How Do You Fish A Grub? Or Do You?

[AvidAngler]

I recently tried to fish grubs a couple days ago. i got a couple bites when i could see the fish and all i did was fish it right passed their faces. other than that i didn't really get bites. i put a bobber stopper, a small bullet weight so i could cast it on my baitcaster, and just a hook and grub. it was salt and pepper. and i also used a black with green specks. but i don't really know how your "supposed" to fish them or even what works. i love using my baitcaster for all purposes but it just doesn't cast well when i use a weightless grub. what do you use?

[AvidAngler]

ALSO! just because i don't want to start another post, how can you tell which worms to buy if you want to buy a worm that has a floating tail? ive tried to buy a few and they are like stick baits... they barely even have any action on the fall. let alone float their tail. AKA good worms for shaky heads and drop shots.

[smalljaw67]

ALSO! just because i don't want to start another post, how can you tell which worms to buy if you want to buy a worm that has a floating tail? ive tried to buy a few and they are like stick baits... they barely even have any action on the fall. let alone float their tail. AKA good worms for shaky heads and drop shots.

I like grubs on a small jig head, and you can either bottom hop it or swim it but I use them around rocks since using them like this makes them prone to snags as the hook is exposed. A good shaky head worm isn't supposed to have a lot of action on the fall, the idea is to have a subtle presentation with just the tail quivering on the bottom to get finicky fish to hit. I have a new favorite that I found last year, it doesn't float straight up but instead floats at a 45 degree angle and the tail is almost impossible to get it to stop moving. It is the River Rock Baits 5" drop shot worm, and while it does work on a drop shot it excells on a shaky head. Another one to use is the Big bite squirrel tail worm and the Power bait shaky worm, both of these stand out as only the tail floats so they too have that 45 degree float off the bottom which seems to work better than the worm standing stright up, at least for me it does. Grubs are either River Rock Baits 3" grub for swimming and the Manns Stingray grub for bottom hopping.

[airborne_angler]

In RUSSIA,Grub fishes you...

[Bluebasser86]

In RUSSIA,Grub fishes you...

That's funny! All I ever do with a grub is cast it out, maybe let it sink a little maybe not, and reel it in however fast I think I need to. It's boring at times but man it's effective on suspended fish eating shad.

[RoLo]

GRUBS

Like most anglers, you'll probably toy with grubs for awhile then drop them over time.

Nevertheless, I believe that "ribbon-tail grubs" are grossly under-utilized.

In the quest for max action at min speeds you might take a look at

Kalin Lunker Grubs and the Zoom Fat Albert.

SHAKY WORMS

Speaking of under-exploited lures, if you're in the market for a shapely, high-floating shaky worm,

don't overlook the Owner Shaky Worm (6.5" - green weenie).

Roger

[tomustang]

I use grubs as a recon lure, 1/4oz basic jig and a 3" power grub to read the layout and to see if the fish are biting

[Goose52]

(Response copied from yesterdays grub thread...)

Grubs are an extremely versatile, and overlooked, bait for bass. I fish 5" single tails mostly, sometimes twin-tails. I fish them nearly always on a 1/0 EWG, rigged weedless and weightless. I toss them whenever I'm in skinny water - cast and let sink, then swim back. Or, cast, let sink a while, then bring up on the surface and retrieve like a little topwater bait. Cut the face of the bait to a popper shape and you have a small, weedless popper to retrieve through the slop. The twin-tails can be used like a small frog in the slop. Lots of ways to fish them. I don't fish them on jig-heads or t-rigged with weights, but there's lots of ways to fish them when you add the terminal tackle.

I haven't been too particular on brand and have used Zoom Fat Alberts, Kalins, Mr. Twister, BPS, and Gander Mountain house-brand (which look identical to Kalin Lunker Grubs). I am partial to the GM brand as they are very durable - sometimes as many as 10 fish before the bait tears up.

Results: I caught 791 fish on grubs in 2010, 455 fish in 2011 (I was using more stickworms in 2011), and 39 fish so far this year - including these two five-pounders:

[Michael DiNardo]

I have to agree with everyone else, they are very versatile. We used them like hollow body swinbaits before there were ever hollow body swimbaits; cast them out and reel them in slowly. I also love to T-rig them like a worm. Love the tail on Kalins.

Mike

[ww2farmer]

About all I do with them anymore is put them on swimjigs. I will be using them on an a-rig when I get around to it.

[WookieeJedi]

The Kalin's grub is the best curly-tail grub, by far. I still use paddletails more. I get the saltwater variety, they tend to take more abuse. The colors I use are mostly smoke, avacado, white, and black. I also use the saltwater spilt-tails the same way. The split-tails come in a clear glitter/ red dot color you can't get in paddletail. I just use all of them on a plain round jig and swim them on the bottom. They catch fish, and it is a lure the fish don't see 16 times a day.

[AvidAngler]

Thank you everyone for replying, there is a lot of helpful information that i will definitely be trying very soon. for some reason i always have trouble finding baits people talk about online, but i guess what you find online should be purchased online o.O lol

[basscatcher8]

I use grubs as a recon lure, 1/4oz basic jig and a 3" power grub to read the layout and to see if the fish are biting

Thats exactly what I do. As I stated in the other grub post to me anything will bite a 3" grub from blue gill up to a big walleye or bass. Great tool for new water to find where fish are staging and then keep working the rest of the puzzle from there.

