worm fishin?

[78mudbug]

whats your go to color or confidence color? mine is a junebug or green pumpkin

[trackerpro17]

Green pumpkin is hard to beat. Most of the time.

[Barnacle Bill]

The only one you need in my neck of the woods is a red shad.

[GUTBUCKET]

I Let Water Color Decide For Me , I Never Leave The House With My Mind Made Up On What I Throw , I Let Water Conditions Play A Big Factor

[countryboy]

black with blue tail -- worm or lizard -- my "go to" bait

[CrappiePappy]

I had several that worked well, most of the time. :p
They were, in no specific order :

6" Black worm with a solid red spade tail (dark, opaque red ... not the bright red)
6" solid blue worm (thick bodied worm, made in Fla)
6" blue worm w/char spade tail
6" motor oil worm

But .... I switched to 4" plastic craws, and pretty much gave up on "worms" :p
Current fav -- Gene Larew 4" Saltcraw ... Watermelon pepper/orange claws

... cp

[sticko]

Fished tournaments for years and by far the best all around producer is a black grape worm with red fleck. Or called grape neon or grape red fleck.

[tommyboyrn]

How do yall worm fish in particular. Do you just let it hit bottom then drag it, do you pop it occasionally or what.
This is one part of bass fishing I am wanting to get better with.
Thanks
Tom

[tommyboyrn]

come on guys, I know yall worm fish, Im just wanting to know "how" to do it right where I can catch fish

[CrappiePappy]

come on guys, I know yall worm fish, Im just wanting to know "how" to do it right where I can catch fish

Take'er easy there Tommy ... you are, after all, on a Crappie oriented website :p
Besides ... even some Main Board posts don't get answered in 5hrs

But, seriously .... Worm fishing techniques, alot of times, are dictated by the type of lake, bottom structure/cover, mood of the fish, water temps/clarity, and all the other conditions that can come into play. As to a "how to" ... you can do it about any way you want, but success usually comes from the two ways you've already mentioned.

I've got limited experience with this technique, even though I've used it since the mid 1960's ... and by "limited" I mean I've used it on only a few local lakes. Each of these lakes are different from the others, in their makeup type & size, and the period of time (of my Bass fishing years) that I fished them ... and with which bait. Speaking of which ... I've used two "worm fishing" baits, for the majority of those years. I started with a 7" worm, spent a few years using a 6" worm, then went to a 4" craw. The slow dragging techique is the one I used most for the "worms" ... but, a hop every now & then has been successfully used. Using a drag/hop/drag is my usual method for craws. It just mimics the action/reaction of a craw, and therefore seems a more natural presentation. You just don't want to impart a whole lot of action, or move the bait a large distance, with your rod movement. Slow is key, whether you're dragging a worm over wood or mud, or hopping a craw over wood or down a rock bank.

Most of my worm fishing has been done at night. But, I have had some decent day trips. I've done very little flippin/pitchin .... mostly due to the open banks, of the lakes I've fished. Mostly I cast to the water's edge and begin my retrieve from there. I've caught fish from spashdown, down to 30ft deep. Worm fishing is what has made me more of a "line watcher", than a "bite feeler" .... even when casting jigs for Crappie. I became a line watcher, primarily due to the invention of the MoonGlow lights ... and increased my dependance on line watching, when the "black light" systems became available. I was already using clear/blu lines ... which are quite visible under either of these two lighting systems, but much more so under the black lights.

My primary "worm fishing" rod/reel is a 7' flippin stick rod, with a baitcaster reel ... spooled with 17lb test line (currently being BPS Excel clear/blu fluorescent mono). I use a 3/16oz slip sinker ... and a 1/0 hook (295JB Eagle Claw) ... and add a "rattle" to my craw's body.
The 295JB is a Southern Sproat hook, that used to be made by Eagle Claw ... but, now they're Lazer hooks and are LT095JB. The "JB" means a J shaped bend in the hook, with the line eye offset from the straight part of the hook.
The "rattles" I use are the plastic spike shaped ones, with metal bb's inside. I have used the glass ones, but find that they're a bit harder to place into the body of my plastics (their ends are rounded, not pointed). But, I still have the old versions :p and have noticed that the newer ones are pointed on one end. That just goes to show you how long it's been since I've worm fished enough to have to purchase new terminal tackle :D
I also use a much smaller hook than most. I haven't had any 5 or 6 pound Bass to straighten out my 1/0 bronze 295JB, so I never felt the need for a larger sized hook. I've never used a worm over 7" long, or any creature baits or tubes, so I never felt the need for a bigger hook, or wide gap hooks. I've still got two tackleboxes full of my original worm fishing tackle, and don't use them enough to warrant keeping up with the ever changing/evolving equipment. Even on my most recent worm fishing adventures ... I started out with the worm fishing stuff, then switched to casting crankbaits parallel to the banks. My partners continued with the plastics, and caught fish .... and I caught fish ... it was just that the fish I caught on cranks, were usually bigger, and more often ... LOL !!

... cp