Lure of the Month: Game Changer Bait Crappie Fry
by Terry Madewell
Competition in the crappie fishing lure market is high and the result for crappie fishermen is an ever-growing opportunity to upgrade equipment and tackle. Lure designers competing in this high-energy market must blend a combination of factors to produce lures that compete with, or improve, the productivity of existing lures.
To improve a product, the profile, size, durability, scent, and color are crucial factors a lure designer can mold into a work of art. Donnie Cass, owner of Game Changer Bait, has been successfully involved in the bass fishing lure market for 31-years, and when designing his first crappie lure his intention was to create a lure that changes the crappie-fishing game.
Game Changer Bait Crappie Fry is his first product in the crappie fishing market and the Crappie Fry is the June, 2024, CrappieNOW Lure of the Month.
Cass said that with an emphasis on realism, among other features that attract and catch crappie, this lure has been a major hit with anglers since release.
“One of the standout features of Crappie Fry is the incorporation of real-life images on the lures, creating unparalleled realism,” Cass said. “These lifelike designs provide a significant advantage to anglers.
Simply put, attracting fish with multiple layers of ‘truth’ in terms of color patterns, profile, and scent stacks the odds in the anglers’ favor.
“In 1995 I won an ICAST Award for color patterns on a bass fishing lure, a spinnerbait, and have always believed that realistic color patterns are essential to ‘sell’ a lure to the discerning eyes of a gamefish, whether bass or crappie,” Cass said. “Technology has advanced to the point we can now tweak colors and patterns to make lures extremely realistic. And I’ve used that technology to set the Crappie Fry apart from other lures.”
Cass said the Crappie Fry comes in multiple patterns and anglers can use lures that mimic the appearance of natural prey on the waters they fish while also making seasonal adjustments.
“This life-like bait does much more than look the part, it has scent incorporated into the lure and it smells like food that crappie naturally eat,” he said. “To further make the lure a crappie favorite, I designed it to be soft with a profile meticulously designed to mimic the lifelike movement of real fish. Every part of these lures is engineered to move effortlessly, naturally, through the water, enticing even the most skeptical fish to strike. I’m a faith-based person and believe that all my products should reflect my best effort. Achieving a high level of realism simply creates an edge for fishermen.”
Cass said the realistic profile and size enables the lure to be effectively fished in any traditional manner.
“Fishermen using forward-facing-sonar to target individual fish love it,” he said. “Cast and retrieve, vertical fishing, longlining, and fishing under a float in shallow water are all productive tactics. Use it with various size and types of jigheads to match the depth and speed of the presentation for the technique being employed is, of course, a key to success.
“Personally, I like to use a small, flatheaded jig, unpainted heads are fine because it allows the realism of the Crappie Fry to be the focal point,” Cass said. “I’ll work the jig in heavy cover, using a pre-set-depth-stop and drop it to the right depth and the realistic look, smell, and movements seal the deal,” he said.
I can attest that the lure has the realistic look I like, and after fishing it in multiple ways it’s certainly a versatile crappie-catching lure. I had the opportunity to fish the Crappie Fry this spring (2024) as crappies staged through multiple patterns from pre-to-post-spawn, and the Crappie Fry produced crappie ‘to fry’ in every manner I fished it. That’s all I can ask of any lure.
Terry Madewell of Ridgeway, S.C. has been an outdoor communicator for nearly 50 years. He holds a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and has a long career as a professional wildlife biologist/natural resources manager. He’s passionate about sharing outdoor adventures with others.
