Recently I did an interview for this site in which I said a grub was one of two must-have baits for bass anglers. I thought we might spend a couple of weeks talking about them in more detail because they are probably the most versatile, fish-catching bait that exists.
That’s a bold statement, I know, but before you tell me I’m crazy hear me out.
If you’re a recreational angler you want to catch fish. Your preference might be bass but after three or four hours without a bite anything that pulls back is a blessing. A grub will catch any predator that swims. That includes stripers, wipers, crappie, bluegill and flatheads.
The other thing about a grub is that it’ll catch fish under any conditions. Cold water, warm water or hot water makes no difference. All you have to do is change design, size and color. The same thing is true about habitat. Deep and clear is good grub water. So is shallow and muddy. And, once you learn how to fish them you can pull them through almost any kind of cover.
My history with this lure goes way back. I caught my first bass with a floating Rapala minnow but I caught almost all of my early bass after that with a Mister Twister curly-tail grub. (I now use Berkley HAVOC products.)
I didn’t realize it at the time but what I was really doing was fishing an early version of a swimbait. All I did was throw it out and reel it back.
That’s one of the funny things about fishing — everything that’s new is usually old. The swimbait craze that’s going on right now is exactly that. Look at a Mister Twister Sassy Shad and tell me that’s not a small, boot-tail swimbait. You can’t do it because that’s exactly what it is.
My skills were just developing at the time so I wasn’t totally aware of what I was doing. I knew, however, that I could change my presentation, and the number of fish I caught, by changing the size and color of my grubs. That’s the beauty of these little plastic baits. You can make them look like almost anything a fish will eat.
Bigger brown or green ones bounced along the bottom will look like a crayfish. Smaller white, green or bluish ones cranked straight back will look like minnows. Tiny, thin ones in black or real dark brown will look like a true grub or maybe a leech. The possibilities are endless.
Another thing I like about them is that they’re easy to fish. I use two heads — a ball head with an exposed hook and a ball head with a light, fiber weedguard. I rig the exposed hook version when I can get away with it. Otherwise, I use the one with the weedguard.
My heads are on the light side. I carry heads between 1/16 and 1/4 ounce in my boat at all times. I never leave the dock without a supply of grubs and ball heads regardless of where or when I’m fishing, or how big the tournament.
Next week we’ll talk about tackle, the three basic styles of grubs and how I like to fish each of them.
Mike Iaconelli’s column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter or visit his website, mikeiaconelli.com.
