Crawling baits along the bottom can be very effective.  Some of the baits that work great are creatures, craws and lizards.

Hop Baits Along the Bottom

There are so many baits that work great while hopped along the bottom.  Anglers use bass jigs and just about every soft plastic bait to hop along the bottom for bass.

Here are some baits that work great along the bottom.  See them in action.

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Swim Your Baits Along the Bottom

You can have a lot of success by swimming a variety of baits along the bottom.  Use a heavy enough weight that your bait maintains contact with the bottom while you swim it.

This technique can out fish many other techniques when the fish are relating to the bottom.

Drop Shotting Is Very Effective

A drop shot rig is a great way to target smallmouth bass along the bottom.  Finesse worms, minnows and many other baits will work.

Vertical Jigging Works Too

At times, just position your boat over a school of smallmouth bass and start vertical jigging your favorite baits.

Some baits that work great for this are listed below:

Curly Tail Grubs

Drifting is by far one of the best ways to target smallmouth bass with live bait when you have a little bit of wind on the lake.

Find a good drop off or rocky area and let the wind drift you along to help you cover some water.

Shaky Technique

The shaky technique is a great technique that you can use with a drop shot rig or standup jighead.

Twitch the rod tip (shake it) to create some action in your bait.  Fish this technique in productive spots and you’ll catch bass.

Here are some baits that work great with the shaky technique:

Finesse Worms

Bottom Bumping Crankbaits

On rocky bottoms, some anglers have good success by running deeper diving crankbaits so the lip of the lure bounces off the rocks during its retrieve.

Dead Sticking Can Be Effective

Dead sticking is a do-nothing technique where you don’t move your bait.  This actually is very effective over rocky bottoms with scented baits, especially Gulp! Worms.

Use baits fall slowly through the water column and fish them slowly.  There are so many bass that suspend throughout the water column.

Jerkbait Retrieves

Hard and soft jerkbaits are awesome baits that work great in open water and around cover.  Fish these lures through the water column with erratic jerks and pauses to find hungry bass.

There are many hard and soft baits that work great with a slow and steady swimming retrieve.  Cast them out and wind them in with a steady retrieve while the bait does the work for you.

The baits below work great on a steady retrieve.  See them in action on the water.

Lipless Crankbaits

Soft Swimbaits

Swimming Worms

Spider Parts

Buzzbaits are thrilling topwater lures that attract aggressive bass, often resulting in exciting surface explosions.  They are particularly effective during early morning and evening hours.

Booyah makes some of the best buzzbaits on the market.  They swim great, make tons of noise and catch quality bass.

Strike King Tour Grade Buzz Bait

Strike King knocked this one out of the park.

Chuggers (poppers) are popular among topwater bass anglers.  Use a quick twitch-and-stop retrieve when bass are aggressive, or a stop-and-go technique with longer pauses when they’re less active to entice them to the surface.

This is one of the cooler-looking poppers on the market.

Yo-Zuri Yo Zuri 3 D Inshore Popper

This was made for saltwater, but it’s one of the better poppers for bass fishing.

Floating minnows mimic the natural movement and appearance of baitfish, making them appealing to bass, particularly during their feeding times.  Use a twitch-and-pause technique to imitate an injured baitfish, triggering strikes during pauses.

This size is perfect for lots of action.

Rapala Original Floater 11

Upsize a bit to target quality bass.

Soft plastic frogs are effective for fishing over lily pads and various weeds.  Morning and evening are optimal times to use them, but you can also target heavy cover during the day to entice bass to strike.

This frog is so cool and it appeals to big bass.

BOOYAH Poppin’ Pad Crasher

This has been one of the best topwater frogs on the market over recent years.

Soft plastic mice are effective for fishing over lily pads and various weeds.  They work well in the mornings and evenings, but can also be productive in heavy cover during the day to entice bass.

This is one of the better big bass baits for fishing over vegetation.

Mouse Rat Fishing Lure

This is an awesome topwater lure for action.  It will catch some bigger bass too.

Propbaits are thrilling topwater lures for bass fishing.  You can use a steady retrieve or a twitch-and-pause technique, with the latter often being more effective since most bass strike during the pause.

The Heddon Torpedo is a classic topwater lure.  It works so well with a twitch, twitch, pause technique.

Berkley Spin Rocket

This is a really cool propbait by Berkley.

The rotating tail creates commotion on the water’s surface, mimicking fleeing baitfish or other prey, which can attract bass.  The spinning action and splash draw attention from a distance, making it ideal for targeting bass in both clear and stained water.

The original rotating tail bait is still the best one on the market.  Once you use a whopper plopper, it is hard to go back to other topwater lures because the strikes can be unbelievable on these lures.

ODS Plopper Topwater Lure

This is a really nice rotating tail topwater lure for the price.

Crawlers are highly effective during the day but excel as topwater lures for night fishing. Bass can easily track the steady, slow retrieve of this lure at night, often leading to bites right next to the boat or along the shoreline.

This is one of the classic topwater lures of all time.  It doesn’t always perform well, however, in certain situations, this can be your best lure in your tackle box.

Heddon Crazy Crawler

This is a really neat topwater bait.  Fish it slowly along the surface and hang on.

Stickbaits create an exciting walk-the-dog action on the water’s surface.  This retrieve, combined with pauses, can attract aggressive bass from a distance, often leading to powerful strikes.

One of the all time great walk the dog baits and it still performs great today.

Heddon Super Spook

Upsize a little and this is one of the better topwater lures for targeting quality bass.

This is one of most awesome-looking glide baits on the market and it catches bass.

Berkley PowerBait Nessie Fishing Soft Bait

The Nessie is gaining popularity quickly.  This bait can catch good numbers of bass with big bass too.

Bassdash Swim Shad Glide Bait

This is a cool glide bait that won’t break the bank.

Strike King makes some awesome wake baits.  Just like their crankbait line, you have many different options for their wake baits too.

Strike King (HCWS2-568) Wake Shad

Another awesome wake bait from Strike King.