We review new bass fishing baits often on this site. But we also like to mix in our own personal “tried and true” baits. Contrary to what some naysayers believe. Our reviews aren’t bought and paid for. But we’re not going to review anything we haven’t fished for a while to have a good feel for it.
Like all fishermen, we have certain baits that become our favorites and we apply to a lot of applications and presentations. And like many fishermen, we’re sometimes a little hesitant to let others know how effective the baits are. For me, one of those baits has to be the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper.
I’ve thrown it for several years in water 6 inches deep to 30 feet deep. I’ve thrown it weightless, Texas rigged with a bullet sinker, on a jighead, on multiple jigheads, on weighted EWG hooks, on the back of swim jigs and vibrating jigs, I’ve even put them on drop shots before. Yep, they are that versatile. These five reasons are why I like them so much:
- Good action
- Fish Attracting profile
- Nice color selection
- Durable
- Affordable
Action is everything
You can have the best looking soft bait on the market, but if it looks like a turd in the punch bowl when you retrieve it, anglers won’t catch many bass with it and you’ll ultimately be discontinuing it soon. I get tired of the scent, sound, and color marketing in fishing tackle when action is often ignored. The first thing that attracted me to the Cane Thumper is how well it swam when I first started fishing it over and through grass patches.
I fished it both with a weighted EWG and a big round bend offset hook with a 1/8-ounce bullet sinker on the nose. The bait has ridges on the side and grooves on its back and sides that really channel water to the tail giving it a good kick and keel. Jeff Kriet is the one who really turned me on to them. And he’s won a ton of money fishing them this way around shallow grass.
The profile is right
Whether it’s five baits on an umbrella rig or one single bait on a jighead, the profile of these baits is right. It swims nice and the profile seems to be one the bass really respond to. I’ve caught so many bass at every season of the year, that my Cane Thumper box never comes out of the boat. I have one on a swim jig right now and one rigged on a single jighead for fishing it deep as well.
Go-to colors
The bait comes in two different sizes, 3.5-inch and 5-inch, but I really like the 5-inch for most purposes. I have used the 3.5 inch more on swim jigs and vibrating jigs lately though when I want a compact profile especially to skip it under targets. Thet 5-inch Cane Thumper gives a big, long profile but not so big that it won’t catch a lot of bass.
I don’t get hung up on colors when it comes to soft plastics. I pretty much stick with shads, browns, greens, blacks and few accent colors. I really like a couple of the big bite colors though. Salty DR and Alewife are my go-to shad colors and I like Sunfish Laminate and Tilapia for more natural green/brown colors to represent bream and other non-shad bait.
Baits that last
They come 7 to a pack, and I’ve had a pack last me several trips with a lot of fish catches. I do like to put a dab of super glue on a jighead or collar of a swim jig or vibrating jig to hold it in place. The bait has a small section in the middle to run a hook through, so you want to be patient and slowly slide it onto a hook so you get it rigged straight and it not tear up too easily. But I had the same 5 baits on an umbrella rig one time for a couple of months.
The price is right
They come in a 7 pack for $4. But if they last, it’s money well spent. I generally restock my box once or twice a year. A little super glue will the keep them pegged to your hooks better and extends their life as well.
Check out the pictures. The bass don’t lie. We’ve caught them a bunch of ways on a bunch of bodies of water at a bunch of times of the year with the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. Definitely worth putting a few packs in your tackle bag or boat.
