coming out of the throat of the fish. I realized it was my Sunline XPlasma braid and that this fish was the one I had broken off and had already completely swallowed my previous jig. I cut the line off as far down as possible for the fish. We were dumbfounded. The day ended on a great and crazy note.
My thoughts on the bait.
I really liked the size of the bait the more I used it. Let's face it, a Creature bait is a Creature bait and almost all of them will work in certain situations but this one has a couple of designs to it that makes it a little bit different which I feel could make a difference with the flat bottom and the appendages connected down the side of the bait. And on my Texas rig using a 5/16 tungsten weight and 3/0 Gamakatsu G Finesse Hybrid Hook the bait went through brush etc with no problem and had a great fall and glide to it. On my Jig that I am really excited about. I custom make my own jigs in 3/8 and 1/2 ounce and use the 3/8 most of the time with skirt stands I order from Fishingskirts.com and usually always use strictly Dark Green Pumpkin and sometimes a strand that will have a brown or orange or other color with it. The Honey Craw colored Pro Craw went perfect with this dark colored jig and for some reason the flake in the bait really stood out in the sunny conditions. The bait is solid too. I luckily receive one bag and 5 of my fish came on the Jig and the Pro Craw stayed on with no problem.
So after a fun day with a good buddy I can only say that I loved the bait and can't wait for them to come out next month and I actually went home and have preordered about 10 bags of bait.
Thank you Mr. Morgan for providing me a bag of Pro Craws to check out and can't wait to add these to my arsenal.

This is a good reply. People judging this man’s character and never having spent a single minute getting to know him or have ever even been around him for that matter. There’s two sides to every story and no one cares about the good side so you won’t hear it. Great job standing beside your decision for your Prostaff team member Jeff.

Orders begin shipping today. Thanks for everyone’s patience. Hope you love the bait!

Awesome Matt. Great packaging. Can't wait for my orders to arrive.

i got chub

Thanks! Hope you all enjoy it! More exciting stuff coming.

For those unaware (like I was) they now have these in the store.

Sorry Bryan! Yes, they are available at the store. Lake Pro in Gainesville also has them in stock and Tackle Warehouse should have them in their system in the next week.

Got my pre orders in and I am already getting together another order. The packaging is really awesome and the three colors I ordered are perfect.

Thanks Tommy! We’re really happy with how everything turned out. Expect our next new bait in January or February and I’ll do a TFF discount code for anywhere on here (even the haters!). 🤪