A vibrating jig has really become one of the main staples in bass fishing now largely due to its effectiveness in any depth of water and a variety of cover like docks and grass. One of the vibrating jigs I’ve been throwing a lot the last couple of years, is the Strike King Thunder Cricket.
This vibrating jig offers good colors, strong hook, awesome trailer keeper, a different sound and action than other vibrating jigs and that fish catching allure you want in a good vibrating swim jig.
You can find the Thunder Cricket at these retailers:
It gets bit
I’ve had a bunch of success with the Thunder Cricket every where I’ve fished it. They come in 3/8, 1/2, 5/8 and 3/4 ounce sizes. I like the 5/8 ounce size a lot. I can fish it fast to keep it shallow or fish it slow to make it run like a deeper crankbait. I can get it down into the grass and snatch it out quick for a reaction. I’ve caught fish on it in muddy water, clear water, around grass, under docks, through standing timber and on rocky banks. I’ve caught a bunch of schooling fish on it too.
Really good hook
The hook is something that was often overlooked in the early days of vibrating jigs. The Thunder Cricket features a stout wide hook that really has a ton of bite and hooks and holds bass well and easily without flex to make sure you land that trophy bass.
Grooved head and actuating line tie
As you can see from the first couple of pictures, the Thunder Cricket features a different actuating line tie that is free to move and not attached to the head and the blade is also uniquely shaped. The combination of the two gives this vibrating jig what I would call a tighter, higher-pitched vibration which I like in a lot of instances. The flat head and narrow profile skips really well with a good compact soft plastic trailer, which is nice when I want to skip it under boat docks where bass are often feeding on smaller bluegill and young forage .
Keeper holds trailers great
The keeper system features a grooved V lead keeper coupled with a wire hook to keep your trailer from budging on cascading skips and rambunctious bass.
Color options endless
While I like a lot of the stock colors on the Thunder Cricket, the skirts are easily removed and swapped so you can carry a handful of skirts and heads and have just about any color Thunder Cricket you want in seconds. I like that customization aspect a lot. My favorite stock colors are bruiser, blue craw, chartreuse blue glimmer, and bluegill. I will put on a fire craw skirt at times too in the spring.
Works with a lot of different trailer options
The Thunder Cricket is a narrow profile more diminutive vibrating jig out of the package, but you can beef up the skirt and add a bulky trailer to slow it down a ton. So you can have a fast quick fishing bait or bulkier slower bait depending on the water temp, mood of the fish, season and retrieve you are looking for. Again options are good with this bait. Carry a handful of trailers to mimic shad, bluegill, crawfish, or whatever you can come up with along with skirts to match and you got a whole system with just a few different sized heads.
Been working for me since prototype stages
I have had one for a couple of years thanks to getting some of the early prototypes to play with. I saw two years ago what it could do and I’ve been sold ever since.
You can find the Thunder Cricket at these retailers:
