Included are paddle-tail swimbaits in two sizes , a pair of craws , a Ned bait and a versatile pintail minnowstyle bait that can be used as a trailer on vibrating jigs and spinnerbaits or fished solo with several rigging options .

The baits obviously work pretty well in skilled hands — Wheeler claims he banked $ 301,000 on the CrushCity family before the baits even showed up in tackle stores in fall 2023 .

First Impressions

It was early winter , with East Texas water temperatures in the mid-50s , when my CrushCity care package rolled in — prime time for slinging an Alabama rig , plying shallow grass beds with a bladed jig or swimbait and teasing suspended fish with a Damiki-style rig or underspin . The Mayor and Freeloader proved ideal for use in those situations and more .

Both have some neat features , but the Freeloader is particularly cool .

FREELOADER : It ’ s a 4 1 / 4-inch pintail minnow with a partially ribbed body , flat back , flat sides , squared-off nose and belly / back slots for lining up the hook and hiding the point . A trio of small tail rings move a little water and produce its unique quiver and hunting action .

Wheeler designed the Freeloader primarily for use as a trailer for bladed jigs , spinnerbaits and scroungers , but it can also be effective when cast on a jighead — as he proved during his win at Stage Four on Lake Guntersville last May . It can also be affixed to an underspin , Texas-rigged weightless , fished solo on a bellyweighted hook or nose hooked on a drop-shot rig . Like the rest of the CrushCity family , it comes in rigid clam shell packaging that is resealable . There are six to a pack in 17 fish-catching colors , including several laminates .

THE MAYOR : The Mayor is a multi-use , boot-tail swimbait that comes in two sizes — 3 and 4 inches . It has a super soft body with a flat nose , back / belly hook

slots and textured , flat sides that make it look and feel like the real deal . Both models can be fished alone on a jighead or weighted belly hook , as a bladed jig / spinnerbait trailer or in combination with an Alabama rig . It comes in packs of six to eight in 16 colors .

In Action

After checking out both baits using multiple techniques , it ’ s clear the plastics are just as versatile as Rapala claims . There ’ s little doubt the entire family will get you bit under the right conditions .

The Freeloader shined brightest for me as a bladed jig trailer and rigged solo on a jighead . The bait behaves entirely different than most fluke-style baits in that there are no fluttering appendages ,