Worms: curly vs straight tail

[Grim_Reaver]

I've never had luck on straight tail worms but as the spot I bank fish is transitioning from a sandy, open flat to a muddy, grassy flat the bass have stopped biting curly tails. The culprit worms I fish on a t-rig don't have much action when I pause/twitch (kinda like a shakey head) and lay flat in the mud, which is why I think the bass have stopped biting them. I've been eyeing the Z-man mag fattyz because the tail will float up, giving the bass in opportunity to grab it without a face full of mud. Straight tail worms are also easier to fish through grass. Is it time to make a change?

[DitchPanda]

I've always done well with curly tail worms and still do.. But the past few years a zoom trick worm has outfished every other worm except a senko for me. Also if your in shallow water try fishing them weightless it will give the bass a lot more time to see them before they are in the mud.

[scaleface]

The best feature I like with curly tail worms is  when rigged with the tip of the tail in the down position , it eliminates line twist .

[the reel ess]

For me the tail depends on the season. Curly in warmer water, ribbon in really warm water, flat or straight in cooler water or heavy cover. Of course, the presentation matters. You don't use a monster ribbon tail worm to do what a Trick Worm does. And the Trick Worm works all the time, rigged in different ways.

[WRB]

If you want the worm to stay off the mud bottom use hand pours and either standard C-rig or finesse type C-rigs with lighter weight hooks.

Curl tail is C shape tail not a ribbon tail. Straight tails come in a wide variety of shapes from the standard earth worm to spade, beaver, flat, knobs etc to give some movememts. 

Curl tails appeal to bass when swimming fast or slow trail and error.

Straight tails appeal to bass when less movement triggers strikes, or wacky rigged, trail and error.

I like straight tails and often split the end about 1" to 2" using a safety razor and push the blade straight down through the center so the tails are split even. This gives a little more movement that often triggers more strikes.

Tom

 

[Grim_Reaver]

My mistake, I meant ribbon tails. 

[WRB]

Ribbon tails have a long thin tail to slither similar to a eel swimming very different action then curl tails. I believe Mister Twister gets credit for curl tails and Culprit for ribbons.

Curl tails can be hand poured, ribbons are so thin they are injection molded. The difference being the type of plastisol used, hand pours are lighter density,  tend to be neutral bouyancy and injection heavier and tend to sink.

Not familiar with Z Man ribbon tails, give them try.

Tom

[JustJames]

How do you plan to fish Max flattyZ worm? This thing huge almost 1/2” body and 7.25” long. To be honest I only caught one catfish Texas rigging it. I think the 5” version or better yet ZinkerZ would get you more bite.

The rig I use most for Elaztech ribbon worn is jika rig. I just keep jigging it on top of short grass bed.

 

Here is my old video fishing with this rig (2nd part)

 

[Mobasser]

I use both straight an curlytail. I like the Mister Twister 6" Phenom worm and Zoom trick or finesse worms. I used to use only straight tale worms in weeds, thinking the curly tail got wrapped on weedstalks too much. WRB and Catt told me that pulling a curly tail off of weed stalks can draw a strike sometimes. They are right. I've since tried it myself, and it works.The strikes are harder doing this also

[Spankey]

I might be crazy but when I‘m worm fishing and feel like I’m off or the fish seem to be off. And want to stick to worm fishing. I’ll fish a Power Worm. 4”, 6” and 7” worms. They have a curly/ribbon/action tail on them. Many times got that fish by switching up. I fish a few different brands of worms. Power Worms I have the ultimate amount of confidence in. Along with RoboWorm, Zoom and GY. I use to fish them heavily back some years ago. 
 

As a bit of a change up for this season I picked up some Berkley Money Worms. Will throw them in the mix. I feel like I’m gonna do well with it. Overlooked it when it first came out. Not a curly tail but not a cut or straight tail. 
 

I use to fish a Case paddle tail worms for river Smallies but they dried up and can’t find them anymore. 

[Grim_Reaver]

59 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

How do you plan to fish Max flattyZ worm?

I plan to use a t-rig. Back when worms were producing, I'd drag em a couple inches, pause and shake the rod tip, repeat. It wouldn't take long to get bit. Another idea would be to give the worm a couple inches of line to let it float up off the bottom. I like worms in the 7-8" range. Bass up to 13lbs have come out of this lake and I've had dinks hit a 10" worm so size isn't an issue.

[Mobasser]

2 minutes ago, Grim_Reaver said:

I plan to use a t-rig. Back when worms were producing, I'd drag em a couple inches, pause and shake the rod tip, repeat. It wouldn't take long to get bit. Another idea would be to give the worm a couple inches of line to let it float up off the bottom. I like worms in the 7-8" range. Bass up to 13lbs have come out of this lake and I've had dinks hit a 10" worm so size isn't an issue.

T rig is my favourite way also. The big worms have worked better for me in hot weather, July and August.

You could still try your ribbontail too. The Culprit 7.5" worm is one of my favourites. Theyll work in all types of cover too

[WRB]

If you want bulk without a lot of plastic use Roboworm Zippers, hand poured plastic that traps air to improve flotation and displace a lot of water.

Tom 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

If you think your offering is being lost in a soft bottom try a drop shot with a long leader and keep the line tight. Further you cast, shallower the angle and the bait rides lower. 

[Catt]

10 hours ago, Grim_Reaver said:

I've been eyeing the Z-man mag fattyz because the tail will float up, giving the bass in opportunity to grab it without a face full of mud.

 

Double Z T-Worm & Magnum T-Worm  ?

 

https://doublezlures.com/