Nothing quite beats heading out fishing with your best friends and go-to rod as the sun still waits to rise. While the skill you have plays a large part in your ability to catch a great bass, the gear you use also plays a vital role.
This is where the plastic worm comes in to be your new best friend when bass fishing. From rubber to plastic and from red to green, every rubber worm is slightly different and works in its own unique way. Let’s take a look at the best rubber worms for bass to get you fishing right.
Best Soft Plastic Worms for Bass
Googan Baits 10" Mondo Worm
This exciting offering from Googan is a great worm that has a lot of desirable traits that make it a solid option for a wide variety of bass fishing situations. The 10-inch length is on the larger side and will help you to get the attention of large bass.
Googan knows how to make these worms a bit more appealing by giving them some extra help in attracting the bass. You get a mix of added salts and specially designed coatings that make these worms irresistible to the bass you are trying to catch. You are also getting 8 worms so you can fish without fear of losing them.
Zoom Bait Fat Albert Grub Bait
Where the Googan 10 inch bait is a great pick for larger bass, the Zoom Fat Albert is the complete opposite design. The small and stumpy design that is both shorter and darker in color is for a completely different fishing style.
You can use these for getting some smaller fish and choose a color that suits your particular fishing needs. With 10 of them in a pack, you are also able to set them up in a variety of ways to see how to use them best. Overall, these are a great option for smaller worms.
Zoom 006116-SP 6-Inch Trick Worm
Sitting right in between our other two recommendations, the Zoom 6-inch trick worm is a nice middleweight option that offers the looks and feels of a live worm without the hassle.
The natural coloring and accurate sizing mean bass won’t know what hit them when they go to investigate it.
The motor oil finish of these worms makes them look like the real thing and gives them a great ability to float when needed while also working well with weights.
You will be receiving 20 worms for a low price so you can enjoy these worms on many fishing trips to come.
Selecting The Right Rubber Worms
Now that we have seen the best soft plastic worms for bass fishing, we want to give you some insights as to how we made our choices. From the way the bait looks to the way it is rigged, picking the right rubber worms comes down to how you like to fish and what you like to fish for.
Worm Styles
The style of worm you chose determines how the bait will cast and move in the water and also plays a role in how the fish will react to the worm. You can find worms in a variety of styles, but there are a few main ones we want to highlight so you know what will be effective for most bass fishing trips.
Ribbon Tails
The ribbon tail worm is a classic style. It has a solid body section that leads to a squiggly tail that mimics the motion of a real animal.
The most common rigging for this style of worm is going to be the Texas rig as that will allow for the best swimming pattern for the worm.
When fishing with this type of worm, you will want to make sure it is moving the right way. Look for the tail moving through the water to resemble a snake-like movement. Use this lure when fishing for bass in a depth range of 10-25 feet for best results.
Paddle Tails
The paddle tail lure is a great option when looking for one of the best bass worm lures when casting in areas that have heavier grass vegetation.
They are designed with a straight body similar to the other worms and then break down to a paddle at the end to help it move.
Using a Texas rig with this worm, you need to focus on finding the perfect weight for the worm that will allow it to move smoothly and effectively. The paddle tail can move in a way that may resemble a spinning lure that will work wonders if you can reel it in just right.
Straight Tails
As the name suggests, the straight tail worm is simply a body and tail that are one piece and do not have the same wavy motion as the other options.
The straight tailed worm acts similarly to a small minnow and can attract the bass better than other lures in some situations.
The Carolina rigging is going to be the best option for casting with this worm as the slower moving design will help get bass lower in the water.
The straight tail is most comfortable around 30 feet down and will give you plenty of versatility when fishing.
Curly Tails
The last main type of lure to use when fishing is the curly tail worm. This is one of the soft plastic worms that looks and acts somewhat similar to the ribbon tail worm. What makes this worm different is that they have less of a moving area than the ribbon worm so it is ideal for certain conditions.
This type of worm has been praised for its ability to thrive in the grass and weeds where other worms and lures just aren’t suited to work in. Whether looking to catch smallmouth bass or largemouth bass, the curly tail worm will help you get those fish out of the weeds.
Worm Size
Despite being something that seems minor on the surface, the size of the worm you use actually is one of the most important factors in determining whether or not you get the fish. Smaller worms have their place in certain situations and larger worms are the way to go in other cases but knowing when to use which worm is what will help you become the best fisher possible.
Small Worms
Smaller worms are going to be the go-to choice for when you are fishing in more favorable conditions. When the water is clear and there isn’t too much to plantation get your worm caught in, the smaller worms are going to be good at getting the attention of bass.
Additionally, the smaller worms are going to be ideal when looking to catch smaller bass. Being that smaller fish cannot get the larger worms, fishing with smaller worms allows you to attract smaller fish and sometimes even larger ones if the conditions are right more comfortably. Smaller worms will allow you to get more bites, but the water conditions need to be right. The primary weakness for smaller worms is that they just aren’t ideal when the waters are murky and it is harder for the fish to actually see the worms.
Large Worms
Unlike the small worms that are best suited for smaller fish and clear waters, the larger worms are going to be good at getting the larger bass and will be ideal for the murkier waters.
