Pro Lessons
The Classic Grub Hubbub

Photo: BassFan When Mike Iaconelli faced extreme cold-weather conditions on the first day of Bassmaster Classic practice, he reached for the panic box and his trusty grubs.

Although a rattlebait did win the Classic (that's what Kevin VanDam threw), and it did factor into the rest of the Top 6 finishes, Ike's grub pattern certainly deserves study. Big sticks struck out left and right – flipping, spinnerbaits and jigs all pulled a no-show – but the diminutive 3-inch grub stood tall.

Return to Jersey

A grub is about as old-school as it gets, and Ike learned to fish with one growing up in New Jersey.

Grubs get some attention throughout the year – notably in summer when Ozarks anglers swim them through the treetops – but all in all, the grub is pretty much a forgotten bait in bass fishing (although certainly not in walleye fishing).

According to Ike, he got the grub working during the first day of official Classic practice at Lay Lake. Conditions were nasty – snow, wind, and water temperatures in the low-40s.

"I went there totally expecting to be fishing other things," he said. "That first day, when it was brutally cold, I was 4 or 5 hours into practice and still hadn't had a bite. I was looking at the water temperature – it was in the low-40s, and stained – and it reminded me a lot of when things get tough back home in New Jersey in the winter. When that happens, a lot of times I'll use a grub.

"Grubs are a part of my whole panic box, which I carry with me," he added. "It's really more of an ultimate finesse box. I don't think I've ever used a grub in a Classic situation, but when I saw the conditions, it reminded me of back home. Grubs have always been a key part of that box, and when it's cold, it seems to be a bait I can always get a bite on – maybe not win the event, but it's something that'll generate strikes."

Ike got a couple bites on the grub that first day of practice and "that was really the start of it," he noted.

Tail Typology

Ike keeps three different kinds of grubs in his panic box, and the tail styles are familiar to everyone.

The first type is a typical curlytail. The second is a boot-tail like the old Sassy Shads (Ike calls them tab-tails). The third is what Ike referred to as a spade-tail.

"The Sassy Shad was always the deal in super-cold, stained water – it has a very unique vibration with that boot-tail," he said. "Then what happened for me was Berkley came out with its new Ripple Shad, which they categorized as more of a swimbait, but to me it's a grub. It's kind of like a modified Sassy Shad with that little tab tail. In practice I experimented with a curl-tail, but that Ripple Shad tail was absolutely the key in the cold water."

Photo: BassFan Store Ike felt the green-back/pearl Berkley Ripple Shad best imitated Lay Lake's dying shad.

Ike fished the 3-inch Ripple Shad on a homemade jighead. It's nothing fancy – just a darthead with a good hook in it.

He kept two rigs on the deck – 3/16- and 1/4-ounce heads. He fished the 3/16- on 6-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon, and the 1/4-ounce on 8-pound.

"Which weight I used basically depended on water depth," he said. "I fished the 3/16- in 3 to 6 feet of water. If I went out to the 6- to 10-foot zone I'd switch to the 1/4-ounce. Out of the 14 keepers I caught in the Classic, nine of them were on the 3-inch Ripple Shad. So it was responsible for the bulk of my weight, including that 6-10 that was big fish of the Classic."

About why he thinks the grub technique was effective, he said: "A lot of those fish, especially those outside of Beeswax, were so neutral they didn't want to chase or react. That tab-tail Ripple Shad on that light line – to me that really imitated the predominant forage, which was those dying shad. And that's how I was trying to fish it.

"If you can imagine a shad dying, it slowly falls to the bottom. So I was casting out, almost letting the bait reach bottom, and when I thought it was near bottom I'd start to reel slowly. If I contacted something on bottom, or felt grass, I'd snap my wrist. The darthead would kind of pop out and trigger a bite."

Interesting too is Ike said he had a very good hookup-to-land ratio – something that the rattlebaiters struggled with. He said he only lost one fish all 3 days on the Ripple Shad.

Lastly, his thought on color was to match the hatch. He fished a green-back/pearl Ripple Shad, which he felt best imitated the shad in Lay Lake. He throws firetiger a lot when perch are the forage, or new penny when the bass are on crayfish, but with so many shad, the green-back/pearl was the deal.

"It all lined up perfectly for me to pull out that box and those baits," he said. "It might not ever happen again in a Classic, but when things get brutally tough, the grub is a hard bait to beat."

Notable

> Ike also threw a rattlebait. That's what accounted for his other five keepers.

> He threw the Ripple Shad on a 7' medium-action Abu Garcia Veritas rod (prototype) and Abu Garcia Soron STX 40 spinning reel.

> A five-pack of Ripple Shads retails for just under $5. To order, or view the color selection, click here.