By Ken Sturdivant
Innovations often come about by accident. It happened 65 years ago when Nick Crème, an Akron, Ohio machinist invented a game changing fishing lure. Crème decided he was tired of digging for earthworms to use as fish bait. This is where it all began.
The Crème Bait Company invented the rubber worm, and they still make them today, but now they are made with soft plastics. Back then, Crème had the only “rubber worm”, and since the company was, and is still, based in Texas, so came the name the Texas rig. Their original Sportsman’s Super Floater worm started the revolution, and anglers started using the floating worm technique to catch lots of bass.
Now comes the fun part. After years of catching a lot of bass on the floating worm, anglers began using small sinkers to make the worm sink. Now the market is loaded with all sorts of plastics both floating and sinking.
Anglers began using a variety of hooks in these worms, and now the standard is an offset worm hook. With a 7-inch worm and a size 2/0 offset worm hook, the secret is out. Today’s worm hooks are super sharp, so there is no need to take a file and sharpen them.
Using light 8 to 10-pound test line, tie a Palomar knot on the 2/0 offset worm hook. Thread the worm on the hook by sticking it ¼” into the top of the worm and pull the hook out. Twist the worm and pull at the same time and make sure the worm hook comes out and the worm hangs straight on the top of the hook. Now “tick” the hook into the side of the worm and stick the tip of the hook into the worm. Do not bury the hook into the worm. Be sure the worm and hook are all straight. Do not use any weight. The hook and the worm will fall slowly, making it an east target for bass.
The trick worm can be fished three basic ways: Floating, subsurface, and then letting it sink to the bottom. Start out by working this worm on the surface and keep the line tight and the rod tip down. DO NOT PULL THE WORM. If you pull the worm, it will corkscrew in the water and twist the line. Make the worm stay right up on the surface and even make it jump over the surface. The subsurface technique is just a little slower than having the bait on the surface. Let the bait sink 3 to 7 feet deep and slowly twitch the rod with the tip down.
The last technique is called “dead stick”. Just let the bait sink to the bottom and work it very slowly. With no weight, the bait is very hang free in grass, wood and all sorts of underwater structure.
As for colors, start out with a bright color so you can see how the bait swims. The right hook in the worm will allow it to swim evenly, and you can see the hook as like a keel on the lure. In stained to muddy waters, use black or June bug so the bait creates a shadow. A bright worm in off colored water is hard for the fish to see. The trick worm technique can work year round in all conditions: hot, cold, fast, slow, clear or dirty. Just fish with it.
Ken Sturdivant is a member of the Lowrance Pro Staff. You can find him at 770-889-2654; www.southernfishing.com, or kensturdivant@att.net.