And while his marabou jigs still see plenty of action, his primary lure today is a small plastic creation named the Guido Bug. Melting plastic worms and pouring the plastic into the mold to make an imitation crawfish for Dion, the elder Hibdon thought they looked good enough to fool Lake of the Ozarks bass. They were, and the plastic craws continue to do so today, nearly 20 years later. The lure has since become one of the most famous plastic baits ever produced. Light, small-diameter line lets the lure perform better, because it isn't as stiff.
Smaller lures can move more naturally.
That's really what light-tackle fishing is all about. They're far greater than most anglers really realize. Hibdon remembers working a big bass he spotted on a bed during practice for a tournament in Florida. He was using 8-pound line, and during his first four or five pitches into the nest, the bass never responded. Then he reeled in and, using a black marker, camouflaged the last 3 feet of the line by blackening a short section of line every 3 or 4 inches.