BEST NEW LURES OF THE PROS

The Little Creature, And The 3X Lineup

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each year, tackle manufacturers and fishing pros develop new lures and new tactics for catching bass. Most companies employ professional fishermen to tell them about problems they find throughout the year while competing and to help them create new lures to solve these fishing problems.

Forty-seven-year-old Shaw Grigsby, Jr, of Gainesville, Florida, has earned $1,194,655 on the BASS circuit. Grigsby has had 43 top-10 finishes, made 10 Bassmaster Classic appearances and has won eight Bassmaster tournaments. "The world woke up to creature baits when Kevin VanDam won the 2001 Bassmaster Classic using Strike King's Wild Thang," Grigsby explains. "But that's a big, bulky bait. Although it catches plenty of bass, I prefer to fish the new Strike King Wild Thang, Jr., because I've caught more bass on it this past year, than any new bait I've fished. My favorite color to use is bright-neon, but green-pumpkin works well for me too. To retrieve the Wild Thang, Jr., I'll use a flipping-and-pitching method. I'll just let it sink to the bottom and then retrieve it slowly. I'll usually fish with Stren 20-pound-test line, but I vary the line according to water and weather conditions.

"On Lake Seminole, near Bainbridge, Georgia, I've caught some really-large bass on 25-pound-test Stren line. If I'm in clear water without a lot of cover, I'll use a lighter line. I like the low-visibility green Stren and the new Super Braid that has MicroBond technology when I'm fishing the Wild Thang, Jr. The Super Braid is designed to retain its shape, color, slickness and strength longer than ordinary lines that use a wax or a Teflon coating. Because of these features, the Super Braid can be worked around the nastiest structure with less chances of fraying."

The 3X Lineup: Thirty-six-year-old Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, a three-time BASS Angler of the Year winner for 1992, 1996 and 1999, as well as the 2001 Bassmaster Classic winner, has placed first in seven Bassmaster tournaments, has had 45 top-ten finishes and has fished in 13 Classics. VanDam's all-time BASS winnings total $1,167,350. "My favorite new lures that I've tried this year are the Strike King 3X soft-plastic lures because they are super-stretchy and long-lasting," VanDam comments. "The best tournament I fished in this year I used the 3X Lizard. My favorite colors for the lizard are the watermelon and the green-pumpkin colors in clear waters and black-neon or black-chartreuse in muddier water. I believe the real secret for fishing these soft plastics successfully is the line size that you use with them. I've found that often anglers try to use too heavy of a line to get the most action out of these high-floating lures. When I'm fishing in clear water, I prefer to use Bass Pro Shops 6- or 8-pound-test monofilament. Even in darker water, I'll stay with the same line, but I will move up to 8- to 20-pound test. Lighter line allows your lures to move more. Because these new 3X lures have quite a bit of action built into them, I want them to move as naturally as possible."

New materials, new lines and new presentations have created some unusual and better bass-fishing lures in the fishing world this year. Always try new lures. Remember that the less times a bass sees a lure, the more likely he'll strike it. For that reason, new lures and new colors generally produce more bass than old lures and old colors do. Tournament fishermen always search for a new and better way to present baits to a bass. This year's Bassmaster Classic proved that new often catches more bass when Michael Iaconelli fished with three brand-new prototype lures and beat the best bass fishermen in the nation. Do you want a competitive edge if you're tournament fisherman, or do you just want to catch more bass the next time you go fishing? New lures and new colors can give you that edge.