Rediscovering the Flappin’ Hog

Do you see that picture above? I don’t remember exactly when it was taken. I had brown hair at the time, and was 30 pounds lighter.  I was still wearing a watch, which I haven’t done in years. It was at least three boats ago.

I do, however, remember exactly where I caught it and what I caught it on – a 3.75” Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog, either some shade of green pumpkin or some shade of watermelon, behind a 1 ½ ounce weight. It was during a period when the Potomac had beautiful, cavernous mats in predictable places, and while I’m not a premier puncher, I’m just good enough at it to make it fun.

And then the good mats seemed to go away.

My 7’11” meat sticks resided in the bottom of the rod locker, or didn’t even make it into the boat.

Despite the fact that I’d amassed hundreds of those Flappin’ Hogs – and by that time they’d added the 4.5” version – I stopped fishing them. I caught more and more fish on a Senko and while I’m sure there were still some flipworthy mats out there, I just didn’t chase the bite. I suppose I could’ve used the Flapping Hog in other ways, but we seemed to fall out of love.

Then young Elite Series pro Tyler Williams reminded me of what I was missing. The Maine pro started earning one top ten after another on tour, almost always with a big jig trailed by a Flappin’ Hog. I’d never used it that way, but it piqued my curiosity. I dug into the Rubbermaid container full of bags of both sizes of the Hog. I pulled out some black and blue (#021), but also some of my old reliables like Green Pumpkin with green and purple flake and Green Pumpkin Magic. We’ve been reacquainting ourselves cautiously. They’re still super-soft; indeed, that’s part of what makes them so good, but also necessitates that I keep a ton of them in the Bass Cat. They still get lots of bites, and they’re just different enough from the flat-sided or typically ribbed creature baits that I feel like I’m showing them something different.

We’re getting into the heart of the good mat season soon, a time when there’s a lot of grass and still some areas beneath it at the right tides, and this little rediscovery makes me excited to get out there. Since I last put it down I don’t know how many fish I’ve caught on newish (to me) lures like the swim jig but sometimes the next big thing is merely the old best thing.