You’d be hard-pressed to find an angler in Oklahoma who doesn’t own at least a handful of Wiggle Warts. The trademark wide wobble is something that bass in rocky impoundments can’t resist. However, the Wart is usually a warm-weather bait, but if the water warms up enough, you can bet that more than a few anglers will be heaving these classic lures around shallow rocky points and in creeks.
An underspinner, such as this Buckeye SuSpin Blade, is another rocky impoundment favorite. The Fish Head Spin and Sworming Hornet are Lake Lanier, Ga., classics, but they translates well into the waters of Grand and the like. These baits are best suited for casting to and through suspended fish that are keying on open water bait balls.
Another lower Midwest favorite, the finesse jig is epitomized by the Jewel Eakins’ Jig, shown. The tiny jigs with light wire hooks are perfect for the crawfish-laden lakes like Grand when the bass are up shallow feasting on the tasty crustaceans. Jim Eakins created this jig to fall at the exact same rate as a live crawfish when paired with an Eakins Craws trailer. Jim spent hours dropping crawfish into a fish tank to determine the exact fall rate. When it comes to craw imitators, the Eakins Jig takes no backseat.
A shaky head is the go-to rig for many anglers when fishing gets tough. There are few baits that simply get bit as readily as a straight-tail finesse worm on a light jighead. These can also be big-fish baits; Kevin VanDam famously caught an 11-pound sow from the dam at Lake Lewisville, Texas, in one of his early wins on a shaky head. This is Berkley’s Havoc Bottom Hopper.
This is THE coldwater crankbait. Its subtle action and small size make it the perfect bait for chilly water. However, if the water on Grand is stained during the Classic, anglers will need to opt for a flashier alternative. Ott DeFoe used a Shad Rap in the 2012 Classic in a clear backwater on Louisiana’s Red River.
A crankabit with flat sides has a very subdued action, unlike the wild rolling Wiggle Wart. In cold water, most everything is sluggish and a wide wobble may be unnatural to fish, which is why flat sides are so popular. This is Buckeye’s Short Circuit.
A football jig is a good choice for probing deepwater structure. The many points and rocks in Grand are ripe for Classic pros to drag one of these beauties across. This is Booyah’s Pigskin jig.
This is what most folks expect the winner to have been throwing. The 2013 Classic may well provide the perfect storm for a killer jerkbait bite: bass on Grand eat jerkbaits year-round, and when the waterturns cold many anglers reach for these slim minnow mimickers. This is a Spro McStick, designed my Arkansan adn jerkbait guru Mike McClelland. As with the jerkbait, McClelland is also a favorite.
This is Megabass USA’s offering, the Vision 110+1, a deep-diving jerkbait. Anglers may opt for a deeper diving jerkbait if fish are on the ends of long, tapering main-lake points or if the fish they’re targeting are simply deeper. The 110 is regarded as one of the finest jerkbaits available to bass anglers, adn this is its deep-diving cousin.
Here it is, the Megabass 110. If you had to choose a single bait that the winner was throwing – whether he’ll admit it or not – you’d be wise to choose the original 110.
