What bass fishing bait is best?

By Raul Rodriguez

I have seen bass fishing bait questions a few times and it stumps me a little. I guess I’m a little technical by nature so when I hear the word bait, I think live creatures that are hooked onto a bare hook and presented to a hungry bass. The thing is you don’t hear too much about what live bait to use for bass. Typically when you talk about what the bass are biting we talk about lures, which are the artificial "bait" that is used in bass fishing.

If its bass lures you're looking for you can go here to read about some of the best lures for bass fishing.

Either way let's talk what bait, as in the live kind, to use for bass fishing.

What bait bass eat

Bass fishing with live worms produced this nice bass.

Bass are natural predators and one of the reasons there are an endless amount of lures on the market is because they will eat pretty much anything.

I mean we’re talking even chicken nuggets folks.

Specifically though, we have had success with live worms. Nightcrawlers that you can get pretty much anywhere including Walmart. 

My daughter caught this bass still fishing a nightcrawler just a few feet from the shore line. This would be my recommendation when looking for bass fishing baits. Nightcrawlers seem to be the original fish bait and you can find them pretty much anywhere you find fishing tackle. They are easy to carry and are not too expensive.

Bass Fishing Live Bait

But let's not make this too complicated. What are artificial lures intended to imitate? Yes that's right, the often quoted natural forage of the bass. So with that said, some of the best bait for bass you can use would be;

• Crawfish
• Shad
• Minnows
• Lizards
• Frogs
• Crickets and other insects

All these are fair game when it comes to using actual bait for bass fishing.

Crawfish, Bluegill and other pan fish make great live bait for bass fishing.

Many of these baits you can find at your local bait and tackle shop. They may not necessarily be alive but even the frozen variety can work for you. Others can be caught at the lake you are fishing at. You just have to hunt for those lizards, frogs and crickets.

Here is some info on how to rig these bass fishing baits.

In the end the same rule applies in selecting bass fishing baits, your best chance at catching bass is to offer something that is natural to the area you are fishing. Be it live crawfish or shad. But with that said don’t be afraid to try throwing something different at them. It just might be the one thing that spikes the curiosity of that one big bass you’ve been waiting for all along.

Go to our bass fishing home page to learn more.