DrumintheSuds

For stained water go with the purple/red firetail or blue/chartreuse worm and dip the tails with spike-it I fish them with a splitshot a foot or so above the hook and throw it to structure. Best ribbontail worm on the market

Fishing Senko type baits requires a different mindset just like jig fishing or spinnerbait fishing but there is no doubt a reason why people catch fish after fish with it. Take it as a challenge and work the thing until you "figure it out". I learned by fishing a private pond I know like the back of my hand. I know where every stump, laydown and pebble is in the entire body of water. I know where the fish "always" stage for an ambush. I took the senko and threw to these spots until I figured out what made them strike it. I fished it the next time and the next and when they adjusted I figured out why and adjusted my approach as well. I wrote like hell in my log book and now I have made it a deadly bait. I had a lot of fun in the process as well....

Fish react to and attack a lure if and only if you are able to fool them. If they attack a worm and sense it isn't real they will spit it out before you even know what happened. Scents like Garlic and salt impregnated worms make a difference in the fish refusing to let go of the bait and that can make a huge difference in a hookset. If the fish are attacking and in a feeding mood I don't think scent makes that much of a difference but when they are finicky I think it makes a world of difference. A veteran angler that has felt the taps and pressure bites a million times can get by without using scent because he "knows" the fish is there. For most a scent or salt impregnated bait might give you a longer window to feel and get a hookset. I always keep my hands washed with soap that has no fragrance added and I like garlic on my worms. CB's hawg sauce (gel) is my choice of scent.

Go to a lake where every fish has seen every bait in every color. Get your partner to tie on a Japanese made lure that is painted different, swims different and has a different rattle that they haven't seen and get back to me.

I have only found one situation where red makes any difference. I fish a lot of stained water ponds and I have caught many fish on darker colored plastics like purple and blue. I found that when I added a red tail it made a significant difference. The reason?.........Contrast of dark body and bright tail. My favorite set-up in stained water is a Grape / Firetail culprit worm dipped in red spike. I buy them by the case.

You can spray it with algaecide and then put pond dye in to control the amount of light that penetrates the water. I take it the pond is clear and shallow? Some catfish wouldn't hurt either.....

My honey hole here in NC is a spitting image of that photo. My solution? Grape with red firetail Culprit (tail dipped in red Spike). Split shot about a foot above the texas rigged worm and I am throwing at those stumps from every angle possible ;-)

Watch the line if you are fishing a slow or natural retrieve. If they are wanting it this way it means they are picking the bait up and carrying it off to eat it. If they want it fast they are willing to chase it and many times they will hit hard. If they are chasing, tapping and letting go I will kill the retrieve and let the bait die to the bottom. Then I begin to watch the line for him coming back. Once I feel confident he has the bait in his mouth I lay the wood to him.....

Chartreuse will work in clear water and natural colors will work in stained water but playing the percentages.... Stained - Go with dark body / chartreuse tail and something that will vibrate a bit (curly tail or ripple tail) I also dip the tails in "spike it". I fish a lot of stained water which is my favorite. Clear - Go with watermelon, pumpkin, green and any other natural color. I still like ripple tails but I like trick worms, lizards and senko baits as well You can fool a fish in any water with any color and with any worm if you master the art of presentation.

Keep throwing that lizard (especially around spawning time). I promise you won't find anything in your box that gets a better reaction from a bass guarding a bed. Lizards tick huge bass off instinctively. I have been killing the bass with them the last few weeks here in North Carolina. I play with them in my neighborhood pond during the winter to learn how to work them in a life like manner. That "play time" pays off big time for me. Colors? Black with Chartreuse tail Watermelon Any kind of pumpkin or green pumpkin Cotton Candy I prefer the Zoom lizards and the Culprit brand

Nothing better than a plastic worm (your choice). You can mimic almost anything with a worm and proper technique. You can fish it slow, fast, texas rig, carolina rig, drop shot, split shot, morning, afternoon, evening and in the winter, spring, summer and fall. You can fish it in any water and around any type of cover and it is good pre-spawn, post-spawn and everywhere in between. All lures have their place and time but the plastic worm is the one bait that has stood the test of time.

Worm fishing is all about technique. You are trying to fool a fish into thinking something not real is real and that is hard to do with a 10"+ worm in the daylight. I only fish big worms at night but I sometimes fish them in dark murky water or when the fish are feeding hard. Just not a big fan of big plastics. 7" is about as big as I go most of the time.

The Rapala Original floater is THE best hard bait ever made IMO. There are so many ways to work that bait and it is one of the best fish catchers of all time.

Gotta love night fishing. Black jitterbug, black culprit worm, a Pop-R and a loaded deck sweeper in case Mr. No Shoulders sneaks up on the party.

I carry very little in the way of crankbaits. In fact the only crankbait I carry is a Rapala original floater which isn't really a crankbait IMO. I do major damage where I fish with plastic worms, topwater, a spinnerbait and my Rapala and that is ALL I need to catch fish. When my dad was teaching me to fish years ago he gave me what I could carry in my pocket and told me to learn how to fish what was in my pocket to perfection which is what I did with the above mentioned lures. He told me that learning those handful of lures would save me a wad of cash one day and it has indeed. The only money I spend on lures today is restocking what I know works in certain water on certain days at certain times of the year. I always have the smallest tacklebox in the boat and you can bet your last penny that if there is anything expensive in there it will be a top notch hook sharpener.