(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Hall of Famer David Fritts won the 1993 Bassmaster Classic with a combination of crankbaits, and there may be no other pro whose name is so synonymous with a single style of lure. While he’s tried to keep many of his best tools a secret, eventually most of them will come to light
“We have a lot of special baits,” he said. “They just haven’t been found out yet.”
The latest to see sunlight and commercial release is the Frittside series from Berkley, a flat-sided triumvirate that has already been responsible for three major tournament wins, including John Cox’s early season FLW Tour victory on Sam Rayburn. It retains the magic of earlier balsa baits, but puts them in a more consistent and easier-to-fish package. “Our goal was to make a plastic wooden bait,” he said. It’s exceptional not just early in the year when the fish are lethargic, but also in the hottest portion of the summer, like the conditions he faced when he won the Classic.
“It’s totally different. Fish haven’t seen it, and when a fish bites it, it is just ferocious,” he added. “Fish come out of 20 feet of water to get them.”
One of his earlier flat-sided favorites, which played a role in that 1993 Classic win, was the Steve Blazer plug, but Fritts feels that this new one has balsa beat. “In the olden days you had to have 15 or 20 to get one that was pretty good,” he said. With the Frittside, on the other hand, “You have to work hard to find one that ain’t good.” Furthermore, because it is made of plastic, it is heavier, more wind-resistant and can be weighted in any part of the internal chamber. That leads to substantially longer casts.
He’s been using a Lew’s casting rod for this purpose since 1989, and while the action has remained the same, in order to make it lighter they’ve had to switch it from 100 percent fiberglass to 92 percent fiberglass. “We had to stiffen the middle up for all of these 'bubba baits' that have come out,” he said. He pairs it with a Lew’s BB1 baitcasting reel with no anti-reverse, which enhances the ability to feel the lure’s action through the reel in addition to through the rod. Unlike most of his professional angling colleagues, he does not use fluorocarbon for this purpose. If you do, he suggests that you cut off a section of line after every hour or so of casting.
He prefers Berkley Trilene Sensation and said that “most copolymers will work.” He also uses braid like Trilene X5 or X9 in 10-pound diameter, not 10-pound breaking strength.
While there have been requests for a rattling version of this lure, Fritts said that all baits make noise even without rattles, and he prefers this one this way. They’ve introduced it in a variety of top colors, but three of his favorites – all variations on old producers – are honey shad, Lone Ranger and cream pie.
If you want to learn some other information about how and why Berkley designed the Frittside in its current evolution, as well as some info about the next model they plan to release, check out the full video with Fritts, filmed at the Bassmaster Classic in Alabama, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
