Culprit Worm Help Needed

[Wind Knot]

I've heard a lot of good things about culprit worms and I've tried them but I still haven't caught fish on them.  I have tried multiple colors and techniques.  How do you all use them?

[MassYak85]

Fish them how you would fish any other ribbon tail worm. My favorite ones are the 7.5" original ribbon tails. I T-rig them (usually 1/8 - 1/4oz brass weight) and sometime use them on lighter Carolina rigs. The Red shad color has produced for me in the past. I've caught some rigged weightless as well. 

[Hez]

34 minutes ago, Wind Knot said:

I've heard a lot of good things about culprit worms and I've tried them but I still haven't caught fish on them.  I have tried multiple colors and techniques.  How do you all use them?

I love the culprit worms - but I specifically use the Culprit FAT MAX - 7" worms.  The fat max are more durable, and easier to handle due to being a little bit bigger. 

As far as color - I always try to match the water color I am fishing....but I usually fish stained water and my go to color is Green Pumpkin.  I also have a lot of luck with Crawdad color (black and brown) on sunny days, it's what I caught my PB on.  

As far as retrieval...I usually just cast to my target, let it sink to the bottom...and slowly drag it back to the boat...when I hit a patch of grass - I go even slower.  Try to get as close to cover as you can.  You will catch fish.

 

[crypt]

FAT MAX is an awesome worm,easy to cast weightless,or even for flipping.

[Wind Knot]

1 hour ago, hezeez@gmail.com said:

I love the culprit worms - but I specifically use the Culprit FAT MAX - 7" worms.  The fat max are more durable, and easier to handle due to being a little bit bigger. 

As far as color - I always try to match the water color I am fishing....but I usually fish stained water and my go to color is Green Pumpkin.  I also have a lot of luck with Crawdad color (black and brown) on sunny days, it's what I caught my PB on.  

As far as retrieval...I usually just cast to my target, let it sink to the bottom...and slowly drag it back to the boat...when I hit a patch of grass - I go even slower.  Try to get as close to cover as you can.  You will catch fish.

 

 

Thanks for the advice!

[Hez]

18 minutes ago, crypt said:

FAT MAX is an awesome worm,easy to cast weightless,or even for flipping.

@crypt I see you are from Central Florida too.

You know Culprit is made here in Clermont?  

You're right - awesome worms for everything

[hunterPRO1]

i personally like the black and silver ones best, because the tail flutter you can catch fish well on them reeling straight, stop and go or bumping it along/ dragging it. very good lures to use.

[Choporoz]

Orig and Fat Max fan here.  Hard to fish them wrong.  Hopping works well because the tails have good action even on a slow fall.  Straight swimming along or just off the bottom works well quite often.  I like Motor Oil and darker colors; wife prefers Okeechobee most any time.

[Turkey sandwich]

They're awesome and can be really versatile.  The original is great with little to no weight, like mentioned above, when you need to be a bit more finesse/slow, but still want a bigger bait.  It's also a good all around T-Rig or C-rig worm.   

[crypt]

2 hours ago, hezeez@gmail.com said:

@crypt I see you are from Central Florida too.

You know Culprit is made here in Clermont?  

You're right - awesome worms for everything

yes in Melbourne.

[WRB]

4 hours ago, Wind Knot said:

I've heard a lot of good things about culprit worms and I've tried them but I still haven't caught fish on them.  I have tried multiple colors and techniques.  How do you all use them?

What type of bass are you trying to catch, LMB or smallmouth?

Where are you fishing, River, pond or lake?

Tom

[jr231]

I always fish mine with weight. Usually 1/8oz unpegged painted bullet weight. . I like red shad and tequila(it's like a purple black laminate) . Hop em and drag em. Don't be afraid to really hop it up high. Alot of my strikes with these happen on the descent. 

[WIGuide]

I generally fish them with short hops, I don't drag them too much as at least to me the tail doesn't give off enough action that way. My top colors have always been red shad, electric blue, fire and ice, and purple black laminate. 

[Bassun]

I don't remember the name of the color off hand, but I used to have some green ones that worked fantastically in late spring and summer when rigged weightless and weedless.  Toss it to the back of grass, weeds, etc, and slowly snake it back out.  Never caught anything anywhere else on em, but in the grass they were fantastic, lol.

[Jeff H]

The 4" and 6" also make great spinnerbaits trailers when you don't want quite the bulk of a grub.

[lo n slo]

Original in Red Shad, Fire and Ice, Tequila Sunrise and Crawdad

[jr231]

Just now, lo n slo said:

Original in Red Shad, Fire and Ice, Tequila Sunrise and Crawdad

Your most successful retrieve method? 

[lo n slo]

depends, i like to drag down to 10' or so, i'll hop it more in deeper water, sometimes a big stroke and watch my line as it sinks. love that

[jr231]

1 minute ago, lo n slo said:

depends, i like to drag down to 10' or so, i'll hop it more in deeper water, sometimes a big stroke and watch my line as it sinks. love that

Me too. Do you always use weight with these worms ? 

