Worm Fishing Texas Rig – Different Worms – Your experiences and opinions?

I’ve been mostly Texas Rig worm fishing lately. I fish solely from shore. I’m somewhat new to this in that I hadn’t fished for many years, getting back into it this summer. I never really knew how to rig a worm until a couple of months ago.

So first I was fishing with some old (20 year old) 6 inch Laker plastic worms I had. Black, brown, and purple. Some are curly tail and some are paddle tail. I’ve had decent luck with them. Seems color and tail type doesn’t make any difference. I usually use a small (1/8 or 3/16 oz) sliding torpedo weight in front of them. What I like about them are that they “float”. So with the weight, when they’re on the bottom, the worm stands up, tail up and a bit of water movement makes them waver. To me they look like fish would want to bite them. You can even fish them weightless if there is no wind or current. They do sink, very slowly, with just with the weight of the hook. They also sink nice and slow when wacky rigged.

A week ago I bought some Yamamoto 5 inch senkos and some Strike King 5 inch stick baits that look a lot like senkos. For these, I find that I need to fish them weightless. They’re weighty enough on their own, and can be cast quite far without weight. Both of these also work well, as long as there is not too much current or wind. I’ve had luck with both. The Yamamoto senkos are a little softer and seem to have a better feel, but I’ve caught equally with the Strike King, which are 1/3 the price. What I don’t like about both is that they don’t “float” like the Laker plastics.

I’m interested in some of your thoughts and experiences. Senko? Strike King? Others? Weighted? Weightless? Does anyone use the old style plastic worms?

I’m having fun. Today I landed a 24 inch northern on an unweighted Texas rigged Strike King 5 inch worm. Lucky for me, it hooked up right in front of the mouth so it didn’t bite through the line.

Bob P

Typically when I’m fishing texas rigs I’m using an 1/8 oz bullet weight but that’s from a boat and from shore it would probably be beneficial to be weightless.

In regards to different worms, my go to is super boring but it works. Yum Dingers. I’m a big Strike King guy. Use almost all of their stuff. However, their plastic worms are garbage. They have great action and shape, but after one fish they are all torn up. Big fan of power worms from Berkley, Yum Genies are new worms that I’ve liked as well. My biggest advice would be to not shy away from the larger 7-10 inch worms. Especially in warmer weather.

I like berkley’s power worms. They’re durable and come scented in a variety of colors/sizes. They don’t weigh much, so I have to add a bullet sinker to them like mahtofire already suggested.

I will use senko as a generic term here and not specific to Yamamoto baits which I have found to be overpriced for their lack of durability. I like to fish senkos weightless with a 5/0 ewg hook. I prefer to use Yum Dingers or the Bass Pro brand. If I am fishing weighted, I generally Texas rig a 7″ ribbon tail on a 2/0 ewg with an 1/8 oz, bullet weight that I sometimes peg with a bobber stop above the sinker to keep it from sliding.

If you’re limiting your use of a “senko” style bait to unweighted only, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Regarding action tail worms (sickle tail, ribbon tail, etc.), in my opinion the two best are #1 Berkley Power Worm and #2 Culprit worm.

As the world’s worst offender for carrying 8,764 different colors, in reality I use three. Pumpkin or a variation, black, and grape or a variation.

If you can stomach the initial cost, I would highly recommend tungsten weights. Two reasons, they’re smaller than the equivalent lead weight, and they’re harder therefore the weight transmits what it’s doing back to the angler (ie if the weight is crawling over a branch, rock, and vegetation). Lots of options of weights, but look for ones that have the weight stamped into the side. Many companies are doing this now, but one that comes to is a local outfit called Swagger Tungsten (I have no affiliation with them).

What weight do you like for say 15′ or less? Use mono?

tim hurley wrote:

What weight do you like for say 15′ or less? Use mono?

That will be very dependent upon type and thickness of cover, as well as wind speed.

Your weight could be as light as 1/8 but as heavy as 3/4.

Ok RT-are you casting into weeds? BTW for Texas rigs I’ve had great luck with Skip Jack hooks, not sure if they still make them, but the bends do a great job of holding the worm with minimal tearing, and hook ups are great.
Thanks

Oops that’s Skip Gap hooks from Gamakatsu-still available, I need to buy some.

Yes, I’m usually fishing a Texas rig around cover – which is typically weeds.

The skip gap hook is good in theory, but too fine of a wire for me.

“a cain is only as strong as its weakest link” You have your line, your rod and your reel. What is more likely to break your line or the “fine wire” of your hook?
More too it? Yup-what will penetrate better fine or thick?
Give them a try-my 2 cents

tim hurley wrote:

“a cain is only as strong as its weakest link” You have your line, your rod and your reel. What is more likely to break your line or the “fine wire” of your hook?
More too it? Yup-what will penetrate better fine or thick?
Give them a try-my 2 cents

I’ve tried them. The fine wire bends and the gap opens up, leading to lost fish.

If I were bending out forged steel Gamakatsu hooks I would loosen my drag! Anyway lots of anglers swear by those thick hooks, guess I’m more of a finesse dude, don’t usually grind it out in heavy cover.

