Ringworms…Fact or Fiction?

With all the recent talk about the effectiveness of ringworms, I would like to ask new users of ringworms their opinion of them. I know I have sold quite a few of them as a result of my reports and other people’s comments. I want new users to give their own “review” of them….good or bad. I have had a ton of people asking about them and “Do they really work?” I know they work for me……and have heard many others say they love them. Are you new ringworm users having any different luck with the ringworm vs the standby, jig n minnow? Any replies/comments…..good or bad would be appreciated. Thank you.

well… guess Im kind of a “new” user of them…. I started one year ago at this time of year.. and my start was rocky… did not even have a bite on them…. I remember that day I was using them and James said he was nailing fish on super doos… and I had never even heard of THEM… in fact I thought he was kidding!!

but…. over time the ringworms started to show their “muster” and at times and places they were a great suplement to my other tactics and sometimes they stole the show….

they are NOT magic by any means… but they ARE effective…. and Ive not found too many “bad” ways to fish them…. they dont seem to be touchy to use… in fact the way that Beaver advocates fishing them Ive NEVER tried…. Im sure the lightest head Ive used on them is 3/8 oz… and the heaviest was 1 oz…. and I was dragging that up river at the bottom of a dubuque rig (and it worked great!)…… one thing for sure… most often the fish POUND these things… thats really the biggest thing Ive found….. I cant recall any other lure that gets just INHALED so often….. dont know why… but its what Ive seen….

I started using rings about 2 months ago and I can say that in certain presentations they do work better than tails or hair.Lately I’ve been working with them more and thats do to the milder weather (I hate casting with gloves) but i also vertical jig with them and when fish hit they hit hard.I also know of several other people that use them and they swear by them.I’ve used 1/8-1/2 oz with them depending on current and can normally pull fish it the boat when jig and minnow don’t seem to be the answer.A good source for rings is B-Fish-N tackle If anyone is thinking about trying them.

Len

Falling Rock Bar & Bait LLC

1-608-874-4707

I have tried them for the first time Sunday.I snagged about 5-6 of them up.Got a bit frustrating,but thats the way it goes.I didn’t have as much as a single bite on one yet,but also had no luck on my ol stand by,Walleye Killers.I’m not 100% sure I was doing it right.First tied jigging them in 15-25 feet below the dam on a 1/4 oz jig.No snags,no bites,good bottom feel.Then I tried pitching into the brush along an island where the water quickly dropped into the 17 foot range.Snagged several times,no bites.Then I tried drifting wingdams,and again caught ol Barny Rubble several times.Oh well,better days ahead and i’ll not give up on them yet.

I tried them for the first time today.I liked the way it looked and felt,although we didnt catch anything I will sure try them again

I think that the problem most poeple are having is that they don’t buy minnows when they buy the ringworms. You have to buy minnnows to tip the ringworms with…. it is also crucial to buy anything else that is associated with ringworms or even sounds like ringworms,

You ever thought about being a used car salesman mavzer????????? LOL.

With every used car you buy from Mavzer he will throw in AT NO EXTRA CHARGE a bag of used Ringworms!!!!——lol

I have tried ringworms three times so far, no bite yet. But then fishing has been slow for me anyway. Will keep trying tho.John R

This is the first year I have fished with ringworms, I dug them out of some old bass stuff. I was very skeptical at first but to my surprise it has outproduced any type of lure, bait, etc.

I fished Gutt. on Saturday and the only thing that the fish would hit were ringworms, I fished the Iowa River yesterday, only thing they hit were ring worms.

To be honest I haven’t caught a single fish on bait yet this year. I have become a real believer and at first I also thought that this was just a ploy to sell additional tackle.

[email protected]

First time I ever used a ringworm was last Thursday, fishing with James. Prior to that, I was just curious. I came back home and ordered a pack from Hawger. The fish bit better on ringworms only than they did on the ringworms with a minnow attached!

I just hope that the fish don’t learn about them too quickly.

