Storm Arashi Cover Pop Topwater Lure: ICAST 2017

(Press Release) – When lunker Bass have lairs in the heart of heavy cover, they can require some convincing to come out to eat. Storm’s new Arashi Cover Pop topwater lure will tempt them to step out for a taste.

“It really excels when fish are a little bit skittish and they’re sitting in thick cover and little shade pockets,” says Storm Pro Brandon Palaniuk. “For a small package, it has a lot of drawing power.”

The Arashi Cover Pop won’t shut up or go away. “It’s made to create a lot of commotion without moving out of the strike zone,” Palaniuk explains. “It creates a lot of horizontal movement without moving forward.”

That trait maximizes the time a Cover Pop is active in the strike zone, tempting big Bass to dart out from even the thickest of cover and dine.

“You can throw it up to a piece of cover and twitch the rod tip really hard and make the bait walk back and forth without covering a lot of distance,” says Ott DeFoe, who caught a 9-pound. 9-ounce Bass on a Cover Pop this spring in the Bassmaster Classic, helping him to a fifth-place finish.

“It doesn’t get more exciting than making a little short cast right at the heart of a bush, or a stump, twitchin’ that bait just a few times, seein’ that Bass ease up under it and suck that bait in,” DeFoe says. “The topwater bite is exciting, period. But a 9-9 on the final day of the Bassmaster Classic is really something special. And to do it on this new bait from Storm proves the Cover Pop is an incredible addition to our arsenal.”

An ideal top-water bait for target fishing, the Cover Pop emulates prey struggling on the water’s surface. Fish it tight to shoreline brush, trees, laydowns, undercut banks, reeds, docks, rocks and anywhere else Bass hide out.

A specially designed cupped face and line-tie combine to create a unique “bloop” sound that pulls fish out of cover.

“Where the line-tie is located, it allows the bait to do what I call a ‘windshield wiper’ action” instead of making a Z pattern,” Palaniuk says. “And then when you look at the cup of the bait, the top actually overhangs — it has an overbite. That allows the bait, when it does its little windshield-wiper move, to come down and hit the water, make a little ‘ploop’ and then pivot back over on its tail and then do the same thing the other way. It sounds like a little baitfish, a little bream, eating on the surface.”

An aerodynamic shape and extra tail-weight provide the Cover Pop with increased casting distance and accuracy and allow it to “slide tail-first and land nice, soft and quietly,” Palaniuk says.

Rotated hook hangers, a feature of all baits in the Arashi line-up, ensure that the Cover Pop’s two sticky-sharp No. 2 premium VMC Black Nickel Hooks will grab fish and not let go. The rotated hook hangers improve action and prevent hang-ups as well. A flash-feather teaser tail on the Cover Pop’s rear treble “adds action and entices those fish when the bait’s just sitting there and it fans out,” Palaniuk explains.

Arashi Cover Pops measure 3-1/8 inches and weigh half an ounce. They are available in nine color patterns: Hot Blue Shad, Pearl Ayu, Bluegill, Ghost Hitch, Ghost Pearl Shad, Green Gill, Ghost Chartreuse, Black Silver Shad and Pro Blue Chrome. 3D holographic eyes add realism and enhance attraction.

Suggested retail price: $7.99