Tim as far as weights go, if I’m pitching docks or light cover, I’m using a 1/8 oz tungsten bullet weight. I find that the slower fall as opposed to a 1/4 oz is more desirable to the fish. However if I’m in thicker weeds but not thick enough where I’m punching, I go to the 1/4. If I’m punching through grass mats or pads I’m using 3/4-1 oz.

I use the thicker hooks as well. The thinner gauge hooks will bend out. When I’m pitching to docks or shallow cover I’m not typically worried about playing the fish/correct drag. I have it tightened down pretty well so I can quickly pull the fish away from the structure of a dock or fallen tree that I caught it in to limit snagging.

The Strike King I use are Shim e Stick. They are harder than the Yamamoto senkos, but seem to work just as well.

Today I used one and caught (landed) 4 bass on it, and didn’t land a couple of others. It was down to about 3.5 inches when I was done with it. I lopped off the head twice and re-rigged it. Action slowed when it got too short. I was fishing from shore, unweighted Texas Rig.

This leads to a question. In all today I had 10 hookups and landed 5. A couple threw the hook after jumping, the others unhooked underwater. I’m guessing 5 of 10 is a pretty low success rate?

I think I know the reason. My rod is medium-light action and I’m using a 3/0 Eagle Claw Laser Sharp Worm Hook. My guess is that the rod is not stout enough to always set the hook. I will say that for the ones I caught, I had to push hard to get the hooks out. They were hooked in an easy place to get out but they were hooked well.

Bob P wrote:

The Strike King I use are Shim e Stick. They are harder than the Yamamoto senkos, but seem to work just as well.

Today I used one and caught (landed) 4 <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bass on it, and didn’t land a couple of others. It was down to about 3.5 inches when I was done with it. I lopped off the head twice and re-rigged it. Action slowed when it got too short. I was fishing from shore, unweighted Texas Rig.

This leads to a question. In all today I had 10 hookups and landed 5. A couple threw the hook after jumping, the others unhooked underwater. I’m guessing 5 of 10 is a pretty low success rate?

I think I know the reason. My rod is medium-light action and I’m using a 3/0 Eagle Claw Laser Sharp Worm Hook. My guess is that the rod is not stout enough to always set the hook. I will say that for the ones I caught, I had to push hard to get the hooks out. They were hooked in an easy place to get out but they were hooked well.

I would not go less than a medium strength rod when texas rigging. You could also try using a braided mainline with 4-6 ft of fluoro leader (if you aren’t already). The braid doesn’t stretch and can give you a better hookset.

Thanks mahtofire14. With 10 hookups, what would be a reasonably good catch rate?
8 of 10? By hookups, I mean the fish were “on” and fighting. It wasn’t just a bite or a pull for a couple of seconds.

By the way, I’m using 8# mono (Trilene XL). I was only needing to cast 10 yards or so. I know I need to get a stouter rod and a bit stronger reel.

Bob P wrote:

Thanks mahtofire14. With 10 hookups, what would be a reasonably good catch rate?
8 of 10? By hookups, I mean the fish were “on” and fighting. It wasn’t just a bite or a pull for a couple of seconds.

By the way, I’m using 8# mono (Trilene XL). I was only needing to cast 10 yards or so. I know I need to get a stouter rod and a bit stronger reel.

As far as hookup ratio it’s tough to put a number on it. In a split second the fish can suck up the bait which is the first tap you feel. The next split second and many times before you can set the hook it’s dropped the bait. If you are fighting the fish and then they are coming off it could be two things. One, the fish didn’t inhale the hole worm and therefore is only holding onto the worm without the hook in it’s mouth. You set the hook they hold on for a bit and then let go.

The more likely scenario is that you are using mono line which stretches and you aren’t getting a great hookset. I would go to the braid to fluoro leader and you should see a better hookup percentage even on the set up you are using. I use 20 lb braid to a 12 or 15 lb fluoro leader for that set up.

I have used skip gap hooks before with success, but I did have one bend out on a big fish once – I think it was a muskie though. The skip gap hook was originally designed to be used with a tube. It holds in place better than an EWG hook because of the odd shape. I believe there is a small diagram on the back of the package.

Anyone use Culprit ribbon tails or Mr Twister curl tail worms? First bass I ever caught was on a Mr Twister and then started trying out more designs and other companies – some that were great but the companies went out of business – like Producto.

Talking about worm design, Yammie Kut Tail worms are phenomenal! I can use them on a 1/32 oz jig head with #1/0 hook for near surface jerking or T-rigged near or on bottom.
Even caught other species on them:

I got to ask myself how much body/tail action which affects lure speed.
example:

Don’t have a problem using thin wire wide-gap hooks.

Always like lead sinkers over other metals, but again, ball head jigs gets the job done even in moderate weeds. Braid is my only line and has been for years. 8-10 # test gets it done using a med.action rod!

Have been known to attach the back half (tail) of a worm to the body of a design I rarely use using a candle flame. (IE Kut Tails above.)