Super User Mobasser Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 If I had to choose one fishing lure to use to fish for bass for the rest of my fishing days, I would choose a Texas rigged plastic worm. Hands down, without hesitation. I love fishing lures of all kinds, but a Texas rig is still the best bass lure of all time, bar none. In over 35yrs of fishing it's landed me more fish, than all other lures I've tried. I use other baits too of course, but I've known successful bass anglers who used little more than a simple Texas rig, and did very well. The reasons for its effectiveness have been well talked about for years, but maybe Doug Hannon( the bass professor) summed it up the best." The action of a plastic worm is never mechanical. With each lift or shake of the rod tip it can do something slightly different which mimics natural prey. It can slither and slide over, beside, and through cover better than most any fishing lure you can use". This makes the Texas rig worm the king of bass lures.Its been the best for me. The tap- tap sensation of a bass striking a plastic worm is one of the most exciting things in fishing. Any thoughts? Comments? l love plastic worm.fishing. 9 Quote
haggard Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 Agreed. It's also effective from shallow to deep to bottom. Another thing I love about the TX rig is you can swap lures without having to cut and retie, so you can easily add variation: worm, paddle tail, turtle, creature, etc. 2 Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 My #1 go to Texas rigged plastics! From weightless to Punch Rigs All four seasons of the year Any water depth including top water Any type of cover Any type of structure Day or night! 4 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted February 22, 2019 Author Super User Posted February 22, 2019 I agree Catt. Other rigs come and go, and can work well. But the Texas rig is still very hard to beat! My all time favorite Quote
Super User OkobojiEagle Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 When cover allows, an exposed hook is my preference. oe 2 Quote
RB 77 Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Mobasser said: If I had to choose one fishing lure to use to fish for bass for the rest of my fishing days, I would choose a Texas rigged plastic worm. Hands down, without hesitation. I love fishing lures of all kinds, but a Texas rig is still the best bass lure of all time, bar none. In over 35yrs of fishing it's landed me more fish, than all other lures I've tried. I use other baits too of course, but I've known successful bass anglers who used little more than a simple Texas rig, and did very well. The reasons for its effectiveness have been well talked about for years, but maybe Doug Hannon( the bass professor) summed it up the best." The action of a plastic worm is never mechanical. With each lift or shake of the rod tip it can do something slightly different which mimics natural prey. It can slither and slide over, beside, and through cover better than most any fishing lure you can use". This makes the Texas rig worm the king of bass lures.Its been the best for me. The tap- tap sensation of a bass striking a plastic worm is one of the most exciting things in fishing. Any thoughts? Comments? l love plastic worm.fishing. Yes. This. 2 Quote
redmeansdistortion Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 Amen. The Texas rig has been my go to all of my adult life and the majority of my teenage years. It produces when other things don't. Most of the time I am fishing largemouth, it's about all I throw. It's simple and effective and if you are a bank fisherman it's very easy to carry an assortment of colors, weights, and hooks without having to lug around a big tackle box. 2 Quote
Harold Scoggins Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 2 hours ago, Mobasser said: Texas rig worm the king of bass lures. Gave me my PB. The Mann's 9 or 12" Jelly Worm is the King of Worms. 4 Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 #1 most productive lure Doug Hannon's Answer Plastic Worm (Texas rigged) It's a long, thin shape resembles the profile of a wide variety of forage in the world of the bass, including earthworms, snakes, eels, and baitfish. Its action is almost entirely dependent on the contours of the bottom; and the rod movements of the fisherman, making it very random. It moves with little noise; the noise that it does make comes mostly from the random clicking of the sinker as it hits bottom. Bright colors and larger size can be used to increase its attracting qualities. Because of its basic resemblance to a wide array of living forage, this lure presents very few negative cues, and is hard for big bass to learn not to hit. Here is the official answer: Studies have proven that the plastic worm is the only lure made that a BASS CANNOT REMEMBER! That is, a bass will continue to strike a worm even after repeated catches, whereas a bass will "turn off" to other lures, spinner baits and crank baits etc. after wearing them out on them. That's why you cannot continue to catch them on your honey hole with the same lure over and over. Bass will stop eating that which will eradicate them. Not true with the plastic worm, however. Although we all know bass will prefer a different bait at different times (i.e. "the pattern") you can always go back to the worm to catch them 4 2 Quote
FCPhil Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 Unfortunately a lot of the places I fish have too much grass for me to fish Texas rigs as my primary lure. Weightless worms are my go to. 2 Quote
redmeansdistortion Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 55 minutes ago, Harold Scoggins said: Gave me my PB. The Mann's 9 or 12" Jelly Worm is the King of Worms. Blackberry has always been my go to color/flavor of Jelly Worms. I've pulled a lot of bass by docks and under parked boats with that color. 2 Quote
