Bites Today On A Worm

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

Found some bites on a pond today after I decided to swim my 10-in. PowerBait worm.  Was using a 3/0 hook.  Water was muddy -- only a few inches visibility.  First bite was the biggest and the line started sideways.  A few casts later I got bit again but then nothing after that.  Bites were about 8 ft from shore just inside some shade.

 

Do you think the fish realized it wasn't food and ignored it?  Or since the water was muddy would it be the case that I just never got the lure in the exact same spot again?

 

It was interesting that the normal worm retrieve (pull up rod from 9 O'clock to 12 O'clock, lower and reel in the slack) wasn't working but then swimming started getting bites.  I would think the lure would be moving too fast in muddy water for swimming to work...unless I happened to be on the exact spot of a fish.

 

 

[livetofish28]

The constant movement would throw off more water then the stop and go retrieve and bass can see in muddy water better than we give them credit for(in my opinion) it all depends on what the fish want that day. If I got bites swimming the worm I would probably have switched to a crankbait in like a chartreuse craw and really get them going as this time of year they're chasing bait pretty good

Tight lines

Andrew

[Lund Explorer]

Only bites? What about hookups?

That big long tail on a 10" power worm is going to create quite a bit of vibration which is good for muddy water, but I would suggest moving up in hook size to a 5/0 for that large of a bait. If you stung those fish that did

bite, they might not be too willing to bite again for awhile.

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

Yeah, I normally use a larger hook but have been reading about guys recommending the smallest hook you can get away with.  So this trip I went with a 3/0.  Do you think they would be more likely to hookup with a larger hook?

[00 mod]

Two things:  I would recommend a larger hook.  Also, I have been bit swimming worms back in to make another cast by gar a lot!  Are there gar in the lake you were fishing?

 

Jeff

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

Two things:  I would recommend a larger hook.  Also, I have been bit swimming worms back in to make another cast by gar a lot!  Are there gar in the lake you were fishing?

 

Jeff

Not that I know of.  This was at a neighborhood pond.  There are a ton of turtles though.  I know there are bass because I caught one on a spinnerbait a few days ago.  I went with the smaller hook this trip because I had been reading about a lot of guys that say go with the smallest hook you can get away with so wanted to try the 3/0.

[Bluebasser86]

Big bluegills will bite even a 10" worms tail and pull with a surprising amount of force. I'm guessing you didn't hook up because of your hook being too small though. Did you try any moving baits? Sounds like that's what they wanted.