(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Creature baits such as Biffle Bugs have long been a staple for offshore fishing around rocks and gravel, affixed to a football jig or a wobble-head, but fishing them that way isn’t always possible.
“Where I live and where I fish a lot, we have a lot of moss, a lot of grass, a lot of things that can foul up your action,” said Bass University co-founder Pete Gluszek. “So I modify mine by using a worm-style weight.” While this is a setup that can be pitched and flipped, Gluszek said it’s at its absolute best when he “swims” it over and across cover.
It allows him to cover water fast, locate fish, and trigger bigger specimens to bite. Most importantly perhaps, it can be used across the seasons. He starts with it in the prespawn and continues using it in the spawn, especially in dingy water where he can’t see the nesting bass. “This bait will pull them off the beds,” he said.
When he gets a bite from an aggressive male, he’ll put his shallow-water anchors down and continue to cast to that site looking for a bigger female. Even if that doesn’t pan out, he’ll often fan cast looking for other colony spawners. In the postspawn, it remains a viable option for fry-guarders. While the football head or wobble-head are summertime staples, they don’t do particularly well in grass, so when vegetation is present Gluszek sticks with the bullet weight. He keeps it on the deck of his boat into the fall, but tends to switch to shad colors.
Indeed, colors are key, but he keeps them simple. In clear water, he likes different shades of watermelon, using varied flakes to capture the sun. In dirtier water and other low-visibility conditions he favors darker colors. When bass are clearly feeding on crawfish, then he’ll add in some orange.
While the Biffle Bug is his primary choice for aggressive fish and larger fish, when bass are pressured or otherwise finicky Gluszek will downsize to a Strike King Rage Bug. Either way, the goal is to come into contact with cover. “I want it just rooting around the entire time,” he said, knocking off wood, and grass and rocks, leaving a trail for the fish to follow. In super-shallow water, he’ll fish it on 20-pound Gamma fluorocarbon, but most of the time 16-pound gets the call. In really clear water he might drop down to 12 or 14. He puts it on a 7.5:1 Lew’s Speed Spool LFS. The high gear ratio enables him to catch up quickly with a hard-hitting bass. His rod of choice is a Cashion ICON 7’3” medium-heavy.
Because both the Biffle Bug and the Rage Bug contain a lot of plastic, he wants a wide-gap hook like the VMC Worm Hook, a 5/0 for the former and a 4/0 for the latter. A tungsten weight, usually 3/8- or 1/2-ounce, gets the call. He doesn’t peg it so it will slide freely and create a clacking sound.
If you want to learn some of Gluszek's additional tips for swimming a creature bait, including how he cuts and modifies the baits slightly for maximum action, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
