Entry 119-1

Five Great Light-line Tactics with Mike Wurm

The Bitsy Bug Jig

Editor's Note: Mike Wurm, a 51-year-old professional bass fisherman and member of Strike King's Pro Fishing Team from Hot Springs, Arkansas, first fished competitively in 1978 and began fishing professionally on the BASS circuit in 1992. He's had eight top-10 tournament finishes and has competed in five Bassmaster Classics.

Wurm: Without question, my favorite light-tackle lure is the Bitsy Bug jig. I never go fishing without one. I can fish this lure year-round and use it to catch largemouths, smallmouths and spotted bass. I can fish the Bitsy Bug successfully in any type of weather temperature, from extremely hot weather in the summer months to very cold weather in the winter months. I can't understand why anyone doesn't have a Bitsy Bug in his or her tackle box all the time. However, my favorite time to fish the Bitsy Bug is during the fall of the year and the early spring when the water is a little cool, and the bass are extremely active. I like to fish the Bitsy Bug on spinning tackle with 8-pound-test line. I like to use the 1/4-ounce Bitsy Bug and fish it around any kind of fishing structure I can find.

But my favorite structure to fish the Bitsy Bug on is boat docks. Boat docks are fish magnets. Because boat docks rarely ever move, there's bait around them all the time, which means there's usually bass around them. You can flip the Bitsy Bug beside the pylons, skip it under the dock, swim it beside the dock and pitch it behind the dock. Because the Bitsy Bug is a small lure, it will fall slowly and is the perfect size for a bass to eat.

You also can fish trailers on the Bitsy Bug, just like you do on the bigger jigs. My favorite trailer is the Strike King Bitsy Bug Trailer that imitates a small crawfish. You can put a real small chunk on the back of it, or you can use a small tube, like a crappie tube. I like to fish with a green crawfish. One of my favorite places to fish the Bitsy Bug is on rocky banks, where spotted bass like to hold. To fish the Bitsy Bug down a rocky bank, I suggest you throw the Bitsy Bug on the bank instead of in the water. Next crawl the Bitsy Bug off the bank and out into the water, just like a crawfish will crawl out from under a rock and into the water. Then work the bait down that rocky bank by crawling the lure on the bottom.




 

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