A Florida fisherman, Jesse Payton, is given credit for inventing this rig when he retired and moved to Florida in 1964. The swimming worm rig is not fished on the bottom, nor is the hook inserted in the worm as in a Texas rig. It's designed to swim on the retrieve, usually in shallow weedy areas. The rig is simple. A straight tail worm is threaded on the hook, and left with a bend or kink in the worm. A swivel is tied on the main line and a leader of 12" is tied to the hook. Worm length is 6" or so, and hook size is 1/0 or 2/0 straight shank hook. When rigged correctly, the worm spins in a corkscrew style. My version is with a Zoom Trick worm, 2/0 Gama hook and Sampo swivel. It took a little bit to get it threaded correctly. The original was made with a Creme Scoundrel worm, always purple. So far I've caught two bass with this rig, but can see good potential here. The action is different from any other worm rig I've seen. By EVERY account I've read, this is a deadly rig, and accounted for many large bass for Mr. Payton. In the 1990s, Doug Hannon, the bass professor, marketed his own version sold by Burke tackle. Hannon claimed this rig caught many of his large bass also. I rarely if ever hear about this rig anymore. It seems this rig has been lost in time now. Have you ever tried the swimming worm rig?
