Bass Fishing With Plastic Worms
The plastic worm is arguably the most popular fishing lure ever created. Although, most tournament anglers tend to gravitate towards the jig, most of the weekend anglers choose to go to the plastic worm when they want to catch a bass.
Bass love worms and there are so many different types of soft plastic worms on the market that will get the job done. From free-falling worms to drop-shotting, carolina rigging, texas rigging or just simply using a split shot, hook and a plastic worm, you have plenty of options to fish this lure.
From one foot of water to 25 feet down, anglers catch bass on plastic worms. Make sure you have some in your tackle box before your next trip to the lake.
Bass Fishing Resources:
- Shop Plastic Worms
- Largemouth Bass Fishing Library
- Smallmouth Bass Fishing Library
- Top Bass Fishing Trips
Bass Fishing With Soft Plastic Jerkbaits
Soft plastic jerkbaits are productive bass lures for largemouth and smallmouth bass. There are many different ways to fish your soft plastics from using a jighead, drop-shotting, free-falling them with a single hook and no weight and a few other ways as well. Depending on where the fish are in the water column will dictate what presentation is best for that day.
Senkos and flukes seem to be the hottest soft plastic jerkbaits on the market today.
Bass Fishing Resources:
- Shop Soft Plastic Jerkbaits
- Largemouth Bass Fishing Library
- Smallmouth Bass Fishing Library
- Top Bass Fishing Trips
Bass Fishing Soft Plastic Fishing Craws
Soft plastic fishing craws can be very effective for catching largemouth and smallmouth bass. Most bass anglers prefer to use these craws as a trailer on a bass jig and fishermen do really well with this technique. Other anglers know that they can be extremely productive by adding them to a jighead. Some other techniques that you can use are:
- to fish a craw on a single hook and rig it without a weight - free fall the bait and fish it slow in a few feet of water around flooded grass, weeds and other cover
- drop-shotting can also be very effective - just use your drop shot weight and a single hook rigged with the craw
Bass Fishing Resources:
- Shop Craws
- Bass Jigs
- Jig Fishing Tips
- Largemouth Bass Fishing Library
- Smallmouth Bass Fishing Library
- Top Bass Fishing Trips
Bass Fishing With Hair Jigs
Hair jigs can be a productive lure for bass, although, most bass fishermen probably have never used a hair jig before. Hair jigs can resemble a variety of things, but some of the best hair jigs imitate a crawfish or some type of bait fish.
The crawfish imitations do better when bouncing the jig off of the bottom and the bait fish imitations tend to do better higher up in the water column for suspended bass.
For finesse fishing, drop-shotting hair jigs seem to do well for smallmouth bass, especially on clear water lakes. A hair jig that resembles a bait fish will also do well for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass that start busting the surface on smaller minnows. If bass are surfacing on bigger minnows or bigger bait fish, try throwing something bigger.
To catch those bass that are busting on the surface, try free-falling the jig with no additional weight. 6 to 8 pound test line may be required to cast far enough. If you can’t get your jig into the schooling bass without spooking them, add a bobber about 2 to 3 feet above your jig and slowly twitch the bobber in the school of bass.
Bass Fishing Resources:
- Shop Hair Jigs
- Bass Jigs
- Jig Fishing Tips
- Largemouth Bass Fishing Library
- Smallmouth Bass Fishing Library
- Top Bass Fishing Trips
Drop Shotting The Docks For Walleye
I love to catch walleye. They don’t fight great (please don’t argue….they do not fight that hard compared to bass and northern pike), but they are fun to catch and they taste great.
I was out at Lake Carroll, which is a private lake in the northwestern part of Illinois. This lake is known for having a large population of decent-sized walleye.
I fished with my dad and brother and we targeted deeper shorelines and points early in the morning with very limited success. By 11:00 a.m. the sun was getting high and it was getting warm out since it was the end of July, so we decided to try some docks to see if the fish were in the shade.
After a few walleye were in the boat, I realized that we had the pattern. My dad and brother were throwing jigs as well as a split shot and hook rig tipped with minnows and nightcrawlers. They caught a lot of bass and a couple of walleye each.
I ended up throwing a drop shot rig with the hook about 12 inches above my weight. The weight was a half ounce weight, which most people might think is way too heavy for fishing docks in 8 to 10 feet of water, but it wasn’t.
My bait was able to get to the bottom quickly, then I would just shake my nightcrawler. I would try to avoid moving my bait back towards the boat. I wanted a heavy enough weight, so I could shake the line without my weight moving. Just shake it baby. I used this technique the rest of the day and I ended up with around a dozen bass and 9 walleye between 13 and 16.5 inches. It ended up being a great day for catching walleye and it was very sunny with hardly any clouds in the sky. The water was fairly warm and the fish were fairly shallow hanging around docks.
