Something that I use to do ……………..

Twenty plus years ago a 4” black and powder blue tailed ringworm was the hottest bass worm on the river. Than came powerbaits etc., and we stopped using ringworms. Guess what’s the hottest walleye bait on the river is right now!!

when my dad tourney fished years ago, a black ring worm w/ white tail was the hot ticket texas rigged.. i beleive that was a 4″

I am going back to fishing some jig worms this summer. I use to love throwing them on the river, but have not done it for about 8 years. I use to use a small 4″ worm on a Med action St Croix rod. The worm was a 4″ pulse worm in Black and Chart tail with a 1/ oz jig.

Basman

Bassman

Have to agree with waterfowler, years ago that was my go to bait when things got tough, don’t know why I stopped using it. Mepps in-line spinner for smallies when I was a kid, haven’t used it for 25 years.
Carl

Miller Wobbler with pork frog. i used to smoke the fish on that thing, i just don’t throw it at all. same with a johnson silver minnow. i dont throw a 4″ grub as much as i should either.

I used to fish hard for largemouth bass in the 1980″s, but when my bass fihing buddy moved away I fell back into walleyes and smallmouth fishng on the main channel. Looking at my LM bass gear dates me. I’ve got Rat Tail s, Mann’s Jellyworms, custom worms with foil inserted in the tails, Jitterbugs, jointed Rebels, (I oncecaught a 22.5″ LM on a J Rebel!) ….

Then in the late 90’s I got interested in muskie fishing, so I dove into that with a vengeance. But now with gas prices and travel $ for muskie fishing, I’ve decided to stay home and spend more time on the green bass again.

Wow, I’ve fell behind the times!! I have been thinking spinnerbaits, when I should be thinking swim jigs! Or maybe if I just use all of my old stuff I’ll be ahead of the pack!! Ya, right!

I guess one of my old favorites that always seemed to work was a 5″ grape Rat tail worm, Texas rigged with a light bullet sinker.

4-5 years ago i used to fish a 5in neon green kinda like a cut tailed worm t rigged with 1/4 oz bullet sinker. im not even sure who makes them they were just in some of the bins at the local tackle store. those things believe it or not used to catch the fish. that was before i found out about senkos and pretty much stopped fishing those in place of them

Old style Rolland Martin/ Blue Fox spinner baits in char/white/blue. Used to just kill the bass on them. Cannot get them anymore.

Here is one that I still do…
and it catchs grass Carp too

Use a bullet sinker and peg it up your line about a foot.
This will help trigger the lite biters.

THE WORM!!

Anyone notice about a month or so back we were lamenting the loss of the Gator Tail worm. Anyone look close at the Mann’s Hardnose worm used to win the Bassmaster Classic? Very similar.

Why did mepps take the white blade/white tail model off the market????????? That in the #2 model was the best.

Ah yes.. THE WORM! Place a small splitshot about 12″-18″ up from the swivel snap, then another splitshot 6″ up from there. Cast it out, let it sink, then slooooowly reel it in. It was a mindless process, but man did it catch fish!

Grape with a red tail was my favorite!

Oh ya! “The worm”, it still works…caught a 5+ pounder on it a couple of years ago in a club tourney.

Before i heard about Swim jigs, I used to take a 3″ grub and put it on a small jig head..I have no idea what size tho, because it was a long time ago. I’d hit the shallow sloughs in the spring, and cast it out, reeling in with a steady retrieve and bouncing it at the same time. I killed the bass that year with that technique. i never tried it again though I used to throw a whole lot of inline spinners, but i use bigger spinnerbaits now, because we couldn’t get keepers to go with the inlines. Don’t get me wrong, i have caught 18″ smallies on 3/4 inch panther martins, and i have a largemouth on the wall that was caught on a bucktail, but i would rather catch 20 14-17 inch bass than 1 20 and a thousand dinks. I only throw bucktails anymore if all else fails. Iaconelli says the same thing: they are in his “panic box”

Mossboss- I noticed that as well, might try to get my hands on some of those, if they are as durable as advertised they might be good. Might have to cut some serrations in the tail just for old times sake.

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Mossboss- I noticed that as well, might try to get my hands on some of those, if they are as durable as advertised they might be good. Might have to cut some serrations in the tail just for old times sake.

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I’m going to get some and try em. Still got a few older Gator Tails for comparison! Now if I could only get some of my old colors.

we still use the 4 inch ring worms down this way and I think we catch less and less fish every year on them because the bass have seen them too much.

4 inch salt craws are a bait of the past that I still can’t get them to bite anymore I thin the bass have become immune.

Does anyone out there remember Willards Worm? Is was a plastic worm that was shaped like a snake bot was cast so that the worm was a spiral. when you pulled it through the water is flopped like crasy but when you stopped it, it would slowly coil back up. It was in outdoor life or field and stream back in the 80’s. haven’t been able to find them in years.

Kind of sounds familiar Dan, but I can’t place it. It did remind me of the old Doug Hannon snake bait though. Remember that one? A floating snake head with like an 8 or 9 inch worm behind it.

The wierdest bait I still have is the Dancin Eel. Remember that one? It is a Bill Dance bait, it’s like a big foam tadpole with a hook below it. Don’t think I ever got a bite on it.

The worm atleast 80% of the time and i havent had one on in yrs. Thats changing this yr. Ofcourse i had to buy another rod & reel

Thanks to the internet I have about 3 times the poles, lures, and shotguns that I “need.”

Black grape Producto 6 inch worms. I was introduced to these up on Gull Lake when I was a kid and they were my go to bait for many years. I came across a pack of them when we moved last year and started using them again… fish catching machines!!!
SC