Best Bait For Largemouth Bass

Largemouth bass are America’s favorite game fish by a mile, and it’s no surprise that new anglers are introduced to the sport every day. 

And with the array of options you can find on shelves at Bass Pro or your local tackle shop, bait choice can be overwhelming. It’s hard to know what to throw and how to throw it until you’ve spent considerable time on the water, often under the tutelage of more experienced fishermen.

Today, we’re going to demystify bait choice, offering you the best live and artificial options to get you off to a good start. We’ll focus specifically on “bait,” meaning things you can add to a hook.

We’ve written quite a bit about these alternatives, so if you’d like a closer look, check out these articles:

Best Live Bait for Largemouth Bass

Live bait doesn’t get much attention in the bass angling world, and you can chalk that up to one simple reason: live bait can’t be used in tournaments.

Fishermen looking to improve their skills focus on lures and artificial baits of all kinds, ignoring live bait altogether. But truth be told, live bait is remarkably effective, offering the real thing that lures try to imitate.

Let’s take a closer look at your best options.

Crawfish

Winter sends bass deep, where they find the warmest holes they can. This cold-induced torpor slows their metabolism considerably, and they’ll feed sporadically – and less aggressively. 

But as spring begins in earnest, and the water warms to about 50 degrees, female bass will regain their energy in preparation for the spawn. Driven by instinct, they’ll look to gain weight aggressively, and they’re hunting for nutrient-rich prey items.

That puts crawfish at the top of the list.

Crawfish are the best pre-spawn live bait, hands down.

Prior to the spawn, crawfish are the most effective live bait option for largemouth bass, hands down.

And whether you source them yourself with a crawfish trap, or pick up a couple dozen at the bait shop, you’ll find that big females just can’t get enough of them.

Rigging crawfish

There are many ways to rig a crawfish, but I haven’t found one I like better than Richard Gene’s ingenious take.

He uses a rubber band to hold a rearward facing hook against the back of a crawfish:

Hook selection for live minnows follows my advice for crawfish: slip the “bass” hooks and use a 1/0 or 2/0 Gamakatsu circle hook. 

To rig my minnows, I prefer one of two methods.

My preferred method when I’m fishing high in the water column or in relatively shallow water is to use a slip float like those offered by Thill. These floats are easy to cast, simple to set to your desired depth, and they’ll alert you to the gentle hit your minnow will take from a bass.

To rig a slip float, follow these steps:

1. Slide the float stop onto your line.
2. Run your line through the slip float.
3. Attach your hook with a Palomar knot.
4. Add just enough split shot to allow you to cast. Space the shot out, and place it no closer than 6 to 8 inches from your hook.

If you follow these steps carefully, you’ll end up with a minnow that you can cast well, and you’ll be able to precisely set the depth at which it swims.

My choice for rigging minnows deep is a slip sinker rig. Common among catfishermen, it’s an awesome choice to fish near the bottom, and it’ll cast well and sink fast.

A modified slip sinker rig is deadly on bass when fishing with live minnows.

For bass, here’s how I assemble this rig:

1. Slide a ½-ounce egg sinker onto your main line. 
2. Follow the sinker with a bead.
3. Attach a heavy-duty barrel swivel with a Uni Knot, wet it, and tighten it down, trimming the tag end.
4. Cut approximately 18 inches of leader. This is especially important if you’re using braided main line.
5. Attach the leader to your barrel swivel using a Uni Knot. Wet it, tighten it down, and trim the tag end.
6. Using a Palomar Knot, attach your hook to the end of your leader. Wet your knot, tighten it, and trim the tag end.

How to fish with minnows

Live minnows are amazingly effective, and whether you suspend them beneath a slip float or run them above a modified slip sinker rig, you’re going to get plenty of attention.

But as Keith ‘Catfish’ Sutton warns, “Explosive strikes are rare. Instead, you’ll feel gentle tugs as the bass inhales the minnow, then turns it tail first to swallow it.”

Don’t expect a hard strike. And that’s one reason why circle hooks are a great idea for minnows: they don’t require that you feel the strike and react instantly. Instead, keep a tight line and just start reeling when you feel a bass take your minnow for a ride.

Shad

Shad are a primary food source for bass, and you’ll find that lures imitating them are as common as full shopping carts on Black Friday.

The real thing is far more deadly, especially when you’re chasing really big bass. If you just want a live minnow on your hook, there’s no reason to rig a shad. Instead, large shad – in excess of 4 inches – are prime bait for big bass, especially in the fall when they’re looking to fatten up ahead of winter.

Big shad are going to attract massive bass, so don’t be shy about throwing large bait!

Shad are relatively easy to catch with a cast net. Wait till just after sundown and toss your net into the shallows. Chances are you’ll snag more than you need.

Just be sure to only use shad in the lake where they were caught.

Rigging shad

I rig shad just as I would minnows. 

For slip float rigs, you’ll need a much more buoyant float than a Thill. My choice is a South Bend Catfish Pole Float, as it will stay above the water with a big shad beneath it.

You’ll need a big, buoyant float for slip float rigging large shad.

For fishing deep, I run exactly the same slip sinker rig as I would for minnows.

My hook choice is also identical, and rest assured, you don’t need (or want) a massive hook to catch monster bass.

Fishing Shad

You’re not throwing shad as live bait to tempt a 1-pound bass to strike, though smaller bass will sometimes hit a big bait. Instead, you’re really looking for a bruiser of a fish.

I like to throw shad that are about the length of my hand, say 8 to 10 inches. They’re going to swim like mad, and it can be tough to tell when a largemouth has taken them.

That’s one reason I really like circle hooks for this presentation: the bass are going to hook themselves. And when you see that big float disappear or rocket to the side, you’ll know a fat female has taken your bait and is well and truly hooked!

