Everyone wants to catch bigger bass. I mean that’s kind of the whole game of bass fishing.
The bigger the fish, the more fun it is to catch. And it is not just coincidence that some guys catch more than others.
You need to be using the right lures that specifically entice those larger sized bass.
Before we get into these lures, I think that it is important to understand that you can catch huge bass on literally any lure.
In fact, I have caught multiple 4+ lb bass on little crappie jigs while fishing for panfish.
If your lure gets close enough and is easy enough to eat, anything can potentially catch a big bass.
With that being said, there are certainly lures and styles of fishing that drastically increase your chances of catching really big bass.
As the saying goes, “big baits catch big fish”. And when it comes to bass fishing, glide baits are as big as it gets.
Ranging from 5 to 12 inches, these lures can get massive. The idea behind huge baits like these is three fold.
First, the big body and wide swimming motion displaces a lot of water. This makes it very easy for bass to feel the bait and get an accurate idea of it’s size and shape from far distances.
Second, really big bass are much more willing to travel long distances to eat a bigger meal.
So the glide baits are able to pull or draw those big bass in from a long way off.
And thirdly, glide baits are super realistic. From the body shape to the paint jobs to the swimming action, they look exactly like real baitfish.
And those big bass are much older and wiser than the rest, so that extra realism is often needed to convince them to bite.
Although glide baits are the best way to target the biggest bass in your lake, they can be incredibly intimidating if you haven’t used them at all.
So start out by using smaller glide baits to get some good practice and build up your confidence with them.
The buzzbait and big bass is something that I started to figure out when I was just a little kid.
Me and my brothers would go fishing just about every night, and as the sun was going down, we would all tie on topwater lures.
We would each tie on our personal favorite topwaters or whichever specific ones we were trying to get practice with.
And almost without fail, whoever was using a buzzbait would catch the biggest bass.
And it was usually by a quite large margin of 1-2 lbs ahead of the others.
I believe the reason for this is very similar to the drawing power of the glide bait.
Buzzbaits are super loud and obnoxious. This seems to do two things.
First, it can be intimidating to the smaller bass and discourage them from attacking.
And secondly, it gives the big bass a very easy target to hone in on. Big bass hate wasting their time and energy.
So a loud, bulky target that is already pinned up against the surface saves them almost all the effort of hunting down prey.
So the loud splashing and squeeking of a buzzbait can call it huge bass better than all other topwater lures, especially during the morning or evening hours when big bass feel more comfortable coming to the surface of the water.
Specifically, I’m talking about soft, paddle tail swimbaits. These full sized baits are typically quite big.
Usually from 5-7 inches, they aren’t quite as big as glide baits, but this is important because they only come with one hook.
So they need to be a bit smaller to allow the bass to fit most or all of the bait in their mouth to get hooked.
And much like the glide bait, these swimbaits displace a lot of water and are very, very realistic.
Swimbaits like the Magdraft or the new Shadtron are very detailed and not only look real, but feel, taste, and smell real because of their soft plastic material.
This extra touch of realism can definitely help convince bigger bass to eat the bait.
Another advantage of swimbaits is that you can cover a lot of water with the at any depth you like.
Whether you are fishing shallow flats or deep ledges, you can count the swimbaits down to the proper depth and then just straight reel them back.
This is very efficient and versatile which allows you to target those bigger bass all year round.
This is primarily going to be a summer time bait. A big curly or straight tail worm rigged up on a Texas rig is probably the number one strategy for catching big bass during the summer.
The dog days of summer usually do a couple things do bass. First, it will push many of them out into deeper, cooler water.
It will also cause them to hunker down for the majority of the day.
During the mornings and evenings they get very active, but most of the time the don’t like to move around much because of the heat.
A big, magnum sized worm is the perfect bait to get these bass to eat. It is a big meal that displaces lots of water.
It is slow moving and subtle enough to not raise any alarms. And it gets down to the bottom where the lunkers are holding.
And on top of that, it is completely weedless which helps a ton during the summer when there is lots of vegetation at it’s peak growth.
Now you can certainly catch huge bass on a big worm all year round, but it truly excels over just about all other baits during those peak summer temperatures.
As you can probably gather, there are a few main principles that all “big bass” baits share.
They are generally much bigger baits. This stands to reason because bigger bass eat bigger forage.
You won’t get as many bites when you upsize the lures, but the average bite will be a lot bigger.
Another quality is realism. Those older, bigger bass have seen just about every lure on the market time and time again.
So getting your lures as close to the real deal as possible is very important for convincing trophy bass to bite.
And finally, you need to be able to call the bass in. A big bass doesn’t want to waste it’s time chasing after a tiny meal.
Displace lots of water and cause a bit of extra commotion and the bigger bass will have more reason to come eat the bait.
Also Read: How to Catch Bigger Bass in Ponds
Catching big bass is a thrilling pursuit that requires the right tools and techniques.
By using lures like glide baits, buzzbaits, full-sized swimbaits, and big worms, you can significantly increase your chances of landing those trophy-sized fish.
These lures are designed to appeal to larger bass through their size, realism, and ability to attract attention from a distance.
While any lure has the potential to catch a big bass, focusing on these four will give you an edge in your fishing adventures.
