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BOMBER Tips

Little Brother, Big Fish

By Mitch Looper

The Fat Free Fry. Or, we could call it "the forgotten brother" of Excalibur's Fat Free family.

The Fry is a smaller version of the Fat Free Fingerling, but yet it is much more than that. You can cast it as far as the Fingerling, but it is less wind resistant because of its small size. It runs quite deep, the deepest of any crankbait of its size (even though the BOMBER catalog lists it as diving 4 to 6-feet, I get it down to 10 feet easily with 8 lb Silver Thread Fluorocarbon line).

I think the reason most folks have forgotten about the Fry is they think it is too small for big fish. Wrong! Some of my biggest clear water fish over the last few years have come on the Fat Free Fry after I had little to no success on bigger crankbaits. I think it is because very few bass see these small baits, especially in the 8 to 10-feet range, so they have not learned to avoid these smaller baits. In fact, some of the hardest strikes I have ever had on pressured water in tough conditions on a crankbait were on the Fry, which tells me the fish were COMMITTED to eating that bait.

Where this bait really shines is in clear water. You know, the kind of water most anglers try to stay away from, the kind where you could read a newspaper at 10 feet deep. Over the past few years I have found many times in clear water when the bass would slam the Fry but would not touch the Fingerling in the same color. In fact, as I write this, I have three tied on in my rod box! Anytime I am going to fish clear water I make sure I have a good stock of Fat Free Frys.

I most often use the floating model, especially when I am cranking hard and bouncing it off of cover. The floating model is very good at this. Usually you can give the bait slack and it will float off of a snag if you get hung up. Sometimes you may need to jiggle the rod to free it, but it usually comes off.

The suspending model is in use anytime I find bass that are slow to respond. In this case, I use a slower retrieve and pause the bait every few cranks. Almost like fishing a jig that wiggles. This has saved the day for me several times when the bass just would not respond to any other presentation. Post-frontal conditions are when I use the suspending model the most. It too is very snag resistant, but when it does hang it will not float off. The trade off is worth it when you really want to catch fish though!

Next time you are fishing clear water, or a tough bite, I suggest you try a Fry. It will likely get you more strikes than the bigger crankbaits (and that is why we fish, to get more strikes, right?).

P.S. Smallmouth LOVE this bait!