Wednesday, July 07, 2010
It was a half-hour before check-in during a U.S.
Angler's Choice tournament at California's Clear Lake in
early May, and my partner and I needed one more fish to
fill out our limit. Our final stop would be a
horseshoe-shaped seawall that defined the front yard of
some well-off family's lakefront home.
The elongated north side of the wall was getting
pounded by waves generated by a 20-mph wind. We set up
parallel to it and about 15 yards out, doing everything
we could to keep from being pitched into the drink
whenever the boat rolled downward to the starboard side.
I bounced a Big Bite Baits Cane Stick a bait I'd
recently been introduced to on a trip to Georgia's Lake
Lanier off the wall and then let the boat rock
through yet another wave cycle before reeling in the
slack. As I was about to catch up with the bait, the
line began moving toward me. I made a few furious cranks
on the reel and then set the hook on a 3-pounder that
was quickly in the boat thanks to some fancy
net-handling by my partner.
I wish I could say that fish won the tournament for
us. It didn't. I wish I could say it got us into the
money. It didn't do that, either we ended up 26th
out of 89 teams and the payouts stopped at 18th. But it
did allow us to finish more than a dozen places higher
than a cocky acquaintance who'd all but guaranteed that
he and his partner would bury us. Non-tangible things
are sometimes more valuable than money.
Comes Through When it Counts
Soft stickbaits aren't the best choice for covering a
lot of water, but they'll produce a bite from a known
fish-holding area when a lot of other offerings won't.
There are dozens of them on the market now, most of them
closely resembling the overwhelmingly successful
Yamamoto Senko.
The Cane Stick, designed by Bassmaster Elite Series
competitor and Big Bite pro-staffer Dean Rojas, is one
that's a bit different. For one thing, there's a lot
going on along its body. Whereas most baits in this
category feature a uniformly smooth surface, the Cane
Stick is rife with ridges, grooves and slots that all
play a role in its attractiveness to the fish and the
angler's ability to drive the hook point through a bass'
stubborn jaw.
And here's one of it's best features it's
actually two baits in one. The main body is non-tapered
and it has a solid-plastic head at both ends, so when
one end gets torn up after catching a few fish, the
angler can simply rig it up by the other.
"The bottom line was we wanted to create
something that was unique, that was fisherman-friendly
and that catches fish," Rojas said. "With a
head on both ends, hook slots on both the top and bottom
and the same grooves cut into both sides, all you have
to do is turn it around and you've got a brand new bait
to use."
Had to Have Faith
Rojas said the folks at Alabama-based Big Bite were
initially hesitant to enact his design because of its
moonscape-style surface.
"They thought I was nuts," he said. "I
told them, 'Build it and try it. It'll work.'''
That it does. The rubber that's been removed to form
its grooves makes it extremely pliable, which gives it a
nice action on the fall. When Texas-rigged, just a
slight raise of the rod tip brings the tail end to life,
and the hook channels allow the point to be Tex-posed
without picking up debris off the bottom.
When wacky-rigged, both ends wiggle with any type of
angler-induced movement. In either case, the cutouts
cause the bait to collapse under pressure from a fish's
mouth, leaving the hook point free to find a home in the
cartilage.
The grooves that run along the top and bottom are
briefly interrupted at the center of the bait, which
provides a little more "meat" for a
wacky-style presentation (even a skin-hook if the angler
desires, but that'd be a bit risky without an O-ring due
to the momentum the bait carries during a cast.). And
the dense heads at each end make long-distance
presentations easy.
The Cane Stick comes in 4 1/2- and 5 1/2-inch
versions and in 12 colors, including several laminates.
At $4.99 for a pack of 10, they're not expensive
even before you fully grasp the concept that because of
its design, each one is actually two.
Big Bite Baits is proud to announce the newest addition to the Dean Rojas
Signature line of Big Bite Products. The Cane Stick joins the Fighting Frog in
becoming the newest bait designed by Big Bite Bass Pro Dean Rojas. Dean
wanted a bait that he could fish when bass were held up tight in cover and would
not chase baits, so Dean designed the Cane Stick. The Cane Stick has a slow,
natural fall that he can fished around docks and other thick cover when a slower
presentation is needed during tough bite conditions.
The Cane Stick comes in two different sizes 4.5 and 5.5 and comes in 12
different bass catching colors to cover all your fishing conditions. One unique
feature of the Cane Stick, is its hook slot designed into the bait for improved
hook ups at either end of the bait. When you wear out one end of the Cane Stick
you simply re-rig the bait on the other end getting double use out of your Cane
Stick. The Cane Stick can be rigged and fished in many different ways to match
any fishing conditions that you will be faced with on the water. Texas,
Carolina, Wacky and weightless are a few suggestions in how the you can rig and
fish the Cane Stick. One characteristic of the Cane Stick is the natural shimmy
action of the bait as it falls making it a great bait choice to use when fished
weightless texas style or fishing wacky style. Another key feature is the
weight of the Cane Stick it is heavy enough to cast on either baitcasting or
spinning equipment.
