What Texas rig bait to use?

[superbass301]

So I have a dozen or so soft plastic bags, all with their own unique shapes and sizes. How do I pick which one to use for Texas rigging? Is it really that important, as in one will work just a s good as the other? Or is it important to be selective when choosing the plastic?

[Drew03cmc]

Well, what's the structure you're fishing? There's myriad variables you haven't divulged. I'd say pick a worm, a creature or craw and start fishing. The worst that can happen is you get bit.

[Lead Head]

Personally, I usually default to a baby brush hog then expand from there. Honestly, Im of the opinion that pretty much anything will work if you halfway "match the hatch" and put it in the right place. So my advice would be to focus more on color (keeping it pretty simple) and location than on type of bait.

[ETX92]

You can’t go wrong with a regular or baby brush hog, ribbon tail or senko for a starting spot, if that doesn’t get you bit just expand from there and see what they want. You can texas rig just about any soft plastic. Watermelon red, green pumpkin, black/blue or plum/plum apple are normally pretty safe bets for colors to start with.

[Catt]

Everyone has their own personal repertoire of confusion!

 

For anglers just starting out I'm a firm believer in keeping it simple.

 

I've caught a lot of bass over the last 3 yrs with a Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm in watermelon red. It works in ponds, creeks, bayous, rivers, marshes, & lakes. 

 

Here's a little secret ?

 

Spike-It Dip-N-Glo Chartreuse Garlic!

[Drew03cmc]

Catt is correct. Those are d**n nice worms and they simply work.

[LCG]

The fish will let you know what they want that day. 

[burrows]

Use em all!!!!!

[scaleface]

 I dont think it makes a difference most of the time . For smallmouths I like  crawfish , hula grubs , creatures baits , things  that resemble crawfish .For largemouths ,   whatever floats my boat .

[thinkingredneck]

I spent a whole summer fishing nothing but junebug.  I would switch type of worm:  trickworms,  U vibe, Ole monster, anaconda, swamp crawler, finesse, etc.  Some days one would work better.  Truthfully  I haven't caught many on tx rigged creatures.

 

Now I have branched out some.  

[Beetlebz]

When all else fails a 1/4oz flippin or bullet weight (tungsten) and a motor oil 7" power worm. I change color to find what works best but I always start there. If I'm getting wrecked every cast then I start switching out to upgrade. Start at the waters edge and drag it back till you get bit or buried in weeds. The only difference is if I'm actually flipping into beds or brush, then I go lizard or craw, color dependant on water clarity. 

[All about da bass]

I think these guys have it covered.?

[burrows]

90% of the time I’m throwing a super fluke.

[Armtx77]

It is full blown summer time here in SE Louisiana. Day time temperature will be in the 90's and the fish are going to be looking for shade, like the rest of us.

 

I had good luck yesterday with my wife. Throwing a YUM 2.5 Crawbug in pumpkin. On a #1 EWG hook and a 1/16oz tungsten bullet. We threw at least 4 different colors of the same size bait and that color out fished all others by at least 3 to 1.

 

That would lend credence to what some have said about matching the "hatch". 

[bagofdonuts]

For me. I tend to use a worm (usually a zoom ole monster) when i'm offshore, making longer cast and dragging the worm. When I'm flipping and pitching a t-rig I tend to use beaver style baits or craws more often than a worm. Just easier for me to pitch a more compact bait.

[KYBassin']

Pit Boss never disappoints

[Bigbruce]

I have way to many bags of plastic everything. My go to has been a pumpkin zoom lizard that has been solid at every lake I go to. I’m in Texas fishing clear lakes though. When I was on the east coast and fishing murky water everything I had looked like a disco.

[lo n slo]

zoom worms and lizards for me in gp/chartreuse and june bug. love me some craw worms too.

[Troy85]

I throw ribbon tail worms more than anything else.  I'm not super particular about brand, although I am little partial to Culprit since its what I had rigged when I caught my PB.  Color, almost always Junebug or Watermelon red.

[haggard]

20 hours ago, superbass301 said:

So I have a dozen or so soft plastic bags, all with their own unique shapes and sizes. How do I pick which one to use for Texas rigging? Is it really that important, as in one will work just a s good as the other? Or is it important to be selective when choosing the plastic?

Too many choices is not necessary and sucks the joy out of it in my opinion. It's important to a certain extent: keep it natural looking for where you're fishing it: crawdad shape for the bottom; worm for bottom to midwater; natural colors. There are some exceptions and it's always good to experiment but for starting out, keep it simple.

 

A 4-inch TX rigged, bullet weighted plain old worm in a natural (dark green or brown) color is highly versatile (bottom, mid, shallow, deep, easily made snag resistant) and while you might catch larger bass on a longer worm, you'll probably catch more bass on this one, which builds confidence and experience. For a spinning setup I like to go weightless to 1/8 oz; for a baitcaster, 1/4 oz.

 

Paying more attention to where you're tossing it is more important than the shape and size of the plastic.