Plastic Lizards and Crayfish

Plastic lizards and crayfishare rigged and fished the same as plastic worms . Their wiggling legs or pinchers give them an enticing action and makes them sink slower than most worms . Crayfish and small lizards can also be used for jigging .

Plastic lizards work especially well at spawning time for bass fishing . Probably because salamanders are a threat to largemouths nests . Lizards used for largemouth are generally 6 to 9 inches long .

Plastic Worms

Plastic worms are a great bass bait in warm and cool water . You can snake them through thick cover and to the bass they feel like real food . They are a good choice for weedy , brushy ,or snaggy cover , they are also effective on clear bottoms as well .

There are many different things to consider when selecting a plastic worm , they are size , type of tail ,buoyancy ,hardness ,and scent / taste .

Most largemouth anglers use worms in the 6-to-8 inch range , but when fish are finicky ,you may want try finesse fishing with a small 4 inch worm . Worms are available in curlytail , augertail ,paddletail , and straight tail models . Curlytails and augertails have the most action and are usually the best choice in discolored water ,because the tail emit an intense vibration that bass can detect . Paddletails have a slower throbbing action and straight-tails have almost no action .

Most plastic worms are slightly buoyant , but a heavy worm hook will sink them . If you want your worm on the surface ,you'll need a worm with extra buoyancy
For Texas-rigging always use a soft- bodied worm so the hook point can easily penetrate the plastic on the hook set . Soft-bodied worms also have more tail action and feel more lifelike . But worms made from harder plastic last longer . They work well for clear bottom fishing .

Some anglers prefer scented or salt-coated worms , because bass tend to hold on to them longer , giving them more time to set the hook . but other say scent and taste don't matter .Make up your own mind .

Lure selection

It would be difficult to find a bait that bass won't strike on . The challenge is to find the lure that best suits the conditions of where your fishing. There are several conditions you need to consider when picking your bait, such as the type cover your fishing in , the depth you want to fish at ,activity level of the fish ,types of forage ,and water clarity.

Most of the time you'll find largemouth in or around submerged weeds ,brush ,fallen trees ,rocks ,docks ,and weed mats .The type and density of cover dictates what lures you can use . You could rip a crankbait through a sparse stand of cabbage , but in dense cabbage ,or stringy weeds ,you'll do better with a lure that has a protected hook , such as a Texas-rigged plastic worm . To get under a dock or hanging cover, you'll need to skip cast a soft plastic bait .

You need to determine what depth the majority of the fish are holding at . Then you need to select a lure that runs at that level or just above it . Remember bass are more likely to come up for a lure than go down for one . It pays to take some time and experiment with a variety of lures to determine which ones would be a good choice to fish a particular depth range .

Bass get more active when water gets warmer .Wheather related factors , like cold fronts and thunderstorms also change their activity level.As bass get more active they prefer faster moving lures and those with more action .

During the spring of the year you should use large baits ,befor the young bait fish hatch . Switch to a smaller bait in early summer , when the young baitfish become available . Then go to a larger bait in the fall to keep up with the baitfish size .

Water clarity effects not only type of lure you select , but also the color. In clear water , where bass can get a good look at the bait ,dark ,drab ,or natural colors work best .In low clarity water bright ,gaudy or fluoresent colors work best.