How to fish worms?

[FishingMastah1]

I would really like to know how to fish worms as I dont use them much but everyone says thier awesome. I kinda dont think so. Which ones are good and how do you retrieve?

[KevO]

I like berkeley power worms but any brand will work.  T-rig 'em drag 'em. jig 'em, or bounce 'em around cover.  They will catch some fish.

[Catt]

I was introduced to the Texas Rig back in 1972 while the equipment has changed the technique is still the same. The Texas Rig was originally designed to fish a plastic worm but today it is used with any type of soft plastic.

The Texas Rig  

1) Make a long cast

2) Strip 3 or 4 arms length of line, this will assure a vertical fall

3) Count the bait down, 15' of water count to 20 to make certain the bait is on the bottom, do it in your head if need be

4) Pause a good 30 seconds after the bait reaches bottom

5) Lower your rod to the 3 o'clock position while reeling slack & feel for anything unusual

6) Move the rod from 3 o'clock to 1 o'clock in three motions

7) Pause 30 seconds & feel for anything unusual

8) Repeat 5, 6, & 7 all the way back to the boat

9) If at any time you feel a noticeable tap, tug, line tighten, heaviness, or see line movement.

10) Without hesitation drop the rod, reel the slack, and set the hook

[-ebby-]

to start of get some jig heads and a pack of 7in original powerworms just put the worm on the jig head with the hook exposed, it is still pretty weedless if it is not to thick because of the light wire hook, cast it around your favorite stucture and vary your retrieves. This is one of my favorite ways to fish worms. It is not the best in really thick weeds but you can let it get stuck in the tops of the weeds and rip it free which works well to.

[Gatorbassman]

There are about a dozen articles in the Fishing Articles section that explain who to fish worms and other soft plastics. Try checking them out. I'm sure they will help.

[NICKJ]

Can't tell you any better than what Catt said.

Only advice is to just keep fishing them. I think someone on here said, 99% of the time you aren't getting bit. Analyze how that feels and then when its different, SWING!

[roadwarrior]

I was introduced to the Texas Rig back in 1972 while the equipment has changed the technique is still the same. The Texas Rig was originally designed to fish a plastic worm but today it is used with any type of soft plastic.

The Texas Rig

1) Make a long cast

2) Strip 3 or 4 arms length of line, this will assure a vertical fall

3) Count the bait down, 15' of water count to 20 to make certain the bait is on the bottom, do it in your head if need be

4) Pause a good 30 seconds after the bait reaches bottom

5) Lower your rod to the 3 o'clock position while reeling slack & feel for anything unusual

6) Move the rod from 3 o'clock to 1 o'clock in three motions

7) Pause 30 seconds & feel for anything unusual

8) Repeat 5, 6, & 7 all the way back to the boat

9) If at any time you feel a noticeable tap, tug, line tighten, heaviness, or see line movement.

10) Without hesitation drop the rod, reel the slack, and set the hook

Hmm...

Be careful with this guy's advice, he only catches big fish... :

8-)

[Bass_Akwards]

I find that reeling the worm in as slow as i possibly can, without stopping, all the way back to shore/boat, is a great way to crush them. Not sure if any of you others have the same experience, but it has worked great for me. I don't see or read people teaching others to fish plastic worms this way that often, and I do it when I'm not getting a bite by fishing it the traditional way.

I'm not talking slow retrieve, I'm talking S-L-O-W. as in literally pretending you're a worm sloooooowwwwly crawling on the bottom. It's slow fishing, but it's exiting too.

Anyone else do this with any success?

[Catt]

Slow crawling along the bottom! My oldest brother does it exactly the same and rivals me fish for fish

[EastTexasBassin]

I started crawling soft plastics this past winter, with an occasional hop and it was a killer technique.  Really nice for when the fish are inactive.  

[Jake P]

This site is not only a forum, it has tons of articles you can read so make sure you put them to use. Look at the top of the page and hover your mouse over articles and then you can search for anything you need  . Heres something i think you will find very helpful.

http://www.bassresource.com/fish/plasticworms.html

[Bass Tard]

Try reading this.

http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/plastic_worms.html

[Bass Tard]

I didn't see Jake's post........................LOL

[RichardE]

 I absolutly agree with Catts assesment on fishing a T-Rig worm.  However, I would like to add a couple other techniques that I have found to be killer.

 If you have found that the S-L-O-W presentation is not working. just add a shakey head approach to it.  Do all the things Catt said but add to it a shakey head approach. As you drag back the lure to the boat, simply shake the lure in short, short jerks until you get the rod to the 12 o'clock position, then reel down very slowly until you make contact with the lure again.  This is when you pause. Then slowly repeat.  Hope this adds to the other great posts, Lee

[Simp]

This is a little off topic but I find this funny. I came in the thread to get some tips on fishing worms because I don't do it often now. I've had more practice with spinerbaits and top water ect. I also fish for Bluegill for the most part up until the last year or so. The last time I actually caught a bass on a worm was when I was believe it or not about 6 or 7 years old.

My dad used to fish in his local bass club all summer and I learned allot even though I was so young. At one of the youth events I was taught hot to rig a plastic worm. A few weeks later I rode my bike to the local park pond with my Zebco and tackle box. I set up my plastic worm and started casting and reeling it in slowly and moving the tip up and down like my dad would (I'm all alone fishing). I then saw a fish jump and I threw the worm the best I could at the spot. A few seconds later BAM!! a bass hit it. I reeled it in after a 5-10min fight and it was huge by far the biggest bass I had ever caught! In fact at 4-6 pounds it was to big to ride home on my bike with. So I kept fishing and caught a couple more that day that soon turned into night. I was just to proud to let my fish go without showing it off to my mom and dad at that age.

Then finally at 11pm my mom showed up scared out of her mind wondering where I was (I used to ride my bike for miles and it was ok as long as I was back by sundown.). She finally noticed my pole and tackle box were gone and she realized where I was. She started giving me the talking to about scaring her to death and why I didn't come home on time. Then I pulled out the stringer and said it's to big to ride home with ;D. She took me to where my dad worked and I got to show it off plus we snapped some photos. To this day that's the last time I caught a bass on a plastic worm lol. Maybe this year I'll change that .

[LAO162]

Great Story

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

I find that reeling the worm in as slow as i possibly can, without stopping, all the way back to shore/boat, is a great way to crush them. Not sure if any of you others have the same experience, but it has worked great for me. I don't see or read people teaching others to fish plastic worms this way that often, and I do it when I'm not getting a bite by fishing it the traditional way.

I'm not talking slow retrieve, I'm talking S-L-O-W. as in literally pretending you're a worm sloooooowwwwly crawling on the bottom. It's slow fishing, but it's exiting too.

Anyone else do this with any success?

Absolutely! Use it fishing structure when a hopping or twitching retrieve fails. Use enough weight to keep it down,1/4 oz or less for under 10 ft and up to 3/8 or a 1/2 for 20 ft or more.

[Popeye]

Simp:  great story that only proves when worms are fished, fish are caught!