If you find that a ½-ounce sinker isn’t sufficient for your slip sinker rigs, because the shad can move too easily, simply add more weight. Nailing a frantically swimming shad to 12 to 18 inches of leader is far from the worst approach to attracting a big bass.

Best Artificial Bait for Largemouth Bass

If we turn our attention to artificial bait options, three standouts are common choices for both amateurs and pros: soft-plastic swimbaits, worms, and creature baits.

Let’s take a close look at each.

Soft-plastic swimbaits

Deadly. 

That’s the best way to describe a good paddle-tailed swimbait when rigged and fished properly.

A paddle-tailed, soft-plastic swimbait is nearly ideal for attracting the attention of hungry bass.

First, it has the general shape that they’re looking for, a fishy-profile that screams “food!” That brings bass in from quite a distance, as they use sight as their primary hunting sense.

Second, it has a color that either allows it to stand out in murky or stained water, or a hue that matches natural prey items (like crawfish, minnows, and shad) in clear water.

Third, it has a wriggling tail that creates subtle vibrations that confirm to the bass that it’s dinner.

Those three attributes work together to generate an instinctive predatory response.

My two favorite soft-plastic swimbaits are the Keitech Fat Swing Impact and the 6th Sense Divine Swimbait. These are straight-running soft-plastics that wriggle like your wife when a spider runs down her shirt.

Available at: Bass Pro | Amazon 

Available at: Bass Pro | Amazon 

These are the choices of tournament winners, and with a bit of knowledge about which size and color to pick, and how to rig and fish them, you’ll be amazed at how effective they can be.

Size

As a general rule, the more pressured the bass are, or the more timid the bite, the smaller the swimbait.

That means that cold water torpor, mid-summer heat stress, fishing pressure, or just a slow day where the bite is finicky all call for downsized baits.

For me, that means 2.8” to 3.3” in the Keitech or 3.2” in the 6th Sense.

But on an unpressured lake, pre- or post-spawn, and when the water begins to cool in the fall, I’ll throw 4.8” and 6.8” Fat Swing Impacts and 4.4” Divines.

Color

Water depth and clarity have a lot to do with color choice.

As you can see from the following image, red and orange are the first colors to disappear with depth as those wavelengths of light are the first to be absorbed. The last are the dark blues, purples, and blacks.

If you’re fishing deep, steer toward those darker hues.

Dark colors like black and blue fleck are excellent for deep water.

But in muddy or stained water, those colors will be all but invisible. Instead, you want to choose bright, neon colors for low-visibility water conditions. You need bass to see your bait, pick it up through the murk, and move in for a closer look.

White is always a good choice when the water is stained, muddy, or murky.

But bass, being sight predators, reach their largest sizes and heaviest weights in crystal clear water as it allows them to hunt most effectively. When the water is very clear, choose natural colors that mimic the prey items at the top of the menu.

Pre-spawn, that might mean reds and oranges, but mid-summer and fall, you might throw colors common to shad and minnows.

Rigging soft-plastic swimbaits

Since we’re focusing on baits themselves, rather than using soft plastics as trailers, let’s discuss bare hooks and jig heads.

Both are amazingly effective ways to fish soft-plastic swimbaits.

Weightless rigging a soft-plastic swimbait

Pair a good paddle-tail with a 4/0 EWG hook like the Gamakatsu. This hook is designed to allow the swimbait to remain straight and run true, and there’s simply no substitute for an EWG hook for this presentation.

To rig your swimbait properly, follow these steps:

1. Attach a 4/0 EWG hook to your line with a Palomar knot.
2. Hold your hook against your swimbait to judge where the point needs to exit its body to get a straight, natural presentation.
3. Run the point of the hook through the head of the swimbait.
4. Push the point out of the body of the swimbait.
5. Rotate the hook 180 degrees and push the point back through the soft plastic so that it just pierces the other side, exposing the point.

You want it to look like this, and it should lay flat and straight:

Fishing a weightless paddle tail

One effective way to fish a weightless paddle tail is to allow it to slowly fall through the water to the depth where the bass are holding. Then, slowly retrieve it, giving it a pop-pop-pause cadence.

With practice, you’ll have that soft-plastic fluttering slowly downward, executing a few quick pumps, and then gliding forward.

That motion really gets the bass excited.

You can also try a steady retrieve, varying your speed until you find what works. That paddle tail will thump for all its worth, and the body will wriggle like a prey item.

Finally, you can let it settle to the bottom, and with a lift of your rod tip, get it to rise into the water column. Pick up the slack and let it settle again.

Bass will often hit your paddle tail on the fall, so be ready!

How to fish a paddle-tail swimbait on a jig head

One thing round jig heads do really well is allow you to creep a small paddle-tail across the bottom. That may not sound like much, but when the water’s too cold for aggressive hunting or the bass are really feeling the heat, a small, slow-moving paddle tail that’s sticking close to the bottom is money.

This technique is simple: cast your jig near a live weed bed or rip rap and slowly crank your reel, pausing every few turns and waiting a second or two. You want to maintain constant contact with the bottom, and if you accidentally lift your jig, let it fall to the bottom and pick up any slack in your line.

Nathan Quince gives a master class on this technique, and you can see that he’s just hammering bass:

Fishing a Carolina Rig

My favorite way to fish a Carolina rig is to let it fall to the bottom and then use my rod tip – not my reel – to drag it across the bottom. I’ll just use my reel to take up slack and keep a tight line: all the work and motion happens with the rod.

This is particularly deadly because the worm is free to wriggle, dance, and swim, while the weight stays anchored to the bottom. The effect is that you’ll have a wriggling worm lifting and falling, swimming and dancing near the bottom, unencumbered by a weight.

Check out 2:45 in this video to see what I mean: