Boo Bug Jig Fishing Article

Time For a BOO Bug

Booyah Boo Jig

When conditions call for a subtle presentation, Tennessee pro Curt McGuire ties on a BOOYAH BOO Bug Jig.

Just because a jig is a big-fish bait doesn’t mean you always need a big jig. In fact, there are days when a 3/16- or 5/16-ounce BOOYAH BOO Bug will far outfish any traditional-sized bass jig.

Tennessee bass pro Curt McGuire turns to a BOO Bug any time he believes a jig is the tool for the task but wants to offer the bass a bit of light touch. That’s most often the case during late winter and very early spring, when the water is still cold.

Other situations that call for a BOO Bug, which has a spider-style skirt and a round head, include when bass are suspended or have just finished spawning and when they have turned finicky because of high skies, clear water, heavy fishing pressure or some other condition.

McGuire spends a lot of time throwing both sizes of BOO Bug, and if he expects a BOO Bug bite, he’s apt to have a 5/16-ounce BOO Bug rigged on a baitcasting rod and a 3/16-ounce version on a spinning rod. Generally, the 3/16 comes into play for the coldest or clearest water; however, at times he just has to experiment.

“Some days I’ll catch three to one with the smaller BOO Bug for no obvious reason,” McGuire said.

McGuire also uses both the BOOYAH BOO Bug and the BOOYAH Pro BOO Bug, opting for the latter when he needs a heavier hook. “When I’m flipping in grass, I want that heavy hook in the Pro BOO Bug to get a solid hook set,” he said.

No matter which BOO Bug he opts for, McGuire always dresses his jig with a YUM Chunk, using a 2 3/4-inch Chunk for the 3/16-ounce version and a 3 1/2-inch Chunk for the larger BOO Bug.

He fishes BOO Bugs exclusively on Silver Thread Fluorocarbon, but varies his line size substantially by technique and according to the kind of cover he is fishing. Low-stretch characteristics of Silver Thread Fluorocarbon allow him to feel very soft strikes, which are common when a BOO Bug is the bait of choice. The same lack of stretch allows for solid hook sets.

“There’s no spongy feel,” McGuire said. “I can feel everything, and when the fish hits it’s like someone thumped the line. When I set the hook, he’s there.”

McGuire’s BOO Bug presentations range from allowing the bait to fall freely beside a bluff for suspended fish to crawling it down a gravel slope, barely lifting it off the bottom and then letting it fall again. Whether cast to a point or flipped into dense timber, the common denominator of every presentation is that it’s slow.

A BOOYAH BOO Bug Jig catches fish that aren’t in a hurry to take a bait, and those sometimes are the bass that make the difference when Curt McGuire heads for the scales.

This article is provided by Lurenet.com and is used with permission. jB0405.