Selecting The Best Bass Baits

If you are new to the world of bass fishing, selecting the best bass baits can be overwhelming. There are so many choices and so many options that many anglers have a tackle box specifically to hold their bass baits and accessories.

Over time and as you gain experience you will certainly gravitate towards one type or category of baits, but at the beginning there are 4 basic bass baits you should have in your arsenal.

No one type is better than the other but with a combination of all 4 you will be able to get your bait to where the fish are in any conditions.

1 Crank baits and Plugs. This is a major category of bass baits and most people put them in the same category, but they really should be separated. These baits are a staple for any angler. These baits normally float on the surface and normally imitate a wounded fish.

In the case of the “Plug” type of bait, you cast it into your target area and then you just give it a pull every few seconds until you clear the target area. You don’t really cast it out and crank it in. They will usually work really well in shallow water close to the shoreline. The best bass baits are the ones that will get where the fish are and with bass, water depth does not usually have much to do with the size of the fish. A 10 pound or larger fish could be (and often is) in 2 feet of water.

Crank baits on the other hand also float, but they have a clear plastic “lip” in the front to control the depth of the bait as you reel it in. These are normally cast out and cranked back in, hence the name “Crank Bait”. Because they do float, if you stop or slow your retrieval speed, they will raise up to more shallow water.

2 Plastic worms. Plastic worms have really changed over the years and they are very good baits. They have gone from a rubbery attempt at imitating a worm to quite high tech replicas that are even scent injected to increase performance. They come in a wide range of sizes and every color you can imagine so you will need to take the time to find out what is working in your area.

3 Spinner bait. This is another category of bass baits that is a broad category with very many choices. The first two types of baits normally try to imitate a type of food bass eat, but this is not the case with spinner baits. With this type of bass bait it is just something strange looking they cannot help but attack. Most of the spinner baits are large, so if you are going after small mouth then you will need to obviously get a smaller size bait. Most of the large mouth and stripers over 3 pounds will take the larger spinner baits.

This is by no means a complete list of baits, but the best bass baits are the ones that will get to where the fish are. If you have all three of these you will be able to cover every depth from the surface to the bottom and in-between.

 

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