Gear: Boo Rigs Open Many Options

At a glance you might think, "Another umbrella rig." Take a closer look, though, and you'll see that the BOOYAH's new Boo Rig family of rigs offer something completely different. These rigging accessories, which were just revealed last week at ICAST, open a wealth of new options for fishermen, and they really are quite different from anything else I saw at the show or have seen in other places.

For starters, there's only one place for a lure. These are not multi-hook rigs, and they therefore should be legal in most places, if not everywhere. The blades or grubs (depending on the specific rig model) are only teasers to draw fish's attention and to create the look of a school of bait or of a chase taking place. As importantly, though, the back wire, which leads to the lure snap, is highly flexible. Because it's not stiff, you can rig it with a crankbait or jerkbait or virtually any other lure without concern about the wire hampering the action of the lure. These rigs also aren't big and bulky, which means you don't need a magnum outfit or a triathlon-competitor's endurance to fish one all day.

Beyond the attracting value of the blades or grubs, these rigs provide added weight, which allow you to fish crankbaits or jerkbaits deeper than they run on their own. Just count 'em down before you start retrieving. That added weight also allows you to use a small bait to mimic smaller forage without having to turn to ultralight gear. That's valuable when big bass or even larger gamefish such as stripers are eating small stuff.

The rigs come in four styles: The Boo Rig has four blades on stiff wires spread around with flexible wire; The Boo Teaser has four hookless grubs that spread similarly, the Boo Spin has spinnerbait blades in  couple of different configurations in front of the lure wire. The Boo Flex has no teasers. Each runs behind a weighted spinnerbait-style head and comes in 1/4-, 3/8- and 1/2-ounce sizes.

I've not gotten to fish these yet, but the word I've gotten is that they swim really well and have preformed exactly as was hoped (from a fish catching standpoint) during testing times and on photo trips. I'm eager to try 'em myself and to join in the fun of discovering applications.