A technique that's missed a lot of times that
guys that are fishing deep water don't really
look to is a big worm (A 10-inch worm). It's
funny because it has kind of gravitated through
a lot of the southern impoundments, but in
reality it's still a really good secret in
the north.
One of the things that I think is really important
is there's little tricks you can use to rig
that 10-inch worm. I think a good variety
of colors depending on water color and some
of those kind of things are important to have.
I happen to like the ZOOM Ol' Monster which
one of my favorites. The main reason for that
is it's been around, it's a main stay, and
it catches big fish. But with a 10-inch worm
one of the advantages is that it's 10 inches.
It's a big worm and you'll usually catch bigger
fish on it just like you would on a jig or
other type baits. It's just a big big worm.
It has a flat side on it and I like rigging
it with the hook in the flat side. I'll show
you how to do that. It really kicks off a
lot of pressure waves. There are a lot of
pressure waves that come off that tail. Plus,
it gives a lot of flash. You can see by that
tail that it's a ribbon type tail and it gives
a lot of pressure waves. Specially designed
for that.
There's a bunch of hooks to use. This is a
round bend and this is a offset as you can
see. But I do not like this for this type
of application; I like a straight shank hook.
Another thing that's a neat technique before
I rig is sometimes you can just bite this
worm off. If the head gets tore up or if the
fish has eaten it a couple of times you can
bite it off and still have plenty of worm
even if you bite it off to here you still
have plenty of worm.
So what we're going to do is rig this. Typically
we'll peg this worm, but sometimes I won't.
In particular in deep water I don't like to
because it allows the worms to chase behind
the weight just like a Carolina Rig.
So what we're going to do is we're going to
take this and put our weight on. I typically
use a 1/2-ounce or 3/8 ounce and sometimes
I’ll even use heavier than a half ounce.
Just thread that weight on, get my straight
shank offset, put it on, and I typically go
with my same old line tie which is a San Diego
Jam Knot which is my favorite knot. Basically
what you do is just tie that with that is
you just tie that by going around several
times (about five or six times), and then
punch it right back through. The key here
is you don't want to burn the line.
So when you punch this back through you're
going to grab that line and pull it so it's
just taught. You can see that's a sticky hook,
which is the kind you want. What you do is
just pull it so it's taught, wet it, and then
pull it down. You will not break that knot.
That's a knot you can tie on braid, mono,
and everything else. We will leave the tag
on; actually there's a pair of good Rapala
scissors there.
A lot of good colors, I like Plum real well,
Blueberry is good, and there's all kinds of
different colors. Junebug can be good at times.
It really depends on letting the fish tell
you what they want. I always rig it on the
flat side and a lot of guys will change it
up and rig it on the backside. I like the
flat side. You just rig it down to the bend,
(put it in the center of the hook and rig
it down to the bend) punch it out, push it
all the way down to the offset, make sure
that it's nice and straight, and then I just
punch it back into the worm. The worm is pretty
thin and you want that thing to be as straight
as you can possibly get it so when you've
got your weight on it that's going to hang
pretty straight. I'll even adjust it there
because that needs a little adjustment. It's
just straight as you can get it because when
it comes through the water you want that bait
to look natural. You make a good long cast
and I always use a 7 foot rod  or longer because
I'm short and want to make sure I have a longer
rod so I can set the hook. That's your bait
that will catch big fish in deep water typically
during the summer months and into the fall.
One of the things about throwing a 10-inch
worm I think is critical is you've got to
let the worm all the way to the bottom.
We're fishing off out the bank quite a distance
and it's important to make sure that worm
goes all the way to the bottom. We're fishing
pretty windy conditions today and you would
like it to be able to reach the bottom so
you can feel it.
I'm using a 1/2-ounce weight.
That's what happens right there with a 10-inch
worm! Get out off the bank a little bit, get
them up off the bank, and you can catch one
on a 10-inch worm just like that.
