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The last thing is, don’t bother going out in the dawn/dusk when water is below 50 degrees
Fahrenheit. This temperature wipes out certain aquatics and terrestrials, which nullifies the food chain feeding.
Water Quality Considerations
You need to fish bass differently in different kinds of water quality. Follow the general guidelines below to get better results.
Muddy Water: In low-visibility water, a bass finds food using its sonar senses. You must use lures with the best vibration and noise. You can tell if a lure has a high vibration by feeling the shaking of your rod as you bring in the lure. Use your heaviest vibrators and keep them coming at a steady pace so that bass can detect it.
Clear Water: Bass are overly cautious in clear water with high visibility. Their survival instincts kick in, and they are wary of anything out of the ordinary. Use lighter lines that are less visible. Also, use longer casts and lures that resemble bass food in the area. Spinners usually work in clear water, but if they are not working try a black spinner blade to reduce the flash.
Normal Water: This water has normal algae and plankton that filters out sunlight. It is ideal for all types of lures, as the bass are not timid. Use the shotgun approach here and set up 3 outfits, one using a surface lure, one using a deep diver, and the last using a plastic worm. Do about 10 casts with each, and then switch them up to different variations. This is a great way to find out what is working.
Fishing a Plastic Worm
Here are some techniques that you should consider for fishing plastic worms for bass in different situations:
Turbid water - bass are sight and sound feeders, and it is important to add turbulence to the plastic worm. Add a No. 3 Hildebrandt gold spinner just ahead of the hook. This sets up a flashing, hissing, throbbing attraction that bass can hear at considerable distances.
Clear water - Cut down the size of the worm, line, and sinker so that bass will have a harder time seeing the lure.
Big vibe worms - Use a worm with a curly tail design that gives off extremely strong vibrations. Try these worms when your straight worms fail to score.
Skipping - This is the only method to get under overhanging branches. You need a spin casting or spinning rig because a level wind reel just doesn’t ski8p well. Make a flat hard cast onto the water’s surface so that it will make a low skip. This will reach bass hangouts impossible to attain in any other way.
Ripping - This will surprise reluctant bass to strike a worm. Let the worm settle to the bottom and lie there for about 20 seconds. Reel slack out of the line and pick up the worm with a long, sharp upsweep of the rod tip. Let it settle to the bottom under tension as you slowly lower the rod tip. Repeat for three or four rips. Strikes will come.
Drift trolling - move to the head of a deep hole and let the wind carry you quietly across the lake while your worm crawls across bottom cover. Raise and lower the worm as it contacts bottom. Pickups usually happen as the worm is being pulled off the cover.
Flyrodding - Fill a single action flyreel with backing and about 50 yards of 10-pound monofilament. Rig a six-inch worm weedless and add a small split-shot ahead of the hook so it will sink slowly. Either flip or flat-cast the worm into every pocket you see and feed it line as it slowly settles to bottom. Keep the flyrod tip low so that you can make a long, sweeping strike when you feel a bass inhale the worm. This is practical in ponds, lakes or streams.
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