Rules are rules. Doesn’t matter if it’s football, fishing or life. Step out of bounds and the play is over. Run a red light and get a ticket. If bass are holding at 15 feet, you won’t catch them on a shallow-running crankbait.
BOOYAH Bait Company changes that…at least where fishing is concerned. The company’s new Boo Series of rigs let anglers fish those shallow-running crankbaits at any depth. The new rigs allow you to put a crankbait or any other lure you choose on a castable umbrella rig. It gives you a flexible spinnerbait that you can customize with any type of lure you want. In short, the Boo Series rewrites your fishing playbook.
The key to the new Boo Series is the flexible, nylon-coated wire lure arm. It allows crankbaits and other lures with built-in swimming action the freedom to work the magic they were designed to produce.
Another advantage of the Boo Series is the ability to keep your lure in the strike zone for more than 90 percent of the cast. Crankbaits take time to dive to the bottom, and by the time they hit the strike zone you may only have 75 percent of the cast left. Add in the 15 percent or so while the bait is coming back up to the boat at the end of the cast, and the average angler is looking at his bait being in the strike zone for a little more than half the cast.
The Boo Series consist of four rig styles; the Boo Flex, consisting of a realistic baitfish-head and flexible wire, the Boo Spin, essentially a flexible spinnerbait you can customize with any lure you choose, the Boo Rig, a castable umbrella rig with four outer arms adorned with willowleaf blades, and the Boo Teaser Rig, which has the same four outer arms as the regular rig, but with teaser grubs instead of blades.
Each rig excels with different techniques, but the common denominator is the flexible wire.
”I don’t think anglers are going to realize this rig’s full potential for a while. I know I won’t,” said fishing legend Bill Dance. “But it’s going to be fun getting there.”
Dance was involved in testing the Boo Series prior to its introduction, and the results were so impressive that he wound up featuring it in several upcoming Bill Dance Outdoors episodes.
BOO FLEX
The Boo Flex is designed to give anglers multiple advantages – the ability to cast lightweight lures long distances on baitcasting gear, work any lure at any depth, add to the maximum running depth of crankbaits, and keep a lure in the strike zone for almost the entire cast.
Even when rigged with a small, ¼-ounce crankbait, anglers can cast this rig long distances with baitcasting gear. Plus, if the lure has a listed diving depth of 4-feet, it’s no problem to use the Boo Flex to sink the bait down to the bottom and work it there in depths of 30 feet and beyond.
By feeding out a little line after the cast, the Boo Flex takes the lure straight down to the bottom, eliminating the diving time associated with getting a crankbait to its maximum running depth. This is especially important in bodies of water where long-lining is popular.
When a Boo Flex is employed with a deep diving crank, all the angler needs to do is cast, feed it line as the Boo Flex takes the crankbait to the bottom, and then begin the retrieve. The crankbait will dig the bottom (or any desired depth) until it gets back to the boat, increasing time in the strike zone from around 60 percent to more than 90 percent.
BOO SPIN
The Boo Spin is a flexible spinnerbait system that you create and customize by adding any type of lure you choose to the business end – just about anything in your tackle box. Depending on which lure is attached, anglers can fish it in sparse shoreline grass or deep ledges. It’s a versatile spinnerbait offering unlimited possibilities.
For fish in shallow water, a swimbait rigged on a plain wide-gap worm hook can run as shallow as you prefer. This was the rig that legendary angler Zell Rowland tried first when he got his hands on the new rig.
“It’s surprisingly weedless,” he said. “It’s got the flash and thump of a spinnerbait but it comes through the weeds better.”
A lipless crankbait fishes fast to cover a lot of water and locate active bass. When used with a Boo Spin, the bait’s vibration and rattle is supplemented with the flashing, throbbing spinnerbait blades. To fish slower without the lure dragging bottom, try a Cordell Super Spot lipless crankbait. It rides higher in the water column than other lipless cranks.
BOO RIG
The Boo Rig features four stiff outer arms, each with a small willowleaf blade attached, surrounding the flexible lure arm. This strong “cable” is the key to using crankbaits or other lures with natural swimming motion on a castable umbrella rig. Plus, because there’s just one lure arm, it’s legal to fish in any waters.
The four spinning blades send out baitfish flash and vibration, and this action is further enhanced by the swimming motion of a crankbait or lipless crankbait. That side-to-side swim transmits up the lure arm to give the blades an extra erratic shake.
“I like pausing it for a second,” said fishing legend Bill Dance. “It really makes it look like a real live school of minnows.”
BOO TEASER RIG
Instead of willowleaf blades, the Boo Teaser Rig features bait-keeper screws on the four stiff wires surrounding the flexible lure arm. Curl-tail grubs are included in the package, but the bait-keeper screws mean that anglers can use any soft plastic as teasers.
Many anglers like the Boo Teaser for a realistic baitfish school look when fishing clear water. The clearer the water, the more realistic the soft plastic teasers should be – going all the way to translucent baits for gin-clear rivers and lakes.
All Boo Series rigs are available in three sizes, ¼-, 3/8- and ½-ounce, and will be available at your favorite sporting goods stores Oct. 1.