Fishing the Big Grubs
June 16, 2008
When you look in Davy Hite’s tackle box, naturally you’ll see more than a few Senkos, but you’ll also notice something else: more than a few of the big 10” Single-Tail Grubs. Many consider this a lure for very specialized conditions, but not so for this veteran tournament pro; it’s one of his favorite baits no matter where he’s competing.
“Certainly, the 8” and 10” Single-Tail Grubs are great big bass lures, and I’ve caught 10-pounders on them,” says Hite, winner of both the FLW Championship (1998) as well as the Bassmaster Classic (’99), “but you can also catch smaller fish with these big lures, too.
“As a tournament fisherman, each day I have to catch the five largest bass I can, so I use the lures that give me the best percentage of doing that, and over the years the 10” Single-Tail Grub has given me that percentage.”
What Hite likes most about the 10” big grub is its diameter, which is larger than other worms of similar lengths. That one feature not only gives the lure its own unique appearance but also increased visibility as well as a distinct swimming action. During the March, 2008 Bassmaster Elite tournament at Falcon Reservoir, Hite weighed in 82 pounds, 11 ounces, including two fish over 8 pounds, and nearly all were caught on the 10” Single-Tail Grub. It was the most weight Hite has ever weighed in a professional tournament.
“Even though the Single-Tail Grub has a larger than usual diameter, the consistency of the plastic is very soft, just like the Senko, so it’s easy to make a hook-set,” Hite explains. “I use a 6/0 Wide Gap Owner hook, a heavy action rod, and usually fish it with 20 pound fluorocarbon line because of its low stretch.”
Because of its increased profile and better visibility in deeper water, Hite often fishes the Single-Tail Grub on a Carolina rig 15 to 25 feet deep. Fishing this way, he prefers a one-ounce sinker.
“The sinker, not the lure, is the point of contact you have with the bottom with a Carolina rig,” explains Hite. “When you pull or jerk the rod, the Single-Tail literally scoots up and then swims back down. This swimming action is really important; probably 90% of my strikes came as the lure was swimming like this.
“You can work a Carolina rig many different ways, but I think the real key is using your rod tip motion and retrieve speed in a combination that truly takes advantage of your lure’s action. Carolina rig lures do not float up above the sinker. They’re crawling and bouncing along behind it, which I don’t think is a very efficient way to use them, except in 
certain conditions.
“What I try to do is either jerk my rod quickly, or lift it so the big grub comes up off the bottom and begins swimming. Then, when I lower my rod, it swims back to the bottom. Overall, this type of erratic movement and the vibration change it creates is one of the most effective retrieves I use, and the strong swimming tail action just makes it better.”
Sometimes, however, Hite will use a slower, more “normal” retrieve on his Carolina rig that does keep the grub closer to the bottom. It really depends on what the bass seem to prefer, and is one of questions Hite has to answer each time he uses a Carolina rig.
“Again, you have to use your sinker to tell you about the bottom,” emphasizes the South Carolina pro. “I may move the sinker fairly quickly along the bottom until I feel it hit rocks or logs on the bottom, then slow my retrieve so the grub just crawls through that cover. This presentation takes advantage of the Single-Tail’s overall size and profile – it’s big and represents a nice meal.
“If I get a bite this way, then that’s a retrieve I’ll use, but if I don’t then I’ll try something different to take advantage of the lure’s swimming tail action, letting it swim over the cover and hopefully drawing bass out from it.”
In shallow water Hite changes from Carolina rigging the Single-Tail to Texas rigging it. He normally pegs the sinker, too, to keep it from getting snagged.
“The 10” Single-Tail is not too big a lure to flip into cover,” emphasizes Hite. “In fact, I think it gives me a better chance of catching a larger fish because it is a bigger bait. The 
grub’s overall design lets it penetrate cover easily, and the swimming tail provides a totally different action than a Senko, a jig, or a regular worm.
“I especially like to flip it along the deeper outside edges of grasslines where I can really take advantage of the swimming tail. That tail is swimming and vibrating whether the grub is falling or climbing.”
The strong tail action of the Single-Tail also comes into play when Hite uses the lure as a slow-moving crankbait around slightly deeper flooded brush. To bass, the lure may appear to be a small snake, eel, or baitfish; regardless, fish can literally be pulled away from the brush and tempted to strike by that swimming action.
“Because I can rig it weedless, I can also swim the grub through the brush if I want to,” continues Hite, “which is something I really can’t do with a crankbait. I like to make a cast or a long pitch, let the grub sink, then slowly start bringing it back. I’ll try to incorporate some rod action, too, so the lure rises and falls and changes its vibration as it comes around and through the cover.”
Hite uses the 10” Single-Tail to explore points this way when he’s searching for bass. Keeping his boat deep and casting shallow, he can use a weighed lure to stay near the 
bottom but still easily employ enough rod tip action to continue that same rise-and-fall retrieve.
Although it wasn’t designed to be a topwater lure, Hite will, on occasion, swim a weightless Single-Tail through shallow vegetation like a floating worm or buzz bait. Again, rigging Texas-style gives the advantage of being weedless, while the lure’s profile simply looks like something natural in the water.
“I’ll change retrieve speeds to make the lure more tempting,” says Hite, “but one of the biggest advantages I’ve noticed in using the lure this way is that because I’m using a single hook, my
hook-up and catch ratio is higher.
“You can fish a big Single-Tail like this around practically any type of shallow cover, including not only vegetation and weeds but also laydowns, stumps, rocks, and even boat docks. It’s really more versatile than most fishermen realize.”