Texas-rigging a soft stick effectively catches springtime bass at any phase of the spawn. Seth Feider shares the details of his setup and explains how he fishes it to target prespawn, spawning (see Swindle’s take on bedding bass) and post-spawn fry-guarders in a range of shallow cover situations.
FEATURED FISHING TACKLE
- PLASTIC – Z-Man Bang StickZ
- HOOK – VMC RedLine Series Flippin’ Hook, 3/0
- WEIGHT – VMC Tungsten Worm Weight, 3/16-ounce
- ROD – Daiwa Kage Casting Rod, 7’3″ Medium-Heavy (mfg only)
- REEL – Daiwa Zillion SV TW Casting Reel, 7.1:1
- LINE (braided mainline) – Sufix 832 Braid Hi-Vis Yellow, 30-pound
- LINE (fluorocarbon leader) – Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon, 17-pound
The beauty of a lightweight Texas-rigged stick bait is that it can be fished in nearly all cover (except punching) and gets bites anywhere. Feider prefers floating plastic worms for this tactic, with his favorite stick bait being a Z-Man Bang StickZ. It’s buoyant and has small tentacles at the end, which provides more action than the traditional stick worm. A floating worm is visible to more fish while subtle movement temps strikes from tentative bass.
Feider explains why he prefers using straight shank hooks (flipping or worm) over offset or EWG-style hooks with ElaZtech plastics. He then details his basic rod setup, which includes a 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy rod and a high-speed reel spooled with a braid to fluoro setup that uses 30-pound braided fishing line to a 17-pound fluorocarbon leader.
Feider pitches the bait around grass edges and into any hole or pocket he sees. Don’t overwork the bait – pitch it in, shake it a little, then make another cast. Try this simple and versatile rig anytime you have shallow bass relating to cover like grass or woody cover. It excels around spawn but will catch bass anytime.
