Back-up bait: Ringworms on a lindy rig

Spent the past week in Canada fishing Gull Rock Lake and it was the best fishing we have had in several years. We were there for a week (June 8-15) and never had a slow day and boated around 100 to 150 fish a day per boat. We only had one day of sun where it didn’t rain, which definitely kept the bite going. Fished mostly with leeches during the week on lindy rigs and on the last day we ran out of bait and still had a couple hours of fishing to do. For fun I stuck a ringworm on the rig to see what would happen. All I can say is WOW. The fish went crazy and we could not keep them off. I have fished ringworms casting before, but never on a lindy rig, and it was a blast. Who needs live bait!!

What was the average size you were catching on those? I have never tried lindy rigging them, but I have tried swimming them on a jig head. I had a lot of nippers and never did get one to take it far enough to get hooked for more than a head shake. Of course I see no reason why a 20″+ fish wouldnt just swallow it down.

It doesn’t take a fish over 20″ to complete whoof a ringworm. Anything over 12″ or so is usually big enough to inhale the bait. Typically when you’re missing fish repetitively the issue is the jighead being used is too heavy making it difficult for small fish to move enough water to get the bait in their mouth.

If I’m getting short hit there’s three things I typically try.

1 – go to a lighter head.

2 – shorten the ringworm about an inch.

3 – try a different color / pattern.

I have had 11″ sauger swallow the whole thing to the point I had to cut the line, but that was with jigging, dragging, or snapping. I have trouble when it comes to swimming it. Maybe a lindy rig would be the way to go, gives them a little more time to eat it when they dont grab it in one bite.

I caught fish anywhere from 14 inches all the way up to 23 inches. It was a lot of fun. To begin with I would feel a tap and then would wait to set the hook three or four seconds and most of the time the fish would be gone. After a few missed fish I started to set the hook right when I felt the first tap and my hook up percentage went up considerably. Most of my fish were caught with the hook in the top of the mouth with none hooked deep. My rationale for the quick hook set was the fish hit the bait, figure out it is not really something they want to eat, and don’t hold onto it for very long like they would live bait. It might have been the most fun couple hours of fishing on the trip. I didn’t think it would produce many fish but it really did.

Here’s another thread we had awhile back about Spinner Rigs and plastics. Might be a good read for anyone looking for alternative ways to present ringworms, etc.

Ringworms and Spinner Rigs