Plastic Worm Fishing

[TnRiver46]

Zoom u tail zoom trick worm zoom finesse worm and zoom swamp crawler are the ones I like! Rigged all kinds of ways but one great way is like this on an 1/8 round ball jig head. Very good hookups and affordable . I have mentioned it a few times on here, I call it poor mans Shakey head 

[Dorado]

48 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Zoom u tail zoom trick worm zoom finesse worm and zoom swamp crawler are the ones I like! Rigged all kinds of ways but one great way is like this on an 1/8 round ball jig head. Very good hookups and affordable . I have mentioned it a few times on here, I call it poor mans Shakey head 

In my favorite Zoom color too ?

[TnRiver46]

12 minutes ago, Dorado said:

In my favorite Zoom color too ?

I just went out to the boat and found those to take a pic for the post. It appears I only have 3........ Do they still make it? I thought it was sour grape or sprayed grass, the label is worn off 

[Dorado]

15 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I just went out to the boat and found those to take a pic for the post. It appears I only have 3........ Do they still make it? I thought it was sour grape or sprayed grass, the label is worn off 

 

[Mobasser]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Zoom u tail zoom trick worm zoom finesse worm and zoom swamp crawler are the ones I like! Rigged all kinds of ways but one great way is like this on an 1/8 round ball jig head. Very good hookups and affordable . I have mentioned it a few times on here, I call it poor mans Shakey head 

Good rig here. A jigworm. These were popular here in Missouri as far back as the 1960s that I know of. Predecessor to the shakey head, a souped up version of this with top quality hook, head shape, and line tie position. I've read that the first were fished with an open hook, then later inserted for weedless fishing. I like that color also.

[Mobasser]

One thing I've noticed in this thread is the guys who say that the first plastic worm fish was their most important, the game changer for them. This was true for me also. When I actually hooked and landed that first one on a plastic worm, I felt that I had really accomplished something. At that point, you've taken your fishing to a new level. Your fishing a bait that requires more skill, more concentratiion etc. You've put yourself in that class of anglers who can do much more than cast and crank. And with weedless riggings, your fishing your baits where other baits could never go.

[crypt]

I caught my first bass on a Jakes Producer 7" purple worm. now called Producto worms. still use em. but yeah worm fishing is still one of the most productive ways for me to catch bass. has been since day 1.never leave home without them.

[Fishingmickey]

It seems like I went to the same school Catt did. I started fishing Texas rigged plastic worms back in the mid 80's. I was introduced to worm fishing by a fellow co-worker and friend. We fished Calaveras lake by San Antonio. We worked second shift and we'd go after work and we fished the dam at night. It was lighted with street lights about every 50 to 75 yards and prevailing winds were usually out of the south and over the dam. We fished 4" lucky strike ring worms black with a chartreuse tail. 1/8 oz bullet head with a 3/0 round bend straight shank hook was the rig of choice.  We would have a second rod with a 1/4 oz rattle trap tied on. If one of us hung up in the rip rap. We'd slid in to unsnag it and the other angler that wasn't hung would be throwing that trap parallel to the bank. Always a lot of banter back and forth about most and biggest.  If it was really windy we would move up to a 3/16th oz weight. We had some unbelievable nights and we very rarely ever saw any other boats. We buy the worms at Academy from the bulk bin I think they were .07 cents a piece.  Very fond memories!

Fishingmickey

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Sprayed grass is a really good color around here. Why such a small hook on the shakyhead setup? Usually I use a 3/0ewg with a split shot for shakyhead setup? 

 

My PB came off a zoom u-vibe with a toothpick pegged 1/2ounce lead bullet! T-rig is an all time favorite of mine. But these days I almost always have my weight pegged

[Russ E]

I started using a texas rigged culprit 7 inch worm back in the late 70's, June bug and tequila sunrise were the 2 colors I used. 

These days a shakyhead with a trickworm covers most of my worm fishing. Black, Green pumpkin, or plum.

I still use the texas rig in cover. The only difference now is the zoom ol monster or baby brush hog gets most of the action. usually in plum or black emerald.

 

[TnRiver46]

42 minutes ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Sprayed grass is a really good color around here. Why such a small hook on the shakyhead setup? Usually I use a 3/0ewg with a split shot for shakyhead setup? 

 

My PB came off a zoom u-vibe with a toothpick pegged 1/2ounce lead bullet! T-rig is an all time favorite of mine. But these days I almost always have my weight pegged

I just use the small hooks because I have tons of the 1/8 oz round ball jig heads for grubs and tubes that I use all summer for smallies. Since they are cheap And I already had them tied on most of the time, I just started slapping a worm on their weightless. I have football shakey heads with 3/0 hooks as well but if I used those every time I fished I would be in the poor house! You would be surprised how well that little hook will stick and hold a big angry smallmouth 

[Boomstick]

I have most of my success up in the northeast on smaller soft plastics like a ned rig or a drop shot. For larger worms, I've had decent success with ribbon tail worms like the Berkley Power worms. When the bass are a little more active, senkos can be effective.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

To me those small hooks are crazy. The main river I fish is loaded with bowfin. My main Hook is thick wire 5/0 trokar, with 60lb braid. No way I could see using such small gear. I'm trying to downsize some to lighter line and 3/0 hooks.

