| I've caught bass on crankbaits, spinners, plugs and | | | | To set it up just run your line through a bullet slip sinker |
| others. But for me, the most fun is plastic worms on a | | | | (best sizes are from 3/8 oz. to an ounce) and tie the |
| Texas Rig. Don't get me wrong, catching a largemouth | | | | line to a worm hook size 2 or 3. The twisted ones help |
| bass is catching a largemouth bass, and I'd gladly catch | | | | with hookset. |
| one with my mother's toe nail if they'd bite it. What's | | | | Once you have the hooked tied on, run the hook tip |
| my fascination with plastic worms and the Texas Rig? | | | | through the end of the head of the plastic and push it |
| Simplicity in changing baits from color to color and style, | | | | in about a quarter of an inch. Now run the hook tip out |
| they are weedless and effective. But there's more to | | | | of the plastic bait (belly side) and push the bait up the |
| it. I love them because I feel they are more interactive | | | | hook towards the eye. Bury the tip of the hook into |
| and you have to fool the bass more than with other | | | | the bait near the abdomen or egg sac. |
| baits. | | | | Some people push it all the way through and snug the |
| If you throw out a worm and just reel it in, you are not | | | | hook tip near the body (on the backside or top). This |
| likely to catch many fish. You have to know how to | | | | allows for better hook set, but results in more snags. I |
| work it and you have to be very patient in your | | | | like to push it through just before it breaks out of the |
| presentation and when the fish hits. | | | | back where I can feel that it will pop through easily. If |
| Sometimes the strike will be like an explosion, and you | | | | you do this, be sure to set the hook hard to penetrate |
| and bass both know what's happening. Others it's very | | | | the plastic. |
| subtle. Sometimes you won't even know the bass has | | | | When you cast the bait, let it settle all the way to the |
| it until you reel in the slack and feel something different | | | | bottom and give it several seconds before moving it. |
| going on. Maybe there should be slack in the line but it's | | | | Sometimes the longer you wait, the better luck you will |
| getting tight. Or vice-versa. Or maybe you can see the | | | | have. Even 30 seconds or more. |
| line going sideways in the water. | | | | Try different presentations from very slow to |
| That's one of my favorites because you have to | | | | moderate (never very fast). I usually give the bait 1 or |
| know the right time to set the hook. Set it too soon | | | | 2 short pumps, let it fall while reeling in the slack, then |
| and the largemouth may not have it in it's mouth good. | | | | give it 2 or 3 pumps. Be careful. Always reel in the |
| Set it too late and it might have spit it out. That's | | | | slack, but more often than not that's when you'll get |
| exciting; and frustrating. | | | | the bite. They often hit it on the fall, so expect |
| The Texas rigged plastic worm (you can use it for | | | | something every time you bring in the slack. |
| other plastics, too) is very portable. If you want to hike | | | | You can try longer pumps, like bring the line in 2 or 3 |
| around the lake and fish the shore, don't lug your whole | | | | feet then let it settle. Try moving it painfully slow, try |
| tackle box. Just get a worm pouch, load it with a few | | | | bouncing it quicker, try swimming it very slowly across |
| favorite styles, colors, hooks and sinkers, stuff it in your | | | | the bottom and whatever else you can think of. When |
| back pocket and hit the trail. | | | | something works, stick with it. |
| Plus, you can change lures on the fly. Once your | | | | Use the worms around vegetation and rocks. My best |
| Texas Rig is set up, it's a matter of pulling the bait off | | | | luck has been around trees in the water. Sometimes |
| the hook and sliding another on. No knots to retie. This | | | | there will be trees that hang out into the water. These |
| gives you freedom to explore different colors and | | | | are hot spots for bass. |
| styles of plastics in a hurry. | | | | One trick I learned by accident is to cast the Texas |
| In a Texas Rig, the sinker is a bullet slip sinker that rides | | | | Rig out over a weak limb hanging over the water. You |
| freely on the line with nothing else between the rod | | | | want a weak limb because you want it to break or |
| and the bait (the benefit is that the bass cannot feel | | | | collapse when the bass hits, and it will. I move that |
| the sinker when it strikes). This drags the plastic bait | | | | plastic worm up and down, in and out of the water to |
| down and allows it to bounce or swim along the | | | | tease and annoy the bass. If there's one there, you'll |
| bottom. | | | | get a strike. |