Sometimes You Have To Trick Bass Into Biting

When bass are in a funk and/or otherwise won't respond to standard presentations, you sometimes have to trick them into hitting. It may take a new look...something sexy, vulnerable, or exciting...to draw them out and trigger strikes when the mundane won't work.

Following are a couple specialty techniques not well-known among the masses that are advertised to maybe produce results. File them in your memory bank for use the next time when the situation dictates.

The floating worm is an offering for those times when bass are hanging in shallow cover, and they're ignoring spinnerbaits, crankbaits, buzzbaits, etc. Bass pro Danny Joe Humphrey (left) says these fish can be goaded into biting by dropping a weightless worm over their heads, then twitching it as it sinks ever so slowly.

"The fish lie down there in the cover, watching this thing until they can't stand it any longer, then explode on it," he said.

This Kinston, NC pro has an amazing record of victories in local tournaments, most of which have come on his no-weight Original Floating Worm. He says this bait and subtle method for presenting it are deadly whenever the water temperature is above 55 degrees, the bass are holding in shallow cover, and water visibility is clear to slightly dingy.

"You have to fish a floating worm with spinning tackle," he says. "I use a 6-foot medium-heavy rod and 10- or 12-pound-test line. I rig it with no weight whatsoever...only a 3/0 or 4/0 worm hook. I thread a floating worm on the hook Texas-style, with the point buried in the belly so it's weedless. I can throw this rig into a rose bush without hanging it up," he assured.

Humphrey also targets submerged treetops, brushpiles, willow trees, stumps, grass, etc.

"I'll cast right into the heart of the cover, and I'll wait while the worm starts sinking slowly toward the bottom," he explains. "Then I'll twitch it slightly with my rod tip. I'll let it sink and twitch it several times before it leaves the cover."

Humphrey detects bites by watching his worm or the line.

"I like bright colors for better visibility: pink, yellow, pearl, sherbert. Also, I always wear polarized sunglasses for better visibility underwater."

Humphrey usually sees the flash of a bass taking the worm, or he notices a twitch in his line.

"When I get a bite, I'll wait three to four seconds before setting the hook to see which way the fish is moving, and then I'll set the hook hard in the opposite direction," he notes. "This way, I get a high percentage of good hooksets. Then I have to figure out how to play what many times is a big fish out of the heart of the cover."

Meanwhile, the late-bass pro Ricky Green (right) had a reputation for catching big bass on surface lures, specifically walk-the-dog baits like the Zara Spook. However, he did something different with these lures than most anglers do.

"I'll make a long cast," he began, "then when the lure hits the water, I'll start it jumping and skipping, like a shad trying to get away from a pursuing bass. I'll do this for 6 to 8 feet, fast and erratic, then I'll just stop the bait totally for three to four seconds. Most strikes come with the bait at rest. However, if a fish doesn't hit it, then I'll pick the retrieve back up with a normal walk-the-dog action."

"The initial skipping motion excites the bass and makes them think another fish is trying to catch the 'shad,'" he continued. "If a bass thinks a competitor is feeding, it gets excited. Then suddenly here's this easy target floating right overhead, and wham!"

Green said this presentation is best in warmer months, when some surface feeding is evident. In deep, clear lakes, he used it to work around points where shad were evident. In flatter mainstream reservoirs, he used this method around logs, stumps, bushes, and other isolated-cover objects.

"I'll cast past an object, jump and skip the bait up to it, then kill it right by the cover," he explained.

One place where Green's technique proved super effective was on Lake Guerrero in northeastern Mexico.

"I don't know how many 8-pounders I've caught there doing this," he mused. "Those Mexican largemouths just had to have it."