Entry 21-2

When Strike King Saved the Day for Mike Wurm

A Frog Saved the Day

Mike WurmEditor's Note: Mike Wurm of Hot Springs Arkansas, ranked sixth in the world by bassfan.com and one of the nation's leading pro fishermen, has been a part of Strike King's Pro Fishing Team for six years. This week, Wurm will tell us about a couple of times that he's been ready to throw in his rod and instead pulled out a Strike King product that saved the day.

Question: Tell me about your experience at the Classic when Strike King saved the day.

Answer: I was fishing at Lay Lake during the practice days just before the beginning of the 2002 Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, and struggling to catch bass. Lay Lake has a lot of grass, and I had heard bass were hitting the swimming jig coming through the grass. Supposedly the bass were hitting a white jig with a white trailer.

For some reason, I didn't have this particular lure combination in my tackle box. So I began to throw a green pumpkin Premier Elite Jig with a Premier Trailer, and although I was getting a few bites on the jig, I just wasn't catching the quality of fish I felt I needed to catch to do well in the tournament. So I began to dig around in my tackle box.

Strike King Grass FrogI could tell from fishing the jig the bass were holding behind the grass in open areas between the grass and the bank. As I dug through my tackle box to try and find a lure to fit this fishing situation, I discovered an old Strike King Grass Frog. I tied the bait on, and with my first cast I caught a 4-1/2-pound largemouth. I said to myself, "I've found the secret weapon."

I could cast the Strike King Grass Frog really well, reel it right on top of the water and watch its legs kick. When I would get the frog to a little open spot in the grass, the bass would blow up on it and annihilate the frog. I could tell the Lay Lake bass really wanted the Strike King Grass Frog. As I continued to fish the Grass Frog on down the bank, I caught two more bass -- each 3 pounds or better. So I was really excited when I arrived at the Classic this year after doing so well in practice.

I felt confident I could really do well in the tournament. However, none of the contestants knew from the time we practiced, until the tournament began, that the bass would pull out of the grass and move upriver to moving water. But at least on the practice day, I found the bait the bass wanted and had a great practice, which is the real secret of a magic lure.

Question: What's this secret of a magic lure?

Strike King Grass FrogAnswer: A magic lure will catch bass on a particular day under certain conditions when other lures won't. For this reason, I keep a wide variety of all types of Strike King baits in my tackle box. You never know when a bait you have almost forgotten about will be the secret lure you need for a certain day to turn on the bass. I hadn't fished that old Strike King Grass Frog in a long time, but when I needed it, the lure paid off for me.




 

© 1996-2008 Strike King Lure Company