“ I fish it either weightless or on a No . 1 Hayabusa wacky rig hook with no more than a 1 / 32-ounce nail weight ,” Hatfield said . “ You want to keep it super light and finessey on the fall . I ’ ve also fished them on a drop-shot and have had success with the Stick Worm fished on a Ned rig head as well . They have a version with a buoyant soft plastic that helps to stand it up .”
Jones primarily fishes dice baits on a No . 1 VMC Wacky / Neko hook or on a drop-shot rig .
“ I prefer to fish them weightless , either the Cue Bomb or the ‘ dice ,’ but they have an incredibly slow fall rate — it ’ s maybe a foot every four seconds , so it hardly even sinks ,” Jones said . “ I ’ ll insert a small nail weight into it to be more efficient when using forward-facing sonar or when casting to docks and brush piles .”
Using both his eyes and electronics , Jones has observed how fish respond to these baits and used that understanding to dictate his presentations .
“ I ’ ve noticed that the fish rarely go down to the bottom and get it , so the slower fall is critical ,” he said . “ Anything deeper than 12 feet , I ’ ll rig it on a drop-shot and use a longer leader of around 18 inches to separate the weight from the bait .”
Jones will often fish the drop-shot in the middle of the water column , imparting much more action than he does with other soft plastics . He ’ s also careful to hook the bait correctly to increase his hook-up percentage .
“ I fish them with fairly violent shakes on a drop-shot to get those tentacles to move more , then let it free fall ,” said Jones . “ That is an efficient way to catch fish in the middle of the water column when they ’ re pressured and not responding well to minnow baits . I ’ ll also use a larger hook and hook right into the meat of that little ball on the Cue Bomb , so even if the bait spins around in a fish ’ s mouth , you can still hook them .”
situations and scenarios
As much as Jones likes dice baits , they ’ re not always his first choice . He believes there are much more efficient ways to catch fish in some instances .
“ It does seem to be situational , and it ’ s not going to be the first thing that I ’ m going to try ,” Jones admitted . “ This is
Jones typically turns to dice baits on clear , pressured fisheries .
Fuzzy dice have proven particularly adept at catching smallmouth , as
Hatfield proved throughout the 2024 season .
a visual thing , so you need some clear water , and it tends to do best on pressured fisheries . If I ’ m fishing in areas where I know there are fish from seeing them on my electronics , and they won ’ t bite other lures , I ’ ll throw the Cue Bomb to them . It ’ s also good for later-spawning fish , which can be trickier to catch , or when you see cruising fish that won ’ t react to other baits .”
Hatfield echoed those statements and
PHOTO BY ROB MATSUURA said pressured bass is one scenario in which these baits shine . He ’ s also found his best success targeting smallmouth ; he secured high finishes at the St . Lawrence River , Lake Champlain , and Kentucky Lake on the Bass Pro Tour and Tackle Warehouse Invitationals this year in part thanks to these baits .
“ I ’ ve done better with them for smallmouth , like at the St . Lawrence River , where I was casting to fish I saw on my forwardfacing sonar or fish that I visually saw cruising ,” he said . “ But they can still play a role in largemouth scenarios . They work where you would fish a jig — docks , laydowns , brushpiles and places like that . But you have a more finesse look and slower fall , which is so different than most lures , and that is why I think these could be the next big thing in bass fishing .”
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
56 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024