I don’t think I’ve gone a single week of my adult life without pitching and flipping some sort of shallow cover. Because I do it so much, I’ve had an opportunity to experiment with just about every mass-produced soft plastic in existence. It’s a funny thing, actually—the more baits I test, the smaller my “starting lineup” becomes.

I’ve been fishing with the Z-Man Palmetto BugZ for about two months, ever since some friends of mine starting hyping it up. After a lot of tinkering, it has become one of the more impressive pitching and flipping baits I’ve run across lately.

Here’s a rundown of what you need to know.