One particular pattern has really been delivering a lot of fish for me lately, and that’s dragging a soft-plastic craw across the surface over submerged grass beds. The technique has been deadly effective for both bass and redfish all over the marsh, and it should get even better as water temperatures begin to cool in the fall months.

But not every craw looks great when retrieved across the surface, or even just under it. To get a feel for which baits should be most effective using this technique, I borrowed some time at a buddy’s pool and brought along a couple of underwater cameras.

With my son Joel running along with a push pole-mounted GoPro, I cast and retrieved a Gene Larew Punch Out Craw, Gary Yamamoto Cowboy, Xcite Raptor Tail Jr., Googan Baits Krackin’ Craw, Zoom Z-Craw, Rage Tail Menace, Zoom Speed Craw, Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw, Yum Christie Craw, Strike King Rage Craw and Matrix Craw.

Then, when I got home, I surveyed the underwater footage, and graded each lure’s action when retrieved along the surface as well as subsurface. I factored in price, and gave each craw a final score.

The winner was a bait I’ve never fished before, but certainly will in the future. Not only did it look great in the water, but it beat nearly every other bait in price.

Check out the video below to see every lure from a fish-eye view and to learn which came out on top.

Like the video? Please give it a thumbs-up, and subscribe to the Marsh Man Masson channel on YouTube. Also, leave a comment below or on the YouTube page. What did you think of the scores? Did you see a bait that looked better or worse to you than how we scored it? Any baits move up or down in your estimation?