 

It's not unusual to bend out at least a pack of hooks in a day on the river. That goes for jigs too. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I catch plenty of fish? ? (Not trying to hijack thread)

[JustALineWetter]

Thinking back I can remember the first plastic worm rig I used. I think it was sold as a Northern rig, but caught several 2-3# Largemouths with it

 

Prop spinner, leading two in-line hooks; one about an inch back from the spinner, the other another four inches back. Rigged a 6" plain plastic worm on it, split shot weight a few inches in front of the spinner.

[HeyCoach]

I didn’t have anybody to teach me how to bass fish and had to teach myself, and poorly at that. ?

 

Anyways, I ended up getting a variety pack of soft plastics that included some little fry lures, lizards, different profile worms in ribbon tail and sticks. 

 

I caught my first war mouth on a green pumpkin and red flake fry night fishing at a location we weren’t supposed to be.

 

Later on I finally caught my first bass on a T-rigged Berkeley worm in some sort of natural worm color that they handed out at a FLW weigh-in event at Guntersville. 

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

To me those small hooks are crazy. The main river I fish is loaded with bowfin. My main Hook is thick wire 5/0 trokar, with 60lb braid. No way I could see using such small gear. I'm trying to downsize some to lighter line and 3/0 hooks.

 

It's not unusual to bend out at least a pack of hooks in a day on the river. That goes for jigs too. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I catch plenty of fish? ? (Not trying to hijack thread)

No bowfin here and the water is typically gin clear so finesse is must, especially in winter 

[ItsHardwick]

5 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

To me those small hooks are crazy. The main river I fish is loaded with bowfin. My main Hook is thick wire 5/0 trokar, with 60lb braid. No way I could see using such small gear. I'm trying to downsize some to lighter line and 3/0 hooks.

 

It's not unusual to bend out at least a pack of hooks in a day on the river. That goes for jigs too. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I catch plenty of fish? ? (Not trying to hijack thread)

Back off your drag a bit maybe? 

[clh121787]

6 inch G.L. lizard . Motoroil. Was what i leanred on. To this day i prefer an 8 inch lizard no matter what season or water temp. For t rig. 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

@ItsHardwick, if it pulls drag it's a dinosaur because if you give a bass slack they gonna wrap you up before you know it. 

[J Francho]

On 12/8/2018 at 11:42 AM, NittyGrittyBoy said:

To me those small hooks are crazy.

Why?  This salmon was caught on a #10 hook.  The smallmouth was caught using a #6.  You match the hook to the size of the bait.  If you're bending hooks out, then you aren't properly setting the drag.  With smaller baits, I mean finesse fishing, you use finesse gear.  It's not a smash and grab affair.  There's really nothing wrong with what you're doing, except when it doesn't work.  Then it might be time to bust out something smaller and lighter.

 

 

[Mobasser]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

Why?  This salmon was caught on a #10 hook.  The smallmouth was caught using a #6.  You match the hook to the size of the bait.  If you're bending hooks out, then you aren't properly setting the drag.  With smaller baits, I mean finesse fishing, you use finesse gear.  It's not a smash and grab affair.  There's really nothing wrong with what you're doing, except when it doesn't work.  Then it might be time to bust out something smaller and lighter.

 

 

Good point J Francho. Play the fish, don't horse em. Plus it's more fun too

[J Francho]

There's ZERO horsing a king.  The initial run is literally unstoppable.  They don't bend hooks - they break them.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

When your fishing around a ton of structure, current, and limbs there's no playing out a bass. 

 

You play you lose. I guess it's just a difference in location and circumstances. Everybody fishes same setups I use so I'm not doing anything different than all the other locals.  

[J Francho]

Play is exactly the term I'd use for bass.  It sure isn't a fight.  I've said it before, if you're in it for the fight, there are other species that will fight.  Regardless, if you're bending hooks, and others that fish like you aren't then you need to look at what else you might be doing wrong.  I fish some heavy cover and use some pretty heavy handed tactics to land fish, and I don't bend hooks.  Everyone likes to say, "but my cover is heavier...." but I've fished many places on the east coast, from Vermont to Florida, and while cover varies, every place has areas of "heavy cover" that poses about the same challenge.  Be glad you don't have EU milfoil with zebra mussels growing on the stalks.  That's fun.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

First off, I am grateful for not having milfoil or zebra mussels. 

 

And second, I'm not to prideful to learn. That's why im here, I want to be a better angler. I think if I did loosen the drag a tad, and go down to smaller line it would help. Thanks. sorry for the hijack op