No Stink Here… Why Poop Baits Work in Bass Fishing
Of all the emerging trends and bait secrets in bass fishing, this has to be one of the funniest… We’re talking poop. And Turds. Scat of all kinds. No, these aren’t the punch lines to fishing stories that end with a quick run to the boat access and blue Porta-Potties. For those already in the know, we’re talking of course about bass baits that literally look like feces but absolutely crush the fish.
There’s a growing assortment of baits that could be categorized under the questionable moniker of “Poop Baits”. First, you have the Z-Man Finesse TRD—designed of Z-Man’s patented and nearly indestructible Elaztech and intended to be fished with a Ned Rig head —Z-Man’s Big Turd—the Fish Arrow Heavy Poop Stick Bait—and for the sake of this feature and review, the Deps Cover Scat.
Why Choose the Deps Cover Scat?
Like a lot of other new baits and techniques when they first emerge, the Deps Cover Scat stick bait just flat-out catches bass. It doesn’t really depend on your body of water either. Honestly, anywhere you might fish a wacky worm or alternatively—a football head jig—this bait is set to perform. Especially on pressured bass waters, the Deps Cover Scat will be an amazing addition to your usual arsenal of presentations.
Again, the bait just plain performs. Available in in 2 ½”, 3 ½” and 4”, the Deps Cover Scat is intended to be fished weightless on a wide-gap/offset EWG-style hook. With a unique hook slot in the bait’s belly and barb indentation on the top, the bait is rigged to be practically cover- and weed-free no matter the bassy environs you fish. With 40% salt content, the bait is heavy and casts a mile, also a plus on pressured waters. But it can also be pitched, flipped or short-casted into specific cover areas of timber, rock, and wood. From inches of water to steep rock banks and breaks, the bait is versatile and catches fish across the water column. It has a medium-paced horizontal fall rigged as recommended; rigged backwards with the bulbous, closed crawfish tail-mimicking side toward the front, a walk-the-dog, zig-zag fall is created.
The smaller Cover Scat models in 2 ½” and 3 ½” also work well fished on a jig head like a Ned Rig or jig worm/tube. Recommended hooks include the Outkast Ned Head with a 2/0 hook.
So where should it be fished? Areas of rock, timber, and weedy areas are great places to fish the Deps Cover Scat. But here’s the deal. The Deps Cover Scat is Intended to be fished slowly on a fall-lift-drag or slow-reel and pause routine; it’s not a search bait. You should have a general idea of bass in your location before you pull the bait out of the rod locker—it should be fished as a bigger finesse bait once fish are located. Again, it excels in the same circumstances as a wacky worm, Ned Rig, or even a football head- or flippin’ jig but with a larger, crawfish-like profile. Obviously, it catches bass on waters with a significant crawfish forage base.
The Deps Cover Scat also makes a great alternative to fishing a football head for working rock piles, underwater points, breaklines, and ledges. It’s also effective on quarry lakes with dug-out rock shorelines or in rivers around rip-rap. In these situations the bait closely mimics a crawfish in its closed claw swimming position and can draw a lot of bites when other crawfish-mimicking baits fail to produce. Plus, with the hook tip buried in the molded indentation on top of the bait, there’s little chance of snagging or getting hung up, often a problem working the same rocky areas with a crawfish-patterned crank or jig.
Similarly, the Deps Cover Scat also translates to an effective sight-fishing or bed fishing option. Slowly crawled over a nest, there’s little a big female bass won’t do to rid her area of the strange, poop-looking creature.
Honestly, the Deps Cover Scat is currently just one of those baits that is so new to anglers—and to the bass—that it’s hard to do wrong. The fish haven’t seen this particular presentation and are gung-ho to eat it up – for our testing staff, it kind of reminded us of how great the fishing was when we first started fishing wacky rigs after years or Texas and Carolina rigging as virtually the only options.
History of the Cover Scat
Like a lot of other winning bass techniques, “Poop Baits”—or at least the larger Deps Cover Scat—finds its origins on the frigid, clear waters of Japan’s Lake Biwa and other pressured Japanese lakes. Given their angling pressure, bass populations, and overall smaller size structure of fish, Japanese bass anglers have long been the innovators of ways to catch discerning and difficult bass. From large forage-matching swimbaits to finesse jerkbaits in esoteric and artisan finishes, to Tokyo Rigging, and now Poop Baits, seems like what works in Japan is equally if not more effective on American waters. Of course, that’s once the information and bait availability finds its way stateside. That’s where Omnia Fishing comes in. With its fingers on the pulse of bass fishing, we’re hip to emerging trends and want to make sure our ambassadors and members get the same information that catches fish for us. Hence, our carrying the Deps Cover Scat when it’s seemingly unavailable everywhere else.
How the Cover Scat Works
So what makes this bait so magical? First, it looks like something bass haven’t seen before—or in the very least mimics a crawfish—and they’re quick to chew. Rigged weightless for a natural horizontal falling motion through the water column and crawfish-like motion dragged, hopped, twitched, and skipped slowly over the bottom, it would be unfair to describe the bait as just another “do-nothing” bait or a shorter, fatter version of a wacky-rigged worm or plus-sized Ned Rig. Manufactured with a high, 40% salt content for medium-paced sink rate and superb castability, the Deps Cover Scat is unique among bass baits. Imagine that bait you’d reach for that does all the things a wacky-rig, football head, and weedless-rigged tube and weight will do—and more.
How to Fish the Cover Scat
Because there’s so little information on Poop Baits—and how to fish them—we had to go out and test them extensively ourselves. We know… hard life! Lol. Fished on two different Midwestern natural lakes with a variety of cover—bulrush beds, lily pads, rock, timber laydowns, and a variety of depth and bottom hardness transitions, the Deps Cover Scat just seemed to produce in almost every scenario we faced.
The routine is simple: cast, let fall, and lift the rod tip upon bottom contact, followed by short lifts, twitches, and subtle hops. That’s what we found to produce the best. Sometimes you’ll just feel a weight on the end of your line which means a bass grabbed it on the horizontal fall, which was often the case. So, before you start your retrieve, best to make sure nothing’s grabbed it. You can also slowly reel the bait along the bottom, although this technique did not produce as much as trying to mimic a crawfish skirting along the bottom with twitches and hops.
Besides Hail Mary, rocket-like casts with this dense bait, you can also make shorter casts, pitches or flips to hit individual targets like specific rocky areas—or in our case—timber laydowns and opening in bulrushes and lily pads.
Rigging is simple. On front of the bait there’s an opening to feed the EWG hook through and through the bottom along a groove molded into the belly of the bait. After this initial hooking, simply run the EWG hook point through the body and hide the barb in the molded hookpoint pad/indentation on the top. This rigging technique produces an almost horizontal fall.
We also discovered the Deps Cover Scat can be rigged backwards as there’s a hole in the tail. With the bulbous, closed crawfish-tail section facing toward the eyelet of the hook, you can run the EWG back and through the body and use the available plastic to bury the barb. This backwards rigging produced a zig-zig, walk-the-dog fall and caught just as many fish as rigged standard. Just another option to explore…
Recommended Gear for the Deps Cover Scat
Starting with hook choice, we fished the Deps Cover Scat on a wide gap/offset weightless EWG hook—specifically, a #5/0 VMC Wide Gap Hook in black nickel. For the 2 ½” bait we recommend a 1/0 or 2/0 hook; 3/0 for the 3 ½” bait; and 5/0, 6/0, or 7/0 for the 4” Deps Cover Scat. Did the VMC catch fish? Yes, it’s sticky sharp, although you might have your favorite Scat Bait hook.
Line choice is critical. Because of its stretch and its lack of sensitivity, monofilament is out. Because of the clear waters we were targeting, we followed the recommendation of Japanese anglers and spooled 20-pound fluorocarbon and that worked well, also contributing to the sink rate of the bait. Especially on darker, stained waters, braid and a fluorocarbon leader would also be a viable alternative to running straight fluorocarbon. You could probably size down to 12 or 15 pound fluoro and be fine, too.
Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon
8lb / 200 Yards
In terms of rod and reel choice, baitcasting rods between 6’8” and 7’6” seem perfect, and in a medium power with moderate-fast to fast action for sensitivity. A lower- to medium-geared baitcasting reel lends itself to working the bait on a crawl or slower retrieve.
St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Casting Rods
7'1" / Medium-Heavy / Fast - All-In
Omnia Cover Scat Review
As mentioned, we fished two Midwestern natural lakes the very last week of May. Water temperatures were nearing 70 degrees and bass were exhibiting post-spawn behaviors. Fished in approximately four to ten feet deep – with forays into a foot or two – the Deps Cover Scat performed in every situation. Fished against another angler with a weightless, Texas-rigged 4-inch Tube and split shot, the Deps Cover Scat ultimately caught more fish from a pound to five pounds in areas around timber, openings and cuts in lily pads and bulrushes, and the occasional rock pile.
We fished a 7’6” medium-heavy, moderate-fast action St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Series baitcasting rod, 7.1:1 gear ratio reel, and 20-pound fluorocarbon. The bait was fished in Deps’ Golden Shiner color and rigged both as recommended and backwards. Long casts into lily pad openings and bulrushes and around areas of timber and rock produced fish. The best retrieve was to let it fall to the bottom followed by slow lifts and twitches.
Have to say, we had an absolute blast testing the bait and it will be on deck all summer!
Parting Words
So, are you hip to fish with poop? Our verdict is absolutely… especially with Deps scat baits.
The Deps Cover Scat is just another obscure bait and technique from Japan that crushes fish on American waters. How long will it remain a secret? Hard to say. We know this: The Deps Cover Scat definitely needs to be on deck with anglers looking for more bites—especially on pressured waters!
