When Davy Hite hunts, he scouts for the biggest deer in the woods before he takes a shot. His approach to tournament bass fishing isn’t much different, picking apart each fishery in search of the five heaviest bass for the day.
And while he has used many different techniques to get the job done in his legendary career, Hite has one bait that he
absolutely knows will produce some of the biggest bass any fishery has to offer — a Buckeye Lures Mop Jig. “I only know a small percentage of bass anglers who aren’t also hunters, and as a tournament angler or whitetail deer hunter, you are always looking for the trophy,” the eight-time B.A.S.S. champion and Classic winner said. “I believe looking for the trophy in bass fishing is using baits that are known to catch bigger fish and win major events. That is one reason I will always use a hand-tied, living rubber jig — a Buckeye Mop Jig — when I’m competing, because I know what it can and will do.”
Hite has been throwing living rubber jigs since the 1994 Bassmaster Classic on High Rock Lake, but the South Carolina
pro turned Bassmaster LIVE analyst put the Buckeye Lures Mop Jig on the map with his win at the Bassmaster Elite Series
event on Clarks Hill Reservoir in 2006. Since that event, the jig has been responsible for two Bassmaster Classic victories
as well as several Elite Series wins. After he had secured a comfortable lead at the Clarks Hill event, Hite threw one of his jigs into the boat of his then roommate Kevin VanDam, who aptly described the bait and ultimately gave the Mop Jig its name.
“He looked at it, and the first thing he said was, ‘How much do you trim it?’ And I said, ‘You don’t.’ And his response was, ‘It looks like a mop.’ That’s how the jig got its name. And it wouldn’t look like a mop if you trimmed it. It would look like a brush,” Hite said.
The question that VanDam posed to Hite that day is the same question he gets asked about the lure the most by other anglers. The answer is always the same: He doesn’t trim the skirt. The larger profile is part of what gives the bait big-fish appeal — and while some anglers believe the long skirt hides a soft-plastic trailer, Hite says that isn’t the case. “I’ve looked at it in swimming pools, tubs and clear water,” Hite said. “When you stop that Mop Jig, it flares and opens and you can actually see the trailer better than you can on a silicone-skirted jig.” The unique action of the living rubber-style of skirt is an important reason why the jig entices big bites.
