The NEW Baits.com Urchin Baits

Urchin baits are currently the hottest thing going in bass fishing. As the Sportfishing World readies itself for ICAST 2026, The Inside Line caught up with GSM Product Development Manager, Jack Dice. Dice gave us a preview of the new GSM urchin offerings from both Big Bite and Yamamoto that will formally be introduced in Orlando, Florida.

Big Bite Baits Orbix (19mm)

• “We've got a brand new urchin bait from Big Bite Baits called the Orbix. It's a really good no nonsense midsized all around urchin. It's your 5” Senko size, you catch smallmouth, you catch spots and you catch largemouth. What's really nice about the Orbix, is that its proportions between the size of the ball and the size of the tentacles are a little bit different than others (urchins) out there. The ball is 19mm with enough thickness to have the right amount of buoyancy and to perfectly hold whatever weight you want to use. It's made of a proprietary TPE of a specific density and hardness that gives it the right amount of vibration in the tentacles which are a bit thicker, especially at the base. So when you hit it or snap it like a jerkbait, rather than have all the tentacles fold over, they bounce back quickly and push water which is kinda the magic of an urchin. We were able to achieve all this with the Orbix and it is at a price point which you just can't beat at $6.99.”

Yamamoto Uni Mas (20mm) and Uni Max (24mm)

• “I think we all knew this was coming, we now have two new bigger sizes in the Yamamoto Uni. We have the Uni Mas which is more Uni than the original. It has a 20mm ball at the center and we have the Uni Max which is a 24mm bait.”

• “We really dialed in the new TPE formula. Whether it be the Mas the Max or the Uni HD, they are all made of the new high density formula TPE. It's really durable and in the bigger sizes, I think what makes the difference is how much water they move. Everytime you snap the bait, the tentacles pulse, they move but they come right back to form really quickly which means they are not folding all the way over and letting water go by, they are actually pushing water in front of them.”

• “Another key point that separates the Uni from virtually every other urchin on the market, is that we took some of the basic principals that we use to make the best finesse baits on the planet work and we applied them to the Uni. The tentacles all taper down and then flare up right at the end just like a Roboworm. You have that little bulb and it is just enough difference in thickness to change how the water flows around each one of those tentacles, just like it does on the tail of a Roboworm.”

• “When you pull the Uni, especially in super clear water you can see the tentacles do a sort of quick hyper pulse where they all just quiver back and forth like when you shake a finesse worm. It's all about water movement and that is why I am such a believer in the Uni. The shape of the tentacles gives it a different underwater frequency than other urchins while still maximizing the effectiveness of water displacement.”