Goby are a bit of an underrated forage in my opinion. On certain fisheries, goby are a bass’s favorite food source and are very easy targets.
So adding some of the best goby imitation baits to your arsenal will serve you extremely well.
Bass love gobies. It is pretty much as simple as that. Particularly, smallmouth bass seem to prefer gobies over almost all other forage.
Maybe it’s because goby are the perfect size meal for their smaller mouths.
Or maybe it is because gobies like to stay on the bottom amongst the rocks, just like smallmouth.
But either way, all three species of bass will gorge on these small baitfish when given the chance.
Although the specific species called the goby only really live in the Great Lakes region, there is another species that look just about the same and widen the range of goby imitation baits.
The other species I was referring to is the sculpin. The sculpin looks almost exactly like the goby, lives in the same habitats, and gets eaten up by bass exactly the same.
And the good thing about sculpin is that they range all across the United States.
No matter where you live there are probably bass feeding on either gobies or sculpin.
So although “goby” might be limited to certain areas of the states, all of the following baits work nation wide because of how they also mimic sculpin.
I’m including both of thee baits at #1 because they are essentially the exact same.
They are both incredibly realistic and undoubtedly the most reliable goby baits, especially in clear water.
The Megabass Dark Sleeper is designed to lure bottom-hugging fish with its lifelike action and realistic appearance.
Its low center of gravity weight ensures a stealthy presentation, while the soft fin material collapses upon a strike for solid hooksets.
With a durable yet supple plastic construction and a natural paddle tail, it maneuvers through cover effortlessly to entice even cautious fish.
Before the hyper realistic lures above and all the bass fishing innovations, the classic tube was the go-to bait for imitating goby.
The body shape is very similar to that of a goby, and more importantly, the way tubes glide and dart in the water are exactly the same as a real goby moves around.
The biggest advantage of tube baits is that they can be rigged a lot of different ways.
From the classic tube jig head, to a drop shot, to weedless tube rigs. Because of this, you can fish a tube in any water conditions, water depth, or structure.
The Ned rig is an ultra finesse setup that can mimic just about anything.
The classic stick baits don’t look exactly like a goby, but they are close enough in appearance to get bass to bite.
But in recent years, we the ned rig has gotten more versatile and us anglers are using a large variety of soft plastics to give the bass a more natural presentation.
I will be discussing one of those such baits in the next section, but the important part is that a ned rig is ultra finesse, and certainly gets bass that are looking for gobies to bite.
And with some weedless rigging options, the Ned rig is a very versatile goby presentation.
the Z-Man TRD Gobyz, a durable swimbait meticulously crafted to mimic bottom-dwelling forage like gobies and small baitfish.
Its buoyant design makes the tail float off the bottom, creating a lifelike feeding motion.
Perfect for various fishing scenarios, these swimbaits pair seamlessly with Z-Man Ned Rigs and small jig heads, offering subtle yet effective swimming action.
Ideal for targeting smallmouth focused on gobies, baby bullheads, and other similar prey.
The drop shot is ideal for mimicking gobies when fishing around grass or mud.
Other baits will tend to fall down into the grass and mud, and pretty much disappear from the bass’s radar.
The drop shot rig will help keep the bait above that muck and in the strike zone.
Speaking of “zone” the XZone Finesse Slammer or Stealth Invader are my two favorite goby baits to rig on the drop shot.
The Finesse Slammer is perfect for clear water. And the Stealth Invader is best for a bit stained water because of the extra vibration it has.
These are a couple of the best drop shot baits for smallmouth bass.
The key to retrieving goby baits is, of course, mimicking the exact way that real goby or sculpin move.
They move in very short bursts or darts. You won’t find a goby cruising around the bottom or swimming in open water.
They either make very short darts or scoot around, again, for short distances.
So when you are fishing your goby imitation baits, keep the bait on the bottom and use quick drag or hop movements.
Drag or hop the bait a few inches along and then briefly stop it. You can’t underwork these baits, but you can very easily over work them.
Goby love to live in and around rocks. So this is where smallmouth and largemouth will go to hunt them.
The Gobius, Dark sleeper, and tube baits are best when fishing very thick, dense rocks.
This is because their soft plastic heads help to bounce off the rocks and prevent the bait from getting wedged or stuck.
But when fishing sparse rock, any of the above baits will work extremely well.
Goby imitation baits are top picks for bass, especially smallmouths that love gobies.
While gobies are mainly in the Great Lakes, their look-alike, the sculpin, makes these baits work nationwide.
The best picks are Zman Gobius and Megabass Dark Sleeper for clear water. Tubes are classic and versatile, while the Ned Rig and Z-Man TRD Gobyz excel too.
Drop shots with baits like XZone Finesse Slammer or Stealth Invader are great in grassy areas.
The key is mimicking goby movements and targeting rocky spots where bass hunt them.
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