Sunday, August 4, 2013

Jared Helms - Pick 3 Soft Plastics - Big Worm

If there is a plastic bait that has caught more bass for more people, I think it has to be a plain ol' curly tail worm. I know it has caught a ton of bass for me, including my first. Yet, while most people stock up on with an average 7'' size, I like to stick to the big guns. 10-11'' gets the nod from this guy. Just about every soft plastic company makes a big ribbontail, but my favorites are the ones produced by Zoom or NetBait.

I've heard it several times from my granddad and a few others, "That thing is just too big'' or ''Ain't no bass gonna eat that thing." But, truth is, it will catch em when other things won't, and it will catch anything from little-uns to great bigguns.

There really is no bad condition for fishing a worm, but I'll let you in on the times that really make it shine for me.

GRASS

There are several lakes right across the Florida line that I love to fish. These lakes are nothing but big sandy sink holes with grass everywhere you look. A big texas rigged worm is EXCELLENT for really dissecting all the grass. My favorite way to really cover water is to swim the worm through the grass like I would a swim jig.I actually prefer the worm over a swim jig, just because I feel it looks like a bigger easier meal. And, from my experience, I just have more confidence fishing for Florida strains with plastics instead of jigs. The great thing about the big worm is it's versatility. I can swim it through shallow grass when looking for em. But, when I come to a deeper grass line in 8-12' of water, I can stroke it to cover the whole water column looking for aggresive fish. Then, I can slow down and drag it through anywhere I found some fish. Now, I've located the fish and picked apart the area without ever changing lures. For fishing grass, I'm pretty much tried and true with any variation of June Bug color or plain black.

CLEAR WATER

When alot of people see clear water, they think about down sizing to smaller less imposing worms. Not I! This lesson was learned in my pond. It had been muddy for the past few years, up until a couple months ago. It got really clear. I went by the text book and tried the normal shaky heads and drop shots. NADA! I had a big 11'' worm on a rod and decided to fling it out there. BAM! Started catchin' em. My belief is, in the clearer water, a bigger bait with some action to it calls them in from alot farther away. It's worked for me in ponds, rivers, and lakes. It works shallow and deep, but the perfect scenerio for me is that 4' to 12' zone with scattered cover. I like to keep it fairly active and cover some water with it until I'm positive I'm on a wad of fish. If I get alot of bites on the fall, I'll retrieve it by stroking it a few feet off the bottom. If they seem to be eating it closer to the bottom, I still like to actively hop it, but more like a few inches to a foot instead of a few feet. I still keep a simple color selection by simply trying to match the bottom. Light bottom; watermelon/red or some natural color. Dark bottom; dark colors. In 90% of situations I'll use a 3/8 oz tungsten bullet weight, atleast 17 lb line, and a long heavy action rod.

A big worm is a great way to locate fish AND clean up an area. You can catch fish of all sizes with it, while still appealing to the big mommas hangin' around the area.




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