The soft plastic creature bait is at its best in the spring
Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., has relied on his bass fishing background before and since he joined the pro ranks 2 ½ decades ago to guide his venture into making artificial lures others can count on.
The 2013 Bassmaster Classic champion entered the artificial lure making business when he started Black Label Balsa, which introduced many popular hand-carved balsa wood crankbaits, then followed with his highly successful Black Label Custom Soft Plastics. These days, both brands are successful under the umbrella Wood Bait Country.
One of those many artificial lures undoubtedly stands out. It’s the Piglet, a soft plastic creature bait he put on the market approximately three years ago. He knew exactly what he wanted.
“It wasn’t a bait we were trying to recreate and make waves,” Pace said. “We just wanted a creature bait that was easier to fish, easier to flip, easier to rig with a big hook, just overall easier to use. That was the main focal point behind the design of this bait … to give it a little more added features and make it more user-friendly.”
Anglers looking for a salt-based and scented, super-soft soft plastic creature bait featuring a compact size with a meatier profile get just that in the Piglet. Pace designed it about 3 ½ years ago and rolled it out for all to see around 2023.
How to fish it
Black Label’s 5-inch long Piglet has a wide but flat main body with creature bait-style appendages, including two front swimming legs and two craw flappers on the side that lead into two long, curly tails to give it “a lot of action.”
“The main reason is I wanted the soft plastic itself to have a little more weight to it,” he said.
This allows Pace to fish it under a lighter weight.
“I increased the size of the body so I can rig it under a ⅛-ounce weight so I could flip it or pitch it around easily, and it has worked fantastically, giving me a bait that really works in the springtime,” he said.
Another benefit and a plus near and dear to Pace and others who target sizable bass is they can use hooks larger than 3/0.
“If you’re comfortable with a 3/0, and it works, use it,” he said, “but if you use bigger hooks, it gives you an option. Personally, I use a 4/0.
“It’s done exactly what I wanted — actually gave me a bait that’s more stable, wider but not thicker. It gives me a small, small creature bait that’s easy to flip, has a larger hook and gives it more stability.”
The stability really counts when he threads a Piglet on the business end of a Carolina rig. The soft plastic creature bait doesn’t spin or spiral on the retrieve, and Pace said it’s about the only time he’ll fish his creation on an EWG hook. Otherwise, when he’s pitching or flippin’, he relies on a 4/0 or 5/0 straight shank hook (4/0 90 percent of the time, he confided) on braided line, a combination he believes leads to a stronger hookset because of the braid and larger straight shank hook.
Popular colors
Piglets are available in 31 colors. The three most popular colors, Pace said, have been bloody mary, black/blue and watermelon/red. A fourth top choice is Junebug/red.
“One of my personal favorites is sapphire blue,” he confided.
As effective as they are in the spring, Piglets aren’t just seasonal baits. Pace said they produce bass consistently most of the year in areas such as the Atchafalaya Basin.
“Oh, yeah, in an environment like the Atchafalaya Basin, it’s a bait I’ll use year-round,” he said. “It’s a bait I’ll use any time you have fish relating to shallow cover. If I was going to Toledo Bend or Rayburn (Lake Sam Raburn), this is a bait I can fish bushes with, I can flip cypress trees with and, believe it or not, I like to use it as a swim bait.”
Piglets also work as soft plastic trailers on bladed jigs and swim jigs, Pace said, noting a cut-down version does the job (pinch off about an inch).
For more information on the Black Label Custom Soft Plastics Piglet and other Wood Bait Country products, go to www.woodbaitcountry.com or call (601) 466-3404 or (601) 606-0191.
