Confidence In Worm Selection

[hooah212002]

Lately, I can't shake the idea that plastic worms potentially look like weeds or something and it seems to be effecting my confidence in using them (a very important aspect, IMO, is having confidence in all your gear). I can't see how a green, or variant of green, color worm would look appetizing to a fish when it looks almost identical to a weed floating by, or to the weeds you are fishing them in. Maybe not exactly, but close enough. Then you have a drop shot: a worm that is just suspended mid water column? A worm that scoots along the bottom (Texas or Carolina)? What the heck is a wacky rig supposed to resemble?

I am in NO way trying to say anything derogatory toward these methods, especially since I know full well that they produce, I am just trying to make sense of it. I'm probably missing something glaringly obvious because I am overthinking things, so this "dillemma", if you will, may come across as highly ignorant....

I guess the easy question would be: what natural meal choice do plastic worms, or senkos for that matter, represent for a bass? I am not aware of any worm like creature that moves with the rapidity that we typically fish our worms at (except times where slooooooowwwww is the way to go).

[NoBassPro]

Outside of the dropshot/finesse presentations which do a decent job of imitating small minnows, I don't think worms are supposed to imitate anything in particular, they just have a natural profile and action that bass like. I'm sure bass will eat leeches, mudpuppies and whatever else they can find that will fit in their mouth, and a long skinny thing slithering along fairly well fits that profile of other things they eat imo. Thats not to say they don't mistake them for a minnow or crawfish, cuz I really don't know what they are thinking, but thats not their entire diet.

To me a wacky rigged senko would most closely imitate a dying fish slowly falling, but, again, who knows.

[roadwarrior]

Geez...

Soft plastics look like a potential meal to fish. Could be the profile, action,

fall rate, size or color. I'm sure there are many other factors, but your "confidence"

should be based on effectiveness. Soft plastics in general are very big producers,

some are MUCH better than others.

I prefer Rage Tail.

[hooah212002]

Geez...Are you trying to be funny or just challenged?

Come again? Was that directed at me? If so, i don't see it being all that necessary, especially considering the fact that I admitted there could be a glaringly obvious distinction that I am failing to make. Also considering you are a moderator.

Soft plastics look like a potential meal to fish.

Quite. But what meal? That is my question. If bass eat any old thing, why bother to "match the hatch"?

but your "confidence"

should be based on effectiveness.

I am an analytical/rational person and take nothing at face value. Yes, they work (obviously) but what about when they don't? Would it not be a better idea to see why they work in the first place to better understand why they aren't working when they aren't working?

Soft plastics in general are very big producers,

some are MUCH better than others.

Yes, and I admitted as such

I prefer Rage Tail.

I know. I'm pretty sure everyone here knows that. But is it just because they work and you have no interest in what makes them work better than other brands?

I apologize if I came off a tad snippy, but I tend to do that when someone calls me retarded.

[papajoe222]

Forage, baitfish in particular, take on the color(s) of their surroundings. That is one way of preserving ttheir numbers. That is also why something that doesn't look just right draws the attention of the bass or other preditor. I always try to match a jig to the color of the bottom if I'm attempting to 'Match the hatch' colorwise. Green Pumpkin is a popular color for a reason. If you're fishing weeds, it blends in well (like the forage).

Although many artificial lures and soft plastics may resemble some type of bass forage, many more do not imitate anything in nature, let alone the bass' world.

They all will produce under the right circumstances. I'm not concerned with 'matching the hatch perfectly, if I was I'd be a fly fisherman fishing for trout. A bass will strike for any number of reasons. Color, IMO, is near the bottom of the list when it comes to what I choose to offer them, especially in the clear, natural lakes I fish.

[hooah212002]

Forage, baitfish in particular, take on the color(s) of their surroundings. That is one way of preserving ttheir numbers.

That is something I hadn't thought of. Thanks.

Color, IMO, is near the bottom of the list when it comes to what I choose to offer them, especially in the clear, natural lakes I fish.

Really? I thought color was one of the most important for clear water, but not so much for dirty/stained water.

[K_Mac]

There are times when matching the hatch can be important. Watch BassResource's video on fishing a Spook and you see that what he is using on schooling fish is close enough to the bait to get bit. When it comes to plastics I am not sure that bass know or care what it looks like. They are programmed to eat and are opportunists. When something comes by that looks and moves like prey they just react. Why a Rage bait works well sometimes, and at others a Netbait, or Zoom, or one of a thousand other manufacturers works better is a function of the mood of the fish IMO. Sometimes a very slow presentation works well, other times something faster is better; sometimes a big profile is good, other times smaller is better; sometimes a subtle green or brown is better; sometimes bright and gaudy, or dark is the better choice. The real challenge is to identify what works on a given day. For me it is just that simple, and that complex.

