Paddle Tail Worms are great baits for smallmouth bass. Hop them along the bottom or fish them like a jerkbait and you can do really well with them.
What Sizes are Best for Smallmouth Bass Fishing?
There aren’t a ton of paddle tail worms on the market, however, there are some good ones in the 5 to 6 inch range. If you can find some 4 inch paddle tail worms, they would be a great size to target smallmouth bass as well.
How to Rig Paddle Tail Worms
You can use just about any of your favorite rigging techniques for paddle tail worms. Swimbait hooks give these baits a unique gliding action with a jerkbait retrieve. You can also use your favorite types of jigheads, a drop shot rig, Carolina rig and more.
Best Techniques
Hop Them Along the Bottom
Smallmouth bass are often found swimming just above the rocky bottoms as they search for crayfish and other food to eat. Use your favorite soft plastic bait rig and slowly work these worms along the bottom. Many of the paddle tail worms will lift up off the bottom without even needing a shaky head jig. This allows a unique action to the bait as it comes to a pause on the bottom.
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Fish Them Slowly Through the Water Column
A lighter jighead or split shot rig works great to fish these paddle tail worms slowly through the water column. When smallmouth bass are suspended up off the bottom, you can do quite well by fishing a paddle tail worm slowly through the water column.
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Jerkbait Retrieve
Paddle tail worms work great on a jerkbait retrieve. Use a swimbait hook, Texas rig or weightless Texas rig and work the bait along with an erratic jerk and pause retrieve. Most of your bites will come on the pause.
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Vertical Jig Them
From summer through fall, you can often find smallmouth bass in deeper water. Vertical jigging these paddle tail worms can be very effective when smallmouth bass go deep.
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Dead Stick Them
Some paddle tail worms look really good with the dead sticking technique. It helps to have a worm that looks really good with some added scent to help get some of these finicky bass to bite.
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