By Hank Parker

Most anglers choose a soft-plastic lure because it looks good to them, the color looks right or simply because it’s their favorite bait. Those are good reasons, but one key consideration that often gets overlooked is how the lure falls through the water column.
This is a critical aspect of all vertically presented lures. Even the best lure in the world won’t get you bites if it’s falling too fast or too slowly. This is something crappie anglers have known for years. That’s why you see them with five different jig sizes tied on.
The popular Yamamoto Senko made bass anglers more aware of how effective a free-falling bait can be. Several manufacturers have produced similar baits, but as many anglers discovered, not all “stick worm” brands imitate the seductive fall of the Senko.
I got involved with the creation of Berkley’s Heavyweight Worm and learned a lot about free-falling plastics. I now experiment with lure lengths, sinkers and line sizes, all of which can play a factor in how fast a bait falls and how many bites you get.
That applies to jigs, too. Larry Nixon and I were fishing the same area in a tournament years ago, but he won the event and I finished 15th. We used the same color of jig and pitched to the same bushes. The difference was his jig weighed 1½ ounces, while mine was a 3⁄8-ounce model.
Now, the water was 52 degrees, so logic told me that a lighter jig would be better. But on that day, the bigger fish wanted a faster-falling bait.
That’s why I now have multiple rods rigged with the same bait but of different weights, and I always experiment to see how the bass want the bait falling on that given day.
If I’m flipping bushes, one trick I use is to flip a heavy bait over a limb and control the rate of fall with the rod. By experimenting with how quickly you let the bait descend, you will discover whether the fish want it dropping fast or slow.
You also can alter the fall rate by changing to a different style of plastic. Bigger, bulkier jig trailers create more drag in the water and will fall slightly slower than smaller trailers, so keep that in mind.
Last year on Lake Norman, guys were catching small bass on shaky-head worms with a 1⁄4-ounce jighead. I was catching bigger ones with the same technique, except I was using a Chigger Craw rigged on a ½-ounce jighead. They said they tried the Chigger but couldn’t get bit. However, they were fishing the bait on a 1⁄4-ounce jighead, not the 1⁄2-ounce version. The weight and bulkier lure were key that day.
At other times you need to slow the fall. While fishing deep on an Alabama lake recently, I watched guys catching more fish than me on a Berkley Heavyweight Worm. I discovered they were rigging it with a 1⁄8-ounce slip-sinker, while I was using a ½-ounce model. The fish were suspended over the brushy ledge, and my bait was falling through them too fast. I switched to a Heavyweight Worm without a sinker and wore them out.
The rate of fall can be critical in the action of the lure, too. A smaller weight on a tube bait will make the lure spiral, while a heavier weight will make it plunge. In most instances, the spiraling action gets more bites, but I’ve seen just the opposite happen as well.
Line size is another consideration. Fluorocarbon lines are denser and sink faster than monofilament or braid. Larger diameter lines also create more drag in the water and slow the fall. If you and a buddy are fishing identical lures and he’s getting more bites, the line size could be the difference.
Creating the perfect soft-plastic presentation requires experimentation. Next time, instead of changing lure colors or body shapes, try tweaking the rate of fall and you will unlock the key to success.

Filed under: Fishing Tips by admin