What exactly is the trick to fishing ringworms? I was down on pool 4 yesterday and couldn’t get a bite on ringworms. I tried casting to shallows and jigging back,NOTHING. Just slowly reeling back, NOTHING. I tried vertical jigging, NOTHING. So I went to fishing the old standby jig/minnow and started catching fish! What’s up with that? Just trying to figure out what I was doing wrong! Thanks for any Information in advance!
well Rainman2
ya see… its like this…. the bite has been pretty tough at times lately and if your in the wrong place and the wrong time its REALLY tough…. and yeah.. there have even been times when minnows outproduced plastics….. it happens… at this time with the bite being very finicky your best bet is to fish the prime times, hopefully in areas that are not heavily pressured…… Myself I do a lot more vertical jigging with the ringworms (and everything else!)…. and in that application I try a variety of tactics….. and hope I find one that the fish like….. I will drag it on the bottom and then pop it an inch or two every 5 seconds or so, I will hang it off the bottom12-18″ and pop it an inch or 2 periodically same as above…. I will bob it slowly in 3-6″ lifts while tapping bottom on the drop…. I will rip it up (various lifts) and let it glide down… so OK… dialig in the fish CAN be tricky… ya gotta find color and presentation… AND location….. and as I said sometimes ringworms are NOT the best…. but they very often they ARE…. the whole trick is knowing how to pick whats goig to work… just in plastics I have ringers, doos, shads, twisters…. then there is hair jigs, jig/minnow….. and of course then you got 3 ways, with minnows, cranks, dubuque rigs, even crawlers…. I saw steve at everts stocking up with crawlers the other day and who knows? its something the fish have not seen down there for a while… and thats all it takes sometims…. you can see from all the pix that the fish are down there…. getting them to bite however IS the trick….. try things and go with what works… it may change a little every day… and even every hour…. last time I was down there just about the time we got a bite dialed in it changed again…. so it was kind of frustrating…..
I’ve been thinking about how to answer this post for 36 hours now. I honestly don’t know what we can do to help you except to say, keep trying. I was flooded with people this weekend coming off the water that said they creamed them on plastics and other said they couldn’t buy a bite on them. And these people fished the same areas on the same day. What’s the trick? There’s no trick. You need to put together a productive pattern with them to catch fish. Just like when you fish jig/bait. Jig color, jig weight, presentation, depth. It all matters. Some part of the equation got overlooked. Or maybe the fish just wanted meat. Who knows.
Hey Rainman2,
How long did you fish????
How long did you use your jig and minnow???
Next time out use your plastics twice as long as you did the last time..
Keep at it and you will have $500.00 worth of plastics all over your boat you will not even use live bait in cold water and you’ll be wondering why it took slow long to figure it out???
I have not bought live bait in cold water for the past 5 years..
But I’m still a crankbait man.. cranks and plastics…
enough babble form me Good luck..Keep your rod bent. 
rainman2
If you are like me it’s hard to break old habits, I had the chance to fish pool 4 last november,and steve at everts fixed me up with ring worms and doo’s,we caught plenty of fish but when I tried them at home I didn’t do well so back to the old jig and minnow(confidence) but I stuck with them and my confidence level is going up each time, They are just another tool but they work very well at times. We are very lucky to have this site and the vast experience these guys have and are willing to share (thanks to all of you )I am retiring at the end of this month and will be spending a lot more time in pool 4 ,I would like to say hi when i’m there to the regulars from efn but you guys all look the same (crestliner boats and hooded sweatshirts) LOL
I get asked from time to time on how to properly fish these plastics? In one quick answer its tough to nail down because these plastics can be worked in so many different techniques that it becomes a very universal lure in your arsenal. I start out some clients that are new to the plastics fishing and start them out pitching a slightly heavier head, so the contact with the bottom is very distinct and methodical. As they become familair with the way to work this, we gradually go lighter and this helps visiualize what your plastic is doing down below the surface. Having confidence in these ringworms is something that may not happen over night, but I assure you that the more you fish with them, the more comfortable you will become with them as well as being able to adapt to the mood of the fish by simply working it slightly more aggressive or more of a finesse approach. Believing that these things can catch fish in these cold water temps is true test to this bait. Remember the old myth of fishing cold water walleyes means jig/minnow? These plastics have made me a true beiliever over the years. All I can say is have faith in what everyone is saying about these ringworms and K-grubs. They work and more often than not they are the go to over live bait in cold water conditions.
Good Luck
Thanks for the reports guys! I do have faith in them and I will not give up on them(ever). I Guess I just have to find or hire someone to show me a little more about them and the Kalins. I would love to be able to just forget the live bait thing and catch them on plastics. That is my goal! It just sounds to me like so much fun! Anybody wanna help?
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