# Gary Yamamoto Covert Craw: the 6.3 cm finesse craw built for the ned rig > Ribbed body, claws that stand up and a Mega Floater formula: how to rig and work the Gary Yamamoto Covert Craw on a ned rig, finesse jig or drop shot. - Source : https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/gary-yamamoto-2-5-covert-craw/ - Language : en-US - Updated : 2026-10-01 ## Spec sheet - Brand : Gary Yamamoto - Model : 2.5" Covert Craw - Type : Finesse soft craw - Target species : Bass, Perch - Size : 6.3 cm / 2.5 in, sold in packs of 10 - Weight : not published by Gary Yamamoto, whose table lists length only - Running depth : from the bank down to 6 m / 20 ft, depending on head weight - Retrieve speed : very slow, a settled retrieve broken by long pauses on the bottom - Action : flat claws that rise into a defensive posture, side appendages quivering at the slightest line tension - Rigging : ned rig on a 2-5 g / 1/16-3/16 oz round head, finesse jig trailer, or drop shot nose-hooked through the upper body - Colors : green pumpkin with black flake in clear water, rusty brown in stained water, black and blue in dark water Mid October, a gravel flat in four metres of water, and the lake clearing suddenly after three days of wind. The fish are pinned to the bottom and refuse everything that passes above them. In that situation it is not colour that changes anything, it is volume and speed. The Gary Yamamoto Covert Craw belongs to that family of tiny baits you set on the bottom and let work almost by themselves. ## A craw that fits in a tablespoon Yamamoto's spec table comes down to two figures: 2.5 in, meaning 6.3 cm, and a pack of 10. It is deliberately short, and it covers the essential point: this craw is cut for waters where fish feed on small crawfish and larvae, not on big prey. That detail is not trivial. A bass eating crawfish the size of a fingernail will consistently refuse a 10 cm bait, not because it is not hungry, but because the silhouette matches nothing it is seeing. Dropping to 6.3 cm means accepting slower fishing and less water covered, in exchange for a much lower refusal rate on fish that have already seen plenty of lures. As with the rest of the brand's soft range, it is worth noting what is not published: no per-bait weight, no buoyancy class in the table. Yamamoto states a Mega Floater formula, which is useful information, but it stays a manufacturer's claim rather than a measured figure you could compare from one model to the next. ## A ribbed body and appendages everywhere In the photo, the short body is finely ribbed along its full length, with rings far tighter than on a big worm. Those grooves do two distinct jobs: they catch light by creating micro-shadows, and they give water something to grip on a bait that would otherwise be too smooth to announce itself at this size. Along the body Yamamoto has distributed several small side appendages, plus two thin antennae at the rear. That is where most of this bait's action lives. They produce no measurable vibration — this is nothing like a paddle-tail shad — but they move constantly, including when the bait is sitting on the bottom and you are doing nothing. A little displaced water, a light current, an unintended pull on the line is enough to set them going. That is exactly what you want on a wary fish: a bait that lives without anyone appearing to hold it. ## The claws and the defensive posture Both claws are flat, wide and split at the tip. Yamamoto drew them to reproduce the defensive stance of a small crawfish: claws up, body flattened, facing the threat. It is a posture fish know perfectly well, because it is what a real crawfish adopts as they close in. That is also where the Mega Floater formula earns its place. A material lighter than water lifts the claws as soon as the bait comes to rest, instead of letting them flop into the silt. On a 2 to 3 g ned head over hard bottom, the craw stands up on its own between strokes. ## Three finesse rigs ### Ned rig The rig it looks designed for. A 2 to 5 g round head, hook pinned through the upper body, and a retrieve made of almost nothing: set it down, wait five seconds, pull twenty centimetres, set it down again. The full [ned rig setup](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/montage-ned-rig/) is covered elsewhere on the site, but the principle is this: the lighter the head, the longer the claws keep working on every pause. ### Finesse jig trailer Rigged behind a small skirted jig, the Covert Craw adds silhouette volume without adding resistance to the fall. It is the rig to favour wherever there is dead wood or rock that a ned rig would hang on: the jig's weed guard does the work, the craw supplies the action. ### Drop shot Nose-hooked