Newish to bass fishing 2025

DumBassFishin reply :

Hi I was looking for a new bait to gain confidence in as I am just starting out (kinda). I have already gained confidence with a square bill, but they are too expensive and get hung up easily, and a t-rigged worm/senko but i have to fish them so slow so i dont like using them when i just start fishing in a new place. So...

-I fish from the bank, mostly park ponds. hardly anything over ~8 acres (i will fish table rock lake a few times a year, mostly around docks, still from shore)

-All i have is a 6'6" med. cherrywood (graphite/fiberglass hybrid) spooled with 8lb stren mono and a med/light(feels more like a med, though) graphite spooled with 6lb pline cx

-I will always take numbers over size. i dont care how big they are, as long as im catching bass

So what would be a good lure/rig to start using this year that will cover water at a decent pace and is good for lots of little bass and is easy for beginners to learn?

Thanks

Mosster47 reply :

I'd get some 3/8 spinnerbaits and some Keitech, Kicker Fish, etc. swimbaits and some weighted swimbait hooks.

You will catch fish and won't get board.

RyanFishing reply :

I agree with Mosster47 on the spinnerbait. I would also get a small 1/4 oz lipless. You can do so much with a lipless and fish it in many different ways! I'd also get a 1/2 oz but a 1/4 is a lot more friendly from shore.

EvanT123 reply :

Zoom Super Flukes 3/0 ewg or offset worm hook twitch twitch pause hold on.......

Darren. reply :

On 2/14/2016 at 7:44 AM, DumBassFishin said:

Hi I was looking for a new bait to gain confidence in as I am just starting out (kinda). I have already gained confidence with a square bill, but they are too expensive and get hung up easily, and a t-rigged worm/senko but i have to fish them so slow so i dont like using them when i just start fishing in a new place. So...

-I fish from the bank, mostly park ponds. hardly anything over ~8 acres (i will fish table rock lake a few times a year, mostly around docks, still from shore)

-All i have is a 6'6" med. cherrywood (graphite/fiberglass hybrid) spooled with 8lb stren mono and a med/light(feels more like a med, though) graphite spooled with 6lb pline cx

-I will always take numbers over size. i dont care how big they are, as long as im catching bass

So what would be a good lure/rig to start using this year that will cover water at a decent pace and is good for lots of little bass and is easy for beginners to learn?

Thanks

Welcome aboard!

I'll suggest a wacky rig setup; however, it won't cover water
like a spinnerbait, so that's a great suggestion, too.

But the wacky rigged worm will work and likely help you build
some confidence in your "game".

Grab some worms like the Yamamoto Senko (knockoffs like
the BPS Stick-O and YUM Dingers are cheaper and work well,
too). Tie on a good hook like a Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse
hook, bend your worm in 1/2 and place your hook through the
middle of the worm. Cast it and let it fall and do it's shimmy
thing. Watch your line for subtle pickups. When you see the
line moving, or feel a thump thump thump, reel down and lift
your rod to set the hook. Enjoy....

thomas15 reply :

Another vote for spinnerbaits. Also shallow running cranks that are not as easy to lose as medium cranks. When I was a bank beater I lost a lot of tackle. Top waters like pop-r and buzz baits also might work.

S. Sass reply :

3/8 spinnerbaits is a good option.

Lipless crankbaits aren't to bad Walmart carries I think Cotton Cordell ones for under $3.00. Not my favorites but they do work.

I fish Texas rigged worms a lot. OK a whole lot, its like one of my favorite techniques. I don't find it to be a super slow bait. Yeah sure when the fish are lethargic to get a bite I slow down. That is part of fishing on those days period. But normally I don't fish them super slow. I find them to be a good all around bait because they don't get hung up / lost often and they sure aren't real expensive considering the price of other baits.

Maybe if you having to go so slow you might bump the weight up a little to get it down quicker. What t-rigged worm are you using besides a senko?

DumBassFishin reply :

On 2/14/2016 at 9:26 AM, S. Sass said:

Maybe if you having to go so slow you might bump the weight up a little to get it down quicker. What t-rigged worm are you using besides a senko?

.

I have a pond near my house where i use a zoom finesse 5 in worm but otherwise i also use a 6 inch ribbon tale which ive had okay luck with.

I guess I forgot to mention I do use wacky rig, usually as a last resort though.

Ill try spinnerbaits. I only have 2 medium spinning rods though. Will they be able to fish a 3/8 oz spinnerbait?

Also wouldnt a lipless crank get hung up easily?

thomas15 reply :

I used 3/8 spinnerbaits with a 6'6" medium pole no problem. I used 8 pound mono but at the time I really didn't give lure weight vs. pole backbone that much thought. I just went out and fished!

Another suggestion is of your are not already doing so every time you are in WalMart check to see if they have any crank baits in the cheap bin. Last spring my local walmart had a dump packed with storm cranks for $1.99 ea I bought about 25 of them. I had a friend that was just starting so I put about 20 of then in a bag and just gave them to him. Sometimes you can get good deals at Dicks also.

CJ reply :

I think a spinnerbait is the best answer but I would add to get some topwaters for when the water warms up. I like to walk a chug bug myself but that isn't the easiest thing to do. Rebel Pop R or a black buzzbait would be good for your area. My friend won a boat on a black buzzbait in the fall on Table Rock. I would recommend that you stay with plasics though. May seem slow to fish but things speed up when they start biting. Especially for those sunny days with no wind. Good luck

S. Sass reply :

On 2/14/2016 at 9:35 AM, DumBassFishin said:

I have a pond near my house where i use a zoom finesse 5 in worm but otherwise i also use a 6 inch ribbon tale which ive had okay luck with.

