Beginner's Tacklebox: Robbie Latuso

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Bassmaster Elite Series pro Robbie Latuso grew up snatching bass from the cypress-filled swamps of South Louisiana. That experience influences his preference for flipping, but he knows how to put together a box of baits that can help a beginner catch fish anywhere in the country. Here are his choices for a novice angler.

Photo: Andy Crawford

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His first choice is a Delta Lures 1/2-ounce buzz bait. “It’s really fun to catch them on topwaters,” he said. “It’s fun to see the strike.”

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The buzz bait goes in the first compartment of the Beginner’s Tacklebox.

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Latuso reached into one of his Bass Cat’s compartments for his box of frogs.

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The next bait up is Fitzgerald Fishing’s Pro-Z Hollow Body Frog. “There’s nothing more fun than catching them on a frog,” he said. “You’ve got to have you a black one and a white one. If you lose them, get you another black one and white one.”

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The frogs fill the second compartment of the box.

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Latuso’s third choice — gold/black back Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue — reflects his Louisiana roots. The lure is in every South Louisianian’s box, and it is deadly when worked around cypress trees in the spring. “It’s another fun way to catch fish,” he explained. You get to see the fish bite.

“And that gold one is pretty much the only color you need down here.”

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The Rattlin’ Rogue occupies the third compartment of his Beginner’s Tacklebox.

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Next up is a 3/8-ounce Delta Lures Thunder Jig with a Missile Baits Craw trailer. “It’s a good all-around choice,” he said. “It’s an easy bait to throw, it’s easy to feel the bait vibrate and it’s easy to feel the bite — they choke it.”

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The Thunder Jig is placed in the first compartment of the second row of the beginner’s box.

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Latuso reaches into the hard-bait compartment of his boat and pulls out a box of spinnerbaits.

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A 3/8-ounce Delta Lures spinnerbait with double Colorado blades comes out as the fifth bait for the box. “It’s the No. 1 fish-catching bait down here,” he said. “You’ve just got to have one. It’s something you can cover a lot of water with, and it’s easy to fish. It doesn’t hang up a whole lot. You cast and reel it back.”

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Lautso places the spinnerbait in the next compartment of the tackleblox.

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The next lure is another easy-to-fish choice that can be deadly to bass. The 3/8-ounce Delta Lures swim jig is paired with a Missile Baits Shockwave. “It’s another bait you can throw and wind back,” Latuso said. “It’s like a subtle spinnerbait.”

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The swim jig goes into the box.

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“You’ve got to have a black-and-chartreuse crankbait,” he said. His choice is a Cliff Pace Ricochet Jr. square bill, and it’s perfect for novice anglers because it flat catches bass. “A square bill deflects off wood really well, and we have lots of wood down here,” he explained. “It helps you keep from getting hung up all the time, and it triggers the bite when that bait hits wood and deflects off.”

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The square bill goes into the box just beneath the vibrating jig.

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Next is a 1/2-ounce Missile Baits Mini Flip Jig with a Missile Baits Baby D-Bomb. “A jig’s a good bait to catch a big fish on,” he said. “Some times of the year, it’s about the only bait you can get a fish on. This Mini Flip has a smaller hook, and it’s actually easy to get hooked up with the fish. You’ve just got to pull into them and you’ve got them. For a beginner, that’s key. You really don’t have to set the hook.

“It’s a good way for a beginner to get a little confidence in a jig. It’s a hard bait to learn to fish.”

And the black-and-blue combination is “pretty much the only color you need,” he said. “It works best in stained water, but it has worked anywhere in the country I’ve been to.”

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Latuso puts the jig into the next compartment of the tacklebox.

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The angler has to dig out one of his plastics bags to continue filling the box.

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His first soft-plastic choice is a Missile D-Bomb, which he’ll pair with a 3/0 wide-gap hook. “Just flip it out there and catch fish,” he said. “It’s just a great flipping bait. I’ll Texas-rig it with a 1/4-ounce weight, and just flip it on cover.”

The choice of whether or not to peg the weight comes down to the cover Latuso is fishing.

“If you’re flipping in grass or a lot of bushes, you want to peg it,” he explained. “If you’re just flipping around open wood or trees, don’t peg it. You’re going to get more bites and more hookups without pegged weights.”

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The D-Bomb is tucked into the box.

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Sticking with flipping options, he pulls out a Missile Baits Baby D-Stroyer, which is really effective around cypress trees when fished under a 1/4-ounce weight. “This works so good down here because, if you’ve noticed, we have a lot of salamanders on trees,” he said. “The D-Stroyer looks like a little salamander.

“You flip it just like you flip the D-Bomb.”

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Into the box goes the D-Stroyer.

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A stick bait is a no-brainer for a beginner, and his choice is the Missile Baits 48 Worm. “You can fish this any time you fish a Senko,” Latuso said. “You can Texas rig it, you can wacky rig it, you can Neko rig it, you can put the hook in it without a weight and put a nail weight in the tail. It has a different fall than a Senko does; that’s why it catches so many fish.

“It’s kind of 'finessy.' You just want to get bit as a beginner, and that’s a great bait to catch fish on. Drag it around real slow, and you’re probably going to catch a fish.”

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He drops the 48 Worm into the box.

“It’s kind of finessy. You just want to get bit as a beginner, and that’s a great bait to catch fish on. Drag it around real slow, and you’re probably going to catch a fish.”

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The last bait he chooses is a punching combination: a Delta Lures Punch Skirt over a Missile D-Bomb rigged on an 3/0 Owner Jungle Hook. “You can punch it with any sized weight you want,” he said. “I use the lightest weight I can get away with. If you’re punching something that’s not too thick — maybe some duckseed — you might can go with a 1/2-ounce; with lilies you might get away with a 1-ounce. Just go with the lightest weight you can get by with.”

He pegs his weight to ensure the lure breaks through the salad. “I use two stoppers,” Latuso said. “One peg slips on you, but with two it ain’t going nowhere.”

The punching skirt helps give some heft to the bait profile. “Sometimes they want a bulkier profile, especially earlier in the year around the spawn,” he said. “You get bigger bites. Sometimes they want something big to eat.”

Photo: Andy Crawford