Warming up to worms

Feeling wormy about worms? Here's help.
Plus sidebars: "Wizard worming" and "Wormy relatives"

"I hate worm fishing. I never get bit on a worm."

"Not for me. Entirely too slow. I like action."

"I've never really caught on to the technique of worm fishing. I like to stick with the baits I have confidence in."

Sound familiar? These are only a few excuses used by anglers who have never mastered the art of catching bass on a plastic worm. Yes, there is more to lure presentation when fishing this particular bait, but if you aren't willing to learn different presentations of the lure, you might as well take up a different sport. There are certain geographical locations and times of year when a soft-plastic worm is the only lure a bass will bite.

No, plastic worms are not a fishing panacea as some might have you believe, but they are also not mystical, double-double-toil-and-trouble lures that will leave you baffled and confused. A plastic worm is a lure that requires a dedicated method of fishing that includes a bit of patience – extreme patience in some cases. Look at it this way: A plastic worm is nothing more than a man-made night crawler. It comes in more colors than are packed in an extra-large box of crayons. It is impregnated with everything from anise oil to salt and is manufactured in more flavors than you'll find in a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop.

The late Nick Creme Sr. of Tyler, Texas, lays claim to having invented the first soft-plastic fishing worm. The original Creme Scoundrel can still be found in the marketplace 53 years after the first one came off the production line in 1949. Following the introduction of the Scoundrel came the Creme CheezNip, Wiggle Worm and numerous other models.

In 1965, Tom Mann of Enterprise, Ala., began production of the Mann's Jelly Worm. It was so popular that he was soon earning more money making worms than he was at being a fish and wildlife biologist for the state. Tom still believes the plastic worm is the most effective bass lure ever produced. Statistics from early bass tournaments reveal that artificial wigglers won more tournaments and accounted for more catches than all other bass plugs combined. According to old records, over 85 percent of all bass-tournament catches were caught on plastic worms. As Mann put it, "The biggest mistake an angler can make with a plastic worm is not to fish it!"

The Worm Wizards of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour – George Cochran of Hot Springs, Ark., Pat Fisher, of Buford, Ga., Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., Mark Pack of Mineola, Texas, and Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas – are considered to be the best of the best when fishing a plastic worm. If all five wizards were asked to make a collective statement about plastic-worm fishing, they might say, "There are no easy solutions. For any tactic to work, it must be put into practice."

Therein lays the rub. Many anglers today get hung up on one or two tactics that have worked for them in the past and refuse to move beyond that point. Anyone wanting to learn the art of worm dunking should not give up in disgust after the first couple of rounds. You just have to keep on keeping on until you develop confidence in your abilities to fish the lure correctly.

Confidence will build with each fish caught, but a degree of finesse is always involved. Worm anglers must learn that the correct touch requires practice. Various rod movements can be tried in a swimming pool or clearwater lake. Watch the lure as it crawls, hops, swims and twitches as you lift the bait off the bottom. Change line, worms, weights and hook sizes, all the while paying close attention to the action of the worm with each change.

The single most important trait needed in worm fishing is the ability to be observant. Water clarity, temperature, depth and oxygen content all have a bearing on how the lure is fished. Size, color and the manner in which the lure is worked are also important. Pay close attention to the surrounding area, looking for bird activity, breaking fish or any unusual signs that might show up on your sonar. Observation helps pinpoint what the bass are doing at any given moment.

Worm fishing lets you fish a variety of structure that no other lure allows. A quality sonar like the Eagle FishMark 240 or Garmin Fishfinder 240 is important to success. It is one piece of equipment that can put you over or near fish-holding structure so you don't have to cast blindly.

Recognizing the bite is the single most important factor in worm fishing. Mental alertness is imperative. The simple fact is this: Concentration is paramount to your success. When you feel something different, set the hook. It is far better to hook into a log, an underwater limb or some other piece of structure than to miss a fish.

As you become more confident in your abilities, you'll soon be able to recognize a bite from a bush. You'll learn that location, time and the elements might all dictate a different technique. Some days the bass will want it slow. Some days they'll take it swimming. Some days they'll want it on the pickup and some days on the fall. There will also be days when line-watching is a must. You'll have to pay such close attention to the line you'll think your eyes are becoming crossed. As the lure falls from the surface to the structure, many bites will occur on the fall. If you aren't paying close attention, you'll never feel the bass mouth the worm and spit it out, never recognizing the bite.

One of the surefire methods you'll want to employ is flipping, especially when bass are holding tight to cover – this happens on bluebird days. Flipping will net you a limit of bass while other anglers are griping about how bad things are going.

The tour worm wizards may use a variety of other lures, but all admit that the plastic worm remains a favorite in their arsenal of fishing tools. It is the one bait they have confidence in throughout the year.