[ga] Bass Matters - Its How You Wiggle Your Worm

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><> ><>       BASS MATTERS - November 23, 2002      ><> ><>
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Hey Fishy Friends!

Are you guys are getting ready for 'Turkey Day' next week.
It's my favorite holiday of the year: good food, football
all day, AND no work on Friday!! It's a busy weekend
for the Mrs. and me, shopping for all the ingredients for
Thursday so I must goooooooooo.........

See ya Wednesday,
Brock


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It’s How You Wiggle Your Worm

Basic Techniques for fishing the Plastic Worm
By Jeremiah T. Bagwell


Arguably one of the most productive baits on the planet is 
the plastic worm. Whether you fish it on a Texas Rig, 
Carolina Rig, Drop Shot, Florida Rig or on a Split Shot
Rig you can almost always catch bass on a plastic worm. 
The plastic worm is a very simple bait to learn to master
and hopefully after reading this article you will feel more 
comfortable and confident in your ability to produce a limit 
while using it. Since this is designed to be a basic 
instructional guide for the plastic worm I am only going to 
get into basic rigs and techniques.


The most popular rig used when fishing the plastic worm is 
the Texas Rig. To use this rig you simply place a bullet 
weight on the line above 4/O worm hook. (hook size will be 
dependant on the size of worm you are using) The weight will 
slide freely on the line. Cast the worm towards some sort of 
shoreline cover or structure and let it fall to the bottom. 
You will be able to tell when it has reached the bottom when 
the line goes slack. Pay close attention to the line as it 
falls because frequently the bass will hit the worm as it 
descends. Once your bait is resting on the bottom, reel up 
the slack line and give the tip a couple little twitches. If
this does not produce a strike begin to slowly hop the worm 
along the bottom or over the structure you are fishing. It is 
not necessary to move the rod tip a great deal to produce an 
effective movement of the worm. Generally I do not move the 
rod more than 6 to 8 inches. Granted the amount of movement 
needed will be determined by the type of area you are fishing. 
During your retrieve it is very vital to pay attention to your 
line. Should the lin go slack all of the sudden chances are 
the worm is in the mouth of a bass. It is also very common for 
the line to begin to move sideways. This occurs when a bass 
picks up the bait and swims perpendicular to the direction of 
your cast. Should this occur reel up any slack line and set 
the hook. Almost anytime I fish a plastic worm it will be on 
a Texas Rig.

Another great technique is the Carolina Rig. Although a little 
more technical than the Texas Rig it is still a relatively 
simple technique. To create a Carolina Rig, place an egg sinker 
or a Carolina Rig weight on your line. Like with the Texas Rig 
the weight should slide freely. Next tie a swivel to the line 
under the weight. Once this is complete tie a 12 - 24 inch 
leader of lighter line to the bottom eye of the swivel. (The 
length of your leader will be dependant on the area you are 
fishing) After this is done you attach your worm hook to the 
end of the leader. Generally I will use a smaller hook when 
fishing a Carolina Rig, most often a 2.5/O Gamakatsu EWG worm 
hook. Casting this rig is a little more challenging than with 
a Texas Rig because of the long leader but, with a little 
practice it becomes second nature. The Carolina Rig is a very 
good method of covering a lot of water. Most often I will use 
the Carolina Rig when fishing main lake points or flats. Cast 
the worm to your desired target and let it fall to the bottom. 
Reel up the slack line and begin your retrieve by making short 
hops with the weight. You should be able to feel the resistance 
created by the weight as you hop it off the bottom. After each 
hop let the weight sit for a few seconds to enable the worm to 
fall back towards the bottom. Each time your weight comes in 
contact with the bottom slowly reel up any slack in the line. 
The way in which this rig is designed allows the worms to have 
a more lifelike presentation because there is virtually no 
resistance on the bait as it falls. Given the fact that it is 
weightless the worm will fall at a much slower rate than your
weight will. When setting the hook while using a Carolina Rig 
reel up any slack and make a sideways sweeping motion with the 
rod. I have found that this technique has a greater hooking
ration than simply setting the hook by jerking the rod tip 
straight upward. 

The Florida Rig is almost identical to the Texas Rig. The only 
difference is the weight on the Florida Rig does not slide freely 
on the line. Instead the weight has a small peg with a spring
looking devise attached to it. This spring is used to screw into 
the head of the plastic worm and it will lock everything together. 
Although I am personally not a big fan of this technique, there 
are several anglers that are and it is up to each individual to 
determine their favorite methods.

As far as the Drop Shot Rig is concerned I feel that this is 
a more advanced technique which is more difficult to properly 
learn. Due to this belief I will write a more in depth description
at a later date that will deal exclusively with fishing the Drop 
Shot. Now that you have learned the basics of the plastic worm 
it’s time to go out and give it a cast. Like with all techniques 
these will require you to get comfortable and gain confidence in 
your ability to consistently catch fish on a plastic worm. It 
just doesn’t happen all at once so stick with it and you won’t 
be disappointed.

 

 [Thanks to www.basspro.net for the article]



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                  FISHING JOKES CORNER
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  Two fishermen were on a bridge one day the first
asked the other how he had been doing,he said he had
caught a 32 lb redfish from the bridge just a hour
before. The second guy said he had been there the day
before when he thought he was hung up on the bottom
when he pulled hard on his line it began to move,it
was a hard pull but he began to move what ever he had
hooked, it took him almost a half hour but he finally
pulled up a old fashioned oil lantern,he scraped off a
bunch of barnecals and saw the date of 1898 the
hardest part to believe was it was still burning!!!!!

   The first guy pondered on this for several minutes
the remarked&#34;I'll take 30 lbs off that redfish if
you put out the light in that damn lantern&#34;

Thanks Don Barrett for the great joke

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Questions...Comments...email us at: mailto:bass2@sendoutmail.com
<a href="mailto:bass2@sendoutmail.com">Email brock</a>
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             END OF BASS MATTERS - Copyright 2002

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