3″ ring worms

Anyone know of a place to buy 3″ ring worms? found plenty of 4″ but would like 3″ for pressured fish… if I cant find any I’m going to get a custom mold cut and make my own.

Maybe you could cut an inch off of a 4″ worm to make it a 3″ worm. Just sayin’…

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Maybe you could cut an inch off of a 4″ worm to make it a 3″ worm. Just sayin’…

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X2!

I’ve got a few of those modified 2 3/4 inch “square end” ringworms laying around in the boat. I’ll trade you for some stink bait

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Anyone know of a place to buy 3″ ring worms? found plenty of 4″ but would like 3″ for pressured fish… if I cant find any I’m going to get a custom mold cut and make my own.

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That’s all I do and it works well. Take the head and two rings off with your thumbnail and fish away. There use to be a couple companies that made a 3″ ringworm and the products didn’t sell well because they basically were a shortened 4″ version.

After a bunch of fish hit a 4″ and tear it up a bit to where the keeper won’t keep it on, they become 3″ ones for later. I have a bunch that I’m saving for tough bites in late fall and early spring.

So James….

There have been times when I thought I was feeling short strikes so I deliberately pinched off an inch, shortening the ringworm down to 3 inches. And started catching fish. The question is….At that time do you think the Walleyes were showing a preference for the smaller bait OR was I having more success because the shorter worm was fishing a little diffrent (probably deeper) ?

Rootski

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So James….

There have been times when I thought I was feeling short strikes so I deliberately pinched off an inch, shortening the ringworm down to 3 inches. And started catching fish. The question is….At that time do you think the Walleyes were showing a preference for the smaller bait OR was I having more success because the shorter worm was fishing a little diffrent (probably deeper) ?

Rootski

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Rootski,

Without being there an answer is total speculation. But I’ll throw out some ideas anyway…

When I’m most likely to fish a shortened ringworm is when the fish are less aggressive and / or the fish I’m targeting at that moment are of smaller average size.

Aggressive or active fish won’t care about an inch either way.

There’s no doubt at times that a fish will target a food source of a specific size. Mimicking that general size and shape simple can’t hurt.

A 3″ shortened ringworm won’t fish significantly different with regards to depth than a 4″ ringworm on the same head.

Did I answer your question? No, but then I’m not sure I can. Hopefully what I did share will help you to better make that determination “in the moment” the next time you experience it.

I tried biting off an inch but with no head it was tough to keep the baits on the jig. I just talked to my mold guy and I’m going to have him make me a 3″ worm mold with curl tail and a bit longer head on it to help keep it on the jig after a couple fish.

I’ll post some pictures when I get it.

Edit: would any of you walleye guys like to help me test them when I get the molds in? I’m sure you all are much better fisherman than I am lol… I wont ask for any money just a promise to let me know how they work (both good and bad)

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I tried biting off an inch but with no head it was tough to keep the baits on the jig.

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You might want to save the mold costs and just get jigs designed to fish thin profile plastics. Jigs with a plastics keeper wire work great with “headless” ringworms.

http://www.bfishntackle.com/h2o_prec_painted.html

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Edit: would any of you walleye guys like to help me test them when I get the molds in? I’m sure you all are much better fisherman than I am lol… I wont ask for any money just a promise to let me know how they work (both good and bad)

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Awesome offer… but honestly many of are already fishing 3″ ringworms, ringers and Moxis. They flat out work when fish want a smaller profile bait.

IF you’re interested, every fish in this report was caught on a shortened moxi or ringworm.

Rainy Lake June Report

Using the right jigs allowed me to fish some baits for 20, 30 or even more fish on one bait.

I’m not trying to change where you’re heading with the new mold, more I’m trying to show how others of us are doing it now after fishing with the shorter baits for a long time.

Either way… I hope you catch the heck out of the fish one way or the other.

I have a hard time fishing store bought baits anymore.. after I started making my own plastics 3 years ago I’ve increased my catch rate at least 5X. You wouldnt believe how hand made baits can out fish store bought. The action on hand made is incredible, and I make them so super soft that the fish will hold on for over a minute (tested it, 14″ sauger held onto a 3″ grub for 1 minute 2 seconds before I set the hook and caught him).

Reason I asked about 3″ was because I can get the 4″ mold any time but nobody offers a 3″ mold. If I could have found a 3″ model in the stores I would have given them a shot before buying the mold… but I never found one I liked.

Sounds like a fun project. Let us know how it turns out.

Try looking at Culpritstore dot com. On the left side find bass plastics and click. Then look for Culrin dropshot worms. They have some 3 inchers listed there. Colors may be getting scarce as they are discontinuing them.

The 4 colors I favor are: smoke-black/purple flake,pumpkin-blck/green/red flake, pumpkin- black/blue flake, and melon-green flake. There are no chartruese tail colors. The smoke is a great one and I do real well in cleaner water when its real cold with both of the pumpkin colors.

I will mention that when I shorten factory 4 inch ringies, I cut them off as James said, THEN…to make them look factory again, I take my culinary torch (use it in my rod shop all the time)and gently re-melt the plastic and it forms a perfect looking factory head..again. Give it a try..any propane torch will do the same, just be gentle with the heat. Once that stuff starts to melt, it goes fast.

