Lil’ Bug

Lil’ Bug is a surface wobbler – so called „tracer”. As you can derive from the name, it tempts the fish by disturbing the water surface and creating a „trace” or wave. This lets the predator to register the lure even when the water is a less than clear. Inside the body of the lure (the 3cm version) we installed a special casting system called the Salmo Infinity Cast System (SICS). This special construction lets you cast on incredible distances and therefore reach the furthest reaches of the lake. Lil’ Bug was also fitted with incredibly sharp and strong treble hooks designed in Japan.
Lil’ Bug is especially recommended for catching chub, ide and asp, but it can also be effective on other species that feed close to the water surface (perch, trout).

How to Fish:
There are few basic techniques of fishing with this lure. First one is to move with the river current and fish all the potential spots by “tracing” the lure either against or across the current. First casts should be made literally a foot away from the riverside. Gradually we should make further casts and slowly “tracing” the lure on the surface we place it near all the potential hiding spots of our prey. We retrieve Lil’ Bug steadily and slowly while keeping our rod tip high. We try to keep the lure on the surface so that we can see the characteristic “V shape” wave from the distance. If the current is strong enough to keep the lure working without the retrieve, it is good to hold it steady in the interesting spot. Such provocation is often irresistible for the fish. The lure should not lose any of its action and constantly vibrate and create the characteristic “trace” on the water surface. The fish that are feeding can be close to the bank and very shallow, sometimes in the water even less than 0.5 m deep. If there is a slightly deeper hole nearby, large chub, ide and even asp can prowl in such shallows.
Another technique is a free drift, during which our task in only to reel back the line slack so that the lure can freely float down to the spots where fish are holding. This method is no doubt almost like flyfishing with the dry fly. Oftentimes just the sight of something that imitates the insect or a small minnow floating on the surface is enough to cause a strike from the predator. If such static free drift is not working, we should cast the lure straight on top of the spot where we expect the fish to be. It is crucial to be highly focused and to close the bail on the reel right away because such a careless “insect” is usually attacked after hitting the surface of the water. If we won’t be ready for the immediate hookset, we might miss our bite.
In all the techniques mentioned above it is crucial to control our line and prevent it from touching the water to avoid spooking the fish. The strikes are usually vicious and explosive, but like with all other surface lures we should set the hook only after feeling the weight of the fish on our rod.