Started to get into plastics and cranks but had no luck so far. I was using a spinner with only a few small ones caught. Went to Silverwood and Puddingstone. I want to catch some good size bass. Any tips to go with? Also need to know what pound test/weight to go with(set up). I have a 7' med spinning 4-12 Berkley Lightning Rod with Shimano syncopate 2000, test I am using is 6-8 iron silk green. Thanks for your help.

for plastics, go with yamamoto senkos. anything dark should work. also, try 4in power worms texas rigged. good cranks are rattle traps and the smaller rebel
good luck and tight lines:-)

Jake

Senkos are a good plastic. Go with the natural colors in clear water and darker in off color or murky water. Also, you'll want to use a darker color before the sun really comes out. Lighter colors when skies are high. Lizards are always a good choice this time of year. Presentation of the lizard varies. Sometimes they want it right on the bottom. Then sometimes use no weight(floating). Depends on their mood. I've thrown a splitshotted lizard and got no bites. Then switched to a floated lizard and killed them. Damn strike zones!

You'll probably want to pick up some oxblood worms too. This year seems to be the year of the oxblood worm. I'm always seeing reports of people catching them on the oxblood stuff. Then I finally started using them and BAM. They seem to be a universal bait.

Then again, nothings for sure in this fishing game. Sometimes you have to just experiment. Always remember what worked and when it worked. Damn patterns!

Why can't they just bite when the conditions are good?

First, get rid of that IronSilk, that stuff practically glows underwater even when it's stained--it's a very fat line too. Try Trilene XL green or Maxima green. I like various purples and green/brown combos like green weenie for the Pudd as there is a big crawdad forage there. 6-8# is good for 4 to 4.5 inch worms. Try texas-rigged shaking uphill or dropshotted uphill. I have had decent spinnerbait bites there but it all depends on what the fish want at the time. Check out the Assalt salt stix, they are just like a senko in appearance and action but cheaper. Use same colors as for worms. Good luck.


Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads
www.swimbait.com
Pro-Cure Scents
www.pro-cure.com

As mentioned you can't go wrong with Senkos. While there are several ways you can rig a senko they are most commonly fished weightless. Under the right conditions other methods of rigging may work better but based on my experiences the weightless method has been the most consistent producer and works in a wide range of conditions. Many strikes will occur as the lure is falling so be prepared.

In regards to plastic worms I would recommend starting with the basics. I begin by breaking it in to two categories. The first category I will call Standard Worms and the second I will call Optional Worms. Hand poured straight tail worms, tube baits, and Senkos all fall under what I would consider Standard worms meaning I don’t go to the lake with out them. Injection molded worms/grubs and hand poured reapers are optional. I personally fish all the plastics mentioned but if I had to narrow my selection and choose an “A team” the optional worms wouldn’t make the cut.

There are so many ways of rigging these plastics. As you already know depending on conditions and patterns rigging can make difference between success or skunk. It's amazing how a small change in rigging or presentation can have such an impact on getting bit. Here’s what I recommend for worms and reapers/grubs: drop shotting, split shotting, Carolina rigging, Texas rigging, or jigged (bullet style lead head mostly used in winter). A method I use with hand poured straight tail worms which has caught me some of my biggest bass is rigging a 4" to 8" worm weightless. I fish this rig on light spinning gear and most bites will come on the fall. I use this technique in clear water conditions when the fish are really picky. It's most effective in the early morning or evening typically a Summer-Fall technique. Tube can also be fished weightless but I prefer to fish tubes using a light jig head inserted in the body. I’ve also had success with rigging it weightless and inserting a weight inside the tube which is held in place by the hook. I usually only rig it this way when I’m too lazy to retie on a lead head. Another options rigging a sliding sink off eye of your hook secured on to a piece of fishing line of or even better fine wire. For hand plastic worms I would recommend carrying two sizes small 4 or 4.5" and big 6 or 7" for the bigger worms. Tubes can also be good and I usually 3 to 4" sizes. As far as manufacturers go many of the plastic worm companies make hand pours. You can do a search on the web you will find plenty of vendors.

The selection of colors may seem overwhelming but there are a few colors that will consistently produce fish under most conditions. Let’s break the colors down in to two groups dark and light. For dark colors purple and black are really all you need. There many variations and I've found flakes can be good particularly when using black with either red or blue flakes. Now lets cover light colors Oxblood, Green Weenie, and a Shad patterns (clear or smoke with salt/pepper flake) will cover you most clear water and high light conditions. That's basically the color break down in a nut shell.

The pattern you want to follow is clear water light (conditions clear sunny day) this is when you fish a light colored worm like an Oxblood. Overcast or night time this is when you fish dark color plastic like black or purple. I prefer smaller plastics in clear water however regardless of clarity I will fish a larger worm at night because the larger bait will push more water and give off more vibrations at night or in murky water conditions. You also want to use a color that matches what the bass are feeding on. An example would be if they are on shad then you should fish a shad pattern. If it's bluegill try a green weenie. You get the idea.

I think I covered everything in terms of tackle. Wide gap hooks are good for rigging plastics. I recommend Gamakatsu, Hyabusa, Daichii, Owner, or Mustad Accu-point. For drop shotting I recommend the Owner Mosquito hooks, or the Gamakatsu fine wire octopus hooks.

Try flourocarbon or copolymer line with plastics. The monofilaments soak up water and will stretch like a rubberband after some time in the water. You will feel the subtle bites that often come on plastics better with the lower stretch lines.
NoTrollMotor