When I’m talking about big worms I’m talking about ones anywhere from 8 to 12 inches long. And, in my case I even have some custom ones that are around 15 inches. All my worms, other than the custom jobs, are made by Berkley. I have used their Powerbait Power Worms exclusively for years.
The reason is that most big worms are round. Power Worms have a flat side on them that’s about a quarter of their circumference. That’s just enough to let me rig them with the flat side down. That gives them a more natural action and a more reliable hookset.
My color choices are about as simple as you can get. My first choice is always something natural. What any manufacturer calls it is unimportant so long as it looks like the real thing. Otherwise I go for a purple hue of some kind or maybe black if the water’s nasty looking.
I mentioned big bass in the title of this blog because these big worms will catch them and because big is what everyone wants. But I also fish these long worms even when I’m targeting bass that aren’t all that big.
There are a couple of reasons for that.
The first is that it’s getting later in the year. Everything the bass are eating has been growing for several months. Nothing is little anymore. Big looks natural. The other reason is that bass aren’t eating as often as they were in the spring, but they’re eating more at one time. Not everyone will agree with my thinking about how bass eat in the summertime but I believe it, and so I’ll say it.
About 80 percent of the time I fish them on a standard-type Texas rig with a pegged 5/16 or 3/8-ounce VMC Tungsten Worm Weight. I use a Wide Gap VMC Ike Approved Hook. There are a couple of different styles. Use the one that suits you best. Just make sure it’s big. Something between 5/0 and 7/0 should be about right.
Every so often, though, I’ll put them on a wobble head. When I do that my preference is a heavy VMC Swinging Rugby Head. My reason for making such a change is nothing other than to show the fish something a little different.
The other 20 percent of the time I’ll put them on a Carolina rig, especially when they want it moving slow and horizontal.
I use a 7 foot, 2 inch Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier Casting Rod — medium heavy — with an Abu Garcia REVO MGX 8.0:1 gear ratio reel. I spool it with 17 or 20-pound-test Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon Line. That combination of tackle gives me plenty of power and control as well as a really good feel.
Big worms are dynamite in deep water, offshore areas where there’s some structure like on the end of a long main lake point or around channel drops and ledges. But they’re also dynamite in shallow water especially if there’s a lot of heavy cover around or some noticeable current.
Think of them as a universal bait at this time of the year and you’ll be ahead of the game.
Give big worms some of your fishing time this year. You won’t regret it, but the fish will.
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