Bass Fishing Techniques
Bass fishing is not an activity or a pass time, it is a lifestyle as well as a multi billion dollar industry. The bass fishing industry offers an endless product line of everything from rods and reels to boats and even baits. There is no such thing as a catfish boat or a catfish rod, there is a bass boat though, and it is distinctive to other boats.
Oh, the baits and lures, that is an industry with endless choices by itself. There must be literally a million different baits and lures on the market and each one sports a different application and technique. The isle at Walmart loaded with bass fishing baits and lures is like women’s accessories department for a bass fisher.
This is where hardened, anti-shopping burly bass fishers will stand forever; comparing prices, colors, holding a bait up to get a better look from the fishes point of view and shaking packaging to see the “action”. God forbid if something is miss-priced; it will be sold out at the first discovery.
The manufacturers don’t want to hear this, but by using the proper bass fishing techniques you can go out and be very successful with only 2 types of baits, and technically you will be able to land trophy size bass with just one type of bait.
The two super bass fishing baits are the Plastic worms, and Spinner baits. Truth be told, the Plastic worms are all you need with the proper technique. The best part is they are so inexpensive I don’t even think you can buy them anywhere where they are individually packed.
When it comes to bass fishing, technique is everything. I have been using plastic worms for over 35 years; it all started when I was about 9 years old. One early morning while my father and uncle were unloading the boat, I went off to the side and slid a black plastic worm on a hook and threw it to the edge of the weeds. Boom, Lake record 6 pound bass just like that. I must have hit it on the head because that was the only fish I caught on plastic worms for 6 more years (but I still had faith).
The problem was the technique. The name “plastic worm” made me think it was like a night crawler; put it on the hook and wait, quietly. That stupid worm lasted for about 2 years until one day a snag took it to a better place.
The turning point came when we had a new family move in down the street. They were from Florida and the only source of income the family had was from the father bass fishing. New F-150 4X4, 2 bass boats each worth more than a sports car and every toy you can imagine. All this came from plastic worms exclusively and as our families became good friends, I got educated.
The bass fishing techniques for plastic worms are about the same for all the million style and sizes of plastic worms. The rule is that it is not a worm, it is an artificial lure designed to make a bass bite. If it is sitting like a dead night crawler it is just another piece of plastic trash sitting on the lake bed with all the other discarded junk.
You need to cast it into the Lilly pads and / or grass, and pull it through. Bring it in and do it again. One great technique is to even cast it about a foot onto the bank and work it into the water. Often the sound of something hitting the water will attract a big bass, but if they get startled by a plastic worm that comes out of nowhere, they like that too.
Another great technique for using the plastic worm when bass fishing is as the bait for a rigged jig; they are very durable and come in a rainbow of colors and styles. With a bright colored plastic worm sitting a couple feet off the lake bed and moving slightly in a stationary position you will find customers.
Needless to say, the plastic worm has become a winner for me over and over since then.
The Spinner bait also requires a set of bass fishing techniques of its own because it is also a multi purpose game fish bait. Everything from record Largemouth bass to Northern Pike like this bait, it is all in the presentation.
Most successful anglers treat the spinner bait the same as the plastic worm. Let it rip into the weeds and grass, clean and repeat. Even the technique of dropping it a foot on the bank works well. The blades do not need to be spinning to catch a monster, believe me.
The nice thing about the spinner bait is that a single rig can be changed into something totally different within seconds just by changing or adding a second plastic skirt. Some people even go as far as to add a plastic worm to the bait.
Like the plastic worm, a single spinner bait can work at almost all depths. For more depth, just let it sink a bit before retrieval. It will spin by itself on the way down so you may get a hit that way too.