Tank Test - 6" Worms

[Brian11719]

The drop shot is one of my favorite lures to catch bass. I realize there are some folks that think casting rods are the best but I'm not worried about looking macho in my kayak in the middle of a lake with no one around me...I'm looking to put fish in the boat and one of the best ways I've found to do that is with a drop shot. Having said that, the tackle monkey got me pretty bad recently and I found myself buying a bunch of different worms and shad shaped lures to try and find out which one was really going to be the best for me. Once I got them all I figured I'd test them out in a tank to see how they look underwater and since this forum (and Glen's youtube channel) has helped me out I figured I'd try to return the favor. I usually use a 1/0 ewg hook for drop shots and have it tied to a 10lb Invizx leader so in case you see any of the pictures and find yourself wondering that's what I used here. For testing I looked at the lure(s) while holding it still with the weight on the bottom and then looked at it again while giving it slight twitches since I'm using doing one of those two things when I throw a drop shot. I also put these on a shakey head since that's another one of my favorites so I'll mention some of that as well. Ok now that that's out of the way let's get to the lures (and the results):

 

Trick Worm

This is kind of the standard so I figured I'd start here.  While holding still the lure slowly falls to the bottom and lays flat. Nothing necessarily special about it but nothing bad either. While giving it slight twitches it stays pretty horizontal. On a shakey head it slowly falls to the bottom and then lays flat.

Overall Grade C

 

6" Roboworm Straight Tail Worm

This one looked really good on a drop shot while giving it slight twitches. When I kept it still it fell to the bottom a little slower than the trick worm but stayed flat all the way down. Great action on a drop shot. On a shakey head it layed flat for me so I'm not sure I'd use this one on a shakey head but I think it's a good overall drop shot lure.

Overall Grade B

 

Yamamoto Sensei

I was excited to learn about this one so picked up a bag in junebug since the water at my pond has been pretty dirty lately. On a drop shot while keeping still it did slightly better than the trick worm. Same thing when giving it slight twitches and it also did a little better on a shakey head and even though it would fall down the tail would stick up about an inch of the bottom sometimes. On a side note I took this to the pond today and it fits good on the hook and I ended up catching one with bluebird skies in the middle of the day on a Sunday with about 10-15 other people there fishing. They seemed shocked that someone actually managed to catch a fish. That said, I think the Roboworm looks better on a drop shot and there are others that did a little better on the shakey head so I'm giving it a C+ since it seems like it's a little better than a trick worm but not quite as good as the Roboworm or some of the other ones I tried on the shakey head.

Overall Grade C+

 

6.5" NetBait BaitFuel T-Mac

This one behaved almost exactly the same as the Sensei. Not going to type another paragraph to say the same thing but basically I feel like it did just a little better than a standard trick worm.

Overall Grade C+

 

Xzone Lures Deception

HOLY CRAP. No really this is my new favorite worm and I'm glad I decided to pick up a pack. It looks awesome on a drop shot when I twitched it slowly and one unique thing about this one is when you hold the drop shot still the lure still falls to the bottom but then it stood up like you would expect a good shakey head worm to do and it did this consistently. Don't believe me here's a pic:

Great colors too and this is pretty much how it looks on a shakey head too (although there was one other that I felt did a little better specifically on the shakey head that I'll get to shortly. 

Overall Grade A

 

6th Sense Divine Shakey Worm

This one is a little bigger than the others but I figured I'd try it out and I'm glad I did. It looks about as good as the roboworm on the drop shot when you twitch it. When you keep it still it falls flat and then sometimes the tail sticks up a bit (not like the last one but still not flat like most of the others). Also looked very good on the shakey head (although not quite as good as the xzone or the one I'm going to talk about next). I also really like the darkwater bug color and caught a couple at the pond with that setup. One thing I don't like is it seems a little fragile on the ewg so for this one I prefer it on a shakey head or a 2/0 screwlock if I'm throwing it on a drop shot. 

Overall Grade B

 

Z-Man SMH Shaking My Head Wormz

This one is made out of elaztech so it looks funny on a drop shot when you hold it still and stands upright but with the head down. It does look good when you slowly twitch the drop shot. On the shakey head it did the best. The xzone was close, but if you are looking for a shakey head worm that will stand upright this is it. So I'd give it an A for the shakey head and a C+ on the drop shot. That puts it at about a B+ overall but I personally think this was the best one on a shakey head.

Overall Grade B+

 

Ok let's get to the shad style lures now...sometimes I use these on a drop shot if the fish don't seem to want a worm.

 

Strike King 3X ElazTech Baby Z Too Soft Jerkbait

I had very high hopes for this one after watching this video, but for me the lure fell short. Keep in mind I'm using a 1/0 ewg hook and the guy in the video (Steve) might have been using a different hook. Also want to mention I like his channel in general and not trying to say he's wrong just saying this one didn't turn out as well for me as I had hoped it would. Ok that said here's a pic while holding still on a drop shot:

I was really hoping it would be horizontal here but as you can see not so much...it still looked very good when giving the drop shot small twitches. Overall Grade C+

 

Z-Man Finesse Shadz

I also figured I'd try these out to see how they did. Long story short ok but not quite as good as the Strike King Baby Z Too and it was even more upright when I held it still and not quite as good with small twitches:

Overall Grade C

 

Roboworm Alive Shad

This one looks pretty darn good on a drop shot. It falls flat when you hold it still but looks great and stays mostly horizontal when you twitch it slightly. Cool colors too. That said I liked the next one slightly more since it seems to do a little better on the ewg I use but no complaints here.

