The Berkley PowerBait Shape 108 Craw is one of the latest creations from this juggernaut in the fishing industry. With a wide variety of color and size combinations available in this craw, Berkley has added something to their arsenal that will soon become a mainstay in many a tackle box.
Though there are other similar profile baits on the market, the inclusion of Berkley’s PowerBait formula may just be enough to set this bait apart for many anglers and skyrocket it to the top of the craw-style soft plastic heap. Here’s my take.
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WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE SHAPE 108 CRAW
There are certainly other baits on the market that bear a resemblance to the Shape 108 Craw—namely the Strike King Rage Tail Craw, which I have reviewed previously. Both of these baits have solid bodies as well as wide and thin claws, with flanges along the claws to help exaggerate their action.
I’d wager one thing that really sets the Shape 108 Craw apart from the Rage Craw and other similar products is the scent—the wonderfully awful scent that is known by the bass fishing world as PowerBait.
POWERBAIT FORMULA
PowerBait is Berkley’s proprietary scent technology which they have been perfecting for the last 25 years. By impregnating their soft plastics with this scent, Berkley has found a way to get fish to hang on up to 18 times longer than they hold onto other soft plastics. This gives the angler more time to feel the bite and set the hook.
Though I’m not a huge fan of using scent, I don’t dip every soft plastic I have in scent before throwing it out, I don’t have any reason to believe scent doesn’t have an effect on bass. In fact, there has been tons of research done by Berkley and other companies to prove that scent really does work.
I can personally attest to the fact that PowerBait stinks, in a good way. And the scent lasts and lasts. I rigged up one of these craws recently, fished with it then left it tied up for several days while my rods were stored. When I returned to get my rods to put them back in the boat, I could smell the stank of PowerBait as I lifted my rods over the gunwale and into the boat. The scent is strong, and it doesn’t wear off.
DESIGN
Let’s again look at the design of the bait: there’s a solid body that’s great for rigging and is super durable. Next, there are two wide claws, with ridges running across them a few millimeters from their tips. The ridges are along the tops and bottoms of the claws and are design elements intentionally included to exaggerate the movement of the claws.
Another thing that sets these apart from other craws is that these are durable baits. Short striking bass are notorious for biting off claws of baits, or “stealing pinchers”. This happens far less with the 108 Craw since the material used is more durable. The slight drawback is that the material is also a little stiffer, so a little more speed is needed to start the claws moving.
All that said, it really comes down to personal preference when deciding whether to go with this craw or another. You can pick a craw that has a little more movement but gets torn to pieces easily. Or you can go with the 108 Craw, which holds up well bite after bite and still has a lot of action, though, it takes a little more oomph on the retrieve or a little heavier weight on the fall to get it going.
A PLETHORA OF OPTIONS, CLAMSHELL PACKAGING AND FINAL THOUGHTS
The Shape 108 Craws come in three different sizes: 3, 3.5 and 4 inches. This means there’s a bait in this lineup for nearly any craw application, from trailing a jig to rigging one up on a Texas rig. They come in packs of 10, 8 and 6 from smallest to largest and are available in 14 color choices. All of these options are priced at $6.99 per pack.
The clamshell packaging is a must to keep baits like this straight, so I was glad to see that Berkley went that route. Again, though the action is good and the durability is solid, the scent is what really sets this bait apart from other craws. For a soft plastic lure like this that bass will often need to choke up on a few times to get good, scent can make all the difference. A solid new addition to the lineup of a long-standing, tried and true product line for Berkley, the PowerBait Shape 108 Craw is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a craw to fish.
