Texas Rig - Worm Laying On It's Side

[Ryan Lowdermilk]

I did a few field tests on the worms in my tackle box. I rigged them up on a 1/8 oz sinker, a 3/0 offset hook and 20 lb. Power Pro braided line. I filled up our jacuzzi tub and let the experiment begin!

 

To my dismay, many of the worms in my tackle box, upon hitting the bottom, rolled over and laid flat on their side. The only worms that presented themselves with "tails up" were the curly tail worms. Everything else just rolled over.

 

In order to get the majority of the worms in my tackle box to present "tail up" I had to get rid of the sinker and offset hook and replace it with a 1/8 oz. jig head.

 

Is this the only way?

 

What am I doing wrong?

[OkobojiEagle]

In order to get the majority of the worms in my tackle box to present "tail up" I had to get rid of the sinker and offset hook and replace it with a 1/8 oz. jig head.

 

 

So... what's your problem?

 

oe

[WRB]

First things first; do your worms float on the water surface without a hook? If they don't they will sink and lay flat on the bottom with the hook sideways. Worms with good floatation the tail will float upright, the heavy style wire hooks will lay on the bottom sideways at rest. Adding a glass bead bead between the weight and hook helps the worm to separate a little from the weight and tends to float upright a little easier. Using a lighter wire worm hook will also help to prevent the hook weighing down the worm head and laying flay on the bottom at rest. Shaking the worm instead of letting it lay still is your best bet, along with the glass bead and lighter wire worm hook, if keeping the worm off the bottom is an issue.

Tom

[SENKOSAM]

That test is a good one. I pour my own plastics and from experience have found that buoyancy depends on hardener and additives such as salt. Jerk worms usually are floaters as are XXX plastics, but most sink once they get wet. Add a bronze hook that extends 1/3 the worm or lizard length and it will fall flat on bottom. It always amazes me when I see and article about the Carolina rig and the assertion that it keeps the plastic off the bottom. The videos I've seen say different.

[LgMouthGambler]

Use a shake head rig and an unsalted worm if you want them to float tail up.

[tbone1993]

What am I doing wrong?

 

As LMGamlbler pointed out you are just looking for a different technique other than a texas rig. If you want you bait to float use a stand up jig or a shakey head rig paired with an unsalted worm. There was just a new video posted on the board about shakey heads that will be helpful. 

[Ryan Lowdermilk]

So... what's your problem?

 

oe

 

oe - I just assumed Texas Rig was always supposed to present the worm "tail up". Is it ok for the worm to lay on it's side at the bottom? Will the fish eat it?

 

First things first; do your worms float on the water surface without a hook? If they don't they will sink and lay flat on the bottom with the hook sideways. Worms with good floatation the tail will float upright, the heavy style wire hooks will lay on the bottom sideways at rest. Adding a glass bead bead between the weight and hook helps the worm to separate a little from the weight and tends to float upright a little easier. Using a lighter wire worm hook will also help to prevent the hook weighing down the worm head and laying flay on the bottom at rest. Shaking the worm instead of letting it lay still is your best bet, along with the glass bead and lighter wire worm hook, if keeping the worm off the bottom is an issue.

Tom

 

Tom - Great question. One of my worms floated at the top the others, upon dropping them into the water, sank. Some slow. Some fast. When they hit the bottom some of them would lay flat. The others would have their tails hovering just off the bottom. 

 

Great advice Tom. I will switch to a 2/0 offset hook and test each of the worms again. It would be awesome to see some of these worms float "tail up" by changing out the hook size. This would be great insight to have! Stay tuned!

 

I can also test with beads. I typically rig it up with a bead and during this test I didn't. Perhaps that may have changed things.

 

You are the man!

 

That test is a good one. I pour my own plastics and from experience have found that buoyancy depends on hardener and additives such as salt. Jerk worms usually are floaters as are XXX plastics, but most sink once they get wet. Add a bronze hook that extends 1/3 the worm or lizard length and it will fall flat on bottom. It always amazes me when I see and article about the Carolina rig and the assertion that it keeps the plastic off the bottom. The videos I've seen say different.

 

SenkoSam - When I got to Cabellas or Bass Pro should I be looking at a certain type of worm to ensure the tail floats up?

 

Use a shake head rig and an unsalted worm if you want them to float tail up.

 

LgMouthGambler - BOOM! Will do sir. I will give that a test this weekend and report back! Thx!

 

As LMGamlbler pointed out you are just looking for a different technique other than a texas rig. If you want you bait to float use a stand up jig or a shakey head rig paired with an unsalted worm. There was just a new video posted on the board about shakey heads that will be helpful. 

 

TBone1993 - So I had this wrong the whole time!!? Texas Rigging a worm doesn't mean a.) it HAS to float tail up b.) it will always float tail up regardless of the worm. With Texas rig it's ok for the worm to lay flat at the bottom? Fish expect that sort of presentation? When using Texas Rig is it assumed the worm will lay flat on the bottom? For some reason, I was under the impression that Texas Rig, presented correctly, meant the worm would float "tail up". Perhaps both presentations are correct and will produce bass?

[whitwolf]

Ryan, you said: "Is it ok for the worm to lay on it's side at the bottom? Will the fish eat it?"

 

The answer to that question is this: YES. I would venture a guess that a TX rigged plastic worn accounts for more fish each year than many other baits.

[OkobojiEagle]

Ryan... I use a T-rig presentation when cover won't allow an exposed hook point presentation.  Exposed hook point presentations have a better hook up rate for me.  A jig head will present an exposed point in an upward facing position and help reduce snagging cover.

 

oe

[WRB]

Roboworms and Iovino worms both float well.

