Plastic Jelly Worms - How And Where To Use Them?

[Mr Q]

I use mostly the "grape" (purple)) with the red ("strawberry") a distant second and the black only occasionally.

I use these on the bottom and across the tops of pad and weed beds that reach the surface. My retrieves for bottom use is very slow with pauses every couple of seconds and for top use, I drag the worm over the weeds and try to let the tail drop into the water, then jiggle it before moving it on. When casting to an open water area, sometimes I get a strike while the worm is sinking at various depths. I use no weights and only a good quality snap-swivel with a "weeder" hook. I use 9" worms since I fish for those lunkers above 7 pounds.

Does anyone else use these retrieves/locations and if so, how do they work for you? Are there any other locations or retrieves that work for you?

[SmokeRise1]

I like these worms too.  I especially like the larger black or motor oil at night, weightless and worked very slowly.

[CRANKENSTIEN]

i like a big ribbon tail worm.  I fish it texas rigged 3/8 oz  swimming along weed lines, shad lines, off shore sturcture.  I sometimes drag it slow along the bottom.

[scaleface]

I use the 6 inch Jelly worms a lot. Black grape has caught more fish for me than any other lure . I always Texas rig them and use them from 1 foot to whatever. The Jelly worm is kind of a forgotten bait . Been using a lot of Scumpernong  color lately . 

[Bluebasser86]

Man that brings back memories. My dad used to catch so many fish on a black Jelly worm, only worm I remember him ever fishing when I was little. I started fishing them when I got more into bass fishing and caught a ton of fish on them myself, no idea why I stopped fishing them other than probably for the more popular baits out there. I fished them on a 3/0 EWG with either a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce bullet weight and just hopped them across the bottom slowly. 

[DocNsanE]

Are we talking about Mann's Jelly Worm?

[Catch and Grease]

I've caught some good fish on the purple 12" Mann's jelly worm!

[Mr Q]

Actually any brand...the ones I get best results on have an oily coating that has two purposes - masking human scent and a fish attractor,

My recollection when first using these lures was to use a black color for stained water and brighter colors for clearer water. But I found the grape color works best over most water conditions with the red "strawberry" coming in second. Does anyone have different experiences than the color selection mentioned above? And of course, using a "weeder" hook for all plant/bottom conditions.

[primetime]

I use the Manns Jelly worm in pressured areas I know people are using trick worms...Work It like a well...Trick worm or any other finesse worm, I use the augertail still as well in the blue translucent color on a shaky head just to mess around in a local pond everyone fishes and it works sometimes better than a ribbon but the zoom U tails are the same thing really, I like the colors manns has

[Surfcaster]

i like a big ribbon tail worm.  I fish it texas rigged 3/8 oz  swimming along weed lines, shad lines, off shore sturcture.  I sometimes drag it slow along the bottom.

This is how I was taught to fish a "plastic jelly worm" when I was 4 years old. Swimming the worm slowly; all the way back to the fishing pole.  It was the only way we fished it.  My father would crimp a small split shot on the line about 6" above the worm and I had to have the weedless hook with the wire that clipped on the hook.  I guess I was fishing a mini Carolina rig in 1973, but I tried to keep it off the bottom because mud and moss on the bottom of our pond.  I did not want to have to clean it every time I reeled in.  We caught a lot of fish like that.  Now at the lake when I Carolina rig, it is with an egg sinker with beads and a long leader and the hook point buried in the worm body to make it weedless, or if I texas rig it is seems I toss it to the bank or log or bush and hop it a few times then reel it in fast so I can make another cast to the next piece of structure.

[Mr Q]

   A long time ago I read where some people not only use a slip sinker before the worm  but also use a tiny lubricating syringe (empty of oil) to inject a tiny air bubble into the tail or head to let the worm float off the bottom a few inches. I never tried this since the worm alone got me many strikes with a very slow retrieve for a foot, then let it rest for several seconds before resuming my retrieve. The tough thing about fishing these plastic worms (at least for me) is detecting the "pick-up", which can be very subtle. In these "strikes", you have to pay very close attention to the line movement that barely gives any indication of a bass mouthing the worm. At other times the strike can be vicious! And I found that close watching of the line as the worm sinks is very important since any pick-ups will be very subtle. 

 

   Has anyone out there used the "injected air" idea and if so, how did it work for you?

[scaleface]

I've never heard of injecting air into a plastic worm to create a bubble. Doesnt even sound possible but who knows. Injecting air into live worms is a popular tactic. I know a guy who use to do that on a carolina rig and he caught lots of different species of fish .

[Mr Q]

Yes it can be done and the air bubble is very small since the worm's density is very close to the water's, which allows the worm to nearly float as it slowly drops to the bottom. Some inject one bubble near the tail so only the tail remains off the bottom and others place one at each end of the worm to keep most of the body off the bottom. Once the bubble is made, its hard to squeeze out of the worm and lasts for a long time. Ive' found most quality worms do have a slight raised posture of the tail fin when resting on the bottom without any air bubbles.