Bass Fishing Tips and Tricks for Using Soft Plastic Baits

No matter what kind of baits you use, there are tons of bass fishing tips and tricks to help you use them successfully. First, let's take a look at some of the tips and tricks for using soft plastic baits.

1. Grubs. These are tiny lures, but you can catch both smallmouth and largemouth bass with them. Some of the tricks you can use with these are to drop it, dart it or swim it. To drop it means to use a semi-slack line in deep water and hop the line back to the boat. When you swim it, you cast out the grub so that it sinks to the bottom. Then you slowly start retrieving it back towards the boat. To dart the grub, let it sink a few feet in the water and then jerk the tip of the rod upwards.

When it is windy, make sure the nose of the boat is pointed into the wind and that you cast from the back of the boat. If your line is heavy, always use a heavy hook and avid using thin wire hooks that the bass could straighten out. Grubs are best used in summer when the bass are not biting at crankbaits.

2. Tube Baits. These are great when the bass are inactive. You should use this type of bait when fishing in deep water- more than 10 feet and for the best results uses a spinning reel on a 6 - 6.5-foot medium action rod. When fishing in vegetation use a heavier weight than you would in other conditions. Once you have the fish away from the cover, stop reeling and let it tire itself out with the rod and the reel absorbing the impact. If you manually close the reel and pull the line taut on the reel to avoid any loops or tangles. When you use one of the baits with a weight, you should use two small bullet shaped weights pinched on the line.

3. Soft Jerkbaits. It is best to use a fast action rod when using soft jerkbaits, such as Slug-Go, because you have more control over the line, the lure and big fish. However, you must make sure you tie on the hooks with heavy line to give the line more strength and resistance to abrasion. Fish slowly when you are using this type of bait so that the bass will be able to see it under the water. Brightly colored soft jerkbaits work best because they attract the attention of the bass. If you want to change the action of the lure, simply insert a small finishing nail in the body of the lure. If you want to make sure you attract the bass's attention add rattles to the lure.

4. Plastic Worms. Worms are the best bait you can use for bass fishing, especially plastic worms. It does take a lot of practice to rig one of the baits and to learn how to fish with the,. The different rigs you can use are: Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, floating rigs and swimming rigs. The size and the color also make a difference in how successful your catch will be. If there is thick cover and low visibility in the water, you should use bulky worms with twist tails or even multiple tails. Dark worms are best to sue in dark water and smaller worms work better when the fish are inactive.