Story by Hunter Sales | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Each year at ICAST, it seems that there is one technique that steals the spotlight. In 2024, everyone was dropping their minnow baits and in 2025, everyone was dropping their “fuzzy” baits. I want to use this week’s column to talk about the different “fuzzy” style baits that were released, the ones I’ve used personally, and the situation(s) where they are most effective. I wish I would have had this type of guidance when these baits were first released. Check out this video for more.
The first dice bait that I saw on the American market was the OSP Dice. This bait made a splash when Kyoya Fujita finished second in a major tournament on Lake Seminole in 2023. Following that, you started to see a few more of these baits hitting the market. The GeeCrack Cue Bomb and their Imo Kemushi Stick Worm were the next baits that I remember seeing thrown. The Imo Kemushi stick worm was an interesting bait to me after seeing Michael Neal win a 2024 tournament on the St. Lawrence River by threading jig skirt through a stick worm. Over the last few months and extending through ICAST, Hideup has released the Coike Bomb; Strike King released the Tumbleweed; Big Bite Baits released the Fuzzy Scentsation Stick; Yamamoto released a variety of baits—the Fuzzy Nuki, Fuzzy Nut, Fuzzy Senko, and Uni; and Z-Man released the Fuzzy NuggetZ, the Fuzzy TRD, and the Fuzzy BugZ. It’s very possible that I missed a few new releases, but the point is clear—there is a place for a “fuzzy” bait in an angler’s arsenal.
I first threw a fuzzy bait at the 2024 NPFL event at Saginaw Bay. I was running a long ways and fishing for smallmouth bass that shouldn’t have been seeing very many baits. Early in the event, every fish I threw my drop shot at would eat it, but as the event went on, they became smarter. I remember chasing one large mark on my FFS and not being able to get it to eat. After probably 10 minutes, I threaded a Gee Crack Imo Kemushi stick worm onto the drop shot and caught the fish on the first cast. I proceeded to catch every stubborn fish the rest of that event without fail. It was one of the most eye-opening days of my fishing career.
Fast-forward to this year’s NPFL event on the St. Lawrence River, I was able to use the Z-Man line of Fuzzy BaitZ during practice and competition. I’ve been a long-time advocate of Z-Man’s ElaZtech material for its durability and the lifelike action that comes from the buoyancy, so I knew that these Fuzzy BaitZ had a ton of potential. There were multiple instances on deep drifts, bed fish, and cruising fish where throwing one of these skirted baits was absolutely a difference maker in getting the fish to react. I’ll share some of my personal thoughts on why these baits get bit so well next.
Disclaimer: This is personal, anecdotal opinion and may not be the popular explanation. However, it is what I’ve seen in my experience. I believe these baits get bit for two reasons—fish are curious creatures, and the skirting material hides the hook. Over the years, I’ve seen fish eat spiders, dragonflies, snakes, and even ducks. There is no way that any of these insects or animals make up a very large part of a fish’s diet. They are simply hardwired to eat things that are alive in their territory.
I think that the insect-type presence of these baits activates that instinct from the fish. They haven’t seen these types of baits and don’t consider them a threat. Secondly, I have observed fish on highly pressured bodies of water get “hook shy” multiple times. Whether it is taking the hooks off a glide bait or downsizing a drop-shot hook to get more bites out deep, I am a firm believer that pressured fish in clear water do see hooks. The skirt material on these baits has to do a pretty good job of hiding the hook from bass. With those two facts in mind, dice and other “fuzzy” baits excel in clear water and with fish that are being pressured.
These baits are more available to anglers with the new releases, and they absolutely get bit. Whether on a drop shot, Ned rig, free rig, or wacky rig, these baits are worth adding to your arsenal and experimenting with. The Z-Man Fuzzy BaitZ line will certainly be tied-on and likely on the deck of my boat for the foreseeable future.