Overall Grade B

 

 

Strike King Dream Shot

This one looks just as good as the alive shad (I.M.H.O.). It falls flat when you hold it still but looks great and stays mostly horizontal when you twitch it slightly. It's also a hair thinner and fits a little better on the EWG I use so I'm putting a plus next to it but between this one and the last one I'm mostly splitting hairs at this point.

Overall Grade B+

Summary

Based on everything I've seen and on my experience up to this point I like the XZone Deception worm for a drop shot. Honorable mention to the 6.3" 6th Sense Divine Shakey Worm if you are looking for something a little bigger or the Roboworm if you aren't worried about dead sticking it. For something that has more of a shad profile I'm going with the Dream Shot (for now). And for a shakey head it's the Z-Man SMH worm...although the XZone comes close it's not quite as upright or as consistent. And again for a bigger profile on a shakey head the 6th Sense also did good (but not quite as good as the other two).

 

Ok realize I probably left some stuff out and probably could have included more pics but I'm about done for now. Feel free to comment on what you like and why below...or if you have any questions let me know and I'll try to answer them over the next few days...however if someone comes along and raises this thread from the dead a year ago I promise nothing.

 

Tight lines!

 

[Spankey]

Thanks for sharing that info. You are to be commended for the effort put into that testing. 

[rgasr63]

Try a Bizz Bait Dizzy Diamond it is 6 inches long and it will stand up on a shaky head and is bouyant with a drop shot. It has a lot of tail movement. 

[txchaser]

High effort post. Thank you!

 

[fin]

17 hours ago, Brian11719 said:

Trick Worm

This is kind of the standard so I figured I'd start here.  While holding still the lure slowly falls to the bottom and lays flat. Nothing necessarily special about it but nothing bad either. While giving it slight twitches it stays pretty horizontal. On a shakey head it slowly falls to the bottom and then lays flat.

 

The "Original" trick worms will stand up better than the ones labeled "Super Salt Plus". It's not easy to find the "original" though, and nobody differentiates between the two online, not even Zoom.

[ChrisD46]

1 hour ago, fin said:

 

The "Original" trick worms will stand up better than the ones labeled "Super Salt Plus". It's not easy to find the "original" though, and nobody differentiates between the two online, not even Zoom.

Yes correct , Zoom  needs to re-introduce a low salt content Trick  lWorm  with a tail that at least rises up to a 45 degree angle … I break off part of a toothpick into the tails of all Trick Worms  to get that tail to rise a bit more which helps with Shakey Heads , Neko Rigs , etc. **For a drop shot I want as horizontal level a worm presentation as possible !

[GRiver]

Nice write up, @Brian11719, thank you.

[JackstrawIII]

Awesome post. Thank you. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Try a RI Flirt.  They look amazing on a DS.  I really like a Bubbling shaker for DS and SH as well.  The bubbling shaker is neutrally bouyant, looks great on a DS and will standup well on the right Shakey head.  The problem with Reins baits is they have gotten very expensive and theyre pretty fragile.  

[king fisher]

I like your post, very informative and the pictures were great, but I have to wonder if the bass like worms that stand up.  Worms standing on the bottom with their tails up high look great to me, but I sure catch a lot of bass on Trick worms, and Senkos  lying  flat on the bottom.

[GaryH]

Thanks for the post. Interesting.

[TOXIC]

Good info but for me nothing in the 6” bait world ever hits my dropshot.  Biggest I throw is a 5” Pro Senko.  Nowadays my bait of choice is a 3.75” Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm.  Yet to be tested is the Scope Shad, 2.5” Yamatanuki and new Covert Craw.  Many of these also double as Ned baits.  I don’t worry about float factors because I Texas rig my dropshots on 6lb mono with a 1/4oz QuickDrop dropshot weight and a #1 Gamakatsu ewg hook.  They all stand up with the weight and line combo.  

[Hook2Jaw]

18 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I like your post, very informative and the pictures were great, but I have to wonder if the bass like worms that stand up.  Worms standing on the bottom with their tails up high look great to me, but I sure catch a lot of bass on Trick worms, and Senkos  lying  flat on the bottom.

This is the case for me.  Every time I've fished a craw that advertised "defensive" position or a worm that floats, there's been nothing special about it.  My opinion is the fish prefer the more neutral position, as that, in my opinion, is the natural state of most aquatic life; horizontal.

[Brian11719]

56 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I like your post, very informative and the pictures were great, but I have to wonder if the bass like worms that stand up.  Worms standing on the bottom with their tails up high look great to me, but I sure catch a lot of bass on Trick worms, and Senkos  lying  flat on the bottom.

So most of the time I don't have the patience to 'dead stick' the lure and it doesn't matter as much and I've also caught plenty of bass on a drop shot with a trick worm. A couple of times that I can think of where it might be useful to have the lure standing up like that are if it's really cold or hot and the bass aren't biting that much...or if you are trying to get them around beds. Several ponds that I fish around also have a fair amount of 'gunk' on the bottom so I like the idea of the lure sticking up rather than laying flat on the bottom.

 

Also...one thing I forgot to mention is if you are going to try one of the elaztech lures on a shakey head make sure you get a shakey head where the screw sticks out a little so you can put the bait into it. I've noticed that the ones where the metal just starts spiraling immediately can be difficult / time consuming to get the elaztech lure on but something like the Owner Shakey Ultrahead where there's a point sticking out of the screw are much easier to get elaztech lures on.

 

Having said that the main idea that I wanted to get across here is I found it fun (and useful) to test things out for myself rather than just rely on videos others have posted on social media. Not saying the lures I like are going to be the best for everyone and as an example if you prefer to nose hook your lures with a really light hook your experience might be very different from mine. 

[MAN]

Great post....whereabouts in Texas are ya?