Bass Fishing Hacks
Simple Hacks and Tips to Help You Catch More Bass
What is the best worm color for bass fishing?
You really only need 3 different worm colors to catch bass in any water clarity conditions. You will need to have watermelon colored worms; you will need to have green pumpkin colored worms and you will need to have black worms. That is really all the colors that you will need to catch a ton of bass in just about every scenario that you will encounter.
Watermelon worms work great for clear and clean water conditions. They have a more translucent quality to them and the bass really like translucent lures in clean water conditions.
Your next color that you will need is green pumpkin. Green pumpkin is more opaque than the watermelon worm and give the bass more of a contrast in stained water conditions. When the water is stained but not dirty, then you will want to tie a green pumpkin colored worm on you line.
The next color that you will need is black. You can go with purple or blue but black is the way to go when it comes to fishing in muddy, dirty and murky type of water conditions. The black colored worm will give plenty of contrast in dirty water for the bass to find your worm and eat your worm.
I am a Bass Fishing Charter Guide on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been catching bass in the lakes, ponds and canals all over Florida for more than 40 years. In the article below, I will teach you everything that I know about bass fishing with plastic worms.
Let’s get started.
Watch the video below and learn more about using a Carolina rig and a Texas rig.
What are the different kinds of plastic worms for bass fishing?
There are all sorts of different worms for bass fishing for all sorts of different fishing applications. There are so many different types of bass fishing worms and colors that you would have a very hard time fishing every one of the variations if you lived to be 100 years old.
Worms and soft plastics in general catch so many bass because they move like something that is alive that the bass might see in their environment. They also feel like something that the bass might eat in their environment.
This means that the bass will hold onto a worm longer than they will hold onto other types of bass lure. This gives even a novice bass fisherman plenty of time to realize that a bass has the worm in its mouth and that it is time to set the hook.
When I was a kid, I used an unweighted purple worm with a ribbon tail exclusively. My favorite color was purple so to a child’s mind, purple should be the worm color that I used for bass. This goes to prove that even a blind squirrel can find an acorn every now and again.
That worm color and type accounted for all of the bass that I caught with lures for the first 10 years of my life. I didn’t know anything about choosing the right colors for the different water conditions. I didn’t really know anything about much but I did know that if you worked a purple worm slowly on the bottom that you could catch big bass. I caught a lot of big bass when I was a kid.
I didn’t know anything about using different lures during different times of the year. I really didn’t know anything except for the fact that my purple worms caught bass consistently. Regardless of water temperature or time of day, I caught a lot of bass when I was a kid with those purple worms.
Senko worms have become extremely popular these days with bass fishermen. These are the go to worm style for finesse bass fishing techniques like rigging them as a wacky worm. A wacky worm is a worm that is hooked in the middle of its body. This technique requires little else bu casting the worm and letting it sink to the bottom. The bass will usually hit the worm on the fall so it is often hard to feel the bites.
Finesse worms are really just smaller versions of the other types of worms. These worms are usually french fry looking things that are used for drop shot rigs, shaky head rigs or even Carolina rigs.
Trick worms worms are one of those types of worms that is great for twitching and dead sticking for finicky shallow water bass. This worm floats and is great for just pitching towards a s bass without doing much else. You can give it a twitch or two to get the bass’ attention but that is usually about it. It is a good worm to have tied on for sight fishing in the shallows.
This style of worm is also a great choice for a shaky head jig or a Carolina or Texas rig too. This is a very versatile type of plastic worm and can be used in many different bass fishing scenarios.
Shakey Head worms are specifically designed for fish with a shakey head jig. These worms are flat on the head and then slowly taper to a pointy tail. On a shakey head the tail will stand straight up in the water. This also makes it easy to get movement with even the slightest of rod twitches.
Curly tail worms are great swimming types of worms. These worms feature a very long swimming tail that gives the worm a lot of action when the worm is swum through the water. Finicky bass will like the action of this worm when it is fished with a Carolina rig or a Texas rig.
Ring worms are great worms for catching bass in various fishing scenarios. The worms are segmented with ribbing around them. This ringed body type of worm moves a lot of water when it comes through the water. The ringed body type also helps the bass hold onto the lure longer.
Ned rig worms are just small 3 an 4 inch worms that are used for a ned rig. They are usually french fry types of body styles reminiscent of tube types of lures.
Magnum worms are just larger versions of worms on the market. Some of these worms can be 12 inches long. There are times in the summer months when the bass really want a larger profile of worm. The magnums are the way to go, especially on a Carolina rig in deeper water.
drop shot worms
Speed worms are a worm style that is great for just casting out weightless and reeling back on or near the surface of the water. You can fish this type of worm just like a spinnerbait. Speed worms feature a thick paddle tail type of tail that undulates and sends out pulses of low frequency vibrations in the water when it falls through the water column.
This is also a great style of worm to use in the grass and thick vegetation. This worm works very well with a bullet weight Texas rig style of set up for those big bass that like to hide in the thick cover.
In a nutshell, use smaller worms in places where the water is clear; or in places that get a lot of fishing pressure; or places where the water is cold. Use larger worms when the water is dirty or when the water is hot. This is an extreme generalization but it is a good guide if you are new to bass fishing.
Watch the video below for some swamp bass action.
What are the colors that professional bass fishermen use the most?
The three most popular soft plastic lure colors that professional bass fishermen use are based upon the water clarity in the bodies of water that they are fishing in. Those 3 most popular colors are watermelon, green pumpkin, black. There might be some versions of these 3 colors but in general, those are the basic colors in every pro’s tackle box.
When the water is clear and clean the pros like to use something translucent. The watermelon colored worms are their go to choice for a worm color. Bass like the see through types of lures for clear water and sunny days. If you are fishing with a crankbait or some other type of hard plastic lure, then a translucent one is a good choice.
Green pumpkin is a more opaque dark green color. This is the color that the bass pros usually choose for stained water conditions. The dark green color is easy for the bass to find in dirty water.
When the water is really dirty a dark lure is your best choice. A dark lure will give the bass enough contrast to find your lure against the dirty water background. When you are fishing with plastic worms a black one is a good choice.
What is the best rod and reel combo for bass fishing with plastic worms?
I prefer to use a spinning rod and reel for plastic worm fishing. You might want to use a baitcasting rod and reel combo. That is up to your preferences. If you are using a spinning rod and reel outfit, then you will want to go with a 7 foot medium heavy rod and a 2500 series reel. That will usually work just fine for your bass fishing needs.
The best baitcasting rod and reel combo will be a 7 foot long moderate fast action rod and a reel with at least a 6:1 gear ratio. You can probably go with a 7:1 gear ratio and if you need to slow it down, then you can just reel more slowly.
What is the best line choice when fishing with plastic worms?
You can go with braided line or mono filament or a fluorocarbon fishing line. All of these choices are good ones and you have to decide which type of like that you like the best. Braided line is a good choice because it helps you fee the bass bites that are hard to feel with other lines.
Fluorocarbon and mono filament fishing lines give you more stretch. They are still good choices for worm fishing. These two fishing line choices are much easier to work with than braided lines are.
What is the best color worm for bass fishing at night?
Black is the best color to use for night fishing. This goes for top water fishing lures or soft plastic worms. The darker and opaque fishing lures give a lot of contrast for the bass to see your fishing lures at night. From the bass’ perspective the lure is a dark shape against the moonlit sky. This gives that bass some contrast that helps them locate the lures.
You can catch a lot of fish at night. It is a little bit spooky too. This adds to the fun of catching bass at night. If you have not tried night time bass fishing before, then you should give it a try. It is a lot of fun.
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