Just another tip… BFT Ringworms are made on a custom mold (not factory). You would be hard pressed to find a ringworm that plump with an oversize (from std) tail/head.
There are many Ringworms out there but I’ve never heard of any as effective on P-4 and other places. If you are successful…you will be very busy!

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IF you’re interested, every fish in this report was caught on a shortened moxi or ringworm.

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You are shortening the Moxi’s too?

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IF you’re interested, every fish in this report was caught on a shortened moxi or ringworm.

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You are shortening the Moxi’s too?

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Not always. But on that trip, yes. If you look in some of the pics it is easy to spot. For example…

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You wouldnt believe how hand made baits can out fish store bought. The action on hand made is incredible, and I make them so super soft that the fish will hold on for over a minute.

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Oh, I’d believe you. Most manufacturers use a plastic with too high of a durometer rating. The result is a durable but stiff plastic. Some savvy manufacturers, like B Fish N Tackle, specified a very soft plastic / low durometer rating for their baits. The difference in action is very noticeable and catch rates reflect this small but significant change.

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IF you’re interested, every fish in this report was caught on a shortened moxi or ringworm.

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You are shortening the Moxi’s too?

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Not always. But on that trip, yes. If you look in some of the pics it is easy to spot. For example…

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Was the shortening a result of missing a couple or did you

start shortening them out of the gates due to the time of year?

Thanks!

Home shooters can stiffen [harden] or soften plastisol to their desires. I’ve fished with some super soft home pours that were almost sticky they were so soft. The down side is that they don’t stand up to too much abuse. Dinking around with the additives can be fun but a person needs to keep track of how much of what gets added at a time so duplicating a successful batch is possible. More than anything the molds are the hang up for home shooters. I have some hand machined aluminum molds I made for squirting mini mite-like bodies. Plastic is a lot of work in my opinion and what I make I use myself. Fun stuff to play with though.

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Was the shortening a result of missing a couple or did you start shortening them out of gates due to the time of year?

Thanks!

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If memory serves we started out fishing shortened baits.

It was a judgement made based on time of year, water temp and reports on activity level of the fish prior to our arrival. Guys were telling us the fish would bite but they wanted smaller baits fished slowly.

Knowing the fish were less than aggressive and were still up shallow we fished with as light a head as possible (3/16ths) that would still allow us to swim the baits versus snapping or the classic lift/drop. Swimming the baits presents a very steady and predictable look to the fish which produced when more erratic presentations caught a few pike and few if any walleye.

Rainy River Meets the BFT Moxi

In contrast here’s a Rainy River report where the fish wanted nothing but a full-bodied moxi. The water clarity was about 12″, the fish were running BIG and they were aggressive. Smaller baits and minnows were largely ignored. The fish were so keyed on bigger baits that regular 4″ ringworms produced poorly where the fuller-bodied 4″ Moxi lit the fish up.

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Was the shortening a result of missing a couple or did you start shortening them out of the gates due to the time of year?

Thanks!

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If memory serves we started out fishing shortened baits.

It was a judgement made based on time of year, water temp and reports on activity level of the fish prior to our arrival. Guys were telling us the fish would bite but they wanted smaller baits fished slowly.

Knowing the fish were less than aggressive and were still up shallow we fished with as light a head as possible (3/16ths) that would still allow us to swim the baits versus snapping or the classic lift/drop. Swimming the baits presents a very steady and predictable look to the fish which produced when more erratic presentations caught a few pike and few if any walleye.

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I wish I would have paid closer attention to the pics. and

noticed the shortened Moxis before last week.

Spent last week feeding pike precisions w/Moxis and never landed a walleye with the setup.

The eyes were there as confirmed by the MarCum 825.

Next time I’ll try your modification…………….

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I tried biting off an inch but with no head it was tough to keep the baits on the jig. I just talked to my mold guy and I’m going to have him make me a 3″ worm mold with curl tail and a bit longer head on it to help keep it on the jig after a couple fish.

I’ll post some pictures when I get it.

Edit: would any of you walleye guys like to help me test them when I get the molds in? I’m sure you all are much better fisherman than I am lol… I wont ask for any money just a promise to let me know how they work (both good and bad)

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Good thing you got your mold made before yesterday.

Basstackle made my mold.

Wow this thread was started in 2011, wow time flys.

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Basstackle made my mold.

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Still waiting to see the picture of these 3 inch,hand poured,walleye catching ring worms that you had promised us all.Now that basstackle made your mold it shouldn’t be a problem to post a few.

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Basstackle made my mold.

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Still waiting to see the picture of these 3 inch,hand poured,walleye catching ring worms that you had promised us all.Now that basstackle made your mold it shouldn’t be a problem to post a few.

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Sure!

Here is a fire orange I made, I use it for when the water is choco milk

A chocolate mint I use for smallies and even got a couple eyes on it fishing a clear lake in MN

Zoom bluegill. AWESOME color in the fall

Ol’ standby, pearl.

One of my all time favorite colors, glow body with chart sparkle tail (first fish I caught on this bait was on this color, 22″ eye)

Another ol’ standby. Chartreuse sparkle

I think that is all the pictures I have uploaded.

Nice!

Look good Kevin, really like couple of those colors.