[tbirds00]

The only time ive ever used a grub was as a jig trailer and it works really well. Also roboworms make really good shakey head worms.

[Dakota wendt]

I use grubs for trailers on jigs had a lot of success with it I also like to rig the Texas style weightless with spinning gear caught a lot of fish like that as well fishing them almost like a senko letting it sink then slowly pulling it up but with a little quicker cadence.

[Stingray23]

A Zoom Fat alburt grub is responsible for my PB largemouth(check avatar pic) this past March. 6lbs 10oz. I love to fish them.

[dwtaylor]

I like to use the grubs as swim jigs trailers too, but sometimes a 4-5" grub on a 1/4 ounce jighead absolutely kills them. As far as colors go, smoke is a really good color for baitfish imitations.

As far as a floating worm, try the strike king elaztech worms. Their tail sticks straight up on a jighead, no matter what. However, keep the worms in their original package because the elaztech has a tendency to disintegrate when mixed with normal plastic baits. Also, they are very hard to get on screwlock jigheads too. However, I usually buy the shakey heads molded from a do-it mold made by a guy I know. They seem to work pretty well with each other, as I have caught plenty of fish on that combo.

[Crestliner2008]

I've been fishing grubs for over 40 years. They'll catch anything and everything. I've caught LM, SM, crappie, catfish, carp, white perch, yellow perch....etc.! I've caught two nice (10 & 13 lbs.) northern pike on 2" curly tails with a 1/16 oz. ball head jigs, while crappie fishing! I've caught tons of river smallies on 3" curly tails with 1/8 oz. balls heads. I use to buy my curly tails in bulk, sold by the pound! Now I pretty much stick with Kalins, as they have the thinest, widest tails, with the most action, even a very slow retrieves. The 5" Kalins do wonders on striped bass too.

Very versatile bait that be fished in a wide variety of presentations. Never leave home without them!

[WookieeJedi]

Since a picture is worth 1000 words:

These are just a few of the sizes and types of grubs I use. Most of them are H&H Coastal. They are designed for saltwater and inshore fishing, so they are more durable than some of the other types. They are also available in a wider variety of colors. My favorites for paddle-tails and split-tails are avacado/red flake, white, black, smoke, electric grape and clear/flake/red dot. For curly-tails, I stick with freshwater plastic, it has more action.

As for rigging:

My favorite method is just a straight rig on a regular jig. The only drawback is that it isn't weedless. I still use them in cover, because on this rig I'm usually just swimming it on the bottom, not hopping it like a plastic worm.

On the top right, there is the basic curly-tail grub on a banana shaped head. I rig the curl down because I think it looks better swimming that way. Some people rig it facing up. I'm not sure the fish care.

Under that, there are a variety of different jig styles that work with a grub. I'm liking the football style right now on the paddle-tail and split-tail grubs. I just rig it like the regular round jig.

Also, there are the weedless options. The keel-weight keeper hook will give the lure a more horizontal profile as it drops, while the weedless jig works very much like a round head. I trim the weedguards down. I only use the weedless jig when I absolutely must, I just don't like the profile of the grub with the black weedguard sticking up.

There are also two chatterbait jigs. I like to use those with the larger split-tails and curly-tails. I put flukes and slugs on them too.

On the bottom is the scrounger. This is one of the best things to happen to jigs in a long time. I buy the ones with the longest lips, you can always cut them down to customize the action.

[J Francho]

I fish grubs like a slow motion rattle trap. Count them down to the fish, and reel in just fast enough to keep them there.

[hookset on 3]

WookieeJedi's post on Grub fishing is very thorough, with great pictures and descriptions. Print that one out and keep it in your tackle box.

[NorcalBassin]

I use 1/8 oz darterheads, let them fall to the bottom (if they make it that far!), drag/bounce them a couple times, and then slowly reel them in. They are great baits out in CA's gin clear reservoirs. Hands down best grub for me has been Yamamoto, but I am hoping to give the Rage's a chance at some point.

[iceintheveins]

Grubs are awesome, must have baits, ESPECIALLY in clear water when bass aren't that active. The Yamamoto 5" Double Hula Grub is my favorite, but I also really like Zoom's Salty Fat Albert, Yamamoto single and double tail, Berkley Power Grubs, Kalin's, and Mr. Twister Exude Grubs. The bigger grubs are great for fishing just like a plastic worm, the smaller ones for clearwater smallies.

[eyedabassman]

I like to use the grubs as swim jigs trailers too, but sometimes a 4-5" grub on a 1/4 ounce jighead absolutely kills them. As far as colors go, smoke is a really good color for baitfish imitations.

. TAs far as a floating worm, try the strike king elaztech worms. Their tail sticks straight up on a jighead,jigheads too. However, I usually buy the shakey heads molded from a do-it mold made by a guy I know no matter what. However, keep the worms in their original package because the elaztech has a tendency to disintegrate when mixed with normal plastic baits. Also, they are very hard to get on screwlock hey seem to work pretty well with each other, as I have caught plenty of fish on that combo.

A grub on a C-rig or a Mojo rig. Them SK worms are GREAT on a drop shot!!