My daughter and I fished yesterday with baits I have never used but are popular. I have not had much success with soft plastics even though I tried over the 40 years I have been bass fishing. Topwaters, spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits have been my confidence baits. A new older friend uses shakey heads almost exclusively and recently encouraged me to try shakey heads and Ned rigs. My daughter used a Ned worm and I used a shakey head worm yesterday and we both caught nice black bass. It was a great experience. It is fun to catch fish with new lures and techniques. We are trying wacky rigged worms next. I caught my first bass on a jig a couple of months ago.

It is good when you can find a mentor to teach you new techniques.

Also, I have never fished in the winter months but had some success this winter. I am not a fan of the cold and thought bass were largely uncatchable during the winter months. I was not giving it a chance and using the wrong baits.

Oooohhh man if you haven't tried the wacky rig yet, you're in for one big surprise. It's a huge numbers catcher. Don't "typically" catch a bunch of large ones with them, but you can on the occasion. I see you failed to mention drop shot. This is another technique you will need to look into if you haven't already. I had the most success last year using the drop shot. It's my current go to rod at the moment.

Oh, man, the drop shot. Another new technique to try! So many techniques and so little time! It is amazing how many new techniques have come out during my time of fishing.

I look forward to trying the wacky rig. I need to get better with my pitching and flipping.

The lake near my home that I fish all the time does not have much structure except for docks. I’ve got to find ways to fish docks more effectively.

Weightless TxRig Senko. Can't get simpler than that around docks. Cast and feed it line until you see the line jump on the water, or it swims off!

Hook type and size recommendation? Color? Sounds like it would not get hung easily.

Depends on water clarity but green pumpkin is a good choice. In muddy, murky water bright colors are good like Chartreuse pepper. White is great during the shad spawn.

For the weightless TX Rig Senko you want a 3/0 extra wide gap (EWG) hook. Keep some plastic swimbaits with you as well, so if I they want something that’s moving faster you can just pull off the Senko, and throw on a swimbait while using the same hook.

For the drop shot I usually go with a 1/0 drop shot hook. Every now and then a 2/0, but never anything bigger than a 2/0. Too many different lures to name that go with this set up. Just try different things and go with what works best for you. If you have no clue then start off with the Strike King Dream Shot, and just go from there. You can even use Senkos if you’d like. The possibilities are endless. You’ll have fun no matter what you pick.

Tight lines, amigo!

It is the most weedless/snagless rig out there. I throw it on 17-20# Flouro in the messiest stuff.

I pour my own chartreuse-based color that I use year-round, but the color recommendations above are spot-on... Black/Blue Flake is also good in dirtier water or really shady docks or lily pads!