Fail-Safe Lures
- Thread starter Frank Castle
- Start date
FIRSTLY I am deeply offended I wasn't on your tag list.
secondly,
wacky or texas rigged Berkley worms, generally black/dark blue and green pumpkin are all I really use. maybe a chartreuse if the waters ugly.
my all-time go to's no matter where I am are a 1.5-2" rattletrap, blue; and sonic minnows. I never fail to catch at least 1 fish on both of those lures no matter the place.
secondly,
wacky or texas rigged Berkley worms, generally black/dark blue and green pumpkin are all I really use. maybe a chartreuse if the waters ugly.
my all-time go to's no matter where I am are a 1.5-2" rattletrap, blue; and sonic minnows. I never fail to catch at least 1 fish on both of those lures no matter the place.
I'll second rattle traps, I use them for Brownies a lot. Can't say I've ever once caught any fish on plastic worms, or really any soft plastic bait other than swimbaits.
go buy a bag and some 1/0 hooks for wacky rig and some 4/0 for texas rig and be amazed how bass just smash them lol.
orange belly/Natural back and Firetiger seem to work best for me.
Sorry man, I don't see you post often in the fishing thread and I missed dozens of fishermen w/ the tagging lol POST SOME CATCHES!!!
WHAT???!!!!! U GOTTA BE KIDDINNG ME!!!!
I like them weightless actually, rigged w/ a Tru-turn and allowed to flap and flutter naturally. When I go weightless, 90% of the fish I catch on them hit it within 30 seconds of casting on the initial drop. Another favorite I learned from Jimmy Houston as a child is an Auger-tail worm, with the head clipped off just above the "collar" and rigged w/ a jighead in the same manner you would a Spring grub. Smallmouth CRUSH 'em, but the exposed hook can be an issue in weeded areas - fortunately Smallies like rock, sand or gravel bottoms.
I'll try that. So is a wacky rig just the soft plastic hooked in the middle on an unweighted J-hook?
Nope, tried some senko rigs a few times lately but they never produce for me, I like hard baits better
Go with a 4" Slider worm rigged on either a standard weedless Slider-head or a SPider Slider-head and reel it sooooooo slow it imitates a real worm crawling across the bottom - they have a gelatinous appearance and composure that makes them jiggle and move even when there's no current at all.Nope, tried some senko rigs a few times lately but they never produce for me, I like hard baits better
I also do that same Slider-head on a 4" or 6" curly-tail scented/salt-impregnated Berkley PowerWorm.
If nothing else, find a good spot for Largemouths and toss a weightless 6" Zoom or Power Lizard in Chartruese/speckled color. Just let the lizards natural motion of fluttering and flapping do the work for you, ....slowly twitch, jiggle , work it side-to-side, jig it, make it somersault....anything to get them moving, just make it look natural and appealing.
Spring grubs are alos deadly for Smallmouth on a modified In-line (replace the treble hook w/ a long-shank Aberdeen), Roadrunner, Beetle-spin or Crappie-Spin. Again, chartreuse and Yellow are hot for me, but white and sometimes Purple/black combo produces.
See my above post about the trimmed Auger-tails w/ a leadhead - Mann's bait company makes them
yup, if you want to save the worm from being ripped up every strike while its wacky rigged, get a pack of O-rings from a hardware store, loop one over the worm and seat the hook between the o-ring and the bait, less wear and tear on your plastics.
I love zoom worms in purple, I rig them weightless cast where there's fish and let it sink, the worm often catches a fish before it hits bottom
