What's the best way to fish creature baits, worms, etc.?

Texas imo, weightless or weighted dependent.

creatures i tend to do a hop or 2 and then pause

Worms i tend to swim 3-4 reels then pause.

Wacky rigs also work wonders

my lord, best way? I don't know if there's an official best way, I'd say it depends more on what the conditions are and what's the structure/cover you are fishing.

 

The beautiful thing about soft plastics is there are so many ways to fish them, it's insane how versatile they are... texas rig, carolina rig, jika rig, rage rig, drop shot, wacky rig, ned rig.... there are almost certainly more than even those but each of the ones I have mentioned can be excellent in its own right.

Jig heads, Texas rig.

Fishing a trick worm on a 1/4 ounce shaky head for me. On days where the DT6 crankbait and lipless crankbaits like the Red Eye Shad wont work (which are my goto) , they are the next thing on my line. They always produce around cover and for those bass that usually wouldn't bite, and when i need a slower more finesse presentation.

You can fish them on the surface weightless, slow fall with 1/32, on the bottom, jerk them, slow roll them, dead stick them, weed less, wacky rigged, on a jig head, and probably another ten different ways.  You can work the entire water column.  I can't remember the last time I was skunked using plastics.  They are just so versatile, and you can always fish the nasty stuff.  Just be patient, methodical, and believe!

The beautiful thing about soft plastics is there are so many ways to fish them, it's insane how versatile they are

this pretty much sums everything up...

You can fish them on the surface weightless, slow fall with 1/32, on the bottom, jerk them, slow roll them, dead stick them, weed less, wacky rigged, on a jig head, and probably another ten different ways.  You can work the entire water column.  I can't remember the last time I was skunked using plastics.  They are just so versatile, and you can always fish the nasty stuff.  Just be patient, methodical, and believe!

This too...

Mike

I t rig mine with a 3/16 or 1/8 ounce. I usually hop hop pause , twitch then rinse and repeat. If I'm in heavy stuff I go 5/16. I'll pull it through weeds into open grass and dead stick for 15 seconds then twitch