Trick Worm Phenomenon

[FishingMastah1]

My friend gave me a trick worm to try yesterday. I pitched it out, let it sink, popped it up (slowly sometimes, quickly others), let it sink, rinse and repeat. No luck. Then I tried something else. I pitched it out, let it sink, closed my bail, and then just sat there. Lo and behold, I see my line move, and I had fish on. I got that fish back in the water, and pitched again to the exact same spot, with the same method, and another fish took it, but he got off.

 

My question is, why did the fish take the lure when it is just sitting there, as opposed to bouncing it some for a motion effect? What is the fish seeing? I read that most fish will hit worms on the initial fall, but I've never read that they get hit just sitting there. Is there any kind of hypothesis that can be formed? I had about 3-4 fish hit my worm this way before I had to leave because of noseeums.

 

I'm going to go back tomorrow and try this again. These things have killer action and are fun to fish, definitely going to pick up a pack.

[flyfisher]

So the theory i have heard and that makes sense to me is that fish are curious creatures.  If something is in their area and they don't know what it is they go over and check it out.  If you move it it can either create a reaction strike or spook them.  By letting it sit motionless, they come over and investigate and if you let it sit long enough they want to investigate more so they will pick it up to see if it is edible or not.  Basically they don't have hands so they have to use their mouth to investigate...

[ww2farmer]

 . Is there any kind of hypothesis that can be formed? .

Yes..................you have a lot to learn.

[iabass8]

just because you aren't moving the worm doesn't mean the worm itself isn't moving. with the correct set up you can tap a rod blank that will make a worm twitch ever so slightly. wind and current can also move your worm. fish do hit baits on the fall and they do it a lot. the same amount of fish can be caught dragging a bait along the bottom, hopping it, or dead sticking it. you could go back to the same spot tomorrow and they will hit the worm but you may have to present it differently. presentation is key /w trick worms...as with all baits.

 

as for what the fish are seeing...food..

[martintheduck]

Ever watch a worm just hanging out on land? They don't ALWAYS move. Sometimes they are just laying there not moving at all. I imagine in their lifetime, fish have learned what a worm looks like just hanging out motionless.... they see your worm and think "worm" and eat it... it looks natural even just sitting there.

 

NOW - why they will hit the motionless worm as opposed to the moving worm? That can be a multitude of reasons. The simplest "hypothesis" I have is: fish are turned off and want something REALLY slow or deadsticked. I know the fishing has been on/off based on the weather in my area recently. Weather will be stable a few days and fishing will cut on on the second day, then a front comes through and turns them off for a couple days.

[Sam]

What  you did is what Martintheduck mentions as "dead sticking."

 

Works best in cold water.

[catchnm]

In the early 1970's I first started fishing "rubber" worms. That's what they were called then and they were made by Creme for the most part. They were hard as a peice of tire rubber and the way we fished them was texas rigged (no one actually called it that then) 1/8 to 1/4 oz. pinch on sinker - the kind with the wings on both ends - and we would throw them out and then just let them sit on a slack line. If the line began to go out then you waited until it got taught and tried to jerk the fish's face off. That's just the way it was done in my area. We didn't have a name for any of it but it darn sure worked. I caught many lunker bass and saw many others caught from Texoma using the technique. I once threw this rig in a pond using my Zebco 33 which brid's nested on the inside when I cast it. After several minutes undoing the mess I started reeling in to make another cast. Lost a huge fish that day because I didn't realize he'd picked it up and didn't set the hook, i.e., jerk his eyes out.

The worms back then were made of such hard plastic that if you didn't jerk the fire out of your line when they picked the worm up then you couldn't get the hook thru the worm. I was just a boy back then and these comprise some of the fondest memories of my childhood. We've come a long way since those days.

[aceman387]

My friend gave me a trick worm to try yesterday. I pitched it out, let it sink, popped it up (slowly sometimes, quickly others), let it sink, rinse and repeat. No luck. Then I tried something else. I pitched it out, let it sink, closed my bail, and then just sat there. Lo and behold, I see my line move, and I had fish on. I got that fish back in the water, and pitched again to the exact same spot, with the same method, and another fish took it, but he got off.

 

My question is, why did the fish take the lure when it is just sitting there, as opposed to bouncing it some for a motion effect? What is the fish seeing? I read that most fish will hit worms on the initial fall, but I've never read that they get hit just sitting there. Is there any kind of hypothesis that can be formed? I had about 3-4 fish hit my worm this way before I had to leave because of noseeums.

 

I'm going to go back tomorrow and try this again. These things have killer action and are fun to fish, definitely going to pick up a pack.

Try "dead sticking" all of your soft plastics not just your trick worms.

[smalljaw67]

You just learned to "dead stick" and it will work with any shape at any time but cold water is where it is used the most.

[PABASS]

I want to add dead sticking can be productive with most lures, not just plastics, not just in cold months, the bass as you have learned will tell you how they want it.  I use dead sticking all year round, especially if I have confidence in location/lure.

[boostr]

How did you have the worm rigged?

[Darren.]

Just another presentation that has its time and place. Some days dead-sticking doesn't produce, others it does. Keep up the experimentation. Trick Worms are super versatile, as are their younger sibling, Finesse Worms...

[FishingMastah1]

How did you have the worm rigged?

