Flipping, pitching, and skipping jigs around docks, boat stalls, boat lifts, and a variety of overhanging objects are traditionally the province of power anglers.
But Gene Larew Lure Company has recently created a system for black-bass anglers who are wedded to spinning tackle and finesse tactics to ply docks, boat stalls, boat lifts, and overhanging objects. It is called the Bass Shooter System.
It is similar to the method that Bobby Garland Crappie Baits, which is a division of Larew, created in 2015. The crappie system revolves around Garland’s Dock Shoot’R Pull Tabs and Dockt’R Shooter Heads. On Nov. 25, 2015, we published a Midwest Finesse column about this tactic, and it is entitled “Three days with Gene Larew Lures and Bill Lewis Outdoors.” In this column, we wrote about how Lee Pitts of Cedar Bluff, Alabama, shoots docks and catches crappie.
Pitt does that by placing the Dock Shoot’R Pull Tab, Dockt’R Shooter Head, and a soft-plastic body about six inches above his spinning reel. Then he puts the Dock Shoot’R Pull Tab between the thumb and index finger on his left hand. Thereupon, he pulls the jig towards his spinning reel so that his spinning rod is bent somewhat like a drawn bow and arrow. He aims his rod at the spot that he wants to reach. When his aim is on the mark, he releases the tab, and the jig is jettisoned to those difficult to reach spots. When the space between the dock and the surface of the water is narrow, the Dock Shoot’R Pull Tab, Dockt’R Shooter Head, and a soft-plastic body will skip across the surface of the water to reach the mark he wants to reach.
To accomplish this task for black bass anglers, the folks at Larew created a 3.25-inch soft-plastic bait that they call the Bass Shooter. In the words of the folks at Larew, it possesses a compact body with smooth lines, a flat back with a hook-alignment guide, a boat-hull belly, which creates realistic movement, and a spear-like tail. It is said to be aerodynamic, which allows it to fly above the water and also skip across the surface of the water, and its aerodynamic attributes allow it to fly and skip as straight as an arrow. After it is shot and reaches its target, it glides and exhibits a subtle darting action as an angler retrieves it. In some ways, it resembles the way a kite glides and darts about in the wind.
The bodies of the Bass Shooter are manufactured in the following hues: Black/Blue Silver, Double Silver, Gizzard Shad, Golden Junebug, Green Pumpkin, Green Sunfish, Mad Bluegill, Pearl Flash, and Watermelon Neon. Anglers can purchase eight of them for $5.29.
In addition to the 3.25-inch soft-plastic body, the system revolves around a 1/16-ounce and 1/8-ounce jig, which is called the Bass Shooter Pinhead. The folks at Larew proclaim these jigs were designed to “deliver the ultimate lure shooting, falling and retrieving performance.” The head of the jig is inserted into the soft-plastic body in order to minimize surface drag and to redistribute the weight…
