Caiden24, I suggest you Google Charlie Brewer, Billy Westmoreland, Guido Hibdon, and Don Iovino. There are more. Look these guys up and read about how they fished finesse style. You can learn how finesse fishing got started and, the how and why of it all. Learning about these guys can help you get a better understanding of finesse bass fishing. The term different meanings to different folks these days.
After all the years, you realize that all these worms are killer. I would try one, and it would become a new favourite for two or three years. I went through Zoom, Culprit, Ditto Gator Tail, and Mr Twister, which I'm still using. I don't see very many curly tail worms at my local tackle shops. This tells me that our technique specific fishing calls for straight tail worms. We don't have to follow these trends to catch a bunch of bass. Curly tail worms will still catch lots fish, as they always have.
Add a split ring, then add an offset soft plastic hook. Rig a plastic bait to make it weedless. A 4" section of plastic worm can be good. A plastic bait that's too big may hinder the action of some spoons.
A big part of what makes BR the best bass fishing site on the web is our site moderators. We've got guys from up north, down south, both coast, and the Midwest who give good, honest helpful advice here. You guys are doing a
great job! I'd like to say thank you to all of our BR moderators here. Thanks for keeping the ball rolling for all of us here on BR.
It's been said here on BR in the past."If you have the bite dialed in, you don't need much". Over the last three seasons, this is the approach I take on evening bank trips to a 6 acre quarry lake near home. My " tacklebag", if you can call it that, is actually a nylon, 8x8, flat zipper bag, which I think was actually made as a lunch bag. The contents are 1 bag plastic worms, 1 bag plastic craws, a small 3x3" divided Plano box, holds weights, and a few shakey head jigs. The bag has two mesh pockets inside, which hold worm hooks in they're original packages. One more small Plano box holds two 1/4 oz Beetlespins, one Rebel Pop R, and a chrome 1/4 oz Johnson Silver Minnow Spoon. A section of plastic worm works good as a trailer on the spoon, if I decide to use it. I've rigged the bag with a short section of paracord rope, with a clip that attaches to my belt loop. I havnt weighed this bag, but it weighs very little. One med/ hvy rod, either casting or spinning is all I carry. It's a fun way to fish. After fishing this small lake for years, I've found three areas that I target, which will always seem to hold some fish. Most evenings the plastic worm brings in the most bass, but, it's always fun to try for a topwater fish before I go home at dark. Although many folks will say I'm putting myself at a disadvantage here, that hasn't been the case at all. Actually, since I started carrying less tackle on these trips, I catch more bass. And, when it's time to go home, it's an easy walk back to the truck without having to pack multiple rods, or a heavy tacklebox or bag, full of stuff that I rarely if ever used. Like most of us, I've collected a lot of tackle over the years. I used to carry a huge amount of stuff, and lug it up and down the bank. Now, travelling light is the best way to go. What I've learned here since joining BR has been a huge help. Focus on where to fish, seasonal patterns, and structure, and armed with a few well chosen baits that fit your fishing style, you'll catch em. " If you have the bite dialed in, you don't need much". It's 100% fact.
On a small quarry lake I bank fish, I've stood on the bank and watched crawfish sitting on rocks in shallow water. If I move very much, or cast a shadow over them, they glide two or three feet to the bottom, and usually sit there, unless spooked again. Years ago, when I first tried soft plastic craw baits, I fished them with a slow lift/drop retrieve, much the same as I do a t rig plastic worm. I caught very few bass hopping them off the bottom like this. I've read that crawfish can actually hop off the bottom, when fleeing from a fish, but I've never seen one do this. It's always been a slow glide, or a faster scurry motion, to protect themselves from predator fish. Here's what's worked best for me: Cast, let the bait hit bottom, and let it sit for a time, maybe up to one minute. Turn the reel two or three turns, and stop. Let it sit again, and repeat back to bank or boat. I've had the best luck with the rod tip lower, slightly to the right, as opposed to keeping the rod tip up, which I do for plastic worms. Lately, it's been the Zoom Critter Craw, and some generic craws I'm using up, t rigged, or on a Big Bite Baits screwlock shakey head. The t rig seems to work best with this retrieve style. With both rigs, turning the reel handle very slowly has worked the best, and pausing in between reeling. What's your favourite way to retrieve crawfish baits? Do you like to hop them, or keep them in constant contact with the bottom?
I have an older friend I've started fishing with again. He only uses two rigs for fishing soft plastics. A T rig, and a splitshot rig. His variation of the old standard split shot rig is using a bullet sinker, and a Peg It, made by Top Brass tackle. He generally uses 8lb mono line, with a 1/8 oz bullet sinker. He prefers Roboworms, both the 4.5" and 6" models, but there's lots of other good plastic baits which can work also. The Peg It is a good product, and allows you to move your weight up or down the line as needed. He cast, and uses a slow steady retrieve, pausing occasionally. When he's working visible cover( in our case an old rotted, sunken wooden dock in 8ft of water) he cast past the object by several feet. When his bait is in front of the cover, he hooks his finger under his line, and inches the bait along very slowly, taking up slack line as needed. I watched him pull 3 bass from under this dock the other night, fishing this style. One was a solid 3lb fish. I had thrown a Pop-R, and a spinnerbait, only minutes before, with no strikes. In areas with silt or sand bottoms, Mike seems to think the actual sinker may be part of the attraction here. The light sinker kicking up silt on the bottom, may cause a bass to swim out from cover to investigate, then, seeing the plastic worm, pounce on it for an easy meal. My brother and I fished split shot worms many years ago. We caught fish with a lead shot, nose hooking the worms, before we learned about weedless rigging. We also picked moss and weeds off, after almost every cast, so this is really nothing new. It's an improvement on a decades old technique. Much of the credit for the split shot rig goes to California angler Dick Trask, who caught scores of fish with this style of fishing years ago. Glenn has some great videos on this site, detailing how to rig, and fish this style. In many ways, this is kind of a downsized Carolina rig. In some situations, it may be better. There's less hardware, swivel, beads, etc, and, you can easily adjust your leader length, as need be. Most strikes come as a steady pull, or a tightening up of the line, and with the sharp, light wire Gamma hooks, it's not hard to get a good hook set, and some bass seem to almost hook themselves. If your set up on a good deeper water spot, and not exactly sure where to start, you can fan cast this rig, and cover a good amount of water with a slow steady retrieve. The real key is fishing it slowly. My old friend Mike doesn't always keep up on all the latest rigs. He's old school, and likes to keep things simple. According to him, anything that's worked well for 50yrs or more is still working for a reason. I have to agree with him. The split shot rig, or its variations, can be an absolute deadly way to catch bass.
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