Black Label Hi Roller

The seamless rolling action of this minnow-style bait make it irresistible to finicky bass

Black Label Tackle owner Cliff Pace continues growing and expanding his line of quality wood baits and soft plastics, recently adding the 5-inch long Hi Roller.

It’s a soft plastic minnow-style bait with a different profile and appealing rolling action that more and more bass are finding hard to resist. That was the goal from the start for Pace, a former Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour winner who returned to the Bassmaster Elite Series this year as an eight-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier.

Pace, who celebrated his 45th birthday at home in Petal, Miss., on May 23, is proud of the latest addition to his line of artificial lures. Hi Rollers are available in 5-inch models, introduced in January, and 3.8-inch models, which hit the market in March.

The smaller model has become a go-to bait for speckled trout fishermen, including many friends of Pace’s along the Gulf Coast, as well as for anglers targeting smallmouth bass in the upper parts of the country.

“It’s one of my favorite baits to use as a bladed jig trailer,” Pace said. “And I like it a lot on a “scrounger-type” head (leadhead with a lip). And it works good for me Texas-rigged, weightless.”

It has also proven effective for drop-shotting, as a soft plastic jerkbait or Carolina-rigged soft plastic, he added.

More action

The 2013 Bassmaster Classic champion said he wanted a soft plastic that rolls when worked on a ball jighead like the Hi Roller Head. He thought there were plenty of soft plastics lacking in action, particularly rolling action. In other words, it’s a trendsetter in artificial lure manufacturing.

“Lots on the market don’t have much actual action,” he said.

As Pace was driving to an outdoors show in 2024, he decided to do something about it and came up with some ideas. Then he called Lance Kirby of Piedmont, Mo., a machinist who builds molds for those who want hand-held models, he said, or “big capacity stuff like I use.”

Pace and Kirby have teamed up many times before to create cutting edge products for Black Label Custom Soft Plastic Lures, proudly made in America. One idea incorporated into the veteran pro bass angler’s new minnow-style lure was an inverted top of the soft plastic that, combined with two notches along each side, adds to the rolling movement.

It took only a handful of prototypes and timely tweaking to finally get to the production mold, and it created a very unique bait with the profile he wanted. Tying a loop knot to the ballhead enhances the roll and gives it the freedom to perform at its absolute best, according to Pace.

“When you put it on a jighead, when it rolls it not only has flash but it looks more lifelike. There are a lot of benefits to having a minnow-style bait that will roll,” he said, noting the action reveals more of the color (Hi Rollers are made in 14 colors) in each bait.

For maximum hook-setting potential, any ball jighead used must have a 90-degree angle hook, Pace said, emphasizing the word must.

“The key part of it is it needs to be a 90-degree hook,” he said, noting that’s what’s on the Hi Roller Head.

Favorite colors

Pace spent a lot of time this past spring catching bass using the Hi Roller as a soft plastic jerkbait along the shoreline in lakes around his hometown. His favorite among the 14 colors is Wakasagi Magic, followed by Spot Remover and, for very clear water conditions, Smoke Show. There are half-a-dozen shad colors and four gizzard colors, plus a pearl, that draw plenty of attention from bass and bass anglers alike, he said, based on sales.

The 5-inch model has the early lead in popularity but, in all fairness, he said, it did hit the shelves a few months before the 3.8-inch model, which is catching up fast.

The Black Label Hi Roller is designed to help an angler at any experience level catch fish. It is multi-purposed and can also be rigged weightless on an EWG style hook, drop shot, or on a Carolina-rig. It transforms the bass fishing experience for each method.

For more information on the Black Label Custom Soft Plastics Hi Roller and other Black Label products, call 601-466-3404 or 601-606-0191, or go to www.woodbaitcountry.com.

The post “Black Label Hi Roller” first appeared on LouisianaSportsman.com.