Gambler BB Cricket

For good reason the BB cricket is one of the most popular punch baits. Punching is when you use a heavy sinker often over 1oz and punch a soft plastic bait trough thick vegetation mats. Looking at the cricket you can see why it works so well. There are no curly tails or flaps to grab vegetation. The body is thick to hold the heavy hook but the bait is very compact. This bait was made to work trough thick cover. While its not as versatile as some soft plastics there is a place for a bait that does one thing really well, work through thick cover. I usually use a cricket in matted grass but it will work in deep grass when you need something that is compact. The bait doesn't have a lot of built in action. The idea is that you can put in places where fish hit it out of reaction. I like punching mats anytime fishing is slow and fish would want bury up in heavy cover. Punching grass works in dead grass as well in winter. The grass warms and fish use it as a blanket. Two BASS tournaments were won back to back by different anglers on the cricket in Florida in the winter. If you plan on punching thick grass someday give the cricket a try you might be surprised. sb-mrbassky1