Bug / hellgrammite

A small, flat, many-legged nymph or hellgrammite imitation — what river and clear-lake smallmouth eat when they are not eating craws.

Soft plastics are the biggest family in bass fishing: 36 shapes, each designed for a rig, a depth and a mood.

• Shape = design purpose: fish, worm, craw, creature, tube, frog
• Finesse tier vs power tier: the same shape at 3.5 in and 7 in is two different techniques
• Tail type decides the action; body decides the fall
• Rig it the way it was designed to be rigged

1. What it is — A 2.5-3.5 in flat body with rows of thin legs that quiver, often in buoyant TPE so the legs lift on a Ned head.
2. Designed for — Smallmouth on gravel and rock in rivers and clear lakes, post-frontal largemouth: Ned-rigged, drop-shotted, or on a light Texas rig, fished slow and small.
3. Trade-offs — Finesse only; the thin legs tear.