Jigging for bass

 I have now been fishing in the Las Vegas area for a little over two years. I have learned tons in this time, and yet, I still know very little at all. This decent largemouth bass was caught almost a year after my first bass from Lake Mead in the exact same spot. It is in every way an upgrade from that first quarter pounder, a sign that my skills have improved. But ask me to go and do it again, and I would most likely fail. I learn a lot from every fish I catch, but it also brings a whole list of questions with it.

Having made nearly a hundred casts that morning, and making the same cast for the fifth time in the same spot, that’s when this guy decided to hit my lure. Was this a matter of being in the right spot at the right time? Did this fish finally snap and attack the lure that annoyed it? When comparing the two catches, it is the same drop-off into deeper water next to the point. But that is where the similarities stop. The small guy was on an inline spinner imitating a baitfish, and this one was on a plastic worm.

There are several ways to rig plastic worms. I have tried many of them but have far greater success using a Shakey Head. Jigging the lure to impart some hopping movement down on the bottom. This is a world apart from the crankbait fishing I use to do for bass back in the day. It does, however, seem that more people have success using wacky rigged worms.  I have tried this technique too, but to date, have not landed a fish on this supposedly easier method.

It might be that I have not yet worked out how to use or fish the different styles of worms. Or maybe fish prefer a certain style depending on the body of water they are in. These are questions that I will only be able to answer once I learn more and explore different waters. But for the time being, I will be jigging some lures in my local waters. And maybe someday when I have caught enough fish I will find out how these things work.