How Do I Fish With Plastic Worms?

[bigfatty]

So I am fairly new to bass fishing. I've fished poppers and random top water stuff my whole life, but it was usually when whatever I was fishing for wasn't biting. I'm going out to Lake Chicot in Ville Platte LA and everyone I've talked to seems to like worms out there... so.. I know how to rig them in various ways, but any tips on how to actually fish them? I can't seem to find anything too solid on youtube.. I've got some Sinkos, some lizzards and some twist tails.. Any advice?

[FL_Sharpshooter]

 

[bigfatty]

Do I just let it fall, lift it up, let it fall, bring in slack, lift it up, let it fall? lol Does that apply to the lizzards as well?

[RoLo]

There are two ways to advance a T-rigged ribbontail worm.

You can use your "Rod" or you can use your "Reel".

Most anglers use their rod by lifting the rod followed by reeling down the slack

to regain contact with their lure. Instead, you might want to stay in constant contact with your lure.

To do this, use a "Crank-and-Glide" retrieve.

Crank the reel 1 to 4 turns, depending on the water depth and lure distance from boat.

Then allow the worm to glide back to the bottom on a "tight-line glide".

Every time the lure makes bottom contact, simply repeat the crank-and-glide.

In this fashion the rod 'never' moves, but remains stationary throughout the retrieve.

Bottom contact is usually signaled in one of two ways

>> The tight line will suddenly droop and form a line-belly

>> The little V-wake made by the line will stop advancing toward the angler.

Roger

[Jake P]

Cast out your worm and let it sink to the bottom, like previously mentioned, the line will form a "belly" when it is at rest on the bottom. I just leave the spool dis-engaged until it stops and then when i know it has reached the bottom i engage the spool. The rest is up to you and the fish! Raise the tip of your rod with a couple of pops and let it sink back to the bottom. When you let it sink make sure you reel up the slack line so you maintain contact with your worm. Try different variations of movement like 3 pops and then let it sink, or 2 pops and a pause and 2 more then let it sink. There really is no wrong way and the fish will let you know what they like.

2 very important things when fishing a worm for me are, 1. After you give the worm a couple of hops and let it sink back to the bottom, let it sit for a few seconds. I always wait atleast 5 seconds before working it again. Almost all of my strikes come after i let it sit still for a couple of seconds. 2. WATCH YOUR LINE ALWAYS. Today 3 different fish hit and i did not feel a thing but i saw my line moving away from me and set the hook. Sometimes you will not feel the bite at all.

Good luck!!!

[tomustang]

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing_lures/senko.html

[Jake P]

http://www.bassresou...ures/senko.html

Cant believe i forgot to add this link! The Senko is a fish catching machine!!! The most effective way to fish a senko is weightless either t rigged or wacky rigged. It has a unique fall when fished weightless that is irresistable to bass. I cast it out and let it sink to the bottom, wait a few seconds and then slowly lift your rod up from 6 o clock to 12 o clock and then let it fall back down on a semi slack line. It basically fishes itself! Deadstick it for a while cause thats when most of your strikes will come.

[swimbait king]

cast and let sink

start ur retrive with ur rod tip at about a 30 degree angle , raise ur rod to give action to worm, everything from 6" twitches to 6' sweeps can work so vary ur retrieve til u figure out what they want. i don pick up slack until my rod is vertical

u nvr want enough slack so tht u cant feel some pressure, keep a finger on the line to feel for a strike.they usually hit it wen its stopped wen tht happens point rod to where line hits the water crank down slack and set the hook.

[Deadeye-1]

If your fishing a lake or river that has a soft mucky bottom, the worm can get lost or loaded up with junk. If this happens try swimming the worm. Cast out using as light of a weight as you can, let it start to sink then slowly reel back in. This creates a "swimming" action with a ribbon tail worm that sometimes a bass just can't resist. Vary the speed of your retrieve until you find what they want.

[Lund Explorer]

Use different weights to change to the rate of its fall. Sometimes fish will react to a fast initial drop, while other times the fall has to be very slow.

Besides hopping it, dragging it, or swimming it, don't forget to try deadsticking it. Throw it out, let it sink to bottom, and then leave it in one place for as long as you can stand it. Count to 15, 30, maybe 60 seconds before moving your bait.

Watch where the line enters the water for the telltale tick that indicates a bite.

[xxjoker122]

all i use is rubber worms/ senkos/ garrys .This year i have caught over 300 bass and over thirty 5+ pounders and have every picture to prove it . i wacky rig a senko or rubber worm what ever u want to call it. best line to use for me is 8 pound fluro, and the best worms to use are a size 5. all i do is cast it, jig the tip of my rod 3 times and let it hit the bottom. 90% of your strikes are going to be on the fall. once on the bottom jig your poll straight up and send the worm up into the water and let it fall back on the bottom. for color i usally go with a darker color when the water is less visable, and a bright color when the water is clear. This is amazing in open water and even better around tree/cover because the bass think its a worm falling out of a tree. Also worms are a great all around lure, this year i caught muskie,pike, pickerel, wally eye and even catfish all off the rubber worms

[iceintheveins]

I get most all strikes on the fall. The slower the fall, the better usually.

[bassmaster3541]

With senkos, I just cast out, let it sink to the bottom, and I will slowly lift my rod and let it fall back down once or twice, and if you dont get a bite just reel it back in and throw it to another spot. With U-tail worms and lizards, I fish them veryyyy slow most of the time. I cast them out and let them fall, and they I will just reel up the majority of the slack in my line, and just shake my rod tip for usually somewhere between 5-10 seconds so the worm is just kind of dancing in place. This is when I get the majority of my strikes on these worms. Then I will just give it a couple of hops off the bottom, and then sit there and shake it a little longer. I repeat this until I get out of the area I believe I will get a strike. I do basically the same with lizards as well, but don't usually dance them for quite as long