I was soundly out-fished by a friend last week from the back of my boat. We had maybe the best day of big fish either of us has ever had. I caught three very nice fish, broke off another and lost another at the boat. He caught seven, two of which were legitimate pigs. I was using jigs, brushhogs, and a variety of other plastics including a Trickworm on a shakyhead that produced my biggest fish. He was using RI beavers. All the good fish were caught in 15-20 feet of slightly stained water. The difference was not the bait or the color IMO. He was using a 1/2 oz tungsten weight and I was too stubborn to use that heavy because the rocks were hungry and I did not want to lose my tackle. I used 5/16 and 3/8 oz and did not lose much tackle, but the faster rate of fall and keeping it on the bottom was the secret of the day I believe.

I understand that I have not really answered the question of why fish bite plastic worms, or Senkos, or plastics in general. I take for granted that most of the time they will. For me the question is where are the fish and what do they want today. Once you can answer that question you can start to refine your presentation to target the better fish, unless you are a little dense like I sometimes am and not paying close attention to details.

[hooah212002]

I understand that I have not really answered the question of why fish bite plastic worms, or Senkos, or plastics in general.

Sometimes the right answer isn't exactly a direct one. All your info was great and helped tremendously. It's quite poissible that I am overthinking things, but one tends to do that to cope with a slight strain of cabin fever (I'm at work all night and not sure if I will be able to fish until this weekend. ARGH!).

[Highhawk1948]

Waterdogs, snakes, eels, minows, small fish, crawfish, salamanders

[papajoe222]

Color, IMO, is near the bottom of the list when it comes to what I choose to offer them, especially in the clear, natural lakes I fish.

I use color as a factor only if I feel the fish need a little 'help' in finding my presentation. The same goes for sound. In clear water, especially shallow,clear water, bass are primarily sight feeders and I fish a lot of fast moving baits as I don't want them to get a good look at my offering. I'm positive my offering passes many fish that either don't give it a second look or run from it. The ones that don't do either are the ones I'm after.

[K_Mac]

Color, IMO, is near the bottom of the list when it comes to what I choose to offer them, especially in the clear, natural lakes I fish.

I use color as a factor only if I feel the fish need a little 'help' in finding my presentation. The same goes for sound. In clear water, especially shallow,clear water, bass are primarily sight feeders and I fish a lot of fast moving baits as I don't want them to get a good look at my offering. I'm positive my offering passes many fish that either don't give it a second look or run from it. The ones that don't do either are the ones I'm after.

I agree. I am never going to be a real good "fast moving" bait guy. It is a style of fishing that doesn't suit me very well. Fortunately most of the time we can both fish our strengths and be successful doing it.

[Bluebasser86]

Bass are curious, investigative creatures that must eat other things to survive. They don't have hands to grab onto something to hold it still and examine it to determine if it's edible or not. So if the initial fall or movement has gotten their attention and then you move it again about their only chance it to suck the bait in to further determine if it's food or not. Bass probably very rarely encounter a worm in the water except maybe during times when it's raining hard. Plastic worms can imitate a variety of potential food items a bass may encounter, minnows, small snakes, salamanders, leeches, and others. Lots of baits look like nothing in particular and still catch fish.

[BassHunter_Hunt]

If it moves or look alive then it's fair game to eat. Look at us humans. We can eat anything we want and spit out what doesn't taste so good. The fish that I had in my feed tank would investigate anything that looks close to food. They would suck it up taste it and spit it out if it's not edible or taste bad. Bass do it to our lures also, that's why we have to set the hook right before they spit it out. If a worm/lure is the same or close to the color of foliage around it then the bass will most likely stare it down to see if it moves. Think about when we are hunting, we will stare at our prey and confirm before taking the shot. Spiders even do this, throw a bug in the web that's not very active and watch the spider shake the web to force out a reaction.

Maybe c-rigs is suppose to look like a leech swimming mid column and a wacky rig a dying struggling fish or again something swimming mid column. All the fish knows is that it's moving and creating vibrations which is triggering the lateral line of the bass.

