SPRO MCSTICK 110 + 1 COLOR : DEADLY BLACK SHAD
RAPALA PXR MAVRIK 110 COLOR : HOT BLUE FROST
PHOTO BY BRANDON ROWAN
Duckett Fishing owner Boyd Duckett has gone even deeper . He ’ s catching bass at 15- to 25-foot depths with the Reveal Jerkbait , a lure he helped design for use with forwardfacing sonar . The 3 / 4-ounce bait is one of several sinking jerkbaits that have gained popularity in recent years , as anglers can let the lures fall to the depth of the fish they ’ re trying to target , then make them twitch and dart like normal .
“ We started learning how to catch those suspended bass in open water with FFS — the ones we knew were there but were always the hardest to catch ,” says Duckett . “ Then we discovered fish way down as well .”
Perennial BPT star Jacob Wheeler designed the newest such lure — the FFS-inspired Freeloader , one of five baits in his Rapala CrushCity lineup . It proved ideal for fooling pressured , suspended bass during Wheeler ’ s 2023 victory on Lake Guntersville . He fishes the Freeloader on a 3 / 16- or 1 / 4- ounce jighead with a “ shake-and-bake ” style , shaking the rod subtly while slowly reeling .
RAPALA CRUSHCITY FREELOADER COLOR : GREEN SHAD
NEW LOOKS AT OLD BAITS
In addition to the arms race of new bait development , forward-facing sonar is compelling anglers to look at existing baits in non-traditional ways .
Repurposing trailers for FFS – Last fall , Luke Clausen began to substitute the conventional , minnow-style baits he normally pairs to a Guppy Head with the Z-Man RaZor ShadZ , a soft plastic originally developed as a ChatterBait trailer .
“ It ’ s taller . It has a deeper profile and a flat top on it ,” says Clausen . “ It gets better return and is easier to see . It creates a lot of flash , a lot of movement . It is taking the place of the 5- inch Jerk ShadZ for me when fish are eating bigger-size bait .”
The same goes for minnow-style soft plastics that taper down to slim pintails . The category isn ’ t new , but most were used primarily as bladed jig and spinnerbait trailers in the past . FFS has given the family a shot of adrenaline .
PHOTO BY BRANDON ROWAN
Blade baits , ice jigs revisited – Expect similar reassessments of blade baits , especially as more anglers take forward-facing sonar to the depths . Duckett ’ s BD Blade represents a new entrant into the category . The 2.75-inch bait features a spread-nose weight in front of a thin body for an aggressive wobble .
Perhaps the most unlikely bait experiencing a revival thanks to modern electronics : the ice jig . Dan Quinn , the field
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