Do you know the basics of worm fishing?  Well you should... Arguably one of the most productive baits on the planet is the plastic worm. Whether you fish it on a Texas Rig, Carolina Rig, Drop Shot, Florida Rig or on a Split Shot Rig you can almost always catch bass on a plastic worm. The plastic worm is a very simple bait to learn to master and hopefully after reading this article you will feel more comfortable and confident in your ability to produce a limit while using it. Since this is designed to be a basic instructional guide for the plastic worm I am only going to get into basic rigs and techniques.

When I first started fishing about six years ago, I would walk into a tackle shop and be overwhelmed by the incredible variety of hooks that were on display. At the time   I was fishing mostly with plastic worms and had little knowledge of the basic hooks and how they were used with different lures and presentations.

When I saw my first spinnerbait, I found myself asking, "what kind of fish would be stupid enough to strike at a lure like this?" It did not take too long for me to find out! The next day I caught a largemouth bass around 2 pounds and was hooked on the concept. Spinnerbaits come in many forms.

 If you never tried or have had little success using crankbait to catch bass, walleye or any of the pike family; read on, I may convince you to give it a try...

To begin, let’s focus on bass, the largest member of the sunfish family. During certain times of day, bass like to move into deeper water. There are many reasons why this “transition” from shallow to deep water occurs.  One reason is to get away from fishermen who pound the shoreline with a variety of lures that bass see week in and week out!

My first introduction to lipless crankbaits, was when I won twenty of them in a raffle on Lake Cayuga in upstate New York.

The following week, I tried in vain to catch fish with this noisy, skinny looking object. What I did catch was wood, weeds and rocks. So the lures remained in the bottom of the tackle bag collecting dust like so many baits that I believed were for catching fishermen, not fish!