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Summer 2026
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can also fish them on a drop-shot and expect great results.
Some hooks allow you to attach a weight to a clip attached to the hook’s eye. The Zappu RPZ Talisman hook is one of these hooks and was designed for fishing these baits. Any weight with a closed eye, such as drop-shot or free-rig weights, can be attached to the hook to bring the urchin baits down through the water column.
HOW TO
FISH URCHIN
BAITS
These baits are
new, and anglers are finding more ways to fish them, and there is no wrong way. When they were initially released in Japan, anglers were fishing them weightless and popping them along the surface to imitate a school of tiny fish. It’s still a method that works, but most American anglers are now fishing them subsurface.
One of the easiest ways to fish them is to treat them like a jerkbait and give the rod jerks and pauses, which will get the tentacles of the bait to pulse and flow with each start and stop of the retrieve. This is deadly and works in all of the same places that a jerkbait will, such as along grass lines, around docks, and other ambush areas bass use to feed.
When fishing with forward-facing sonar, twitching these baits around and above fish is also a very effective way to trigger bites. The unusual look and flowing appendages get the attention of fish, and the drawing power is amazing, especially in clear water. Bass have to get a closer look, and since they are not used to seeing them in the water, they get bit much more often than minnows and other common soft plastics.
If you are looking to jump onto the latest trend in bass fishing, urchin baits are it. They have already become a craze, and that’s only going to continue as more anglers learn about how effective these crazy baits can be. •