Soft plastic lizards are great baits for largemouth bass. Anglers use lizards on many different rigs, in shallow water & deep water, around cover & in open water. Some anglers think of lizards as a great bait for fishing the beds in the spring, while others will use the lizard throughout the season with plenty of success. Try fishing them weightless, on a Texas rig, shaky head jig, Carolina rig and any other common fishing rig for soft plastics. Swimming a soft plastic lizard can also be very effective.
Popular Fishing Techniques
Flipping & Pitching Around Cover
Flipping and pitching around cover is the best way to target largemouth bass with these baits. Fish around wood, weed edges and pockets and any other type of cover that largemouth bass love to use.
Hop Them Along the Bottom
Use your favorite weedless rig and hop these baits along the bottom. Work them up off the bottom, then let them fall back down to the bottom and make sure to pause the bait. Many of your bites will come on the fall or when the bait comes completely to a stop.
Swim Them
You can also swim lizards for largemouth bass. A slow and steady retrieve along a weed edge or some other type of cover can be very effective.
Popular Fishing Rigs
Carolina Rig
The Carolina rig is a great rig for fishing with lizards. Most anglers use this rig for fishing deeper water. A heavier weight will help give the bait more action as you pull it up through the water column and let it drop back down to the bottom. Drifting with a heavy wind or a slow troll can also be productive.
Drop Shot Rig
The drop shot rig works well with lizards. Make sure you use a heavy enough weight to help give the worm more action.
Florida / Texas Rig
The Florida rig is a great rig for lizards. Rigged weedless, you can fish around all types of cover.
Standup Jighead
The shaky head jig is another great rig for fishing with lizards. By rigging it weedless, you can fish it around all types of cover just like the Texas rig.
Swimbait Hook
A swimbait hook works great with lizards. Fish it similar to how you would a texas rig and you’ll catch plenty of bass. Most anglers think of swimbait hooks as the preferred rig to use for swimbaits. You can swim lizards with a slow and steady retrieve if you want, but most anglers would fish it nice and slow like they would with a Texas rig. The swimbait hook gives the bait a gliding action down to the bottom, so a quick jerk and pause will give the bait awesome action on the drop. This helps with reaction strikes.
