Join Capt. Mike and Capt. Ray Jarvis as they break down smart techniques for targeting early season striped bass in open water. Using the time-tested Hogy Original softbait, they demonstrate how simplicity and stealth are often overlooked in an anglers approach.
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Hand-Poured. Hyper-Flexible. Built to Move Like It’s Alive.
The Hogy Original Series:
The Hogy Original Series is the most customizable softbait in the game—and it all starts with the plastic. These are hand-poured, one at a time, using the finest softbait plastic on the market—incredibly supple, durable, and responsive. There’s a reason we’ve been using the same material for 20 years: it’s the best in the business.
These unrigged baits are designed for complete control. No internal weight means you call the shots: how fast it sinks, how it swims, where it lands, and what it imitates. It’s the softbait that adapts to you, not the other way around.
Why It Crushes:
- Best-in-Class Hand-Poured Plastic: Moves like it’s breathing. Holds up strike after strike.
- Unlimited Rigging Freedom: Weightless, weedless, belly-weighted, jig head—whatever the conditions demand.
- Maximum Natural Movement: No molded-in lead = exaggerated tail flutter, glide, and dart.
- Weedless-Ready: Rig it clean and fish it anywhere—grass lines, oyster beds, mangroves, or mid-column over boulders.
When to Reach for It:
- When fish are keyed in on natural motion
- When you need topwater finesse with tail action
- When you want a bait that feels alive and lets you fish how you want
This is the softbait that built the Hogy system. Still unmatched. Still in the starting lineup
Original Series Rigging:
Weighted Swimbait Hooks: Best for scenarios requiring a consistent swimming action, such as fast retrieves, deeper water presentations, and when targeting aggressive fish that respond to a steady, lifelike movement.
Unweighted Softbaits: Ideal for shallow waters, finesse techniques, and situations where a more subtle or customized presentation is needed. They are also preferable when fishing in weedy or snag-prone areas.
“Great soft baits durable material can be attached with the Hogy Swimbait Hook and be casted hard without bait tearing or falling off. - Hogy Customer Luke P.
DOCK TALK
Quick answers for most commonly asked questions about the Original Series Eel and fishing applications.
Can the Hogy Original really out-fish live eels?
Why hand-poured instead of injection-molded?
What’s the difference between the Original and the Protail Paddle?
When should I use the 14” over the 10”?
SALTY CAPE SYSTEM
How to use the Original Series Eel and fishing applications.
Environmental Factors (E)
- Clear water + high sun: Natural, subtle action stands up when fish scrutinize every detail. The translucent body disappears in clear water — only the movement registers.
- Slack or light current: Long hang time in the zone with slow, twitchy retrieves. No current needed to make this bait work.
- Calm conditions: Quiet entry and hovering glide keep wary fish interested. Zero splash, zero wake.
- Nighttime: Dark or black plastics give strong silhouette contrast for stripers hunting by feel and lateral line. The 14” at night is a trophy-striper machine.
B — Birds / Bait:
- Observational Factors — BASE:- No visible bait but fish are present: The Original is a subtle search tool that doesn’t require matching a specific forage.
- Small bait (silversides, bay anchovies, rain bait): 7” rigged weightless, drifted through bait clouds.
- Squid visible (flashing, jetting): 10” with long pulsing twitches, amber or bone color.
- Eels present or eel bite happening: 14” on slow-and-low or dead drift. The eel replacement.
A — Activity / Feeding Style:
- Following but not eating: This is the Original’s superpower. Erratic twitches or dead drifts turn lookers into eaters.
- Refusing everything: Downsize to 7”, soft circle hook, weightless. The nuclear finesse option.
- Sight-casting to cruisers: Drop it in quietly with minimal splash, let it sink on slack line, twitch once.
- Post-blitz shutdown: Fish just ate and are now selective. The Original’s quiet entry and natural drift convert post-feed followers.
S — Structure (Relation):
- Pinned to structure: Hover over grass edges or sandy lanes with slow twitches. The weedless rigging lets you fish inches from snags.
- Suspended mid-column: Count-down presentation, let it sink to their depth, then walk-the-dog subsurface at their level.
- Staging in current: Dead drift or skip through seams. Fish the swing with the 10” or 14”.
- Roaming/cruising: Lead the fish. Drop the Original in their path and let them find it. Don’t chase — intercept.
- E — Echo / Sonar:
- Marks shallow (5–15 ft): Weightless or lightly weighted, work the zone with twitches.
- Marks mid-column: Count down on a weighted swimbait hook, match the depth on the screen.
- Fish following the lure on screen: Pause. Let it hang. The Original’s near-neutral buoyancy keeps it in their face during the moment of decision.
- Structure + Approach (S+A):
- Flats + estuaries: Hover over grass edges or sandy lanes with slow twitches. Fan-cast to cover water. The 7” on a soft circle is the ultimate flat-water tool.
- Shallow boulder fields: Suspend in strike zones with long hang times. Longer models double as eel imitations along structure edges.
- Rips + current edges: Dead drift or skip through seams. Tailor action to mood — from subtle drift to skippy chaos. Cast uptide, fish the swing.
- Open water feeders: Deadly for bait-and-switch — drop it behind a hooked fish, let it hang, and watch the followers commit.
Night fishing from shore: 14” on a slow crawl along jetties, canal walls, or beach structure. Black or dark olive. Fish by feel.
TIPS & TECHNIQUE
ORIGINAL SERIES EELS
How Charter Captains Target Spring Striped Bass in Open Water
The Hogy Original Series How-To Video
How To: Circle Hook Rigged Soft Plastics (Hogy Original Eel)
Tarpon Fishing in Key West with Hogy Lures
Striper Fishing in Cape Cod Bay with Capt. Cullen Lundholm
Roll Up Storage
Keep all your softbaits carefully stored in one place with easy to rinse and store marine grade mesh storage bags.
- Easy-rinse marine grade mesh.
- Holds up to 12 Protail Paddles.
- Hassle free multi-pouch storage.
- Sturdy and durable locking wrap.
Softbait Casting Rods
Built with a soft, yet sensitive blank, these rods resist accidental breakage due to high sticking but still offer high sensitivity to light bites on smaller presentations, plus they have plenty of backbone in the blank to apply added pressure for larger inshore species. Paired with an appropriately sized reel, these are a pleasure to fish for daily applications.
- Mod-Fast Action Black For Increased Sensitivity.
- Premium Grade Cork Grip
- Heavy Duty Locking Aluminum Reel Seat
- Premium Ceramic Guides
