New Tricks With Old Favorites

The Fantastic Swimmin’ Worm The swimmin’ worm is an oldie that’s highly effective for bass. A swimmin’ worm is at its best in shallow water, or fished shallow over deeper clear water. At its simplest, cast it out and reel it in. It’s also deadly to swim it up to or just past cover and then kill it, letting it hover and sink. A swimmin’ worm “swims” because it’s rigged with a slight bow. The basic rig is a 6-inch straight worm—sinking or floating—rigged on tandem hooks about two inches apart. Impale the head of the worm on the hook on the end of the line and run it up the hook shank. To create the bow, lift the end of the worm so there’s a loop in the worm, then run the lower hook straight through the lower portion of the worm to maintain the loop. Rigged perfectly straight, a 6-inch worm makes a fine soft jerkbait. Rigged with a slight loop, the bait has a subtle roll. Rigging with a more pronounced loop creates more twirling action. Finish the rig with a swivel to reduce line twist; add lead shot if you want to reel it faster or work deeper areas. The easiest way to make the rig is to tie a sproat hook onto a 12-inch length of 15- or 20-pound monofilament or fluorocarbon, leaving enough tag end to tie the trailing hook so it hangs about two inches below the lead hook. Snell the lead hook onto the line, leaving enough tag end to tie a regular knot to the trailing hook. You can use a salmon-style hook like a 2/0 Eagle Claw L7226. Bright-colored worms—bubblegum, sherbert, methiolate—often work well on a swimmin’ rig. But traditional colors sometimes work best. Experiment. You’re bound to have fun, because this rig works so well so often.

Berkley boasts a broad line of forktail soft jerkbaits, in two types of soft plastic as well as in their “Gulp! biodegradable organic material. In addition to the Gulp! 5-inch Jerk Shad and 7-inch Saltwater Jerk Shad, Berkley’s Realistix Series includes 2-, 3-, and 4-inch Power Minnows with lifelike detail including 3-D eyes and holographic inserts. In PowerBait, there’s the 3-inch Dropshot Power Minnow.

In late 1990, Bass Assassin added to the selection with its 5-inch Shad, sporting a long, thin, rat-like tail that vibrates when the bait is twitched, offering the same sort of out-of-control glide as the Slug-Go. Robin Shiver of Bass Assassin notes that it’s been a top seller ever since the spring of 1991, when it caught on as part of the soft jerkbait craze ignited by Slug-Go. “Our Shad was the first soft jerk to have a slit in the belly for ease of rigging and to improve hooksetting,” he notes. “This has become almost a universal feature in these baits.

“The rattail design was an immediate success,” Shiver says, “and when redfish and trout fishing began to blossom around 2000, saltwater anglers were quick to recognize their appeal. That same tail design has made our 11⁄2-inch Shad, designed for crappie and bluegill, our biggest seller today.” In their HardNose Series, Mann’s Bait added a Jerkbait, with the tougher plastic of the nose holding the hook well and resistant to tearing, while the softer body provides a natural, supple movement.

Lake Fork Tackle built an alternate tail design into their Magic Shad, a spade shape that provides a fluttering, vibrating action as the lure glides horizontally. To offer options, YUM’s 5-inch Houdini Shad features a spade-type tail, but with a serrated center. Fish it out of the pack and it has a pulsing glide like the Magic Shad. Remove the center plastic and if falls faster with more glide. Split the two parts of the tail and it resembles a fork-tail-style lure that tracks side to side. Finally, Mann’s Bait created the Feather Shad, with a long feather tail that sways and pulses as the lure falls.

Rigging Options

Initial success with soft jerks typically involved an offset shank hook and no weight. The term “Texposed” was coined to describe the perfect pinning of a soft jerk like the Slug-Go with a hook that has a wide enough gap to set once the meaty bait is engulfed. Barely nicking the hook point into the back of the lure keeps if from hanging in grass or brush, and yet it sets easily.

Picking the correct hook size and rigging the lure properly are keys to the success of soft jerkbaits, as well as swimmin’ worms. A hook too small can make the lure look great, but you’ll miss most bites. A hook too big sacrifices lure action. For the original 6-inch Slug-Go, Zaleski recommended a 4/0 Eagle Claw J-Series hook, a long-shank model. Lunker City offers the Tex Poser Hook, built to match the Slug-Go’s dimensions. And I’ve had great success with a 5/0 Gamakatsu Round Bend offset shank model and Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Round Bend L091RG on 6-inch slug baits.