What Am I Doing Wrong With Worms??

[(='_'=)]

hey... im a new bass fisher.. i have a small lake 15 minutes from my house, and i have been fishing it regularly the last weekends... i have located several spots that always produce fish... i have been using one of these in Fire Tiger color to get an average of 6 fish each time i go there... http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Tourney-Crankbait/product/10225050/-1217040

i have also tried red worms, and watermelon worms, but i have yet to get a bite from those... i think its because i dont know how to work with them...so, being that i already have located several good spots, i would like to try to hit those spots with plastics and learn how to use them... so, being that im using a green crankbait, i thought about a green worm to start... does that makes sense?? the fish in this lake are not big, the biggest i have caught was maybe 2 pounds, but 1/2 of my catches are 1 pound or less... its basically inside the city, it gets very low bass fishing pressure, but its a really small pond, and a lot of people use it for skiing or just hanging around...

also, what should i do with the boat?? right now what i am doing is setting the boat 20 yards from the shore, and letting the wind take me, making adjustments with the trolling motor.... so, basically i get to fish all the rocky shore in about 40 minutes, and then i come back with the trolling motor and make another pass... this way i have located some good spots along the shore... now that i know where they are, should i anchor the boat and stay for a while there?? this is my first time in a bassboat, i used to be a shore fisher, so im not sure if one should always be moving or not...

[Grey Wolf]

Have you read the fishing articles in the top left corner of the page , there are many how to articles to get you started. Just saying

"Fishing Tips and Tactics"> Soft plasic baits.

[WRB]

The bass you are catching on the crank bait are active bass that react to your lure. Keep using the crank bait until the bass stop striking it.

Learning boat control and trying to learn to worm fish can be difficult, anchoring near a known spot is a good idea. Worm fishing is a lot slower than what you are doing now, it takes patients, that is why cranking first is a good idea, then slowing down is easier.

The Texas rig is most common, however a split shot, drop shot or finesse C-rig (slip shot rig) are also good to learn with.

What type of tackle do you plan to use?

Tom

[FD.]

Without knowing anything else I would say you are fishing to fast.

Where are you fishing?

Color of Water?

Depth of lake?

Water Temp?

Answer these questions and we can help.

[Bluebasser86]

I'm going to guess since the crankbait you're catching fish on is firetiger color that you're fishing fairly dirty or stained water. If that is the case then watermelon/red might not be your best color choice. Keep your colors simple, some dark colors and some lighter, more natural colors. In dirty water I like black, purple, junebug, redbug, any dark color really. For clearer water colors like anything watermelon, green pumpkin, pumpkinseed, sand, colors that look like something that might be living in the water you're fishin.

Keep your bait selection simple starting out too to make it easier on you and give you a chance to really learn a bait instead of wondering if a different bait would work better. I'd probably buy a couple colors of worms in a couple different styles. Start out with some ribbontail worms and some straight tail worms and experiment with both.

As for the boat, I feel like I have more control and better feel of my bait if I fish with the boat going into the wind. I can hold the boat much steadier than if I'm going with the wind.

[Hyrule Bass]

Without knowing anything else I would say you are fishing to fast.

Where are you fishing?

Color of Water?

Depth of lake?

Water Temp?

Answer these questions and we can help.

i dont think the where, color, depth and water temp really matter in this situation. i didnt care about none of that stuff when i learned to worm fish, his question seems more related to technique as opposed to locating fish. you could be right that he is fishing too fast though.

[skeetercraig]

if ya want to catch a ton of those fish use a senko wacky style , now far as other worms texas rig a purple worm i like strait tails early in season and ribbon tail after that, with a 3/16 ounce tungsten bullet head , cast it out let it set on bottom for a min then there are 3 favorite things i like to do one is turn real hand fast one revloution at a time with a 3-5 second pause in between ,also cast it out once it hits the bottom i keep my rod tip up between 10-12 and shake it from the 10 to the 12 position then pause 3-5 seconds and do it again for half the distance of the cast then reel it in and do it all over the last one is cast let it set on bottom for 3-5 seconds then very slowly reel it in tryin to stay in contact with the bottom at all times if ya can , now color like other guys said dark water purple s, blues, black ,clear water the pumpkin anything and browns

[FD.]

i dont think the where, color, depth and water temp really matter in this situation. i didnt care about none of that stuff when i learned to worm fish, his question seems more related to technique as opposed to locating fish. you could be right that he is fishing too fast though.

Well since I really don't know what I am doing, I asked those questions just to make myself sound smart.

With answers to those questions, you can fine tune the presentation. If you're fishing in unproductive waters then all you are doing is practicing your casting and you are not learning anything about your lure presentation. The more information in the question, the more accurate the answers will be.

Bluebasser86 has it right. Dark waters = Dark Colors and usually larger size or moving tail. Clear water = light colors and usually smaller size.

[Hyrule Bass]

Well since I really don't know what I am doing, I asked those questions just to make myself sound smart.

With answers to those questions, you can fine tune the presentation. If you're fishing in unproductive waters then all you are doing is practicing your casting and you are not learning anything about your lure presentation. The more information in the question, the more accurate the answers will be.

Bluebasser86 has it right. Dark waters = Dark Colors and usually larger size or moving tail. Clear water = light colors and usually smaller size.

i wasnt trying to take a shot at you or demean you or your post in anyway. but if you read the original post the guy has found fish, so you can pretty much eliminate the unproductive waters, he seems to know where the fish are there and is looking for tips on worm fishing. the questions you asked were more geared toward helping him locate fish not his actual problem of presenting a worm to fish he has already found

[K_Mac]

I will add my $.02. When fishing a contact bait like a worm I always fish into the wind. I like to take my time and make repeated casts to prime spots at a variety of angles. Occasionally a very light breeze at your back may let you do this, not often though.

Flukes video and the input of the others gives you some great info. As you get more comfortable you will learn to adjust speed, cadence, weight, color, etc. Good luck.

[dhami013]

i wasnt trying to take a shot at you or demean you or your post in anyway. but if you read the original post the guy has found fish, so you can pretty much eliminate the unproductive waters, he seems to know where the fish are there and is looking for tips on worm fishing. the questions you asked were more geared toward helping him locate fish not his actual problem of presenting a worm to fish he has already found

Considering the OP is new to bass fishing, and this website, it would only make sense to ask those questions because one, it will give us more information so that way we can further help him out. And two, it will help the OP know that next time he has a question to break down as much as he can so that way he can get more help.

All the advice given has been great, dark water - dark colors, clear water - lighter more natural colors. I also find it easier to fish into the wind. Also when there's wind present or if there's a lot of wind I will use a heavier weight. That way you can still feel your lure. Best of luck.

[WRB]

If you don't know the tackle being used you can't effectively suggest how to fish a Texas rig.

All we know is a crank bait has been successful at times.

Tom

[Lesley]

I do not have the patience to use worms every time I go out. I usually wait until I've tried every top water and every spinner I've got before I resort to worms. I like the excitement of the attack on top water. So one of my favorite worms, then, is a really long black worm that has white spots on it. I rig it with no extra weight so that it kind of sinks very slowly, thus mimicing a snake. Talk about ticking off a large bass: let a snake go accross their way. Ha ha.