If you have a favorite plastic lure such as a creature bait or some just plain plastic worms then I encourage you to find some in a bulk quantity and purchase them.  There is nothing worse than being on the water and run out of your favorite lure.  I always make sure to have more than enough with me just in case.  It is always better to have 10 extra than 1 fewer than you need.  Plus, we all know that with plastic lures they tend to get hacked up by fish and weeds and what not.   They work great to catch fish, but at times they don't hold up that well to the abuse.  Using super glue to hold the plastic bait to the hook works for a while, but there always comes a time when you need to just pitch it and put on a new one.  Let's be honest, we all have had times when we are running short of a certain soft plastic bait and continue to use it far beyond its useful life.  Every single cast you are adjusting the bait so that is on the hook just like you like it.  Invariably as soon as it hits the water it is undoubtedly just as screwed up and very unlikely to catch a fish.  We all know that each bait imparts a specific action that is designed to trigger strikes.  Old plastic baits get this way after a while and the only way to really get away from it is to switch the bait.

The other beauty of today's plastic baits is that they will last for many years.  This allows for people to purchase in large quantities and keep them sitting around the house.  Bulk plastic lures are indeed a great way to go if you have a favorite bait that you use over and over.

Skipping under docks:  Nothing beats a senko under a dock.  See my other post for more details on skipping them under a dock.

Pre-Spawn & Spawn:  Find a shallow cover springtime, when bass are spawning, and move the boat very slow and methodically so as not to spook the fish.  Cast a Senko out and dead stick it as long as possible.  Watch the line for any sign of a fish biting at it.  If the water is clear enough and you can see fish, cast in the direction of the bass at least 5 feet in front.  Wait for the bass to swim at it.  If you wait long enough, the bass will come back.

Summer:  Find a deep weedline in 8 to 12 ft.  The best weedlines are ones that come to a point, are near a hump, and or have rocks in them.  Position the boat at the edge of the weedline and cast the Senko along the weedline.  If you have a good depth finder, this can help tell exactly where the weedline ends.  Dead stick the senko up to a minute and the cast back out.  This method can pull some large bass in behind others fishing the same spot.

Fall:  In the fall, find the greenest weeds possible and work a senko around the inside edges.  Once again, dead sticking is one of the top methods.

General:  During any season, skipping a Senko under a dock is a great presentation.  When picking a color, I like to match the color to the watercolor and to the predominate baitfish in the lake.  In Darker water, I prefer black.  Clearwater, watermelon or pumpkinseed work well.  In general, the top method for working a senko is deadsticking it.  Where you cast it out and let it sit for up to 1 minute with out moving it.

The Yamamoto Senko is versatile bait that I have blog about much already.  It can be used all year around.  One of the top seasons to use it is during the spawning season.  Dead stick it around wood, stumps, and docks for huge bass.

The Berkley 4” Power Worm works best during the post spawn as a jig worm in depths of 8 to 12 feet along weedlines.  Cast it out and slowly drag it along the top of the weeds using a 3/32 mushroom head jig.  If the weeds are to thick, try a Texas rigging it with a 2/0 hook and a 1/8 oz worm. 

The Berkley 10” worm works wonders in the fall when flipped to shallow cover.  Use it around boat docks, lily pads, trees, or reeds.  It’s best to Florida rig this bait, or the worm might get hung up on the cover.

The Zoom Brush Hog are spectacular in the heat of summer worked in the heaviest cover you can find.  Fish it around floating bogs, hydrilla, or lily pads, the ticker the better when it comes to a brush hog.  Pick a weight that will allow you to penetrate though the cover you are fishing.

Zoom Centipede shines during pre-spawn.  Work this bait on a 2/0 hook with no weight and let it slowly float to the bottom before reeling in.  The longer you can wait to reel in, the better.

All these baits can be used any time of year, with the same methods listed.  But the best areas and times to use them are as listed.

Pick an area that is shallow, dark bottom, and preferable has some rocks.  These areas will warm up the earliest and have the most active fish on them.  Tie on a 2/0 hook with a 1/32 watermelon pinch on weight, 8 lb test line, and pumpkin seed Zoom Centipede.   Keep the boat back from where your casting and make extremely long cast.  This time of year the bass can be extremely spooky, any movement will send them swimming off.  Make long cast and wait.  Watch the line for any twitch.  If you see any movement in the line, set the hook.  This is the best time to watch your line, as you want to dead stick your baits as much as possible.  The bass don’t want to see a moving bait.  The centipede should sit still for 10 to 20 seconds.  It can be painstaking, but you can also load the boat with this technique during the pre-spawn season.

A great areas to fish a jig worm is weedlines.  Position the boat at the edge or even over the weedlines.  Cast the jig worm out and work it back to the boat.  With a quick pop of the wrist, you should be able to snap any weeds free from the bait. 

Pick a rod that has a lot of sensitivity for jig worming, but still has some backbone to snap the bait free from any weeds.  I prefer to hold the line in my finders and slowly drag the bait for short distances.  This way I can feel for a bite.  Then I reel in more slack and do over.  The key to working a jig worm is to move it extremely slow.  Working it to fast will result in no bites.  Many times, the bass will just pick up your bait and swim off.  By holding onto the line, you can feel the bite.

The 4” Black Berkley power worm seems to be the best all around color.  I recommend keeping all your bait color simple.  Have just one or two main colors that you enjoy working.  Stick with those same colors for your Senko, 10” worms, and creature baits.  It will make you much more confident in that color and when you pick up the next new bait on the market, your confidence, due to the color, will be high to begin.

Bass love to hide under docks

Yamamato Senko or Zoom Centipede.  I would suggest staring with the 5” Senko.  These weight slightly less, yet have enough weight to skip well.  If you pick a centipede, either use a 3/0 to 5/0 hook to give a little more weight, use a pinch on weight, or press a small nail into the tip to add weight.  Don’t add to much weight, as this will nullify the skipping ability.  Also, don’t use a Texas rig.  Either no weight at all or very light weight, less than 1/16 oz, Florida or peg to weight.