Consider this hypothetical situation. You’ve been invited to fish in an all expense-paid bass tournament on a well-known southern lake. The only catch is you will be allowed to use only one type of lure. What will you pick?
For a lot of anglers, it would be an easy choice. They would opt for an artificial bait that has been the undoing of bass for longer than many of us have been alive. They would go with a plastic worm.
Plastic worms, that in their modern form include plastic eels, lizards, crayfish and other soft, synthetic critters, have been around for about 60 years. Their development, however, was a metamorphosis that began in 1877 when William Gregg of Missouri patented the first “rubber worm.” Unfortunately Gregg’s revolutionary lure was seen as nothing more than a novelty and never caught on. During the 1940s, an Indiana angler named Bill Norton set out to come up with a synthetic worm that would be realistic enough to fool fish but durable enough for repeated use. He tried a number of different substances, including “Koraseal,” an easily-molded plastic invented by B.F. Goodrich. It produced promising results but didn’t quite perform as hoped.
While Norton was doing his kitchen chemistry, Ohio fisherman Nick Creme was trying different formulas with the same goal in mind. Working with rubber manufacturers in his hometown of Akron, Creme was finally able to come up with a mixture that seemed to be what he was looking for. In 1952 he placed the first soft-plastic worm on the commercial market. Ever the opportunist, Norton took Creme’s invention, added red plastic beads and a small spinner blade, and patented the first rigged worm in 1957.
In spite of their effectiveness, plastic worms still failed to catch the fancy of some anglers. Part of the problem was that early models caught bass, but they also snagged just about everything else. That problem was addressed by the introduction in the 1960s of worms with wire hook guards. Another roadblock was the conservatism of many bass fishermen. “Grandpa didn’t use rubber worms, so why should I?” Gradually, even the diehards were won over by the evidence, though. Plastic worms were producing heavy stringers in situations where plugs, in-line spinners and other, traditional lures weren’t. Blake Honeycutt, a well-known North Carolina bass angler of that era, set the all-time, three-day B.A.S.S. tournament record on Alabama’s Lake Eufaula in 1968 when he weighed in over 138 pounds of fish – all on a Mann’s Jelly Worm.
In the years since, the plastic worm has been refined and, to a certain extent, re-discovered. Today, an angler can select from paddle tails, slug-gos, floating worms, finesse worms, grubs, tube worms, power worms, mini worms, eels, salamanders, ring worms and even do-nothing worms. In addition, there are worms with special aromas, iridescent colors, and flavors that range from garlic to fish oil. One of the most dramatic models has large, shiny eyes that almost seem to follow the angler as he rigs up his bait.
If there has been a population explosion in plastic worms, there has been a corresponding revolution in how they are fished. With the earliest, spinner-blade and multiple hook models, anglers just jerked back when they felt the lure stop – and often found themselves snagged on a log. Later, when weedless worms became commonplace, the accepted method was to free-spool your line when you felt a bass pick up a worm, allow the fish to run until it stopped, and then “cross his eyes” when he started moving again. The common belief was that a fish would run off with a worm and then stop, throw his mouth open, and gulp it down. One problem was that bass hooked in such a manner, in those days before catch-and-release, were nearly impossible to let go unharmed. Another one was that when an angler felt the second tap, it wasn’t always the bass gulping the worm down, often it was him spitting it out.
Most fishermen today use a plastic worm on either a “Texas rig” or a “Carolina rig.” The former has a worm impaled on 5/0 or similar size hook with a sliding, bullet-shaped weight on the line directly in front of the hook eye. A Carolina rig has the worm on an 8 to 12-inch leader which is attached to the line with a swivel with the weight on the other side. In both cases, it’s best to use the lightest weight possible so the worm will have natural action. 1/8 ounce sinkers are usually plenty in water less than 6 feet, while 1/4 to 3/8 ounce weights will do the job where it’s deeper.
Techniques for fishing worms are simple but subtle. The basic method is to let a worm sink to the bottom, raise the rod tip slightly, let it fall, then repeat. Keep the rod high (at about 10 o’clock) and watch the line during the retrieve. Be alert for any twitch or lateral movement of the line and, if you feel a tap, no matter how slight, immediately lower the rod tip and bring it back overhead sharply. If you miss, let the worm drop back. Sometimes a bass will come back for a second try.
Beyond the basics, there are dozens – maybe hundreds – of variations in technique. A few are:
- Use brightly colored worms when fishing in dark, shaded water. But don’t hesitate to change colors until you find what’s working on any given day.
- Cast beyond partially-submerged cover so you can work your worm past it at the most effective depth.
- When fishing in thick vegetation, like Eurasion milfoil, retrieve a worm with little or no weight across the top and let it sink when it reaches an opening.
- When bass seem lure-shy, go small. A 4-inch worm will sometimes get takers that are reluctant to attack anything larger.
- Experiment with different types of retrieves. For example, a worm “jiggled” up and down along a drop-off near where bass bed will sometimes draw vicious strikes from fish staging in the area.
One of the most exciting innovations in plastic worms was pioneered by Danny Joe Humphrey of Kinston. A well-known tournament angler and outdoor entrepreneur, Humphrey developed his Original Floating Worm in 1987. Fished under overhanging cover on a light line, it combined the productivity of a natural- looking bait and the excitement of a topwater strike.
Regardless of how they’re fished, plastic worms in their various forms are some of the most productive lures ever invented. They don’t have much glitter or glamour, just get results. And for bass fishermen, that’s the bottom line.
Ed Wall can be contacted at EdWall@embarqmail.com.