I was looking through the Bassmaster magazine the other day and flipped to where they show the pictures of the big bass that have been caught. And sure enough, my theory holds true: I believe nine of the 10 fish were caught on a Zoom plastic.
I can’t remember in over 20 years not seeing at least three or four big bass each month being caught on a Zoom plastic. I would bet if you added all the photos up over the past quarter century, 85 percent of the big bass were caught on plastic baits, and 60 percent of those were Zoom lures.
What this tells me is pretty simple: If I want to catch a big bass, I better be throwing a Zoom plastic bait. Now this could be a Fluke, an Old Monster Worm, Big Brush Hog, Magnum 11 worm, and my favorite, the Centipede, and, of course, the Lizard.
I have always said big bass like a slow moving baits so they don’t have to exert a lot of energy. This gives the huge edge to plastic lures because they can be fished extremely slow and still give a lifelike look to a bass.
When I am fishing in my Nitro Z8 in southern waters like Florida and Texas, I love to dead-stick a plastic lure. Simply cast out and let it go to the bottom, and just let it lay there. With just a little wind or current, even though the bait is just lying there, the tail and little legs will move just enough to make a big fish suck them in. Big fish really don’t like to chase baits.
Whether you are Texas rigging, dropshotting or Carolina rigging, you can fish ever so slowly through and around cover where big bass like to hide. Most any other lure you use has to be moving fairly fast to generate action. This means the bass has to exert energy to get the lure and only has a couple seconds to decide if he wants it or not. Believe me, if it is a Big Bass, he’s going to pass it up 99 percent of the time.
My next observation on big bass being caught is they like heavy cover. With the exception of the jig, there is no other bait that you can fish down in heavy cover like a plastic bait. When fishing a lifelike bait like a Zoom Worm, Lizard, Brush Hog, etc., you can cover every limb of a tree or brush pile really slow. You can jig a lure up and down countless times in one place and make a big bass bite. You just can’t do this effectively with any other lure.
If you are fishing a grass lake or river, again, the plastic baits can be fished efficiently so much better than any other lure. When I catch a big bass in grass, it’s almost always under a mat. Here we go again: There is nothing like a plastic worm or creature-type bait that will work down in the grass.
I am not saying you can’t catch a big bass on any lure because if you throw it enough, the law of averages is going to catch up with you. There are times when an XPS jerk bait, an XPS Nitro crank bait, or an XTS top water bait are good, but these are normally short periods of time during the seasons. Day in and day out, your odds are 100 percent better throwing a plastic bait.
Pick the seasons and go with creature baits. In early spring and late spring, go with a Lizard or Brush Hog. In the summer, I like either a Centipede or Old Monster worm. In the fall, I go with the Magnum 11 and the Magnum Finesse worm.
If you can only afford to buy two colors, I think you should buy green pumpkin and watermelon/red. Darker water or darker times of the day, go with green pumpkin. Clearer water and brighter days, go with watermelon/red. You just can’t go wrong when you stick with Zoom baits.
Hope this is your best fishing year ever, and get all your favorite tackle at Bass Pro Shops!
Please be sure and thank a soldier for their support when you pass them in your travels.
May God bless you and your family,
by Woo Daves
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