The Love bug....dressed for battle

[ctom]

Done in chartreuse and junebug and resting comfortably on a 1/24 head on a #8 sickle hook, this guy is ready to face off against the mighty crappie tomorrow morning. Hopefully the fish will cooperate because these little guys are more than worthy of the opponent. We're thinking this is maybe the last hurrah for the backwaters given the wonderful forecast beyond the weekend and I really want to put this bait to the test.

Injection of the mold is a snap with full cavities on the first shot in a mold that sat on the porch a few hours in 40-degree weather. The injector was in the shop at 50 degrees so if things were destined to go south this was the test and everything performed flawlessly. The plastic and colorants came from Do-It and in this particular bait the legs are darned tough to hold still. Nice bait. Uncanny action.  I'll let the fish finish the story.

I also ordered two of the square bill bodies to paint and play with: the 8637 2.0 and the 8639 2.5 models. Both run fairly shallow and I think they'll do well where we cast over submerged weeds for pike in the summer. The quality of these blanks is incredible.

[olsarge]

I am really diggin that love bug.  Looks like a horse fly on mushrooms

[ctom]

Pretty easy bait to play with Sarge. It'll be a dandy under the ice or on a smaller head/hook than what I show. I think the 1/24 and size 8 hook are over-kill, but I have to try it. I'm thinking a 1/64 head with a size 10 hook is about right.

[Muskygary]

I'm wondering how those would fish on the bat jig? The only problem is I no longer see the 785 hook listed any place. Maybe the wacky head jig in a #6 without the weedguard? Got to much time on my hands all ready this winter. LOL

[ctom]

Not siure on the bat Jig but I never liked that stub of lead behind the head....always cut it off and even the 36 hook would be way too large. My fishing buddy lives on the Shad Dart head and we'll give one of these a run on one of those in the 1/48 ounce or 1/32. The 1/48 minnow head might be another decent option.

[Fishermanbt]

I am really diggin that love bug.  Looks like a horse fly on mushrooms

Your description of this bait was wonderful. Thank you for making my day!  If Do It doesn’t add that to the description of this bait on the website/FB page they are missing out.

[anyfish]

Those look fantastic.   Size wise how do they compare to the new Mr. Munch? 

[ctom]

Here you go anyfish.



The Mr Munch has two sizes with the smaller of the two the lower one on the far right. The angle that the picture was taken is a bit deceptive and makes the bait look larger than it is. It's actually the smallest of the three baits at 3/4". I'll try to get a more representative picture for you.

Here. This pic is more straight down on the two Mr Munch baits and shows the size difference well.



There's only .05"  difference between them so really size is a moot issue. The biggest difference is in the diameter of the body beads.

[anyfish]

Thanks for the photo Tom.  I picked up the Mr. Munch a week or so ago, but have been busy and haven't been able to play with it yet.  All the new baits look great. Each with its own little niche.  I may have to pick up the others in the near future.   We don't get much ice here in Western WA, but I'm sure some winter non-ice fish will eat them.   

[ctom]

My first three fish this morning came on the rigged bug in the first picture.



Nothing huge today, but numerous fish.

[Shaunm81]

Which is your favorite the love bug or the baby boss  or mr munch? I am thinking about getting the baby boss and the love bug. Those look really cool love the chartreuse tails

[ctom]

I've only fished the love bug so I can't really say anything about the others other than to say the smaller Munch and Boss ride nice on a size ten hook. The Boss sits on that Scud hook well, but I think a finer wire would be better that what I used. Honestly, they are all really nice sized baits.

We're thinking next Tuesday, in the snow that's forecast, will be a good day to hit the docks and give all of them a work-out. I have some real small blade baits that I want to toy with too.