wacky worm

[timberhall]

I know this might be the wrong time of year to ask, but does any one use the wacky worm rig with actual night crawlers for bass? I fish Mantua a lot and thought that might be a fun way to get my little boy some bass.
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[HATH]

I've thought about that too but I don't think the worm would hold up to dragging it through rocks and weeds, and I figure why spend the money on bait when a wacky rigged senko works perfect. