Berkley's PowerBait Lugworm

Berkley’s PowerBait Lugworm was introduced to the angling world at the 2018 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show in Orlando, Florida.

It is a different soft-plastic bait than the original Berkley’s Gulp Lugworm, which was a saltwater bait that they manufactured to replicate some of the characteristics of a marine worm that is called either a lugworm or sandworm.

The PowerBait Lugworm was created for and is manufactured for anglers who pursue largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass.

It is a new rendition of the classic French fry. Years ago, some old-time Midwest finesse anglers wielded a soft-plastic French fry affixed to a split-shot rig. Nowadays, Midwest finesse anglers will affix it to a small mushroom-style jig with an exposed hook.

It is four inches long.

Its torso possesses two segments.

The front segment is 2 3/8 inches long. It is a quarter of an inch wide with a circumference of 1 1/16 inches. The sides are flat, and they are five-sixteenths of an inch high. Its dorsal is convexed, and its ventral is flat. The epidermis of the dorsal and sides are embossed with 48 tiny segments, which some anglers might describe as ribs. The ventral’s epidermis is silky smooth – except for the word Berkley that is imprinted upon it, and that adorns eleven-sixteenths of an inch of the ventral’s epidermis.

The second segment is 1 5/8 inches long. Like the first segment, it is a quarter of an inch wide with a circumference of 1 1/16 inches. The sides are flat, and they are five-sixteenths of an inch high. Its dorsal is convexed, and its ventral is flat. Its entire epidermis is encircled by 15 significant ribs, and this creates a core, and the circumference of the core gradually becomes smaller as it approaches the posterior end of the Lugworm, and the core possesses the same shape as the first and second segments of its torso. The core extends about one-eighth of an inch beyond rib number 15. The distance from the core to the top edge of the dorsal portion of rib number 15 is about one-eighth of an inch. The distance from the core to the top edge of the dorsal portion of rib number one is less than one-sixteenth of an inch. The deep or prominent ribs are said to provoke the Lugworm to subtly quiver and undulate.

Its head is flat, and it possesses the same shape and dimensions as its torso.

It is manufactured in the following colors: Black, Black Blue Fleck, Chartreuse Pepper, Clear Pink, Green Pumpkin, Green Pumpkin Purple Fleck, June Bug, Redbug, Watermelon, and Watermelon Red.

Berkley says that its scientists have spent more than 25 years perfecting an irresistible scent and flavor, and that scent and flavor is impregnated into the Lugworm.

It is buoyant.

A package of 20 costs $4.99

Some folks described the Lugworm as a stellar “do-nothing style bait” that can be affixed on a Carolina rig, drop-shot rig, darter-head jig, shaky-head jig, and Berkley’s Half Head Jig. (The Half Head Jig is a mushroom-style jig.) And when the Lugworm is employed on a 1/16-ounce Half Head Jig, its flat belly accentuates the gliding motif as a Midwest finesse angler employs the swim-glide-and-shake presentation. Besides the swim-glide-and-shake presentation, Midwest finesse anglers will present the Lugworm to their black bass quarries by employing the five other Midwest finesse retrieves or slight variations of those retrieves.

Some Midwest finesse anglers will shorten the Lugworm by removing about an inch from the tip of its front section, and they will affix it to either 1/20- or 1/32-ounce mushroom-style jig, making it an ideal rig to employ with a slow-swim-and-glide presentation around submerged aquatic vegetation, emergent aquatic vegetation, and flooded terrestrial vegetation.

Endnotes

(1) Here is a link to Berkley’s website.

(2) Here is a link to a Midwest Finesse column about Berkley’s Half Head Jig.

(3) Here is a link that describes how to execute the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves.

(4) For more information about the scents that Berkley employs, see Steve Quinn’s insights in his article entitled “Berkley Takes New Soft Baits to the Max.”

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