RodBender's Pro Tips
The Chopper style bait has quickly become one of the industry’s top producing top water baits. The heavier, narrow design allows for long casts, which is crucial for fishing top water baits. Our Chopper’s fish best after the bass have spawned in the spring, all the way into the late fall. These baits are best fished shallow, around cover such as grass, lily pads, lay downs, grass lines, rip rap banks, docks, and any other shallow water cover. These baits can also work great for bass busting the surface on baitfish in deeper water. A medium speed retrieve works best, with the bait being shaped to allow you to stop or twitch the bait in high percentage areas as well. Natural/light colors work best in clear water and sunny days and darker/chartreuse colors work best for murky water/overcast conditions. These baits are also very effective at night and around dusk and dawn. We recommend using a heavier braided fishing line paired with a 7’ to 7' 3 MH fast action bait casting rod and medium to fast retrieve reel with a higher drag rating.
Our new F.S 2.0 is a slightly larger, flat sided square bill that can be effective nearly all year depending where you are in the country. The F.S 2.0 works best around the spring spawn. The craw and brighter colors work best in the pre-spawn when the water starts to near 50-65 degrees and the bass begin the feed heavily. The slightly larger size can have an advantage during the pre-spawn feeding due to bass being more aggressive. After the spawn, the more natural colors will start to shine more as the bass feed as they head to their summertime hangouts. These baits are best fished in 2-6ft of water and are most effective when they come in contact with cover. Fish them near rocks, laydowns, shallow flats, primary and secondary points, and overtop of grass beds. These baits stay effective into the summer and work best as a search bait for aggressive feeding shallow summertime bass. The squared bill helps the bait bounce off of cover and not get hung up. We recommend fishing the F.S 2.0 on a glass cranking rod set up with a 12lb fluorocarbon fishing line with a slow/medium retrieve reel. These are a must have for square bill fisherman.
Our New MD 1.5 in a medium diving square bill style bait that can be fished from early spring to late fall. The MD 1.5 is a slightly smaller bait, coming in at 3/8 ounce that allows you to catch everything from finicky to aggressively feeding bass. The MD 1.5 is similar to our SB 1.5 that has a slightly larger bill that allows the bait to get down into the 4-10 ft water column. In the spring, these baits work best pre-spawn and post spawn. They can be fished similar to a SB 1.5 where the water is slightly deeper, where this bait can go down and come in contact with cover to produce more strikes. These baits also work great for summertime bass that sit in the 4-10 ft section of the water column. Brighter/Craw colors work best in the spring/murky water and the natural shad colors work best during the post spawn when the water clears and bass start to make their journey to their summertime hangouts. Fish them near rocks, rip rap, mussel beds, grass lines, shallow ledges, primary and secondary points, laydowns, and much more. We recommend throwing these baits on a 7’ MH M action rod paired with a medium retrieve reel and 10-12 lb. fluorocarbon line.
Our New WB 1.0 is a sub-surface wake bait that fish best as an alternative to a square bill or top water bait. These baits fish right at the top of the water column, oftentimes just inches below the surface. These baits are a smaller profile bait, weighing in at 1⁄4 oz that is great for finicky, high pressure bass. These baits fish best as the water warms from early spring into the late fall. Fish them over top of grass flats, near shoreline cover such as laydowns, rip rap, rocks, grasses, docks, etc. The brighter colors work best in murky water and the natural colors work best in clearer water. These baits fish best on a light bait casting setup or a drop shot spinning rod and reel. Use fluorocarbon if you want some diving depth and braid if you want the bait to run sub-surface. These are also a great bait for pond and river fishing as well.
One of our classics- our SB 1.5 is a tournament proven, classic square bill that flat out catches fish. These baits weigh in at 3/8 ounce, the perfect size to target any size bass. These baits fish best in the spring, mostly around the spawn. When the water starts to warm and get above 50 degrees, these baits are very effective for aggressive, feeding bass that prepare themselves for the upcoming spawn. During the spawn, these baits can still be effective in defending females and aggressive males protecting their spawning beds. During the post spawn, the SB 1.5 can be effective as bass feed their way out of the back of pockets and coves to find their summer hangouts. Fish them near rocks, rip rap, lay downs, grass beds and lines, mussel beds, shallow flats, docks, etc. The square bill allows the bait to be able to bounce off of cover without getting hung up while producing more strikes. We recommend fishing these baits on a glass cranking rod or a 7’-7’3 MH M action rod with 12lb fluorocarbon and a medium retrieve reel.
One of our personal favorites and most affordable baits- the MD crank. These baits weigh in at 0.5 ounces and have a length of 4 inches. These baits fish best in the summer months but we have also found success with them in the spring as well. These baits will dive 6-10 ft but we enjoy throwing them on rocky lake beds in 4-7 ft of water, allowing the bill of the bait to cause all sorts of commotion to trigger more strikes from aggressive bass. We recommend fishing with these baits on a glass cranking rod with a medium retrieve reel and 10-12lb fluorocarbon line.