[lo n slo]

mostly a 3/16 bullet and a 3/0 offset Gamakatsu. but thats just me

[N Florida Mike]

Culprits were my go to bait for many years.I still have a box dedicated just to them.Red shad and moccasin in tannic stained water,black shad and motor oil in clearer water on sunny days.Tequila early and late in the day.

I T-rig them and use a 2/0 wide gap hook weightless in shallow water and only use a little weight in deeper water or if it's windy.

I cast out,let them sink,and wait 20 seconds or so.Then I reel n with a slow to moderate speed.I never hop them much.Havent needed to.Youll get most of the strikes on the fall or shortly after.But you'll also get some on the retrieve,esp.up on top.With this bait above all others you will get blow ups right at the boat!!

[primetime]

I spent my first 10-15 years fishing Culprit worms 90% of the time, and I rigged a 6" or 7.5" on a Mister Twister Keeper Hook 3/0-4/0 and we would fish them weightless in shallow water less than 4-5', or simply add a split shot 18" up and most strikes would come on the fall. We would cast to structure, let them sink, twitch it slowly, pause, then lift and let it fall again...Then make another cast....Now I rig them with a 4/0 Offset Round bend use mostly the 7.5" 10"-Summer then 5/0 hook for more weight, but now I like to use a light 1/8-3/16 or 1/4 sliding bullet weight but I try to make sure my casts land softly. I still use split shots 18" up more than I do a bullet weight with ribbon tails and I will fish it like a Mojo Rig, meaning let it fall, slowly drag or sweep like a carolina rig, and lift it at times, slow and slower has always been key, accurate casting to isolated cover, I don't like them in weeds since the tails get hung up.

Colors I use the same I always used to but I also fish the Berkley Power worms which often work better, or a Zoom U Tail 6" which is thinner and more finesse with a light wire worm hook, and I prefer the lightest line I can get away with.

Red Shad, Moccasin is really good in spring and fall, Grey Shad, Junebug, Tequilla shad, Grape, pumpkinseed, and they have a new color that is gold/brown which I now use and I like. At the end of the day you probably only need Green Pumpkin, Junebug, Red Shad, Junebug or if in clear water the grey shad is good so is their Pumpkinseed. They have the best pumpkinseed color which is translucent, I still use that color the most even though it is not popular and it works well for me.

Sorry for so much detail, The first time I ever went bass fishing as a little Kid was with a culprit worm and I used the Keeper Hooks, 6" Culprits, 7.5" once I was good with a casting reel, and never fished anything else but a Spinnerbait & Buzzbait/Few topwaters. I used to catch fish in college and take weekend trips and only bring a bag of lead weights(Small shots, Bullet weights, pack of hooks, and 3-4 packs of Culprit worms. 

Spinning gear was 8lb Trilene XT or XL, Casting was 12lb mono back then and I pretty much do the same although now I use braid or braid to leader, but mono is fine and I still fish them in a finesse style and the 6" will work year round. (Keep hooks are hard to find but I still use them for weightless worms and lighter line, they are easy to use and super weedless)

Hope my thesis helps. Keep at it, I would watch some videos and read some articles on this site on how to fish weightless worms, texas rigs, and don't hesitate to try different colors. I used to do well on strange colors if I had them, and to be honest I would use black and purple  the most, now Green Pumpkin is popular the key is finding fish and getting the bait to the depth they are at. I used to struggle when I moved Upstate for College since the lakes were deeper and clear which is how I started using a split shot since the water was deeper, If you are patient you can catch bass deep without a weight it just takes a long time unless they are suspended near the surface.....Good Luck, Culprit worms are as good as they get. The Fat max is a great worm for flipping grass since the tail will not get caught, it is fatter body, less tail action but is a good worm if you want to pictch or flip heavier cover, regular culprits in grass/weeds will not get to the fish as the tail will catch and you will just be waiting and nothing will happen.

[scaleface]

Keep trying . Once you get efficient with a Texas rig worm , you will be able to fish anything . Dont overthink it . A t-rigged 2.0 offset hook  with a sliding 3/16th ounce weight is what I would use . Just keep throwing it in the snags and concentrate on how it feels . Some strikes will be slight taps and others will just feel like a leaf on your bait . That first  fish will come and then many many more .

[Jar11591]

If I'm throwing a worm, there is a 100% chance that it's a Culprit.

I fish them Texas rigged with a 4/0 EWG Gamakatsu, and a 1/8 - 1/2oz bullet weight. 

[Choporoz]

Stopped at the pier on the way home last night and decided to put on a Culprit, because of this thread.  No bass on any lures, but I did catch a 12 lb blue catfish on a 7.5" original Culprit (motor oil.)