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The Magic Worm
The idea of swimming a plastic bait is old, but even old dogs get new ticks. A worm is, perhaps, at its best for smallmouths when
brought back on a straight retrieve--no lift-drop of the rod tip, no speeding up, no slowing down, no drop, and no rise, just a straight,
horizontal retrieve. The trigger is in the action of the tail and the mesmerizing slow-and-steady progress of the bait through the water.
Often as not, especially during spring and summer, smallmouths seem to gauge their chances of actually capturing prey by approaching
it slowly and watching for a reaction. If they get really close and their target doesn't spook, chances are they'll bite--that's if the bait looks,
smells, and performs just right.
The right size, color, and action is critical with smallmouths. Smallmouth bass seem not to be worm-oriented in most environments
when traditional tactics are employed. But the uncanny thing about worms is how well they imitate minnows. In minnow-imitating colors
like smoke, smoke with metal flake, smoke with black flake, green smoke, white, salt-and-pepper, clear-blue, natural shad, amber with
black flake, or any of a wide number of related shades, a swimming worm becomes a perfect minnow imitation. Although black and dark
colors are my favorite in the summer as they resemble the Helagramite larvae.
The effectiveness of the worm at imitating minnows can be compared with certain streamers in your fly-fishing arsenal. A classic woolly
bugger, for example, looks nothing like a minnow lying there in the fly box, with it's chenille body and bushy marabou tail. Put it in the
water, however, and nothing looks more like a minnow in the hands of an expert. The tail tapers down and comes alive, undulating this
way and that with every puff of side current, every strip of line. By the same token, a worm looks nothing like a minnow in your hand. Put it
in the water. On the right jig, in the right hands--presto. Magic minnow look-alike.
When rigged on jigs, actiontail worms in that magic 4- to 5 1/2-inch range look most like a minnow smallmouths want to eat. Most
actiontails have a small sickletail or a fairly long rippletail. Either can be effective, depending on the time and place. Sickletails put out a
constant but subtle pulse on a steady retrieve. It's a hum rather than a buzz, compared with a 4-inch grub or a long actiontail. Sickletails
like the Persuader Curly Tail and the Berkley 4-inch Power Worm excel in clear water, in highly pressured venues, after cold fronts, and in
cold water. "Snake tails" or rippletail worms put out as much vibration as a grub, but probably sound and feel different to nearby
smallmouths. The profile is certainly different--long and slender. The blur of the tail imitates the swimming action of a minnow.
Rippletails tend to excel in stained or cloudy water, during activity peaks and during summer or whenever the water is warm.
The art of dragging a worm is simple. I prefer dragging a white, black, crawdad, or smoke blue-flake actiontail worm on a 1/8- to
3/8-ounce ballhead jig. Just about any worm style can be dragged effectively, but I usually start with a rippletail style, like the YUM
Ribbontail, which is a 6-inch worm. A 6-inch worm cut back to 5 inches is perfect. Match the weight of the jig to the depth and speed, from
1/8 to 3/8 ounce, on 6- to 8-pound line.
The magic worm will never be more versatile or easy to rig and present. From spring throughout the winter it will outperform the rest of
your tackle box. Grab a few bags of them and start your magic!
The idea of swimming a plastic bait is old, but even old dogs get new ticks. A worm is, perhaps, at its best for smallmouths when
brought back on a straight retrieve--no lift-drop of the rod tip, no speeding up, no slowing down, no drop, and no rise, just a straight,
horizontal retrieve. The trigger is in the action of the tail and the mesmerizing slow-and-steady progress of the bait through the water.
Often as not, especially during spring and summer, smallmouths seem to gauge their chances of actually capturing prey by approaching
it slowly and watching for a reaction. If they get really close and their target doesn't spook, chances are they'll bite--that's if the bait looks,
smells, and performs just right.
The right size, color, and action is critical with smallmouths. Smallmouth bass seem not to be worm-oriented in most environments
when traditional tactics are employed. But the uncanny thing about worms is how well they imitate minnows. In minnow-imitating colors
like smoke, smoke with metal flake, smoke with black flake, green smoke, white, salt-and-pepper, clear-blue, natural shad, amber with
black flake, or any of a wide number of related shades, a swimming worm becomes a perfect minnow imitation. Although black and dark
colors are my favorite in the summer as they resemble the Helagramite larvae.
The effectiveness of the worm at imitating minnows can be compared with certain streamers in your fly-fishing arsenal. A classic woolly
bugger, for example, looks nothing like a minnow lying there in the fly box, with it's chenille body and bushy marabou tail. Put it in the
water, however, and nothing looks more like a minnow in the hands of an expert. The tail tapers down and comes alive, undulating this
way and that with every puff of side current, every strip of line. By the same token, a worm looks nothing like a minnow in your hand. Put it
in the water. On the right jig, in the right hands--presto. Magic minnow look-alike.
When rigged on jigs, actiontail worms in that magic 4- to 5 1/2-inch range look most like a minnow smallmouths want to eat. Most
actiontails have a small sickletail or a fairly long rippletail. Either can be effective, depending on the time and place. Sickletails put out a
constant but subtle pulse on a steady retrieve. It's a hum rather than a buzz, compared with a 4-inch grub or a long actiontail. Sickletails
like the Persuader Curly Tail and the Berkley 4-inch Power Worm excel in clear water, in highly pressured venues, after cold fronts, and in
cold water. "Snake tails" or rippletail worms put out as much vibration as a grub, but probably sound and feel different to nearby
smallmouths. The profile is certainly different--long and slender. The blur of the tail imitates the swimming action of a minnow.
Rippletails tend to excel in stained or cloudy water, during activity peaks and during summer or whenever the water is warm.
The art of dragging a worm is simple. I prefer dragging a white, black, crawdad, or smoke blue-flake actiontail worm on a 1/8- to
3/8-ounce ballhead jig. Just about any worm style can be dragged effectively, but I usually start with a rippletail style, like the YUM
Ribbontail, which is a 6-inch worm. A 6-inch worm cut back to 5 inches is perfect. Match the weight of the jig to the depth and speed, from
1/8 to 3/8 ounce, on 6- to 8-pound line.
The magic worm will never be more versatile or easy to rig and present. From spring throughout the winter it will outperform the rest of
your tackle box. Grab a few bags of them and start your magic!
