I’ve caught bass on crankbaits, spinners, plugs and others. But for me, the most fun is plastic worms on a Texas Rig. Don’t get me wrong, catching a largemouth bass is catching a largemouth bass, and I’d gladly catch one with my mother’s toe nail if they’d bite it. What’s my fascination with plastic worms and the Texas Rig?

Simplicity in changing baits from color to color and style, they are weedless and effective. But there’s more to it. I love them because I feel they are more interactive and you have to fool the bass more than with other baits.

If you throw out a worm and just reel it in, you are not likely to catch many fish. You have to know how to work it and you have to be very patient in your presentation and when the fish hits.

Sometimes the strike will be like an explosion, and you and bass both know what’s happening. Others it’s very subtle. Sometimes you won’t even know the bass has it until you reel in the slack and feel something different going on. Maybe there should be slack in the line but it’s getting tight. Or vice-versa. Or maybe you can see the line going sideways in the water.

That’s one of my favorites because you have to know the right time to set the hook. Set it too soon and the largemouth may not have it in it’s mouth good. Set it too late and it might have spit it out. That’s exciting; and frustrating.

The Texas rigged plastic worm (you can use it for other plastics, too) is very portable. If you want to hike around the lake and fish the shore, don’t lug your whole tackle box. Just get a worm pouch, load it with a few favorite styles, colors, hooks and sinkers, stuff it in your back pocket and hit the trail.

Plus, you can change lures on the fly. Once your Texas Rig is set up, it’s a matter of pulling the bait off the hook and sliding another on. No knots to retie. This gives you freedom to explore different colors and styles of plastics in a hurry.

In a Texas Rig, the sinker is a bullet slip sinker that rides freely on the line with nothing else between the rod and the bait (the benefit is that the bass cannot feel the sinker when it strikes). This drags the plastic bait down and allows it to bounce or swim along the bottom.

To set it up just run your line through a bullet slip sinker (best sizes are from 3/8 oz. to an ounce) and tie the line to a worm hook size 2 or 3. The twisted ones help with hookset.

Once you have the hooked tied on, run the hook tip through the end of the head of the plastic and push it in about a quarter of an inch. Now run the hook tip out of the plastic bait (belly side) and push the bait up the hook towards the eye. Bury the tip of the hook into the bait near the abdomen or egg sac.

Some people push it all the way through and snug the hook tip near the body (on the backside or top). This allows for better hook set, but results in more snags. I like to push it through just before it breaks out of the back where I can feel that it will pop through easily. If you do this, be sure to set the hook hard to penetrate the plastic.

When you cast the bait, let it settle all the way to the bottom and give it several seconds before moving it. Sometimes the longer you wait, the better luck you will have. Even 30 seconds or more.

Try different presentations from very slow to moderate (never very fast). I usually give the bait 1 or 2 short pumps, let it fall while reeling in the slack, then give it 2 or 3 pumps. Be careful. Always reel in the slack, but more often than not that’s when you’ll get the bite. They often hit it on the fall, so expect something every time you bring in the slack.

You can try longer pumps, like bring the line in 2 or 3 feet then let it settle. Try moving it painfully slow, try bouncing it quicker, try swimming it very slowly across the bottom and whatever else you can think of. When something works, stick with it.

Use the worms around vegetation and rocks. My best luck has been around trees in the water. Sometimes there will be trees that hang out into the water. These are hot spots for bass.

One trick I learned by accident is to cast the Texas Rig out over a weak limb hanging over the water. You want a weak limb because you want it to break or collapse when the bass hits, and it will. I move that plastic worm up and down, in and out of the water to tease and annoy the bass. If there’s one there, you’ll get a strike.

Happy fishin’

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By Bobby Ivie

Bobby Ivie is an avid fishman and owner of Fishing-Hunting-Camping.com. He makes the biggest part of his living on the Internet, NetBizWorkshop.net

This article may be reprinted as long as this source box is added and the source box hyperlinks are kept intact.
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Fall is by far one of the best times to fish any smallmouth lake. This is a great time to catch your limit of big fish.

Smallies like to stock up ahead for winter, a time when they are not as likely to get a belly full of shad or whatever baitfish is available in that lake.

So, the key is to locate baitfish. That’s where you will find the smallies.

Your focus in the fall will not be much different than in the spring. Set your sites on shallow shelves adjacent to deeper water (flats that drop sharply), also rocky humps and shoals with patches of grass mixed in.

Fish can be at any depth, but you will mostly want to look in 8 to 12 feet of water in the fall.

This is going to be a bit hit and miss because smallmouths gather in big schools of up to 50 fish. So if you don’t find them quickly, move on.

The best baits for this method are spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and hard jerkbaits fished quickly. These allow you to cover a lot of water fast. Keep the lure just under the surface.

When you do nail one and suspect there are more to be had, but they have refused your original offer, try using a slower moving bait like a soft plastic tube.

Work the area slowly and completely. Follow-up is extremely important to catching the maximum amount of fish from an area.

Once you have found them, you don’t want to leave any of them behind.

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By Bobby Ivie

Bobby Ivie is an avid fishman and owner of Fishing-Hunting-Camping.com. He makes the biggest part of his living on the Internet, NetBizWorkshop.net

This article may be reprinted as long as this source box is added and the source box hyperlinks are kept intact.
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Unless ice fishing is really your thing, you might do better fishing for southern smallmouth bass in the winter where the fishing can be good year around.

You will often find smallies suspended over points, humps, next to bluffs and ledges. Look for irregular features. Quick drop-offs with quick access to deeper waters are good prospects.

As always, if you can find the bait fish, you will find the smallmouths.

When smallmouth bass are suspended below schooling baitfish, try spinnerbaits, tail spinners and spoons. These can easily be fished in deep water and directly mimic a wounded or falling baitfish.

The small profile of these baits attracts finicky bass in coldwater. They also sink quickly to feeding bass and can be fished vertically like a jig in deep water.

One popular cold water method is the “float-and-fly.” This is a tiny leadhead jig or fly constructed of craft hair, a small bobber and a long spinning rod with clear line. It’s ideal for smallies suspended below baitfish in 45 degree or colder water. It works when other lures don’t.

Suspended below a fixed float, the hair on the jig puffs out and pulsates, mimicking a small baitfish. Putting a stationary float 8-15 feet above the fly enables the jig to suspend and the bobbing float adds lifelike action. Smallmouth bass have a hard time resisting this.

Put on the gloves and muffs and give the winter smallmouths a go. You are likely to catch yourself some real bruisers.

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By Bobby Ivie

Bobby Ivie is an avid fishman and owner of Fishing-Hunting-Camping.com. He makes the biggest part of his living on the Internet, NetBizWorkshop.net

This article may be reprinted as long as this source box is added and the source box hyperlinks are kept intact.
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