The Bill Lewis Big Gizz

Fish it like a spoon, blade bait or lipless crankbait for big bass

Nick LeBrun intends to catch bass of all sizes with the Big Gizz he got his hands on in early November.

LeBrun, who has won a Bassmaster Open on Grand Lake in Oklahoma and a T-H Marine BFL All-American on Louisiana’s Cross Lake, is all in on the artificial lure featured by Bill Lewis Lures at ICAST 2025.

“I think the Big Gizz will play when the big fish get piled up and bigger ones get off the bank,” LeBrun said.

The 2 3/16-ounce, 6-inch long Big Gizz, armed with Mustad Triple Grip Hooks, has three integrated holes allowing anglers to fish it like a spoon, blade bait or Rat-L-Trap. It is available in eight popular colors.

LeBrun, 41, immediately dispelled any preconceived misconceptions about Big Gizz. It isn’t just for big bass and it isn’t just for deep water.

“I’m not going to be afraid to fish it in 5 feet of water, like you would a Rat-L-Trap or Chatterbait,” the pro bass angler said. “Its possibilities are kind of unknown still. If you have scattered grass in 5 feet you might find a place to fish it on the edge.

“It’s going to be the same as ¾- or 1-ounce Rat-L-Traps. It’ll catch big ones but smaller fish will hit it too, 2-pounders. It’s going to catch everything.”

LeBrun’s setup

LeBrun plans to tie the Big Gizz to 20-pound test Sunline FC Sniper line spooled on a baitcaster reel with a 7:1 gear ratio because he wants a higher speed to either jerk the lure off the bottom or retrieve it above grass. His fishing rod of choice will be a TFO (Temple Fork Outfitters) 7-foot-6 Heavy fishing rod.

Why heavy flourocarbon line?

“I want my line doing the same thing the bait is doing as it goes down,” he said, noting fluorocarbon line sinks.

“I like the natural tail,” he said. “It’s not plastic (its fiber). With a bait that size, that kind of tail pops on a glide bait as far as being realistic. I think fish are going to love it being on this bait, too.”

A one-of-a-kind lure

Kevin Suit of Port Arthur, Texas, who has won major team bass tournaments as well as helped notch a “dirty thirty” — 31-2 pounds — on Day 1 of a two-day bass club tournament in March 2024 at Toledo Bend with his brother, Zach Suit, is no stranger to glide baits and big-bodied soft plastic swim baits. He has been tattooing bass on both the past five years.

Suit, 35, said he jumped at a sales pitch made by Jack Tindel at Reel Tackle Outdoors in Beaumont, Texas, and bought a Big Gizz from a counter display.

“It caught my eye,” he said. “I’m a sucker for a big bait and there’s nothing on the market like that, so I had to have it.”

That was in October 2025. He had few opportunities to throw it late in the bass tournament season.

“I haven’t thrown it a whole bunch. I’m not exactly sure I’ve used it in the right places for where it was intended. We didn’t fish out deep too much,” he said, noting bass he found while pre-fishing for a bass club tournament Oct. 25-26 were less than 2 feet deep at Lake Sam Rayburn.

Suit said he fished the Big Gizz around points “as they moved out” of shallow-water areas.

“It has real good action and definitely will pull some fish,” he said. “I saw several fish come off the bottom and follow as I was reeling it around. Get in the right areas with gizzard-eating fish, Rayburn has plenty of them, and I think given the time and confidence they’ll be a very effective bait for catching those fish.”

For more information on the Big Gizz and other Bill Lewis Lures products call 877-269-8490 or go to Rat-l-trap.com.

The post “The Bill Lewis Big Gizz” first appeared on LouisianaSportsman.com.