The larger size of the worms makes them more attractive for larger bass as they find the bait more tempting. If you are fishing somewhere with higher amounts of weeds and the water is not as clear, the larger worms are going to allow you to get to the bass that are hiding in the weeds.
Worm Color
The last thing you need to take into consideration when picking your worm is the color of the worm. Just like the size of the worm affects how well it is seen and attracts certain bass species, the color of the worm also plays a role in the reception of the worm by bass.
In most cases when you are fishing in clearer water, you can get away with using a worm that is slightly darker in color so that it does not stand out as unusual and unappealing to the fish. On the other hand, you will likely want to use a brighter color worm to attract the fish when casting in darker waters and in grass.
How to rig plastic worms
With your new bass worm lures, you now need to set them up in a way that is going to get the fish biting. Despite many people just sticking to one rigging for their whole fishing career, there are so many different ways to set up your bait to make it more effective for specific situations.
Despite there being hundreds of different rig styles for catching bass with, we just want to highlight four of the most common and effective ways to rig your bass worms. Let’s dive in and see what each of these bass worm rigs has to offer.
Texas Rig
The Texas rig has to be one of the most common and simplistic rigs you can use when looking to go fishing with a plastic worm. When you use this rigging in the water, the way the hook is placed is to highlight the natural tendencies of the worm bait so that it can swim freely.
To use the Texas rig, you will pull the hook through the body of the worm where it will sit. The hook is designed to sit within the hook so that the fish eats the entire worm and then gets caught on the hook. For being such a simple rig to set up, the Texas rig is great for casual fishing and even going after larger fish with ease.
Carolina Rig
The Carolina rig is an interesting rig in that it has multiple parts that all work together in harmony to provide a unique bait that bass are keen to chase after. Where other rigs connect the weight to the worm, the Carolina rig separates the worm from the weight to make a unique movement pattern.
With the hook, you are essentially going to place it into the worm just as you would with the Texas rig. After that, you will use the line to attach the weight and worm separately from each other. The way that the weight and worm are separated from each other is what makes this rigging style so great at grabbing the attention of hungry bass.
Dropshot Rig
In many ways, the dropshot rig is very similar to the Carolina rig in that it relies on a system that has the weight and the worm itself separated by a length of fishing line. However, this rig is more designed so that it is ideal for vertical fishing where you have a wide range of depths to fish in.
The dropshot rigging system allows you to have a variety of ways to cast the worm so that you can try attracting bass in different ways. You can adjust the length between the weight and worm to get a more erratic motion from the worm or get smoother actions all by simply messing around with weight distribution throughout the line.
Don't forget to check out the best drop shot rods to maximize your catch chances.
Wacky Rig
Despite the funny name and surprisingly simplistic nature of setting this rig up, the wacky rig proves itself as one of the best ways to rig a worm out there. The strange way that you just run the hook through the center of the worm may seem unorthodox, but it has been shown to be very successful for hunting bass.
The way the worm and rig will drift in the water is one of the more natural ways a rig can look and makes it that much more appealing for the hungry bass. Being one of the plastic worm rigs that is the most intense on the worm itself, you will likely only want to use this on your inexpensive worms that you don’t mind losing.
Plastic worms vs live bait for bass
The question that every fisher needs to ask themselves before even thinking about making their first cast is whether to fish with plastic worms or live bait. Despite the fact that this is a smaller factor on how likely you are to catch a fish, the bait type you use can still play a role in your ability to catch a fish.
Plastic Worms
Plastic worms as we have already seen offer many great benefits to fishing for bass any time of the year and in any conditions. Whether fishing in clear or murky water, there is likely a plastic worm that will be just what you need to get a bite.
What makes plastic worms so great for fishing is that you have complete control over the way you react to the conditions you are fishing in. From the time of day you fish to the way the bass are feeding, you can craft the perfect worm and rigging combination to get plenty of bites. The only real downside to using plastic bait is that it just isn’t going to get the fish as excited as live bait will.
Live Bait
Live bait has been used for centuries by fishermen all across the world, and for good reason. Getting a stubborn bass out of the weeds takes some good live bait that will attract them to the scent of the bait. With bass chasing a variety of bait options, picking the right one for the occasion is essential.
Live bait allows you to get bass interested during times when something like a plastic worm just wouldn’t catch their attention the right way. As far as downsides go, the issue with live bait is not only does it smell, but you need to get the right bait for the type of bass fishing you plan on doing.
Conclusion
Using fake worms for fishing is something that would have seemed like a joke a few decades ago, but the evolution of plastic worms and new techniques to use them have really taken off. An average fisherman can get out there with the right worm and rig and out-catch an experienced fisherman who is still relying on live bait.
With our three favorite worms for bass fishing, we hope that you think at least one of them will suit the type of fishing you like to do. Additionally, the various styles of rigging we looked into hopefully offered you some new ways to try and get those bass biting.
Whether you are yet to take your first cast or are looking to pick up the rod again, we hope our insights into the world or plastic worms have inspired you to get out there and fish.
Nothing is more important than the rod and reel you're using. Check out our guide on best rods for bass fishing and our top picks for the best bass spinning reels for more information.