T rigged texposed

[J Francho]

Yes..................you have a lot to learn.

 

Yep, but he learned a BIG lesson that day!

[Raul]

 I read that most fish will hit worms on the initial fall

 

Lesson you learned: what you read isn´t always the only truth.

 

There are many truths, in this sport one truth is true today but not tomorrow.

[Sam]

To add to this discussion, at one of the Bassmasters Universities one of the pros asked us why a bass, or any other fish, would hit a plastic worm when worms do not live in the water and have to fall in from the bank for the bass to see them?

 

Good question.

 

Add to this why would a bass hit a crazy looking spinnerbait, buzzbait, jig, creature bait, etc.?

 

For some reason, a long, long time ago, Crème offered their red worms and the bass ate them. Go figure?

[bigbill]

A split shot rigged black worm is still the number one bass bait ever. I noticed it resembles the freshwater eels that are near the shoreline at night in the dark. I believe this is why the bass are near the shoreline in the dark.

 

I remember when creme worms came in black and natural colors first. Then purple and red were offered too soon after. The rigged worms with the hooks and props where a hit too. We didn't have much in the choices of plastics in the old days. We only watched Jerry McKinnis too. Besides Gadda bout Gaddis with his float plane.

We thought they were hot stuff as kids.

 

Bass are predators. There like my kittens/cats. Anything is a toy to practice with at first.  Then it becomes food. I think all predators practice this when there little by honing there skills on killing things to eat. I think being a mouse or minnow is a hard life. With mice being on land or water your sought after as food. Have you ever let a plastic mouse fall off a fallen log or branch?  It's over in a flash. My little kittens are laser dot trained killers. At just three months old they can SWAT one fly one pass with there paws. The bass are no different.

 

The split shot rig with a 6" black creme plastic worm is bass fishing at its finest but it's also the slowest style of bass fishing too. We would fish like this by anchoring the boat after the weeds drop off out of site in the deeper water. Then we cast towards the weedline. Let it sit for five minutes, then repeat till the worm is back to the boat then repeat. At the sametime we watch the line for movement. I like to use two rod setups when split shorting worms. I throw crankbaits, inline spinners and spinnerbaits with my second rod setup while watching the line on the worm setup. It's a good time to grab a sandwich too.

 

A split shot rigged black worm works at any body of water. Even in the back wash in rivers too. Along side the channels too.

[FishingMastah1]

Do roboworms have that killer tail action on the fall like the trick worms? I heard that roboworms tails float very well on the bottom, but they need to have that wiggle on the fall. Trick worms tails don't seem to float quite as much on the bottom as I'd like, but the shimmy on the fall makes up for it.

[Catt]

When I'm casting a T-Rig or Jig I'll hop 3 times kinda fast & the pause at least 30-45 seconds before I hop it again.

[martintheduck]

Do roboworms have that killer tail action like the trick worms? Trick worms tails don't stand up all too much, and I heard that roboworms tails float very well.

 

 

Can verify - roboworms have a killer tail that stands off the bottom and flutters very nicely. I grabbed a pack of robo's on sale in early June... buddy on my boat was fishing Tricks and I was fishing robos on the same spot. I was getting bites and he wasn't. I now use pretty much only roboworms. I never thought much about the different action of a robo-vs-trick ----- but I just grabbed a robo and a trick and put them in the sink and can confirm... the action on the robo is SUBSTANTIALLY better!

[FishingMastah1]

Can verify - roboworms have a killer tail that stands off the bottom and flutters very nicely. I grabbed a pack of robo's on sale in early June... buddy on my boat was fishing Tricks and I was fishing robos on the same spot. I was getting bites and he wasn't. I now use pretty much only roboworms. I never thought much about the different action of a robo-vs-trick ----- but I just grabbed a robo and a trick and put them in the sink and can confirm... the action on the robo is SUBSTANTIALLY better!

Do robos have that shimmy on the fall? That is what I was trying to ask about, I read that robos tails float better on the bottom, but do they have that killer wiggle on the fall?

[Deleted account]

I catch more "backlash t-rig" fish than I care to admit. If you find a good spot in the pre spawn, when they are inactive (like when it warms up, then gets cold again) it can be one after the other, but they want it just sitting there, sometimes for 10 seconds, sometimes for a minute or more.

[jignfule]

"Dead sticking" almost as fun as froggin !!!!!   I've caught so many fish as I've been dead sticking unintentionally (been distracted or fixing equiptment) Caught them on Rat l trap, jigs, ikas, etc. I always felt a little cheap and dirty afterwards, had to go home and take a shower.

[5fishlimit]

Since we're talking trick worms here I had a question.

I've always used the Zoom trick worms (love the merthiolate color), but recently got the Strike King KVD version. They both seem to be identical in design except for the tail.

Does one style work better over the other, and if so what conditions?

Thanks in advance.

[FishingMastah1]

Since we're talking trick worms here I had a question.

I've always used the Zoom trick worms (love the merthiolate color), but recently got the Strike King KVD version. They both seem to be identical in design except for the tail.

Does one style work better over the other, and if so what conditions?

Thanks in advance.

I've never used SK ones, all I know is that the killer wiggle action of the zoom trick worm catches fish. It wiggles on a very slow roll, and shimmys on a fall. Deadly. How do the SKs compare to the action of the zooms?