through the upper body on a fine wire hook, it hangs at the depth you choose, claws up and appendages quivering with every movement of the rod tip. A formidable rig on a vertical break or a bridge piling, when fish are up off the bottom. > When a fish refuses, do not change colour: take weight off. Going from a 5 g head to a 2.5 g head doubles the time the craw stays suspended on the fall, and the bite almost always comes in that window. ### The classic mistake Working it like a normal-sized bait. A 6.3 cm craw loses all its point the moment you impose wide pulls: it lifts off the bottom, crosses the zone and imitates nothing at all. If you can see the rod tip moving a lot, you are doing too much. The right retrieve is measured in centimetres, not metres. ## Colours by water clarity - **Clear water over gravel or rock**: green pumpkin with black flake, the colour photographed here. It matches the exact shade of a hard-bottom crawfish and blends into the substrate without disappearing. - **Lightly stained water**: a rusty brown, which stays natural while remaining detectable once visibility drops below a metre. - **Dark water, silt bottom**: black and blue, when the silhouette is all you have left to show and it needs to be sharp. ## What it adds next to other small craws Against a [Zman TRD CrawZ](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/zman-trd-crawz/), the Covert Craw trades on a softer material and more numerous appendages, at the cost of durability: Zman's ElaZtech takes far more fish per bait. Against an [O.S.P Dolive Craw](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/osp-dolive-craw/) it is quieter and less oriented towards displaced water. And when fish turn active again and you need more volume without leaving the family, the 3 inch [Gary Yamamoto Yama Craw](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/gary-yamamoto-3-yama-craw/) is the logical next step on the same spot. Fishing this slowly only makes sense if you are in the right place: over featureless bottom, a finesse craw will not rescue the day. That is precisely what [CarnaFish](https://carnafish.com/en/) helps with: one photo of the spot, and the AI suggests the zone, the depth and the presentation that fit the conditions. To sharpen your reading of hard-bottom spots, our [guide to perch fishing with lures](https://carnafish.com/en/blog/peche-perche-leurre/) gives reference points that hold for bass too. ## Key takeaways - 6.3 cm in packs of 10: a reduced-calibre craw aimed at waters where fish eat small bottom-dwelling prey. - The action comes from side appendages and antennae, not vibration: it works at rest, not on the retrieve. - Mega Floater formula stated by Yamamoto to keep the claws raised, but no buoyancy class published in the table. - Ned rig first, jig trailer around cover, drop shot for fish holding off the bottom. ## FAQ ### What size and pack count is the Covert Craw? Yamamoto lists 2.5 in, meaning 6.3 cm, in bags of 10. The maker publishes neither a per-bait weight nor a buoyancy class: only length and quantity appear in its spec table. ### What jighead weight for the ned rig? Between 2 and 5 g depending on depth and wind. Stay with the lightest weight that still lets you feel the bottom: too heavy a head crushes the claws on contact and kills the defensive posture that makes the bait interesting. ### Does this craw float? Yamamoto moulds it in its Mega Floater formula, which is meant to keep the claws raised at rest. But the spec table carries no buoyancy column, so treat it as a manufacturer's indication to verify yourself in a bucket. ### Does it work for perch? Yes, on a ned rig or drop shot over hard bottom, where it matches the size of prey a perch is hunting well. Just use a finer wire hook than you would for bass, since a perch's mouth is harder to penetrate. ### How many fish does one bait last? Fewer than an elastomer craw; that is the trade-off for plastic this soft. Count on a handful of fish per bait, more if you glue the head to the hook with a drop of flexible adhesive or use a head with a bait-keeper barb. ### Ned rig or drop shot, which one? The ned rig when fish are sitting on the bottom and you want to work the contact zone. The drop shot when the sounder shows fish a metre or two up, or when you are fishing a vertical where a bait on the bottom would never be seen. --- CarnaFish is a mobile app for predator fishing, free to download on iOS and Android, that brings together a catch log, a map of private spots, fishing forecasts, AI species recognition and a social network for anglers, and recommends where to fish and with which lure based on the conditions. To cite this content, mention “CarnaFish — carnafish.com” and link the source page.