[Bass Dude]

I know this was stated, but they look like a 'meal' to a fish. Plastics and their action are built to make a bass respond to it's instict of getting an easy meal. The baits are meant to trigger a reaction and make a bass think that there's something to eat and it's right next to me...so I better nail it!! It doesn't necessarily have to look like a specific creature.

Action and color should be dicatated by the water color, temp etc. I usually go for something natural looking, unless I think I need a splash of something more visible such as when you're fishing darker water.

I have heard KVD say numerous times...that when you don't know what color to use, use a color that looks like the color of the bottom that you are fishing.

[NoBassPro]

I know I've read numerous studies back in the day that indicated a plastic worm is one of the hardest lures for a bass to learn not to strike. Its not just that it looks like a meal, its that it looks more like a meal than many of the other presentations we use. There aren't many constants in fishing, but plastic worms and jigs have continued to be reliable producers of decent to large fish for quite some time, the same can't be said for many other lures.

I, and I doubt anyone else here, really knows how a bass perceives its world, and how the lateraline, vision, and whatever other senses it uses really work. I have always been under the impression that the lateral line was useful to make it aware of movement in its area, kind of an early warning system, but it still relied on vision before deciding to strike. I cannot say that is true, however. What I am certain of, is that bass can not only learn to avoid certain things, but at times will selectively feed only on certain items. I don't care if you're talking about smallmouth during a hex hatch or largemouth keying in on shad, there are times when its useful to know what you are trying to represent. That doesn't mean you need an exact replica, but something close enough for the fish.

And as far as wacky rigged worms looking like a dying minnow, drop some half dead shiners down a hole when you are ice fishing and watch their action, or look at the unhealthy alewifes near the pierheads sometime.

Getting into what a bait represents to bass and what will trigger it to strike are two different subjects, I've watched bass ignore live crawlers more than once just to hit a finesse worm. Surely the crawler represented "food", it just didn't have the right characteristics to trigger a strike at that time.

My point is, saying a worm looks like a "meal" is a bit of an oversimplification, same as saying bass strkie out of curiosity or whatever. I happen to believe there reaches a point in a bass's life where it pretty well knows what its looking for in a meal, and a worm still works at that point.

But, personally, I'd rather kick my trolling motor on high and chuck spinnerbaits or cranks all day, simply because that's what I happen to enjoy. I know what I've read and observed, and what has worked in the past, though.

I also believe the average fisherman would rather just buy cool new stuff than give any real degree of thought as to what is triggering the fish to strike.

[hooah212002]

I also believe the average fisherman would rather just buy cool new stuff than give any real degree of thought as to what is triggering the fish to strike.

Well, that leaves all of us out. I doubt anyone here on BR counts as an "average" fisherman. Doubtful that "average" fisherman spend copious amounts of time on a forum dedicated to one species of fish or spend hundreds of dollars on one reel or one rod. If I am average, then, I definitely DO care what is triggering a strike because that knowledge ultimately will land you more fish as opposed to just chucking any old bait out anywhere.

[fishking247]

just buy a pack of plastic worms that look appealing to you and fish around structure. eventually you will get bit

[deep]

I read something about "positive correlation" once. A bass eats a bait either because it may be/ looks like food, or it's a reaction strike. Something about the way a worm or a jig looks and moves make the bass think it might be food, due to the fact that it seems to be "like" other stuff it had eaten before, and they had turned out to be food. A bass doesn't really have the brains of a dog, but it's "learning" all the time; and the bigger a bass gets, the more it "knows". Which is why I believe jigs, worms, and realistic looking AND moving baits catch a lot of really big fish. A worm doesn't really have to look/ move like exactly something that the fish had ate before, but it evidently has enough positive correlation with some natural food to fool bigger bass time and time again.

Wow, that wasn't a very lucid post, and it doesn't really answer the original question. Thought it was worth a try anyway.

[hooah212002]

Sure it did. It was plenty lucid.

[TNBassin']

These days, worms have such awesome action in the water I doubt they look like anything but a meal to bass. Especially a good ribbon tail or a rage tail anaconda worm. Worms nowadays move a bunch of water and create a lot of vibration that really attract fish.

[Weapon X]

My biggest bass (13 .2) was caught on a Senko fished weightless. Plastic lures are always my confidence lures, to me the profile and slow retrieve make them easy targets especially for big fish. I've caugh more bass on plastic worms than any other lure.

[TNBassin']

Rage Rig a worm and it's amazing. I've caught more fish the past few weeks this way than I have in the past 2 months.