By John Merwin

Here’s a suggestion for the angling legions fishing this summer with soft-plastic worms for largemouth bass. Lighten up.

By that I mean consider using a smaller-than-normal worm weight when you Texas-rig your bait. Yes, you’ll need a three-eighths-ounce weight (or heavier) to get down on structure that’s 20 feet deep or for dragging a Carolina rig in the depths. But not all bass are deep, and you really don’t need that much weight for shallow fish.

Some manufacturers of worm weights have told me their best-selling size is one-quarter ounce, followed by heavier sizes. Most of the time for bass in water less than 10 feet deep I’m using a one-sixteenth-ounce weight at the head of the worm. Sometimes even lighter.

Lightly weighted rigs sink more slowly, giving bass a longer and better look. Twitch-twitch, sink. Twitch-twitch, sink. The whole retrieve process is more subtle and less violently active than is required when fishing heavier weights. To be sure, this rig won’t penetrate thick weed mats, but most of the time I’m casting to the edges of things. Logs, stumps, rocks, weedlines.

Or you can use no added weight at all--just a 6-inch worm, say, on a 3/0 EWG hook. This weightless and weedless rig is absolutely deadly when twitched slowly through shallow bass cover. It is the most simple of all bass rigs and often the most effective.

My home bass water is in a lead-ban state, so most of the time I’m fishing with tungsten worm weights. These are smaller than lead weights of an equivalent size and also seem harder. I think they work better. They are also much more expensive, so take your pick.

But whatever your choice in weights, try thinking small. Subtle. Sneaky. Finesse. And I think you’ll catch more bass.

Comments (11)

from Bella wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I never use plastic worms, only real ones. I have caught fish and found em full of indigestible plastic "bait". Those plastic worms don't biodegrade, in a few hundred years people will find em and wonder what those people of long ago were thinking when they invented fake worms that last forever. Leave nothing but your footprints.

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from shane wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I'm with you here. My idea of a weighted worm involves a finishing nail. Sinking like a rock just isn't natural. A slow sink is pretty hard to resist.

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from Cgull wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

weightless works wonders some times!

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from buckhunter wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

John, Great bass. It reminds me of a mailbox.

A few years back I started fishing weedless weightless worms. A weedless and weightless worm will go places no other lure can go. These places also happen to have a high density of bass. With a stiff rod and braided line you can pull a worm across the top of anything Mother Nature has to offer without a snag.

If you bite off the front end of your worm flat it will create a little more water displacement which will attract more bass.

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from shane wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

Great tip, buck. That's the kind of pro insight I only really expect from the author of this post.

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from mountaindew732 wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I recently have been using a weightless wacky style plasic worm for bass because of the high density of algae that prevents me from using spinners and such. They work great , and when the bass bite it can be very exciting

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from Ethan3 wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I use 3/8 ounce weights for some ponds that have a lot of vegetation, and I can cast it far with my baitcaster. But I love texas rigging with my spinning reel and a 1/16 oz weight, or no weight at all. Great article

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from grant wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I definetely agree. I use to go fishing in this pond down the road from my old house and i invited my dad to come with me. I just used the texas rig with about a 1/4 ounce bullet weight. He just used a weightless worm and he wore me out!

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from countitandone wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

Thanks JM, solid topic on LMB! Let's see...twitch, twitch, sink ~ I think I've got it! Go light, great tip!

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from muskiemaster wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

about time someone acknowledges that you don't need weight when fishing close to shore, I've never used sinkers on my worms when I fish, they seem to collect to many weeds and not necessary for casting seeing as I'm usually skipping under docks or 20 feet from shore.

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from weaver15 wrote 1 year 47 weeks ago

excellent suggestion.all of my biggest fish this year have been on slow retrieve texas rigs. with pretty much any kind of action. the more creative the better. as long as its slow

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from shane wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I'm with you here. My idea of a weighted worm involves a finishing nail. Sinking like a rock just isn't natural. A slow sink is pretty hard to resist.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from buckhunter wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

John, Great bass. It reminds me of a mailbox.

A few years back I started fishing weedless weightless worms. A weedless and weightless worm will go places no other lure can go. These places also happen to have a high density of bass. With a stiff rod and braided line you can pull a worm across the top of anything Mother Nature has to offer without a snag.

If you bite off the front end of your worm flat it will create a little more water displacement which will attract more bass.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from mountaindew732 wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I recently have been using a weightless wacky style plasic worm for bass because of the high density of algae that prevents me from using spinners and such. They work great , and when the bass bite it can be very exciting

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from muskiemaster wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

about time someone acknowledges that you don't need weight when fishing close to shore, I've never used sinkers on my worms when I fish, they seem to collect to many weeds and not necessary for casting seeing as I'm usually skipping under docks or 20 feet from shore.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Bella wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I never use plastic worms, only real ones. I have caught fish and found em full of indigestible plastic "bait". Those plastic worms don't biodegrade, in a few hundred years people will find em and wonder what those people of long ago were thinking when they invented fake worms that last forever. Leave nothing but your footprints.

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from Cgull wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

weightless works wonders some times!

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from shane wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

Great tip, buck. That's the kind of pro insight I only really expect from the author of this post.

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from Ethan3 wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I use 3/8 ounce weights for some ponds that have a lot of vegetation, and I can cast it far with my baitcaster. But I love texas rigging with my spinning reel and a 1/16 oz weight, or no weight at all. Great article

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from grant wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I definetely agree. I use to go fishing in this pond down the road from my old house and i invited my dad to come with me. I just used the texas rig with about a 1/4 ounce bullet weight. He just used a weightless worm and he wore me out!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from countitandone wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

Thanks JM, solid topic on LMB! Let's see...twitch, twitch, sink ~ I think I've got it! Go light, great tip!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from weaver15 wrote 1 year 47 weeks ago

excellent suggestion.all of my biggest fish this year have been on slow retrieve texas rigs. with pretty much any kind of action. the more creative the better. as long as its slow

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.