If you are a fan of the old Arbogast Mudbug, then you might like this week’s photo. Texas angler Mike Metcalf was a ‘Master of the Mudbug,’ along with a couple other guys from that area and time frame (1980s-1990s). This article specifically mentions the fact, along with a fun look back at the early structure guys who put in countless hours of idle time with a flasher and graph trying to find “hidden” hot-spots long before FFS (forward facing sonar) and hi-def mapping.
From the article titled: Taking the Winning Bait
“One of the first things Mike Metcalf did after returning to East Texas from the Army was to buy something that would help him see better.
“The 39-year-old angler has excellent vision. What he wanted was to look beneath the surface of brush-filled Toledo Bend and into the living rooms of its plentiful largemouth bass.
“An electronic flasher (depth finder) helped Metcalf do just that, and he spent the next several years mapping the bottom structure on the upper end of the sprawling border lake. It has made him one of the top bass fishermen on Toledo Bend.”
He frequently partnered with Gary Yelverton, and between the two of them, took an awful lot of money in local tournaments in the region, both individual and team events.
The mud-bug was an amazing fish catcher, similar to the iconic Bomber. The big metal diving plate kept the bait relatively snagless, even in brush. Back in the day, it was a favorite lure of pros like Bill Dance and Larry Nixon. Nixon won a B.A.S.S. Event on Millwood Lake using a chrome mud-bug years ago.
Thanks for the comment Mr. Orzell. I didn’t remember Nixon’s win on Millwood. I’ll have to look that up. It must have been in the late 70s.
Hi Terry. Nixon’s win was in the 1979 Arkansas Invitational. I fished Millwood myself several times in the 70’s and 80’s and was lucky enough to bag a 6 lb. plus bass on a mud-bug. It was one of the best crankbaits in timber and brush, which during these years Millwood was full of!
Thanks Mike! I’ll look it up. I’ll be going through that season soon enough.
Look at the size of the rod and reel,gigantic!
Dan, the reel is a Lew’s BB1 Speed Spool and I assume the rod is a flipping stick. About the right gear to use for that mud Bug! LOL.