A few years ago, the Bassmaster Classic was won with an underspin lure added to the Blakemore Road Runner family as the Casey’s Runner Head. It was primarily designed to use with a fluke body, but I’ve found a few others that also work. One of the most productive that I’ve found is the QC Lure Worx Puddle Thumper, which can be used in several other ways.

The 3-inch Puddle Thumper is a combination curl/ribbon tail grub and paddle tail swimbait. At the end of the curl, it has a swimbait paddle, and the main part of the body resembles a minnow-type lure. It is available in about any color that you wish since the company has around 21 readymade, and 35 custom colors.

One of the reasons that it performs so well on the Casey’s Runner Head is that it has action on the free fall, just like the willow leaf blade which is attached to the head by a ball bearing swivel. The two complement one another perfectly for slow rolling, or a pump/lift-and-pause retrieve.

Because the Puddle Thumper works at any speed, it is perfect for using with several other lures worked with the same sort of technique as the Runner Head. It works great as a trailer for a skirt jig and swim jig, regular jighead, and spinnerbait.

For using as a regular swimbait, I recommend using a jighead like the B-Fish-N Precision H20 head. This permits it to have its full action on the straight pull of a normal swimbait, but also the flutter action on any pauses.

Used as a trailer on a skirted jig, it makes a great lure for flipping/pitching. The action on the fall is ongoing when thrown into wood cover and worked over and around fallen trees, stumps, root systems and so on.

While on the subject of using it with the flipping/pitching technique, also try Texas rigging it. I would use a hook such as a 1/0 ProX Wide Gap, Daiichi Fat Gap or XPoint XGap. The size 1/0 in these hooks matches perfectly; anything larger starts becoming too large, with the absolute border being 2/0. This style of hook allows for more positive hooksets because of the slightly thicker body; the ProX has a three-degree opening to add a better positive hookup ratio. Texas rigging also allow sfor fishing it in any other situations where a worm would be used.

When using it as a skirted spinnerbait trailer, it has great tail action. This also makes it perfect to use on a plain head with a “safety spin blade,” such as the old Beetle Spin, or if you have a regular spinnerbait without a skirt.

Another reason for the productivity of this lure is the vibration that it produces, no matter its movement. That is another reason that it complements any lure with a spinner blade; it not only adds action, but enhances the vibration of the blades.

I have successfully used the Puddle Thumper in combination with the Casey’s Runner Head in water temperatures as low as the mid- to upper 30s, using the previously mentioned pump retrieve. In warmer water, I’ve primarily used a constant, slow-to-medium retrieve, with occasional pauses, allowing the lure to bump weeds or other structure.

This soft plastic bait is so versatile that anglers can find all sorts of ways to use it. It is also so productive that anyone can simply retrieve it with jighead and catch fish. I say “fish,” because it can also be used for walleyes, which has been its primary target, big crappies, white bass, smallmouth bass, and just about anything else you can think of.

For more details, and available colors, go to the QC Lure Worx website at https://qclureworx.square.site/. You can also find them on Facebook.

If you want to be a “bass thumper,” give the Puddle Thumper a try. I guarantee that you will have fun experimenting with it, while catching fish at the same time.