Artificial Bass Bait and Big Bass

A primary tool that is required in the hunt for really big bass are artificial bass baits. We are not talking about the big spinner baits; these are the ones that actually look like something bass normally eat.

The first group of these baits is the crank baits and plugs. There are some really crazy designs with propellers and tinsel, but for the most part these look pretty close to a real fish.

Crank Baits and Plugs:

One design of crank baits / plugs mostly stays on the surface without diving into the water. You cast the plug towards the target (normally grass or Lilly pads) and let it sit for about 10 seconds. Then you pull it about 6 to 12 inches. This plug will either wiggle or make a popping sound. Of course this makes the bass crazy and if there is more than one in the area a race is on. This is more of the “plug” because you don’t really continuously crank it back in.

The second type is shallow diving crank baits. This one has a small clear plastic “lip” pointing down at a shallow angle. It is often used the same as the floating plug. You cast it out and let it sit about 10 second and then give is a small pull. When you pull it, it will dive down about a foot in a wobbling motion and then wobble as it floats back up to the surface. If you drop this near a big bass, it may not make it back to the surface before you see the water explode and the fight is on. This bass bait is also very effective to cast out and reel back in also.

The third type are the medium and deep diving crank baits. These are similar to the shallow diving baits, but the angle of the clear plastic “lip” is steeper. It is designed to go deep as you crank it back in, but they also float so to change your depth you just speed up or slow down on your retrieval.

Frogs:

If you are working the grass or the Lilly pads, frogs are great. This is an irresistible delicacy to those big bass and they will race to this bait. You will normally see a frog or two in every bass fisher’s tackle box, but oddly enough you don’t see many people using them. I guess they are not as sexy as the big spinner baits.

Try to drop your frog right on top of a Lilly pad then give it a bit of a pull so it looks like it jumped off into the water and is on a mission somewhere. Like the crank baits, if there is a big bass in the area I doubt your frog will get more than a foot or two.
Bass and especially the big bass are veracious eaters and normally the apex predators in their habitat. Even bass as small as 5 inches think they are 6 feet tall and they all attack first and think later.

Crayfish (crawdad):

This good and versatile artificial bass bait is very effective if there are crayfish living in the place you are fishing. You can use it by simply casting it out and slowly reeling it in or you can get creative and use it as the bait on a shot drop.

Minnows:

This is the snack food of both big bass and small. There is a wide variety of designs and sizes, but it is best to know what types of small fish are in your area. Normally a bass lake will also have perch, crappie and carp, so get something that looks natural and native. I like to use minnows in the Lilly pads and grass by trying to simulate that it fell out of the sky. A big bass will hit on just about anything that falls in front of it, but if it looks real you have a better chance.

Plastic Worms:

What more natural food is there for a fish than a worm? No fish can resist them and bass are no exception. Today plastic worms have gotten so hi-tech many manufacturers rightly claim their plastic worm out perform real worms. This is an awesome tool for all location and depths. You can use it like a crank bait, a worm on a hook like a night crawler cast or on a drop shot. The variety of color and design is too vast to list, but there is certainly a plastic worm for every application.

This is not the complete list of artificial bass baits, but the big bass have gotten big for a reason. I wouldn’t say a fish is “smart”, but the big ones are either smarter or just luckier than the smaller ones for sure.

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