Harold Scoggins Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 7 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said: Blackberry has always been my go to color/flavor of Jelly Worms. Same here. 1 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 Until I learned how to worm fish , I was a pretty poor bass angler .That all changed after I felt that first tap and caught that first fish. All visible cover was then fair game . That evolved to finding off-shore cover and structure fishing . Now , I dont fish the worm as often as I use to but I'm a better crankbait , spinnerbait fisherman because of it . 3 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted February 22, 2019 Author Super User Posted February 22, 2019 3 minutes ago, scaleface said: Until I learned how to worm fish , I was a pretty poor bass angler .That all changed after I felt that first tap and caught that first fish. All visible cover was then fair game . That evolved to finding off-shore cover and structure fishing . Now , I dont fish the worm as often as I use to but I'm a better crankbait , spinnerbait fisherman because of it . That first plastic worm fish makes a difference. I still use them maybe 80-90% of the time 1 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 10 minutes ago, Mobasser said: That first plastic worm fish makes a difference. I still use them maybe 80-90% of the time Lures go hot and cold , worms never stay cold . The last several years the waters I fish have had a good crankbait , spinnerbait or buzzbait bite going so I have played the hot hand . 2 Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 A worm is my goto but I'm a plastics freak! I throw em all, worms, creatures, Liz-zards, craw worms, structure bugs, everything! 5 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted February 22, 2019 Author Super User Posted February 22, 2019 21 minutes ago, scaleface said: Lures go hot and cold , worms never stay cold . The last several years the waters I fish have had a good crankbait , spinnerbait or buzzbait bite going so I have played the hot hand . 11 minutes ago, Catt said: A worm is my goto but I'm a plastics freak! I throw em all, worms, creatures, Liz-zards, craw worms, structure bugs, everything! Theyll never go out of style. They work! I love em! 1 Quote
Super User MIbassyaker Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 46 minutes ago, scaleface said: Until I learned how to worm fish , I was a pretty poor bass angler .That all changed after I felt that first tap and caught that first fish. All visible cover was then fair game . That evolved to finding off-shore cover and structure fishing . Now , I dont fish the worm as often as I use to but I'm a better crankbait , spinnerbait fisherman because of it . This was exactly my experience -- learning how to fish a worm trained critical skills I now use for everything else, and I don't think I could have learned nearly as well without it: concentration, patience, precision casting and presentation, feeling the bottom and cover, line watching, detecting strikes, proper hook-setting... I don't think it's a stretch to call worm fishing THE foundational skill in all bass fishing. 3 2 Quote
Super User Tennessee Boy Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 I know there are a several pros that would not list a soft plastic as one of their go to baits. Does anyone know of a pro that doesn’t fish them at all? 2 Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 22, 2019 Super User Posted February 22, 2019 On 2/22/2019 at 7:50 AM, scaleface said: Until I learned how to worm fish , I was a pretty poor bass angler .That all changed after I felt that first tap and caught that first fish. All visible cover was then fair game . That evolved to finding off-shore cover and structure fishing . Now , I dont fish the worm as often as I use to but I'm a better crankbait , spinnerbait fisherman because of it . On 2/22/2019 at 8:36 AM, MIbassyaker said: This was exactly my experience -- learning how to fish a worm trained critical skills I now use for everything else, and I don't think I could have learned nearly as well without it: concentration, patience, precision casting and presentation, feeling the bottom and cover, line watching, detecting strikes, proper hook-setting... I don't think it's a stretch to call worm fishing THE foundational skill in all bass fishing. When my 5 yr grandson Aiden decided to start bass he wanted to fish Texas Rigs. I was told repeatedly that a Texas Rig & Flukes were to difficult for a kid to learn He first bass was on a Fluke ? By 5 1/2-6 yrs old he not only mastered Texas Rigs but he can fish anything, anywhere! 7 1 Quote
RB 77 Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Catt said: A worm is my goto but I'm a plastics freak! I throw em all, worms, creatures, Liz-zards, craw worms, structure bugs, everything! Preach it brother! A worm is my go-to as well, but there is just something about all soft plastics in general. The endless profiles and color combinations are mind boggling. I have been fascinated by them since I was a youth. So much so, that I now manufacture them as an adult and that's my OTHER job in the fishing industry! 2 Quote
Todd2 Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 Sometime back in the late 80's I was shown the Texas rig. Other than Rooster Tails, that's all I knew. Now lures come and go with me but the Texas rig is always tied up and ready to go. 3 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted February 22, 2019 Author Super User Posted February 22, 2019 For fisherman on a budget, plastic worms are a good way to go. You can pickup worms, hooks and slip stinkers for the price of 1 of the high end plugs on the market these days. The Lucky Strike worms from Wal Mart, will catch a lot of bass. As others have said, it can teach a person to slow down, and fish a spot more thourouly, which is often what it takes to catch fish. 1 Quote
Largies4Life Posted February 22, 2019 Posted February 22, 2019 I have all my confidence in wacky rigging a worm. I haven't given it a true test T-rigging it, however. I always resort to the wacky rig when it comes to worms, but I really want to expand my horizon using the T-rig. Do you all prefer weightless T-rigging with worms or do you prefer a pegged weight? I mainly throw Gary Yamamoto worms for wacky rig, any preference on worms for t-rigging vs. wacky rig? 1 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted February 22, 2019 Author Super User Posted February 22, 2019 3 minutes ago, Largies4Life said: I have all my confidence in wacky rigging a worm. I haven't given it a true test T-rigging it, however. I always resort to the wacky rig when it comes to worms, but I really want to expand my horizon using the T-rig. Do you all prefer weightless T-rigging with worms or do you prefer a pegged weight? I mainly throw Gary Yamamoto worms for wacky rig, any preference on worms for t-rigging vs. wacky rig? All plastic worms can be T rigged. Get some bullet weights, in 1/8 to 1/2 to start. I like straight shank worm hooks. Lots of good hooks out there now.Good luck! Call me old school. I still use mono line, lead weights, and a fast action m/h casting rod. It's worked fo me for at least 25 yrs now. 2 Quote
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