Gene Larew Biffle Bug

GENE LAREW is a long time producer of quality soft plastic lures located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Gene is credited as holding the patent for the original salt impregnated lures .He is quick to point out that while other manufacturers may add salt to the packaging and thus make it look like the lures are full of salt, on his lures the salt is added during the molding process and are therefore full of salt.  With other lures, the salt is washed off after only a few casts.  Gene contends that with his lures the salt is there whenever a fish decides to bite, and will therefore hold on to his baits longer than to the baits of the competition.

Professional bass angler Tommy Biffle of Oklahoma, after two hot summer major tournament wins in Oklahoma and Tennessee, is known to be the master of a new bait technique that is now being called “bottom buggin.”

Bottom buggin is like reeling a crankbait along the bottom so that the bait is hitting and bouncing off of anything and everything with which it comes into contact. The difference is that in bottom buggin’, a weedless-rigged soft plastic bait is used, providing the angler with an alternative method of putting and keeping the bait where bass live and eat.

Integral with this new technique is the Biffle HardHead, the football head weight with a high quality Owner worm hook loosely attached that Biffle has been refining and using for several months now for this new soft-plastic-cranking technique.

The weight comes with all the features and advantages of a football head design, while the hook is attached to a “loop” wire form that allows it to move freely with the bait. Since the hook is a premium wide gap, offset worm hook, the bait can be rigged Texas style, making it virtually weedless so it can come through all types of cover with a minimum of hang-ups.

The wire form is quality stainless steel that is shaped through  a bending process made to exacting specifications. Its design is such that it won’t pull free from the head  when the angler is using any appropriate fishing line, including braid.

The heads are cast in lead utilizing a CNC machined aluminum mold for repeatable consistency in weight and balance, providing superior results compared to products that come from the more common silicone molds that many companies use. The heads are then powder coated for a durable color finish called “Copperhead,” in colors complimentary to the most popular soft plastic lure finishes.

The HardHead comes in four sizes: 3/16 ounce, 5/16 ounce, 7/16 ounce and 11/16 ounce. All but the 3/16 ounce come with a 4/0 hook. The smallest weight size comes with a 3/0. Biffle HardHeads come two to a package.

Tommy Biffle’s preferred bait to use with the HardHead is his signature Biffle Bug bait, also made by Gene Larew.  While many other plastics can be used with the HardHead, the wide-bodied Biffle Bug with its hyperactive swimming legs has a crankbait-type action of its own when the angler swims the bait through the water. The Biffle Bug boasts a hollow body, which means rattles and/or scent can be inserted to the cavity,  adding fish-enticing versatility. The lure has a very distinctive broad and flexible cupped tail that creates even more lifelike appeal, which can be split to offer a different look to the lure.

Both the HardHead jig head and the Biffle Bug can be used separately to great advantage, but together, as Tommy Biffle has shown, the combination is dynamite!  His successes speak volumes about his choices, with five titles and nearly $2 million in tournament earnings to date.