The largemouth bass is a voracious and cunning predator. Concealed in cover, they often lye in wait for unsuspecting prey to swim, crawl, or float buy. Then they explode into action, sucking the unsuspecting victim into their over sized maws. When fishing for bass, one of the best ways to illicit this explosive action is with the use of live bait. Some of the more common live baits for largemouth bass are shiners, crayfish, juvenile sunfish, suckers, minnows, shad, and nightcrawlers.

Knowing how to use various luve bait rigs is one of the biggest bass fishing tips. Often when anglers are after trophy largemouth, they will employ what is known as a shiner rig. A shiner rig consists of a large, oblong bobber with an unweighted hook a couple feet below. A large shiner is hooked through the nose and allowed to swim freely under the bobber. As bass get close the shiner will become agitated and begin swimming erratically, further attracting the bass. Bass fisherman in rivers however often employ large crayfish hooked through the tail or upper shell, due to the crayfish’s increased importance as a prey item in these fisheries.