My Top 5 Soft Plastic Baits for Bass Fishing in March
- 8 minutes ago
- 5 min read
March is right around the corner and I thought I would share with y'all my list of the top 5 soft plastics I'll have rigged up ready to go on the deck of my boat. As the water gets warmer here in the south more bass are going to start pulling up shallow out of the deeper spot they've been hanging out in during the winter. In addition to this, a lot of bass suspend and spend more time in open water during the winter, so not necessarily deep, but not set up where they are easy to target by the average angler. As these fish move more shallow they are going to relate to cover such as flooded brush, submerged vegetation, docks, and any other shallow cover they can find.
I like to put a moving bait in my client's hands and cover water, but that isn't necessarily always the ticket. Being versatile and having a couple different options to present to the fish is important. Limiting this list to only 5 was actually a bit tough! Also, keep in mind this is only the soft plastics in my top 5... this does not include hard baits!
1: Swimbait- A swimbait is in my top three baits that I throw year round! You can rig a soft plastic swimbait a myriad of ways depending on the depth you're fishing, the cover you are around, and the bait species you are trying to imitate. I personally throw a lot of the 6th Sense Divine swimbaits and Whales. Rig them weedless and it’s one of the most versatile fish catching baits during the springtime as you can cast it around any cover. I get a lot of new anglers on my trips, and casting accuracy isn't necessarily always quite there. haha Rigging one a paddle tail swimbait with something like an Owner flashy swimmer hook makes it very easy for new and veteran anglers alike to get bit. A little tip; if you cast into a bush, resist the urge to yank it back aggressively. Instead, very gently pull and shake the bait through the bush as this will prevent the hook point from popping out and getting stuck.
Look for lanes or gaps between the brush, points in the rocky shorelines, or ambush spots like the back corners of docks to aim this bait at. Control your speed depending on the depth you are fishing... the deeper the cover the slower I will go in an effort to get the bait closer to the cover I expect the fish to be in.
2: Fluke- A soft plastic fluke rigged on a heavy worm hook is a deadly combo during the spring. I like to fish this in the same places I would throw a weedless swimbait. When the fish are a little deeper or are hitting the bait more on the pause I will chose this over a swimbait.
Another area that flukes excel is when you are fishing around spawning flats and spawning coves, but water clarity or wind doesn't lend itself to sight fishing. Fishing a green pumpkin or watermelon colored fluke can be a good way to imitate a sunfish or bluegill... notorious nest raiders and enemy of a spawning largemouth bass. Unlike the swimbait you can allow this bait to fall to the bottom on your pause and end up dropping the bait into a bass' bed without even knowing it.
3: Wacky Rig- When you get around areas with lots of targets to cast to such as submerged brush or docks, slowing down with a wacky rigged stick bait can kill it. When fishing deeper than 6 feet I like to use a weighted wacky hook, or turn it into a Neko rig with a small nail weight in the head of the worm. Days when there is high barometric pressure or low wind tend to lend themselves to slowing down a little bit and throwing this over one of the moving bait options I listed. I tend to throw a lot of wacky rigs when I am fishing 10 feet of water or less. Anything deeper and you spend a ton of time letting the bait sink. Past that depth I recommend a Texas Rig or Neko rig.
Another pattern that this can put a hefty bag in your boat in skipping it around docks. A wacky rigged senko set up on a spinning rod is one of the easiest ways to learn to skip a bait. Lakes like Lake LBJ and Lake Austin come to mind for this pattern! Bass will spawn around and under docks and a wacky rig is very effective in targeting them. Tip: If skipping under a dock, I recommend using a hook with a weed guard and using a heavier leader than you normally would.
4: Floating Worm Rig- I feel like this rig gets overlooked for more trendy baits. A floating worm rig is kind of an old school technique that I hardly head guys throwing anymore. With all the brush in the water right now on our local lakes like Lake Travis, this can work great with overcast conditions fished around the thickest cover you can find. I like to go with bright colors like merthiolate or bubblegum to really get the bass' attention and trigger reaction strikes. Fish this like you would a fluke with twitches of your rod tip followed by a pause. While it's called a floating worm rig, if you use a heavy wire hook it will eventually start to slowly sink... it's very common that that's when the bass bite it.
5: Minnow Style Bait- Like it or not shaking a minnow with Livescope is super effective this time of year. I realize how polarizing and controversial forward facing sonar has become, but to me it's silly. All the lures we anglers buy, all the tackle, all the crap for our boats... we buy they to aid us in catching more fish! To me livescope is just another tool that helps me have more fun and catch more fish. If you want to come fishing with me and don't like livescope, no big deal, we don't even need to turn on my Garmin! But you can't argue with how effective this style of fishing has become.
I like "shaking a minnow" for targeting prespawn fish that are holding out deeper and haven’t pulled up to the bank. Bass do not all spawn at the same time, they pull up in waves depending on water temps, other lake conditions, and even lunar phases. Bass that hang out deep or "offshore" can be some of the biggest simply since they have not spawned yet. A minnow style bait presented right in their face can be just the ticket to get a big bite. Target structure like brush piles, rock piles, or natural cover like ledges and creek channels that are adjacent to spawning areas. Fish staging to spawn will hold in these areas in preparation to pull up shallow.
It’s tough to limit it to just 5 soft plastics though! I would love to hear from y’all. No one hardly ever comments on my blog posts, but when they do I love reading them. I like knowing people actually read these and it's worth the time I put in typing them. (I don't use AI for this stuff folks, I hate how prolific it's become with this kind of stuff!) Tell me... what’s in your top 5 soft plastics that didn’t make my list?
P.S. If you are in the Austin area and are not only looking to catch a bunch of fish, but also to step up your fishing game, you might look into one of my Coaching Trip. These are ideal for the angler looking to lessen the learning curve and learn to consistently catch more fish on your own.
Comments