Looking back many years ago one of the first ways that I caught bass was by using a texas rigged worm, now 25 years later it is still a texas rigged worm that I turn to when the bite gets tough and I need to put one more fish in the livewell to make my tournament limit. In a nut shell that will tell you some of the power that fishing a texas rigged worm has when it comes to catching bass. In fact if you look at all the Bassmaster Tournaments winning techniques from start to the present; texas rigged worms was number 3 out of all the different techniques in ways of how tournaments were won over the years. So what makes the texas rig so good, let's take a closer look at what it has to offer and a few different ways to rig and fish this top 3 bass bait of all times.
When it comes to picking a worm I would have to go with Big Bite Baits Kriet Worms for my choice to start with. Now there are an endless pick of worms on the market so why the Kriet Worm. The Big Bite Kriet Worm comes in two different sizes 6" and 10" and covers the color spectrum with 11 different color choices. What I look for when choosing a plastic worm is the tail action that the bait will give me and the makeup of the worm. Some tails are too thin and will not have any tail action when it is moved through the water. The Kriet Worm tail is just the right shape and thickness to give off the right bass catching tail action when it is moved and when it is sitting tail up on your worm hook. Another factor about the Kreit Worm it is made out of Bio Bait.
For those of you who have not heard about Bio Bait; it is a high release scented plastic that Big Bite has come to the market with. Its disperses scent at a higher rate than traditional scented plastics and the best part about Bio Baits is they can be fished and stored like traditional plastics. With Bio Bait you do not have to store it in the bag when not in use it can be taken out of the package put on your hook and kept out on the deck of the boat all day without drying out. One of the biggest points of Bio Bait is you can store the bait like you do other plastic baits in your plastic Plano boxes.
How you rig your texas rig will depend on how you are fishing the bait. For most of my texas rig fishing I prefer to use the 6" worm. For this I will use a 3/0 worm hook, size of my sinker will be dictated by the conditions and depth of water I am fishing. For a lot of my texas rig fishing I will fish a 1/4 oz to 3/8oz bullet weight. If I am trying to fish in deeper water and target rocks I will use a 1/2oz weight.
There are two main ways that I fish the texas rig the first and most common way is to drag the worm along the bottom. All the time I am fishing I am trying to look for underwater targets like brush, shells, rocks or weeds. Once I find one of these areas it is time to slow down and let the worm do its work. When getting the worm down into the cover slow down the speed you are working the worm, this will give the bass a chance to find and many times take your offering.
If you are fishing in shells or rocks I like to use a retrieve that is called stroking or snapping the worm. When stroking or snapping the worm you are trying to get the worm to jump up off of the bottom and let it fall back down on a slack line. Now pay special attention as this is when the majority of your bites will come when working this technique. Try to let the worm fall on a slack line but pay close attention to the line as it falls if you see the line jump or move or when you go to pick the line up again if you feel weight set the hook. The hardest thing about working this technique is telling when you have a bite but after a few fish you will be on your way to tell when that happens.
On both of these techniques I use baitcaster setups with matching reels spooled with 15lb to 20lb fluorocarbon line. The fluorocarbon line choice is for a few reasons one is it has lower line stretch allowing me to feel the bait better and the second reason is the line strength and abrasion factor. Fluorocarbon line is more abrasion resistant than regular mono line and is invisible in the water.
In the last few years I have turned more towards 10" Kriet Worms when looking for a big bite out on deepwater rocks, ledges or when fishing off the weedline weed clumps. I generally rig these 10" Kriet worms with 1/2oz bullet sinkers teamed up with a 5/0 worm hook. This is power fishing at its best so do not hold back, I fish this on a 7 ½' flipping stick teamed with 20lb to 30lb fluorocarbon line.
When targeting the rocks or shell ledges I will drag the worm along the bottom working these areas slowly trying to find areas that have bigger rocks or thicker concentration of shells. I want to keep the worm in these prime areas longer as these are the areas that the bigger bass of the area will generally concentrate. If the bite is tough try the stroking or hopping tactic to trigger a few different bites many times these bites will be your bigger bass of the day.
When it comes to targeting weeds I use a snap retrieve. Make a shorter cast than you would if you were fishing the rocks and let the worm work its way to the bottom. When you feel the worm hit the bottom give the rod a sharp pop like you are setting the hook and let the worm fall back to the bottom on a slack but watched line. As stated before this is when you will get the majority of your strikes so be ready to set the hook. Lift the rod tip; if you do not feel any weight give the line another snap. What you are doing is hopping the worm to the top of the weeds and letting the worm fall; this hopping method drives bass nuts causing some rod dropping action so make sure you have a good hold of that flippin stick. One of the biggest things here when fishing this popping technique is you have to be a line watcher; many times you will only see your line jump or feel the bass pick up your worm on the fall.
So if you are thinking texas rigged worms are old school and cannot catch bass in today's bass fishing you need to rethink that thought. Texas rigs are here to stay and can I say still catching bass on waters near you. Get yourself some Big Bite Kriet Worms for your favorite waters and see what old school texas rigs can do.
Create some memories please practice CPR (Catch, Photo and Release).
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