The nail rigged worm set up properly will stand on its nose tail up. You cut off 1/4" of the worm nose flat, insert a lead or tungsten 3/32oz nail weight onto the flat nose and wacky hook the worm about 1" back of the nose with a light drop shot hook Gamakastu or owner style octopus, size 1.

Gamakatsu #11 size 3/0 should work for worms 6-7" long, straight shank will improve your strike to hook up ratio. Not a fan of using braid direct to T-rigged worms, unless the cover is heavy and water off color, but 20# braid is small diameter and should be OK. Prefer 10-14 lb premium mono or FC for T-rig worm fishing.

Tom

[Wayne P.]

Some soft plastics float, most do not.

 

When you think the tail is up due to floatation with a Tx rig or shaky head, it just has a slower fall rate than the sinker/jig head.

 

The only Trick type worm in recent history that really floats is the Renegade or if you can find the ElaZtech type material  XXX red label in that size.

 

Do your own testing, just put the worms in water-no weight, make them sink so surface tension is not involved and see which ones float back to the surface.

[WRB]

There is a super floating worm that was reintroduced by CLU the DJH floating worm. Mister Twister also offered a super float curl tail. I still use the original super float works good as a jig trailer at times with a split tail.

The super floats are closed cell foam soft plastic worms and float like a cork!

Tom

[Ryan Lowdermilk]

Ryan... I use a T-rig presentation when cover won't allow an exposed hook point presentation.  Exposed hook point presentations have a better hook up rate for me.  A jig head will present an exposed point in an upward facing position and help reduce snagging cover.

 

oe

  

oe - I just assumed Texas Rig was always supposed to present the worm "tail up". Is that not the case? When people are using a T-Rig do they expect the worm to be laying flat / on it's side or do they expect the worm to be "tail up"?

[jhoffman]

One of the reasons I started fishing a neko rig

[WRB]

When you say a Texas rig worm today there could be a few different definitions and variations.

To me a T-rig is a sliding bullet weight and worm hook tied to the main line. The worm is rigged with the hook point inserted in the worm nose to the hook bard (1/4") the is pushed out out of the worm body, rotated 180 degrees, the hook pulled until the eye is just inside the worm nose, then the hook point is inserted into the worm body so the worm is straight on the hook; classic T-rig.

When this rig is cast out the sliding sinker moves away from the worm sinks to the bottom, the weight hits bottom before the worm. The hook also weighs the worm nose downward and unless you dead stick the worm after the cast the is moving slowly by the time you start your retrieve. The retrieve varies a lot, but the rod lift from 3 o'clock to 1 o'clock pulls the line, the weight slides down to the worm moves forward. Most strikes occur during the fall through the water column, with the worm off the bottom and nearly weightless.

Tom

[Wayne P.]

The "floating worm" topic was discussed a couple of years ago.

 

I did this test with 10 trick size worms. The Zoom colors do not have Super Salt on the package and a couple of the worms state "Floating Worm" on the package.

As you can see none of them float.

 

[retiredbosn]

The article in Bassmasters this month with Aaron Martin, talks about basically doing a real short drop shot. The weight is on the bottom and the worm about 2-3 inches off. I've fished lizards this way after seeing Shaw Grisby (sp?) doing it on TV, it works and the action off the bait is outstanding

[tbone1993]

TBone1993 - So I had this wrong the whole time!!? Texas Rigging a worm doesn't mean a.) it HAS to float tail up b.) it will always float tail up regardless of the worm. With Texas rig it's ok for the worm to lay flat at the bottom? Fish expect that sort of presentation? When using Texas Rig is it assumed the worm will lay flat on the bottom? For some reason, I was under the impression that Texas Rig, presented correctly, meant the worm would float "tail up". Perhaps both presentations are correct and will produce bass?

You are being hit with a lot of information but yes that  is correct in the red.  The reason a texas rig works is because of the fall and also when the bait hits the bottom subtle twitches cause the bait to move on the bottom, also hops and such. when using a bait with appendages , for example  missile bait d bomb, on the fall they flutter and also twitch when you shake them. This entices fish because if they do not hit it on the fall sometimes they follow the bait down to the bottom and nose it and wait for movement then hit it.  Also the worm doesnt always sit flat depending on the bottom.

[SENKOSAM]

Agree with Dink. Bass hit plastic worms in many different positions. As a jerk worm on top or at mid depth, horizontal fall (Senko tip wiggle), standing off bottom and on bottom (T rig or behind a C rig). I could be wrong, but the pause & motion presentation usually do the trick. How much motion is the key: shaky or neko rig twitches, 1' hops, slide & pull, dead stick, etc. Aggression levels determine how sensitive a bass is to different actions. Once I've got its attention, then what?

 

But can anyone answer this question: why would anyone want to use a salt heavy senko on a dropshot? It can't stay horizontal and hangs down after a few seconds.

 

The stick  that I poured floats upward on the stand-up jig and stays horizontal on a dropshot rig. That's what I expect of any bait I d/s rig unless I expect it to move horizontally with fewer pauses (which is also a good technique for covering more water and for more aggressive fish).

[Ryan Lowdermilk]

You are being hit with a lot of information but yes that  is correct in the red.  The reason a texas rig works is because of the fall and also when the bait hits the bottom subtle twitches cause the bait to move on the bottom, also hops and such. when using a bait with appendages , for example  missile bait d bomb, on the fall they flutter and also twitch when you shake them. This entices fish because if they do not hit it on the fall sometimes they follow the bait down to the bottom and nose it and wait for movement then hit it.  Also the worm doesnt always sit flat depending on the bottom.

 

You are the man, TBone!

 

Thanks to everyone for the additional detail. It's finally nice to know that a T-Rig doesn't have to float tail up. More importantly is the twitch and movement off the bottom. If it happens to end up "tail up" than that's a bonus.