The shaky technique worked because I was able to keep my nightcrawler in the strike zone longer. I was able to do this because of the heavier weight.
I can’t wait to go back. Drop shotting the docks for walleye. It’s a great technique and one that bass fishermen can pick up quickly. I caught 9 walleye fishing the exact same docks with the same live bait as my dad and my brother. They only caught 4 total, although, they did catch more bass than I did. The drop shotting technique with the heavier weight allowed me to catch more walleye and I will definitely use this technique in the future.
Fishing Tip provided by Kevin Sewell. Make sure to check out my videos at Fishing With Kevin Sewell.
Walleye Fishing Resources:
- Walleye Fishing Library
- Top Walleye Fishing Trips
- Walleye Fishing Articles
- More Walleye Fishing Tips
Summertime Rainy Lake Smallmouth Bass
Smallmouth bass bite well here in the summer. Typical summer patterns will work on smallmouth bass here. Bass will school up in open water and stay near bait fish, although, there will still be plenty of shallow water bass to catch also.
Find weed edges that have access to deep water close by. Rocky areas near deep water will also be productive. Some bass will be in big schools just roaming deeper water following schools of bait fish. Use your electronics to find deeper fish and start throwing crankbaits, x-raps for suspended fish, live bait on jigs or drop shots, weighted tubes and jigs or any other good deep water lure that you may use for smallmouth bass. Worms, leeches and minnows will all produce during the summer time.
For shallow water summer fishing, try crankbaits, tubes, x-raps, 4 inch finesse worms, sinking rapala minnows and spinnerbaits. Live bait will also work.
If you are a patient fishermen, spend the time in deep water trying to locate schools of fish. It will take time to find them, but smallmouth bass will school up big time. I’m talking 50 to 60 fish in one spot.
Rainy Lake Resources:
- Rainy Lake Bait Shops
- Rainy Lake Boat Rentals
- Rainy Lake Fishing Guides
- Rainy Lake Lodging
- Rainy Lake Lake Maps
Dead Sticking Smallmouth Bass on Lake Geneva
Just a technique some anglers might want to try. Most people are not patient enough to dead stick their baits, but it works on this lake and I’m sure plenty of other lakes as well.
Lots of pressured fish on Lake Geneva. Lots of boat traffic. Sometimes, just moving your bait a little bit and then just letting it sit will pay off big time….especially for big smallmouth bass.
I dead stick when I am drop shotting soft plastics and live bait. It kind of started with me when I was answering my cell phone and just letting my bait sit still. Bam…big smallmouth bass.
After a couple of posts in a forum, I found out there was a name for it. Dead sticking.
Not for the impatient fishermen, but it works.
Lake Geneva Resources:
- Lake Geneva Bait Shops
- Lake Geneva Beaches
- Lake Geneva Boat Launches
- Lake Geneva Boat Rentals
- Lake Geneva Fishing Guides
- Lake Geneva Lodging
- Lake Geneva Lake Maps
Lake Geneva - The Narrows - Fish the Weed Shelves
The weed shelves in the narrows of Lake Geneva can be great for catching largemouth bass. I prefer to fish at night. I try to stay away from the crazy boaters and the fish do feed a little more aggressively at night for me.
Crankbaits, soft plastics and live bait. Drop-shotting nigthcrawlers can be very productive.
I don’t catch many smallmouth in this area, but maybe that’s just me.
It looks like you’re just starting to post some of the tips from users. Please feel free to post my tip and I’ll try to keep contributing as I get out on the water.
Lake Geneva Resources:
- Lake Geneva Bait Shops
- Lake Geneva Beaches
- Lake Geneva Boat Launches
- Lake Geneva Boat Rentals
- Lake Geneva Fishing Guides
- Lake Geneva Lodging
- Lake Geneva Lake Maps
Just Shake It - Drop Shotting
I saw your post on drop shotting for bass. I just wanted to add a tip to your website. When drop shotting for finicky bass, you can really draw a strike by just shaking your rod tip and leaving your bait in about the same spot.
Basically, your weight stays on the bottom and you just shake the rod tip enough to get the plastic worm to dance. I also do this with live bait to draw a few more strikes. Leeches, nightcrawlers, smaller worms for bluegill, crappie and other panfish, minnows and even dead minnows. Trust me. It works.
Just add some life to your baits. Give ‘em a little shake.
