How To Rig Worms - the best bass fishing lure
Plastic worms have probably accounted for more bass than any other artificial bait - maybe more than all others put together. How do you fish a plastic worm? If you are a veteran worm fisherman, this will probably be too basic for you. But who knows. You might get a spark for an idea that will work.
There are three basic ways to rig a plastic worm - Texas, with a lead against the worm head, Carolina with the lead up the line from the worm, and weightless. There are many variations in these three basics, and you have to adjust to the conditions you are fishing, but you should be familiar with all three.
The Texas rig has been around for a long time. A bullet sinker is threaded on the line before tying on the hook. When the worm is threaded on the hook, the sinker sits on its head like a cap - or like the pointed nose of a live worm.
This rig slips through brush easily, can be cast under overhangs and through limbs sticking out of the water. It also comes over rocks fairly easily if you use a light lead.
When fishing rocks or very shallow structure, I use a 1/8th ounce lead. That light lead doesn't make a big splash when it hits, comes through the structure without hanging up, and gives the worm a slower fall. If I am casting to brush sticking out of the water or casting under docks and overhanging brush, I stick a toothpick in the back of the lead and clip it off even with the lead. This "pegs" the lead and keeps it from sliding away from the worm as it crawls over brush. It also keeps it from separating if the worm hits a limb or a dock timber and helps it fall straight down.
Deeper structure calls for a 1/4 or 5/16 ounce lead. I hardly ever use a Texas rigged worm with anything heavier. I don't use painted lead, just plain old lead colored ones, but some fishermen swear by the color coordinated leads.
A Carolina rig is when you thread the sinker on the line, tie a swivel below it and then tie a leader for the hook. I usually use a bead or two between the lead and the swivel, especially when using a heavy sinker, to keep the weight from fraying the knot. If fishing rocks, I often put a bead ahead of the lead too, since I think it helps cushion the line and makes it come over the rocks better. The clicking sound the beads make are a plus.
The length of leader can vary from a few inches to several feet. For shallow water I usually stick with about 18 inches. This shallow water rig has a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce sinker and is on fairly light line. I like to cast it around underwater brush and short bottom cover. If the grass or other cover is tall, I use a leader long enough for the worm to be near the top if it.
When fishing deeper, I use a 30 inch leader and a bigger lead, usually 3/4 ounce. This rig is good for "raking" gravel points and banks with little cover. If I want to fish fast, I go with a one ounce sinker. In deeper water you can get by with heavier line but I often use a lighter leader to make sure I don't spook the fish.
A variation of the Carolina rig is a split shot rig. A small split shot is crimped a few inches up the line from the worm. For some reason, maybe its small lead size, this rig will draw strikes when others will not. Throw it around grass, brush and docks. It sinks slowly and usually you will see your line start to move off without feeling a strike.
Weightless worms have really made a comeback recently. We used them back in the 1950's and 60's and they came rigged with two hooks and a spinner in front. They caught fish - and still will. Now, many companies make a worm like the Zoom Trick Worm in bright colors. It is rigged weightless and fished on top or very shallow. You watch the worm, looking for a strike, and that is why you need a bright color. The fish seem to like it, too.
Choice of color, size and style of plastic worms vary tremendously. Maybe that will be a good discussion for later.
Fishing Spinnerbaits - The third best lure for Bass Fishing
I like spinnerbaits because they catch bass for me. In fact, my best tournament catch ever came on a spinnerbait at Georgia's Lake Oconee several years ago. It was March and on Saturday in the two day club tournament I caught 8 keepers weighing 27 pounds. My biggest pulled the scales down to 8-11 and I had another one weighing 6-13.
The second day of that tournament was much slower. I caught only one keeper all day - but it weighed 9-5! All those fish hit around bridge riprap in the warming March water. Although March is a winter away, the cooling water will soon be about the same temperature as it was then, in the low 60's. Bass will be on a similar pattern and you can bet I will be slinging a spinnerbait when I am fishing.
Tournaments are won year round on spinnerbaits. They are great in the spring and fall when the bass are feeding heavily.
They work in the winter when the water is cold because you can fish them slowly and make them look like and easy meal to a sluggish bass. In the hot summertime you can buzz them to entice a bass that is in high speed from the warm water.
I carry dozens of spinnerbaits and have spare blades and skirts in my tacklebox. Yet I almost always fish the same lure, a 3/8th ounce Strike King spinnerbait with a #5 willowleaf and a #3 Colorado blade. One will be gold and the other silver, usually with the willowleaf in gold. I use a chartreuse and white skirt and a 3" white curly tail trailer. That combo works for me in almost all situations.
When the water is warm, I like to run the bait just under the surface, sometimes speeding up to make it bulge the surface and then pausing to make the skirt flare. In clear water I will speed it up and in stained water I slow it down. This method is good for active, feeding bass. If they are not interested and the water is warm, I speed it up and try for reaction strikes, buzzing the bait so the blade breaks the surface like a fleeing shad. It works almost like a buzzbait.
I fish the bait slower and slower until the water drops below 60 degrees. By that time I am "slow rolling" or bumping the bottom with it. I want the bait crawling along like a stunned baitfish on its last legs, swimming slowly along the bottom, bumping anything in its way. You can cover a lot of water and still get strikes from the slowed down bass.
This is when I go to a heavier bait. A half ounce bait will make it easier to keep moving down deep. The colder the water gets, the deeper I fish and the heavier the bait I use. A one ounce bait is not too big if you are trying to fish 15 or 20 feet deep.
At times the bass seem to want a bigger blade, usually when they are feeding on bigger shad. The big #7 blades were very popular several years ago and they will still catch fish. You need a heavier lure to carry these big blades, though. They are hard to fish on a bait weighing less than a half ounce.
Try changing blade sizes and colors if the fish won't bite. You can attach them with a clip and swivel and change quickly. Use different colors of skirts and trailers also. Sometimes the bass may want something out of the ordinary. Let them tell you what to use.
You can fish spinnerbaits on heavy line and a stout outfit without spooking the fish. I like a bait casting reel loaded with 17 pound line on a 5 1/2 foot rod with a light tip but fast taper so it has lots of backbone.
Something else good about spinnerbaits is the fact you seldom loose a fish on one. The big hook seems to hold them better than many other lures. Tie one on and give it a try. Let me know how you do, or tell me your favorite spinnerbait methods and stories. Send me a "Fishtale" about it at fishing.guide@about.com. and I may use it in that section where readers stories are displayed.