I guess I forgot to mention I do use wacky rig, usually as a last resort though.

Ill try spinnerbaits. I only have 2 medium spinning rods though. Will they be able to fish a 3/8 oz spinnerbait?

Also wouldnt a lipless crank get hung up easily?

I personally have great luck with the Grape 8" Mann's Jelly Worm.

Lipless cranks can get hung up but since I cant see what your fishing in that is something you need to evaluate. They arent real bad about getting hung up but they can. 1/4 oz. one could turn into some good fishing in the right place at the right time.

Bassguytom reply :

All good answers here. If you are just beginning and want numbers X2 on the wacky rigged senko or stick bait. If the ponds you are fishing are weedy try A senko t-rigged both wacky and t-rigged presentations are weightless. Best bet for numbers is a 4 inch senko. If t-rigged use a 3/0 offset EGW hook. If wacky rigged use a 1/0 octopus style hook. Hope this helps.

DumBassFishin reply :

Ok thanks guys. Ill try spinnerbait to find the fish, but if I see an area that looks promising, ill use a wacky rig. Thanks guys!

Fishin Ethan reply :

I learned from a Texas Rig and it is a great easy to learn method. On Bass Resource there is lots of articles about texas rigging. To catch numbers I would recommed going to your local tackle shop and buy 6 inch worms. I started with Zoom 6 inch Pumpkin Seed. Texas Rig is easy to learn and with a smaller worm you will catch numbers of fish.

scaleface reply :

On 2/15/2016 at 1:26 AM, Ethan Traub said:

I learned from a Texas Rig and it is a great easy to learn method. On Bass Resource there is lots of articles about texas rigging. To catch numbers I would recommed going to your local tackle shop and buy 6 inch worms. I started with Zoom 6 inch Pumpkin Seed. Texas Rig is easy to learn and with a smaller worm you will catch numbers of fish.

Precisely . Learn to fish the texas worm well and not only will you learn where the fish are but all other baits will be easy .

Fishin' Fool reply :

On 2/14/2016 at 7:44 AM, DumBassFishin said:

Hi I was looking for a new bait to gain confidence in as I am just starting out (kinda). I have already gained confidence with a square bill, but they are too expensive and get hung up easily, and a t-rigged worm/senko but i have to fish them so slow so i dont like using them when i just start fishing in a new place. So...

-I fish from the bank, mostly park ponds. hardly anything over ~8 acres (i will fish table rock lake a few times a year, mostly around docks, still from shore)

-All i have is a 6'6" med. cherrywood (graphite/fiberglass hybrid) spooled with 8lb stren mono and a med/light(feels more like a med, though) graphite spooled with 6lb pline cx

-I will always take numbers over size. i dont care how big they are, as long as im catching bass

So what would be a good lure/rig to start using this year that will cover water at a decent pace and is good for lots of little bass and is easy for beginners to learn?

Thanks

Learn to fish a grub (Mr Twister, Kailens, many different brands) on a small jighead. With all of these other baits it's been forgotten about. Great bait though. I'll second Keitech swimbaits too.

DumBassFishin reply :

besides a stick style worm like the senko, what would be a good worm to use texas rigged? I used the zoom u tails and zoom finsse worm because they both have worked in the past for me and they are cheap at walmart. Are there better worms out there that arent to terribly expensive and catch numbers of fish?

MIbassangler30 reply :

I gotta vote for a jig or frog.

DumBassFishin reply :

On 2/16/2016 at 9:19 AM, MIbassangler30 said:

I gotta vote for a jig or frog.

Well my ML spinning rod isn't exactly a frog rod...but thanks anyway

68camaro reply :

I also only pond fish and topwaters parrel to shore are most productive followed by jerkbaits than cranks. Plastic are tough, I think its because of heavy fishing pressure from younsters throwing worms.

I use muck boots to get a couple feet off-shore.

trick worms reply :

On 2/16/2016 at 8:03 AM, DumBassFishin said:

besides a stick style worm like the senko, what would be a good worm to use texas rigged? I used the zoom u tails and zoom finsse worm because they both have worked in the past for me and they are cheap at walmart. Are there better worms out there that arent to terribly expensive and catch numbers of fish?

Right on track with zoom. Zoom trick worms are VERY hard to beat in ponds. Tight lines!

DumBassFishin reply :

cool thx

you mean the straight finnesse ones, right? not the curl tail ones?

Bear141 reply :

I don't do a lot of bank fishing but when I do I like manns minus 1. Throw parallel to the bank. When you can. Blue with red hooks work best for me.

greentrout reply :

On your 8lb. test no more than 10lb. test on mono Texas-rigged with no weight or 1/16, 1/8 or 1/4 on 1/0 or 2/0 hooks. Hold on.

DumBassFishin reply :

That was my entire summer in that bag. I used those 90% of the time and had lots of success at a pond near me. I created this topic to try something besides those lol.

Is that your best color or just some random one.

greentrout reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 10:56 AM, DumBassFishin said:

That was my entire summer in that bag. I used those 90% of the time and had lots of success at a pond near me. I created this topic to try something besides those lol.

Is that your best color or just some random one.

Green Pumpkin, Watermelon Red and June Bug. Bite is tough that's what I use. If you worm fish, you do, Culprit and the Power Worm still slay bass in June Bug, Black and Red Shad.

Good fishing.

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Newish to bass fishing 2025

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