As the lure settles, the rear prop makes a couple final revolutions, with a flash that teases reluctant fish. Prop baits also make great baits at night in summer, because a slow steady retrieve keeps up an attractive bubble trail at a steady speed that’s easy for bass to home in to.
Stickbaits—Sometimes called walking baits, a category that includes cigar-shape topwaters that jump back and forth when retrieved with a steady downward rod motion. The Heddon Zara Spook is the most famous, and the Excalibur Super Spook has gained fans since production began three years ago. These hefty lures have a solid reputation for attracting outsize largemouths and smallmouths, and the new 1/2-ounce Super Spook Jr. adds to the genre’s versatility. Indeed, baits like the Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow, MirrOLure Top Dog, Gaines Ugly Albert, and Bomber Mullet are favorites for coastal angling, and they double as lunker bass lures.
One of the hottest lure categories, though, is the group of more subtle stickbaits imported from Japan. Lucky Craft’s Sammy, Buddha Baits Samurai, Yo-Zuri’s Walk’n Dog, Owner’s Zip-N-Ziggy, and the Viva Bugeye Stick are finely detailed baits that slip softly from side to side at a slower pace than the presentation usually performed with the Spook. And lighter line (8- to 12-pound test) enhances their action.
PRADCO’s Spit’n Image brought the same kind of detailed finish to American baits where this medium-size stickbait (3- and 31⁄4-inch models) has been a hit. Bagley Bait’s new Finger Mullet fits the genre, too, with its Prizm Image holographic finish. The balsa Rattlin’ Twitcher and smaller Spittin’ Twitcher from Bagley and Poe’s two smaller sizes of the cedar Jackpot also offer walk-the-dog action in medium-size baits that fish easily on medium-heavy baitcasting tackle.
Minnowbaits—This lure style has proven one of the biggest sellers since Normark offered the first Rapala Minnow in 1960. That floating bait’s natural imitation of a crippled minnow caught bass, pike, and walleyes like no lure before it. In the 1930s, Finnish fisherman Lauri Rapala whittled and colored the lure to replicate the struggling motion of the baitfish that predators seemed to single out for a meal.
The Rebel Minnow, A. C. Shiner, Bagley Bang-O-Lure, and Cordell Redfin soon followed and also astounded anglers with their attraction to predatory fish. Lately, beautiful Japanese minnowbaits have been offered by Owner, Daiwa, Yo-Zuri, Carolina Fish and Fur, and Lucky Craft. Floating minnowbaits work well when trolled or steadily retrieved, but slowly twitching one on the surface is often the best way to tempt bass. Each of the wooden and plastic baits offers a slightly different action due to bill design, lure shape, size, material, and weight placement.
Pull the bait below the surface and it rises with a shimmying action that’s deadly on calm mornings and evenings. When a breeze rises, a faster snapping action attracts largemouths and smallmouths from the Postspawn Period through the Postsummer Period. Just shaking the rod tip makes these delicate baits shiver on the surface, sending out slight ripples that are hard for any fish eater to resist. Watch out, for you’ll tempt gulls, pelicans, and herons, too.
