THE PERFECT PLUG: The Jitterbug has been glub-glub-glubbing across America's bass ponds since 1938, when Fred Arbogast of Akron, Ohio, first marketed his original carved-cedar version. It got a plastic body in the early 1940s, but otherwise not much has changed. Bass still love the lure. Notably, and perhaps because the plug is designed to be fished slowly, the Jitterbug is not a hot bass-tournament lure. Its enduring success has more to do with ease of use by novices, plus the patience of old hands who know how to tease a bass into striking. Beyond the glitz of pro bass fishing are the millions of us who know that bass fishing with a Jitterbug is just plain fun.