Jeff Bausch has been fishing for over 40 years. He started a lake map business with the best fishing spots marked plus a fishing newspaper many years ago. Fishing has always been a passion, now he is sharing his fishing knowledge about how to use lake maps and how to fish any lake with great success. Fishing Tackle Supply store U.S.Reels
Colors and length of the plastic worm can make a big difference on any lake you fish on. I have fished numerous lengths and colors before choosing what really works on a constant basis. How do you figure that out? I live on a small lake in Wisconsin. I have used many different techniques outside the normal live bait choices like minnows, nightcrawlers, crickets, grubs, helgramites and more. Fishing the plastic worm as a live bait look has been the key for me on this lake. Picking the right colors and the length is the next challenge. You must try many in order to find what works that day or on that particular lake. Twitching, jerking and timing along with placement will add in your success of catching Bass.
Water color is something to consider when choosing plastic worm colors to use. If the water is dark, muddy or stained, try dark colors like black, dark blue or purple. If the water is clear, use lighter or bright colors. As you know when fishing for bass there are always variations you may need to consider. I usually have several different colors in my tackle box, however I have my favorites that seem to work constantly for me.
There are many ways to fish the plastic worm. You can use a sinker or bullet weight of your choice and fish a plastic worm in deeper water. Using plastic worms as a weedless bait is ideal because you can fish in the lily pads or any kind of weeds or vegetation and not get hooked up. Fishing on top of lily pads is my favorite. Just drop the plastic worm on the top of the pads and jerk it slowly off so it drops between the pads and wait for the big swirl and the hit! Make sure you have a stiff rod and extra strength line so you can pull the fish out of the pads or weeds.
There are many rigs for the plastic worm such as Texas rigs, Carolina rigs and more. There are numerous colors and lengths of plastic worms to choose from. Finding the right color and length is the key. Sometimes lighter colors will work better than darker colors. You need to keep trying different variations in order to see which ones will catch fish on that particular day.
Using the plastic worm with no weight can be a fantastic way of locating bass. I use the keeper hook so I can fish weedless style, then tie it directly to the hook. Then toss it on pads, or logs, or any kind of structure that may hold fish. Jerk it a little and let it sink. Slowly reel the worm in and let it sink to the bottom and wait for something to hit it as it sinks. Make sure you keep the line tight so you can feel the hit. When you feel a tug or the line starts to move to the side, give it a jerk to set the hook. I try to use the sharpest hooks to get the best hook set. If you don’t set the hook immediately after you suspect a hit, the bass will spit it out. It’s very important to feel the hit in order to set the hook quickly. It does the some practice to get the feel of a plastic worm, but can be very rewarding.
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