Big baits are critical. As you can see this
isn't a real big fish (about a pound and a
half). But they like big baits and a big worm
in particular in the summer time and late
fall. So what you want to be able to do is;
you want to get that big worm out there, let
it fall all the way to the bottom, and then
work it back slowly. You'll find out that
when it falls is a lot of the times when you'll
get bit. That's the key to catching these
fish off the ledges.
What’s cool about fishing a big worm in
my opinion is it's usually big fish. What
I like to do is when you let that worm fall
all the way to the bottom it's pretty versatile.
You can throw a jig and a lot of different
baits. But something about that ribbon tail
worm is more natural for these fish and I
think a lot of times they'll bite it over
any other bait. Whether it's a small creature
bait, big creature bait, or anything like
that they'll bite that worm.
The other thing I want to make sure is when
you're fishing a ledge there's sweet spots
on a ledge. Typically a worm will be able
to be more thorough on that sweet spot. You
can fish a whole length of bank and a lot
of times you won't catch fish off it. There
will only be one or two places that you'll
catch them and that's a good place to put
a worm in there. Really soak that worm, let
it get down to the bottom, and really work
it back on that sweet spot. What I mean by
a sweet spot is a place where the fish congregate
which is what you're looking for. You're looking
for those one or two places where the fish
will congregate and be able to catch them.
When we first pulled up on this spot one of
the things I like to do is scan the water
to see if there's any baitfish activity. If
you see gar or baitfish flipping, that's always
a good indication that maybe there's some
fish here. If the foods here; fish will be
here.
One of the big advantages of a worm over a
jig or anything else is you don't have an
exposed hook. It's texposed back into the worm.
So when you get on that sweet spot, a stumpy
area, or even a brush pile what you find out
is that thing will come through it most of
the time. Probably 90% of the time you can
get a worm through it. You may have to hop
it through it or you may have to do other
things. You've kind of got to let the fish
talk to you and let them tell you what they
want. If you pull up here and you catch a
fish right off the bat and you're swimming
the worm back that might mean you have to
work it a little bit faster. The other thing
that is important is when you're making that
cast with that worm is to try to make it so
you've got it in a spot that it's going to
hit the bottom. Sometimes you'll get a bird’s
nest! (Laughs)
Another quick tip is of course your electronics
are critical. But another quick tip is look
at the bank and find something on the bank
whether it's a dead tree and we happen to
have cedar trees here. Look at those cedar
trees when you catch a fish, in your minds
eye figure out where you were at, what your
angle was, or what you were looking at. Then
be able to position the boat using color,
using your Down-Imaging, and then be able
to make a cast to the exact location to where
you caught that last fish. Fish will bunch
up and that's what you want to do. You want
tot stay on them and that's the best way to
do it.
When you set up on a ledge, a point, or whatever,
sometimes you use Depth Highlight. What that
tells you by looking at the screen is we've
got Down-Imaging on one side to look and see
if the fish are below you. Then you've also
got color contrast, which allows on this Humminbird
1198 to stay positioned so you're on the break.
It's so critical as you can see where that
green area is at is right on the break, that's
where our boat is positioned with the circle,
and you're sitting right on the edge where
you need to be to be able to catch more fish.
You can use that on a point or anywhere.
Let's talk about we're going to move. We're
on this ledge now and we're going to move.
We can leave that set the exact same way and
we know the fish are patterning to where they're
found at those depths. You might be able to
pull up on another spot exactly like it with
the same contrast of color and be able to
find those fish. It's a really important feature
of LakeMaster Maps and a really neat deal.
But use your electronics. Your electronics
are huge if you want to be able to catch fish
offshore.
There's one! Big worm. (10-inch worm) Off the
edge of a drop.
Oh he's a good fish! Decent fish. Come on
baby!
Now if I was in a tournament I probably would
of had a heart attack. But I'm not in a tournament
and you can just hoist them up on board and
there's what you got right there. 10-Inch
worm, on ledges, summertime pattern or fall
pattern, and you can't beat that!
