Plastic baits used to be the all-around best bass fishing bait in BASS tournaments, but those days are changing.
“What’dya catch’em on?”
It may not have the same Southern twang, but that is the most time-honored, oft repeated question in fishing circles around the world. Like a mantra, it is required to be repeated over and over again -- at the launching ramp, the boat dock, or in bait & tackle stores. Anybody who catches fish will, absolutely without fail, be asked that question – what did you catch them on?”
It’s as if fishermen really think we can take that exact lure or bait and go repeat the performance with the exact same probability of success. Due to an excruciating number of variables, that rarely ever happens, but we still like to dream.
Of course bass fishing is king in the Tennessee Valley. Bass fishing also offers up the most wide and variable array of lures possible. So, what is the Number One Bass-Catching Bait of all time? That question has spawned thousand of debates, arguments, bets and probably a few fist fights.
Pretend you’re Richard Dawson and say, “the answer is (ding) the plastic worm.”
If you’re a bass fisherman, right now you’re probably thinking, “I knew that.” What you may not know is that it's changing. These days fewer and fewer tournaments are won by fishermen using plastic worms.
That’s according to Dave Precht, the Editor of Bassmaster magazine. Of course the Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society (B.A.S.S.) is the largest and best-known fishing organization in the world. Precht has been a key player at B.A.S.S. since 1984 and has closely tracked tournament-winning lures. Those records show that from 1967 to 1972, 72 percent of all B.A.S.S. tournaments were won by fishermen using traditional plastic worms. From 1993 to 1997 however, a mere 10 percent of those B.A.S.S. events saw plastic worms take top honors.
Precht says part of the change came when B.A.S.S. switched to a 5-bass limit. The pros realized that larger “quality” fish were more important than quantity. So, Precht says “while plastic worms might still catch more bass, the pros know that other lures, in most situations, catch bigger bass.” He says in many cases, those are jigs and spinnerbaits.
Again, that is all based only on the results of official Bassmaster tournaments. And Precht points out that there has been another variable. “We went several years where we didn’t have any tournaments in Florida. Plastic worms are a favorite in those lakes. Now that we’ve started having tournaments in Florida again, we’re seeing plastic worms rebound.”
In B.A.S.S. tournaments held from 1998 through 2001, plastic worms have climbed back to a 38 percent success ratio. Precht points out that “many of those were actually non-traditional plastic baits such as finesse worms and tube baits. Tube baits especially have seen a huge jump in popularity.”
Speaking of popularity contests, which comes first, the chicken or the egg. In other words, is one lure more successful because the bass really do like it more? Or does it just seem that way simply because fishermen (and marketing experts) like it more and everybody starts using it?
Precht had a hard time answering that one. “I’ll kind of be talking out of both sides of my mouth,” he said. He admits that angler popularity and marketing may be a factor in the seeming success of certain lures. On the other hand he said, “I do believe fish in a particular lake might figure out certain lures. They might work great at first. But then they won’t work so well. And a lot of the pros will tell you that if they hear everybody is using a certain lure, they'll purposely use something different – something the fish may not have seen so often.”
The very first B.A.S.S. event (called the All-American Bass Tournament on Beaver Lake, Ark.) was in the 1960’s. By the way, it was won with a
topwater plug. Since then, this is the overall breakdown of the Big 4 winning lures: various worm rigs (32.4 percent of tournaments), spinnerbaits (26.1), jig-and-trailers (20.3) and crankbaits (20.1).
So I asked Precht this. I’m sending you to a completely unknown lake, and you can only take one lure. What will it be?
“I would have to take a worm,” he said. “They're tried and true. And there are so many things you can do with a plastic worm. You can float them or you can fish them in deep water. You can use a Carolina rig, a Texas rig, and they’re all completely weedless.”
Oddly enough, Precht agrees that plastic worms really don’t resemble any plentiful natural food source. “You're right,” he says. “They really don't match anything.” They resemble a baby snake or a big nightcrawler, but Precht says, “you don't find that many snakes or nightcrawlers floating around in the lake. It does seem like a lure resembling a shad or a crawfish would be the more likely choice... and those do catch fish.” But he says one thing is for certain, “worms would not be as popular as they are if they didn't work.”