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wary bass to hit when they won’t look at anything else. Floating worms have been a staple of professional angler’s arsenals for decades
Floating Worm OMETIMES ANGLERS MAKE THINGS TOO complicated and I’m speaking about myself as much as any of you when I say that. If you’re anything like me your tackle bag is full of lures with holographic images, laser lights, fish scents, bells, whistles, rattles and enough lead weights to sink a flat-bottom boat. Well, mine might not weigh that much but it’s at least as heavy as the average nine year old. We buy all this stuff in efforts to catch a single little green fish. Of course, we’re all hoping that little green fish weighs over 10 pounds, over 20 would be better, but if we each took a look at our personal arsenal we’d realize that even with all this stuff most of us fall back to one or two very simple rigs to catch most of our fish. So this month we’re looking at a very simple bass rig that has been around for decades, is very simple to tie, and should be on one of your rods most of the year. When anyone mentions worm fishing, most will automatically think of a Texas or Carolina rig since the common perception of plastic worms is that they are used to probe the bottom. Occasionally we’ll suspend them on a dropshot, but for the most part, we tie them to a hunk of lead and drop them to the bottom to dig out big bass. The majority of anglers have forgotten about the floating worm, which is an outstanding way to get
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When anyone mentions worm fishing, most think of a Texas or Carolina rig.
and have accounted for a few wins at major tournaments across the country. Plus they are easy to tie which makes them that much more
appealing to the weekend angler. Start the floating worm by tying a barrel swivel to your main line; you’ll understand why this is necessary in a minute. Next, tie one a short leader, 12 to 18 inches, on the other side of the barrel swivel. As with most of the leaders we discuss, make this one out of line that has a slightly lower breaking strength than your main line (12-pound main line 10-pound leader). What you make your leader out of is completely up to you but there are a few things to consider when selecting leader material. Monofilament is more visible than fluorocarbon and stretches more at the hook set but it has a slower sink rate keeping the worm close to the surface longer. Fluorocarbon is less visible and more sensitive but sinks faster. T E X A S
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On the end of the leader tie on a 3/0 or 4/0 wide gap worm hook. Rig the worm on the hook by threading it through the tip of the nose, exiting the bottom of the worm about a quarter inch from the nose. Run the hook through the worm until the line eye rests at the nose then turn the hook pushing the point back into the body of the worm. Instead of making sure the worm is completely straight, put a small bend in it between the nose and where you pushed the hook point back into the body. This small bend will make the worm twist and jerk when you start to work it, which can cause a reaction bite even if the fish aren’t hungry. This bend in the worm is also the reason we’re using a barrel swivel, since it will keep the line from twisting as the worm spins. Fish the floating worm on a mediumaction spinning rod (to aid in casting since this is such a lightweight rig) and you can toss it near boat docks, standing timber, or grass. Skip it under a boat dock, let it sit for a minute, slowly sinking, then twitch it and let it sink again. Bass will normally hit it on the fall. Around grass, you can throw it in the middle and reel it back slowly with the worm spinning and twitching. Most of the time I’m not a fan of bright colored worms but when floating a worm choose a bright color since a lot of the bites are light and you’ll need to be able to see the fish hit as much as you feel it.
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E-mail Paul Bradshaw at freshrigs@fishgame.com C O A S T A L
A L M A N A C
ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL BRADSHAW
7/29/10
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