Plastic worms and baits for fishing bass

Rigging Plastics the Right Way

Are you one of those people who doesn't see what the big stink is about plastic worms and lizards and crawdads??? If you are, then you have never stuck your nose into a bag of Berkley Powerworms (they really, really, really, stink). Also, it is likely you have never rigged them right. I had shunned plastics for a long time thinking they were a gimmick. But the truth is, plastic baits are my favourite way to fish for bass and many other species. They're deadly! Bass season is approaching and this tip could be your key to success.

While the following pictures demonstrate good rigging technique for a worm, the same principles can apply to just about any plastic worm, jerk bait, lizard, or crawdad. Here's how you do it...

Frame One

Frame Two

Frame Three

What we have in the pics above is a 6 inch Berkley Powerworm being rigged on an off-set worm hook. If you have a worm and an off-set hook in your tackle box, go get them right now and work with me while I explain step-by-step how. Frame One - If you are right handed, hold the hook in your left hand fingers. With your right hand, hold the worm between your thumb and forefinger, about 1/2 inch from the top of the worm. Frame Two - Slide the hook through the nose of the worm until you reach the bend in the hook - that's far enough. Frame Three - Push the point of the hook through the worm and slide it up the shank until you reach the off-set.

Frame Four

Frame Five

Frame Six

Frame Four - Push the worm over the off-set part of the hook. If you've never done this before, it will feel strange and look odd. But if you follow through to... Frame Five - Rotate your hook 180 degrees - the worm will slide beautifully onto the off-set portion of the hook. You're just about finished. Frame Six - Insert the point of the hook into the worm so that it is just beneath the surface of the worm on the other side. DON'T poke it all the way through or you'll get weeds on the hook. We all know what happens when you get even the tiniest piece of weed stuck to the hook - absolutely nothing in the way of fish taking a bite, that's for sure! Finally, I added a screw-in sinker to the nose of the worm just to show one of the ways it can be fished. This would be known as a Texas-rigged worm, as compared to a Carolina-rigged or split-shotted worm.

The Plastic - There are only about 20 trillion kinds of plastic baits to choose from and if you don't already have a favourite, it can be an overwhelming job to pick out the kind you want to try first. You can take some measure of comfort however, knowing that if you rig the worm right, and find a place where there is fish, just about any worm will work as well as another. When the going gets tough though, I don't hesitate to rig a Berkley PowerWorm.

Smallmouth - To catch smallies, you're better off fishing with the six or seven inch variety of worm. If the fishing is tough and they are not taking the bait real easy, that's when I downsize to the smaller 4" finesse worm. Fish that aren't that hungry will more likely have a snack than a full meal - if you know what I mean.

My favourite colour for smallmouth is purple for some reason. Not the purply/black of the 10" worm in the picture, but the straight purple. It works for me better than any other colour and I buy the bulk bags of 100. I would show you the purple I like but the bass ate them all! My second choice for colour is a pumpkinseed. My third choice is just about any colour but green.

Largemouth - Big baits for big mouths! Of course, you will catch your fair share of largemouth on 4" worms as well, but if you are a catch 'n' release angler, your concern for the fate of fish that have hooks removed from their gullet will send you to the store for the 10" variety of worm.

Other Species - Pike like worms, and so do walleye. In particular though, I find walleye are more accepting of the smaller 4" finesse worms than they are the larger worms. And pike are actually a nuisance when using plastics in the way I have described to you, because without a leader you don't stand a chance most times. A leader is a definite no-no when bass fishing.

The Hook - Depending on what you are fishing for, select your hook appropriately. For largemouth you'll want to go with a larger 3/0 or 4/0 size hook. If you are using one of those behemoth 10" worms, your hook has to be huge. For smallmouth, you can down-size if you want, though they don't seem too perturbed by a bigger hook intended for largemouth. But if I know I am going for smallmouth, I'll use a size 1 or 1/0 or 2/0. If I am using a smaller worm I'll use a smaller hook as well. Make sure you spend a little more money and get a premium brand. I like Gamakatsu off-set hooks. They are plenty sharp, and sharp is critical for penetrating the bony mouths of the large fish you want to catch.

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