How to Rig a Plastic Worm for Bass Fishing

Many largemouth bass anglers regard plastic worms as the single most effective lure for bass. Their long bodies and lifelike action suggest a wide range of prey. But worms are not as simple to use as they appear at first, if you want to fish them correctly and catch a lot of bass.

Plastic worms are a "feel" bait that requires technique and finesse. One key is to make sure they are rigged correctly. The two main styles of rigging plastic worms for bass fishing are the Texas rig and the Carolina rig.

The Texas rig is very simple to tie and use. Slide a bullet weight onto the line with the nose pointed toward the rod and tie on the hook behind it. Now take a plastic worm and push the point of the hook into the head end about 1/4-inch and out one side.

Pull the hook through and turn the hook 180 degrees pulling the eye of the hook down until it reaches the head of the bait. Hold the bait where the bend of the hook meets the bait body and bring the bait up to the point. Push the point through at that area. Now pull the point back into the body of the bait and bury the point just enough to make it a weedless lure.

Using a Texas rig you can stay in touch with structure and move the bait through cover. The Texas rig is one of the best ways of working heavy cover. You can also fish open areas along a bank, creek channel, bridge pilings or rocks as well.

Use as light a weight as you can get away with and still sink the lure. This will give you a better feel as you pull the rig over the structures or bottom. When fishing in a pull-and-pause method a lighter weight allows the lure to fall more slowly. Veteran plastic worm anglers will tell you a bass often hits the lure on the way down.

A Carolina rig is a plastic worm rig designed to fish deep water and get into holes and bottom-bound structure. To create a Carolina rig for a plastic worm thread an egg-shaped sinker (3/4 to 1 ounce is common, but you can use any size depending on how much weight you need) on the fishing line followed by a plastic bead (most people use red but any bead will work).

Tie a swivel to the end of the line, then tie a 36-inch piece of fishing line (or whatever length you prefer) to the other end of the swivel as a leader. Attach a hook to the end of the leader. Rig the worm in a weedless fashion on the hook (as above in the Texas rig).

Avoid fishing a plastic worm too fast. My favorite method is the pull and pause. Cast the worm out and let it hit bottom. Tighten the line and wait a few seconds, then lift the rod tip up in the air very slowly keeping a tight line. Use your wrist to lift, not your arm, and don't sweep the rod up too fast or too far. Do not reel when doing this.

When you rod tip is pointed almost to the sky pause a few seconds. Then lower the rod slowly retrieving the line to take up slack as you do. It is important to keep the line tight when using the pull and pause method on a plastic worm as bass will often hit the lure as it flutters down.

Worms with a curly tail are terrific for the pull and pause method. You can also crawl a plastic worm using a steady retrieve. One important plastic worm trick: if you aren't catching fish slow down.

For more fishing tips see my blog A Dash Of Salty.