Luck E Strike's Ringleader Worm

Guido Hibdon of Sunrise Beach, Missouri, is one of the forefathers of Midwest finesse fishing. Back in the 1960s and 1970 when he was a young fishing guide on the Lake of the Ozarks, he and his many clients spent untold numbers of hours catching largemouth bass on lures that scores of other anglers called sissy baits, and these baits were 1/16- and 1/8-ounce marabou jigs, small plastic worms on split-shot rigs, and Beetle Spins.

Recently Hibdon designed a plastic worm for Luck E Strike, which is called the Ringleader. It is not the same genre of worm that Hibdon wielded in his youth. In fact, it is bulky and nine inches long, and it is encircled with a continuous series of deep ribs from its head to its tail, and its tail is endowed with a boot. The ribs trap and release air bubbles, and they also vibrate. Hibdon says the boot tail vibrates alluringly, creating what he calls "the ultimate big fish tournament worm."

Midwest finesse anglers will undoubtedly customize it, cutting four inches off of its head, using that section as a stickbait, and attaching it to a Gopher Tackle's 1/32- or 1/16-ounce Mushroom Head Jig. They will use the other section as a five-inch finesse worm, and they will wield it on either 1/32- or 1/16-ounce Gopher jigs.

It should be available in January of 2014, and it can be purchased at Buehler Sales (http://www.buehlersales.com/ or 471-847-0205). We will post an update in Febrauary.

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