Most anglers overcomplicate soft plastic fishing. Walk into any tackle shop and you’ll see walls lined with worms, craws, creatures, stick baits, curly tails, paddle tails, floating plastics, and colors that look more like a paint aisle than fishing tackle. But professional angler Brian Latimer knows that choosing the right soft plastic really comes down to a few simple variables. In this Backyard Life video, Latimer breaks down the exact process he uses to decide what soft plastic to tie on before a day on the water. Then, he puts the system to work in real time during a day of fishing with Exmark Ambassadors Dylan and Shelby Reese.
The Three Factors Brian Latimer Considers Before Choosing a Soft Plastic Worm for Bass Fishing
Before Latimer ever ties on a bait, he runs through three factors to consider when picking the right soft plastic. They’re not complicated but knowing how to weigh them is what separates anglers who make smart bait decisions from those who just grab whatever stands out on the shelf.
Factor 1: Time of Year and What Fish Are Biting.
Seasonal patterns drive everything in bass fishing. In spring and into early summer, Latimer leans toward smaller worms in the 3- to 6-inch range. More importantly, he favors baits with minimal action—with a straight tail providing more subtlety. During the spawn and pre-spawn period, fish can be finicky. A bait that does too much can actually work against you.
Factor 2: Water Clarity and Fishing Depth
This is the one that most anglers know matters but don’t apply consistently. Water clarity—and how deep the bait is being fished—both influence selection and presentation.
When the water is clear, Latimer works both ends of the color spectrum. On one end, you’ve got natural colors—greens, browns, shad tones—that blend in and look like something real. On the other end, you’ve got the psychedelics: pinks, chartreuses, and neon purples. Both approaches work in clear water. What tends to get lost is the middle ground, the muddy browns and generic dark colors that neither match a natural forage profile nor stand out enough to trigger a reaction bite.
In stained or dirty water, those high-contrast colors and bold darks become more important because visibility is limited and fish rely more on vibration, displacement, and silhouette.
Factor 3: Target Species
Largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass don’t always respond the same way, and that matters when you’re choosing both the profile and the size of your bait. Largemouth, as a rule, tend to favor bigger presentations. Smallmouth and spotted bass typically respond better to smaller, more finesse-oriented baits. On the day Latimer fished with the Reeses, they were targeting spotted bass, which is exactly why his go-to selection skewed smaller and included some brighter colors.
Putting It on the Water
Latimer handed Dylan and Shelby each a different soft plastic color to fish alongside his own selection—green pumpkin goby, mudbug, and smoke purple—all rigged on the same setup to keep the variables controlled.
The on-the-water challenge quickly turned competitive, with plenty of trash talk once Dylan started putting fish in the boat on the mudbug color (a brown bait with a little gold flake in it that Latimer described as having strong natural appeal). Shelby, throwing the smoke purple, started connecting soon after.
Latimer, for his part, admitted mid-trip that he’d strayed from the original challenge and tied on a Ned rig with a Z-Man Hula StickZ in The Deal color—a pearl-bellied, green pumpkin-topped finesse bait that quickly proved to be the right call for the conditions.
The Ned Rig Setup Latimer Used
For anyone looking to replicate what was working that day, Latimer kept the setup simple:
- Bait: Z-Man Hula StickZ in The Deal color (pearl belly, green pumpkin top, blue and black flake)
- Rigging: Exposed hook, straight on the mushroom head jig
- Rod: Latimer’s signature series 7-foot medium moderate spinning rod
- Reel: Shimano Twin Power 3000 series (he’s quick to note any quality 3000-series spinning reel will do the job)
The moderate action rod is a key detail here. It loads well on light baits and provides enough flex to keep fish pinned without ripping hooks on a light bite. Latimer uses the same rod for Ned rigs, drop shots, and shaky heads—one of the most versatile finesse setups you can build.
Profile Over Color
The most important takeaway from the day on the water wasn’t any specific color, it was the profile. With the bite tough and fish not feeding aggressively, the smaller, more subtle Ned rig presentation consistently outperformed the more active setups.
Latimer has said it before and he repeated it that day: profile first, color second. Does the bait move a lot or a little? Is it big or small? Does it kick, flutter, and displace water, or does it fall slowly and barely move? Those questions get you closer to the right bait faster than any color chart.
Species informs profile. Water clarity informs color. Time of year informs both. When you stack those three filters on top of each other, the decision gets a lot easier—and the shelf at the tackle shop gets a lot less overwhelming.
Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing Soft Plastic Worms for Bass
In stained or muddy water, choose high-contrast colors that create a strong silhouette: black, blue, chartreuse or dark green pumpkin with bright accents. Bass rely on vibration and silhouette more than color in low-visibility conditions, so a bait with a defined profile matters more than picking the perfect color.
It depends on the species and the season. In spring and early summer, and when targeting spotted bass or smallmouth, smaller worms in the 3- to 6-inch range tend to outperform larger baits. For largemouth, especially in warmer months, bigger profiles in the 7- to 10-inch range can draw more aggressive strikes. When in doubt, smaller presentations are easier for fish to commit to on a tough bite.
Color matters, but profile matters more. The size and action of your bait—whether it moves a lot or sits still, whether it’s big or small—has a greater influence on fish behavior than color alone. Once you’ve dialed in the right profile, then use water clarity and season to narrow down your color selection.
Straight tail worms have minimal action and are best suited for situations that call for a subtle, natural presentation—especially in clear water or during the spawn. Paddle tails and curly tails displace more water and create more vibration, which can help in stained water or when fish are more aggressive. Match the action to how actively the fish are feeding.
