I know you mentioned you dont like the basstrix baits,but would you be interested in this one ,which is sililar but not from basstrix,its from trophy technologies i think ,i have 2 of them one is 8" the other 12 the 12 is a huge bait , the biggest in my box for sure.they have a rattle imbedded in the tail and they weigh enough to get you to any depth.this bait in the pic has the hook on top wereas i have treble hooks on the bottom.If interested email m eand i will send you more pics that are too big for this mesage board.
Brian

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/3793-ff_1_b.jpg