The centipede, ring fry, and stud fry have the profile of a caterpillar. Either end can be used as the head when placing it on your hook. When the plastic will no longer stay up on the hook, the bait can be turned upside down, placed on the hook and used again. This can be extremely helpful when the bass are taking only that color of plastic, and it's the last one you have. The rings on these baits hold air and when you fish with them the air escapes, creating air bubbles under the water that attract bass. These baits are used on Carolina and Texas rigs. They can also be fished using a split-shot weight, light line rig, or with no weight because they are heavier baits. I prefer using a #3, wide-gap, offset hook with these baits for maximum penetrations when setting the hook.
Plastic frogs hopped over lily pads can give you a jolt as good as any topwater bait. Sometimes when the frog slides over the pad, and is allowed to sit on the edge of it, a bass will come straight up out of the water to try and eat that frog. Don't set the hook until you feel the bass tug down. It's difficult to stop your immediate reaction of setting the hook, but if you do not wait, the bass will swim away. Use a weed guard type hook for protection from hooking lily pads and stems, or imbed the point and barb of the hook into the back of the frog to make it weedless.
Fishing with lizards, a spawning bass' natural enemy, can be done year around. They can be purchased in any size and color you like to fish with. Notice the colors the live lizards are sporting for each season, and match the hatch with your plastics. Remember lizards can sit still, run, turn, stop and start on a dime. Using lizards in heavy cover can be tedious, but well worth the patience it takes to catch bass in brush, reeds, and heavy grass. If you fish this bait in deep water, the bass will try to kill and eat the lizard just as it does in shallow water. People have a tendency to utilize lizards only in the spring. But year around use of these baits can be very productive, just as they are in the spring. Lizards are normally fished using a Carolina or Texas rig.
Grubs and gitzits are normally fished on lighter line. Using a jig-headed-hook, thread the bait on the hook and cast it under a dock, near the bank, on a point, or around the pilings of bridges. Allow the bait to slowly arch back to your boat, keeping contact with your line so you can feel the strike. You can also hop these baits on the bottom or swim them under the water toward you. Use a hook size slightly smaller than the length of the body of the plastic, allowing the tail to move freely in the water. Some people also bend the point and barb of the hook out for an easier hook set. Grubs can, and should be, included in your list of Carolina rig baits to fish with.
Crawfish are a bass's filet mignon. Their little, snapping claws will call a bass as quickly as a can opener will a cat. Put a rattle in the body of the crawfish, and Texas rig the bait. You can also place a glass bead between the weight and the hook for an added clicking noise. Crawfish can be found near rocks, sand, and grass. When they are on the defense against and enemy, they move backwards. Put the bait on your hook so the claws will be facing away from you when retrieving the bait. Retrieve this bait slowly toward you. Shake your rod tip, then move the bait again. Change the pace of movement occasionally so the bait will seem alive. Watch the color of the crawfish change each season and use that knowledge when you go fishing with your plastic crawfish. Crawfish are probably fished more with jigs than solo. Jigs give bulkiness to the bait that attracts larger bass. They are very effective at night, and fished on a Carolina rig.
Do nothing, free-floating, jerkbaits, Bass Assassins, flukes, and Slug-gos are really fun to fish. These baits are formed to resemble baitfish and snakes. They can be fished in open water, over grass beds, near bridge pilings, under docks, deep and shallow water, through trees, near reeds, bushes, and grass lines. You can fish them with our without weights depending upon the structure you are fishing. To fish these baits, cast out and let the bait move slowly through the water, twitching your rod occasionally to keep the bait moving. You will feel a tug on the line, so you will know when to set the hook. You can also use these baits on a Carolina rig or, if it is schooling time for the fish, cast the bait into the schoolers. Be ready to set the hook when the tug occurs.
To place the jerkbaits on your hook, stick the point of the hook into the head of the bait about ¼-inch deep. Bring the hook through the plastic until the head of the bait reaches the offset top of the hook. Turn the hook toward the belly of the bait. Measure the length of the hook to the body of your bait. Where the body of your hook meets the body of the bait is where you stick the point of the hook through the plastic. Now, pull the shaft of the hook back toward your hand, slowly. When and where the barb of the hook is close to the bait, gently pinch upward on the plastic bait, and cover the point and barb of the hook with the plastic. You now have a weedless lure. You can use this same technique whenever you put most plastics on a hook.
The French fry is my personal favorite. Watermelon seed dipped in Spike-It chartreuse garlic scent is, to me, a killer bait. I fish this particular plastic year around, outside and inside grass beds, shallow and deep water, with the same good results. Normally when I fish this bait, if the wind is not blowing too hard I will use light line with a #7 split-shot on a spinning reel. If the wind picks up, I change to a #5 split-shot. Keep the line loose and watch it carefully. When the line begins to move, crank up the line, and set the hook. You can fish this bait on heavy line, Carolina rigged and wacky style.
