Angler's Choice In-Depth - Speed Bug

I wanted to write an entry on the Angler's Choice lineup, but rather then have one giant entry, I decided to go in-depth on each bait.  This way I can go deeper into rigging, techniques, equipment and other ways to help you boat the bass of a lifetime.

Todays In-Depth entry is going to focus on the Speed Bug.  Far and away one of my favourite baits in the Angler's Choice lineup, this little guy is versatility at its best.  Texas rig, drag on a football head jig, drop shot or rigged on a shakey head, this is going to help me put fish in the boat during the 2013 tournament season.  Let's take a look at this outstanding bait.

My three favourite Speed Bug rigs. Clockwise from top: Shakey Head, Drop Shot, Fin-Tech Football Head Jig

The Speed Bug is a craw imitation bait that is excellent for finesse situations.  It's an incredibly soft bait that is full of that stinky scent we all love our soft plastics smelling like.  I love to rig this one of three ways: shakey head, drop shot and texas rigged on a Fin-Tech football head jig.  Coming in many colours, this small, compact bait is also great as a jig trailer and flipped or pitched under docks, into weeds or at isolated cover.  My go-to colours for this bait are the Texas Man Handler, Okeechobee Craw and anything green with some flake in it.

Draggin a Football Head

This would have to be my favourite way to present this bait.  I rig it on a 1/4 or 3/8 Fin-Tech football head jig.  The great thing about the Fin-Tech jig is the 100% weedless rigging style. What I like to do is then drag this along the bottom, preferably rock or sandy bottoms with a little weed.  It does an excellent job of mimicking a feeding craw (imagine that!). 

For this application, I like to use a 7' Denali Rosewood Shakey Head rod.  It has a medium heavy action with a moderate fast tip, giving you backbone you need to pull in those tank smallmouth.  I'll use 20 pound McCoy braid with a 12 pound McCoy 100% Flourocarbon leader.  To horse in those smallies, I'll round it out with an Evercast Forge 2000 spinning reel from Ardent.

 

 

Top: Fin-Tech football head jig with a TMH Speedbug.  Bottom: Shakey head in TMH

Shakey Head Speed Buggin'

A fun way to rig the Angler's Choice Speed Bug is on a shakey head.  Above, I have it rigged on a 1/8th screw in shakey head jig.  I would use this on a flat with isolted cover, or pitch at docks along the shoreline.  What I'm trying to do with this is put it right on top of the lockjaw bass so they just SLURP it up.

In terms of gear, I throw this bad boy on a 7' Denali Jadewood Shakey Head rod, or even the 7' Drop Shot rod.  I'll have 10 pound McCoy braid rigged on an Evercast Edgewater 2000 spinning reel, with an 8 pound McCoy 100% Flourocarbon leader.  I downsize the gear as I use this in more of a finesse application.

Drop Shottin' for Smallies

If you like drop shotting, and let's face it, all of us Smallie guys do, then give this a try.  Rig a Speed Bug up on your drop shot and get ready for a good old fashioned case of bass thumb!

I use a 7' Denali Rosewood Drop Shot rod with an Evercast Forge 2000 reel from Ardent.  I'll use straight 8 or 10 pound McCoy 100% Flourcarbon. I mostly use a VMC spin shot hook with a 10-12 inch leader to a 1/4 ounce drop shot pencil weight.

Drop Shottin for Speed Bug Smallies

Well there you have it.  Do yourself a favour and pick up some Speed Bugs from Angler's Choice.  I can flat out tell you that the fish love 'em and will eat 'em! Head on over to www.anglerschoice.ca today!

One of the many bass catching colours offered by Angler's Choice - Texas Man Handler