Story by Ken Duke
Have you ever heard of “Judas lures”?
Me neither … at least not by that name, but I’ve known that they were a “thing” for about 20 years, and I think they’re really interesting. I think they have a place in your fishing … if you target big bass.
What is a Judas lure? It’s a lure that’s considerably larger than most of the lures we use to catch bass. Think big swimbait … then think bigger. Then, if you’re really on board, think bigger yet again.
And here’s where things get weird. The primary purpose of a Judas lure is not to catch a bass, but to get a big bass to reveal its location or even its existence.
A Judas lure “betrays” big bass by giving up its location, hence the name I’ve selected for it. Some people have referred to them as “locator” baits, but I think that name is not descriptive enough, intuitive enough, or “catchy” enough, so I’m trying to give them a name that will stick.
I first came across the Judas lure about 20 years ago while talking with bass pro Grant Goldbeck. I knew he threw giant baits while practicing for bass tournaments and I was curious about his methods. Big baits were already popular then—even on the tournament trail—but they had far more success where bass fed on stocker rainbow trout than anywhere else.
Goldbeck was throwing a Roman Made Mother (almost 12 inches long and 10 1/2 ounces) and Roman Made Mother Chaser (16 inches and 22 ounces) around boat docks and watching to see what came out from the cover. Forward-facing sonar was more than a decade away, and there was (and is) simply no substitute for seeing what lives there with your own eyes.
Bass pro Byron Velvick was on the ground floor of the big swimbait craze. He regularly threw the biggest baits on the market in the 1990s and early 2000s to see what would follow them, then trace the big fish back to their spawning beds. Sometimes the lunkers would eat the baits, but if they merely revealed themselves, Velvick gained knowledge and a competitive advantage.
Most recently, I was visiting Manabu Kurita in Japan. If you don’t know the name—he’s not a tournament pro—you know his accomplishments. He holds the world record for Florida bass at 22 pounds, 5 ounces and he has multiple bass to his credit weighing better than 18 pounds.
What Kurita is doing blew my mind.
Kurita’s principal Judas baits are so large he doesn’t even equip them with hooks. One is a custom lure made by DEPS that’s about 30 inches long (longer than his world record bass) and weighs more than two pounds. The other is every bit of three feet long, covered in leather, and weighs more than eight pounds!
Merely casting these things is a Herculean effort risking every nerve, tendon, and joint in your casting arm and shoulder, but Kurita tells me they work, that they pull giant bass away from cover to take a look. Sometimes, he says, a big bass will see the giant Judas lures gliding along like they’re injured and take a swipe at them. These attacks are not an attempt at feeding, but an effort to kill what appears to be a weakened intruder.
Are Judas lures for you? They certainly could be. If you have an area of heavy cover that you think holds giant bass but you’re struggling to get a look at them or to find where they’re holding or spawning, a Judas lure could be just the ticket.
You don’t have to opt for an eight-pound lure. A 10-inch might do the job in waters where bait doesn’t reach that size. Just make sure it has enough visual impact to get a big bass’s attention … and keep your eye on it.
It just might change your approach to big bass fishing.
