Two Lures For The Price Of One

The versatile Rattlin’ Chug Bug and its siblings, Big Bug and Baby Bug, can be used in a variety of conditions because of their ability to slightly spit water and quietly walk across the surface, or to chug noisily with lots of water movement. Morton starts trying a Bug when the water is as cold as 47°F in spring. “I’ll start throwing a topwater whenever I believe the fish are relating to the top 5 feet of the water column,” he suggests.

The Oklahoma angler makes the lure spit slightly on calm days during early spring by employing a retrieve he calls piddlin’. “In early spring, you shouldn’t make much disturbance,” Morton says. He achieves this subtle presentation by twitching the lure with his rod tip at about an 8 o’clock position, which prevents the lure from throwing too much water.

From the Postspawn Period through fall, Morton jerks the lure harder and faster. “It chugs and spits at the same time,” he says. It’s a great topwater for fishing in wavy conditions. It can produce a huge bloop when you snap it down hard. It calls active bass to the surface, fish you’d normally cast crankbaits for.”

Right after the spawn, Morton likes to walk the Chug Bug. “As summer progresses and bass start keying on shad, the walking retrieve is much more effective,” Morton says. He makes the lure walk from side to side by twitching his rod in a rhythmic cadence while continuously reeling.

Skippin’ and Piddlin’

In fall, Morton makes the Chug Bug imitate a fleeing baitfish by ripping the lure quickly and then letting it sit. Four or five rapid jerks of the rod cause the plug to spit and skip across the surface.

A couple of line-tying tricks help these retrieves. “If you want the Chug Bug to walk in a continuous walking and spitting cadence, use a loop knot or a Duo-loc snap,” Morton recommends. “If you want a fast, splashing retrieve, tie it direct to inhibit the lure’s walking action.”

Tying the knot toward the bottom of the line tie improves the lure’s skipping action. “If you can make the bait skip three or four times during a retrieve, you’re doing it right,” Morton says.

During the prespawn, Morton prefers Rattlin’ Chug Bugs in obnoxious or gaudy hues such as pop frog, fire tiger, or red-hot fire tiger. He tones down the colors during the spawn and postspawn, using natural hues such as Tennessee shad, black-and-white, chrome-and-blue, chrome-and-black, or perch.

To piddle a lure, Morton uses a 61⁄2-foot medium-action graphite baitcasting rod with a fast tip and a reel with a 5.1:1 gear ratio. He employs the same rod for other retrieves but relies on a high-speed reel (6.3:1 gear ratio) for skipping the Chug Bug across the surface in fall.

The Rapala Skitter Pop is a finesse topwater lure Morton relies on when skittish prespawn bass have moved into the shallows. The balsa lure enters the water quietly and displaces little water when it spits or walks. “It doesn’t scare the fish nearly as much as a noisy bait does,” Morton advises.

The Oklahoma angler makes the lure spit by twitching it with his rod tip up and walks the lure with the same cadence as his Chug Bug retrieve. Morton uses the same rod and reel for the Skitter Pop as he does for the Chug Bug, but scales down to 12- or 14-pound test.

Rippin’ and Buzzin’

Kentucky pro Mark Menendez chooses a Heddon Torpedo for ripping or buzzing on top. “I use the ripping action more often,” Menendez says, “because smallmouth love the ripping sound created by the Torpedo. Pull the bait hard with a fast sideways rod motion.”