Mike

I tried ring worms yesterday at Redwing, but I ended up catching my fish on Walleye Assasins Shad soft plastic, the only other respectable fish I saw caught was on ring worms. The fish I caught on the Shad were inhaled and pounded on hard, the point is thanks to this web sight I’m trying new tatics and they are working when conventional tactics wont, it just a matter of putting in your time and learning what works best on any given day. Thanks for all the info FTR

I tried them last weekend for the first time. I was using ringworms and my buddy was using jig and minnow. The ringworms caught all the bigger fish and the fish were inhaling it, so that was good. I think my buddy will be adding some ringworms to his arsenal. I also tipped them with a minnow and caught a couple that way to.

People have a tendancy to give up on these to easily! Just like anything you are not used to…it takes patience, and understanding of the dynamics. Fish are hitting these things because we are keeping them in the strike zone longer than other baits. Plus, the larger profile makes for an easy target.

Tuck

I just ordered some on Sunday, and hope to get down to Redwing soon to try them out. Usually I can go anywhere and not catch fish, so if I do get any, I will have found the Miracle Bait!

ringworms aren’t to bad. Never really had the need for them whenever i am out whatever i am using is usually just as good as a ringworm.

Hey youngeye what you said about “just a ploy to sell additional tackle”—Absoluely Not No Way Not So No No No!!But would you like to buy a used car??????_

Do I get to pick the colors of ringworms that come with that car if I buy one???

Keep the car! Gimme the worms!

i’l take the car and you can have your dangworms

Pro V,

I would respectfully like to point out that the statement that I made about “being a sales ploy” was my previous thought and not my thoughts anymore!!!

Youngeye,

I would respectfullly like to point that my post in its entirety was ment as JOKE a Ha Ha a LOL and nothing else!!!

I’ve been using the worms for about a year now and they are a tool, just like a crank, bucktail, etc. They can be just the ticket and I won’t be on the water with out them. I do believe though that fish get conditioned to certain baits and ring worms are obviously getting more popular every day. If three or fours years from now they seem to be not quite as effective as they are now I will contribute this to the “conditioning” effect. Anyone else agree or disagree? Maybe in a river system this large it wont happen though.

Ive seen it before… at least is sure seems like it… the more of something that fish see the less likely they will jump on it… probably for a couple of reasons… it could be a bit of natural selection (its not healthy to eat ringworms!)… and fish can and do learn.. getting caught is a learning experience to them.. so even when they are released its a lesson for them… and the more they learn it the less likely they are to repeat it……. with those two factors in play I think it does lesson the effectiveness over time….. still I dont forsee a time when they dont/wont work…. there is something about ringworms that triggers an aggressive response from these fish…. and though that might be lessened… its not going to STOP……

Then do I get to keep the fish you catch on the worms? Oh shucks, I don’t eat fish. Now what do I do??????????????? No car, no worms, no fish, maybe go fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL

Ringworms didn’t just come out on the market, they’ve been out for 30 years.

10 years ago Larry Erickson showed the pros how to use them when he kicked everybodys rump in a walleye tournament fishing as an amateur.

In-Fisherman and Walleye Insider both ran stories on them and some guys tried them and started catching fish, while others tried them once or twice and then put them away.

People are hot about ringworms now after reading about success, and again learning the finer points of how to present them. Some will succeed and continue to worm, others will try them for a few trips and then go back to their traditional methods when they get tired of trying.

Others will continue to use them as a major part of their jigging presentations.

They are just like every other lure out there. Anglers will have varying degrees of success with them. That is the one thing that will determine how long their popularity lasts.

Me? I’ll be using them til real worms are feeding on me. It’ll take me that long to use up all the ones that I bought.

Beav

ok you have tweaked my attention! i see by your question that some swear by them and some had no luck with them at all!

i believe the secret to them (worms) is the presentation. is anyone willing to go into detail on how to fish them?

frankly i always do well with the jig and minnoe combo but am always wanting to learn something new. are they just aviable thru mail order?

Go to the ‘articles’ section and read the piece that I wrote. It goes into detail about fishing ringworms and the shallow water/downstream drift theory that I think is critical for presentation.

Beav

thanks i will look them up

I took my ringworms on a fishing trip in wisc. last month…Fished below the mingon flowage. My big bro and my cousin.(live bait junkies)..Put on their live bait rigs and minnows…I put on my ring worms ..on a 1/8 oz jig head..After my 3rd walleye…and 5-6 pike they were begging me for some ringers….never fished those waters before…but the ringers just smoked em….

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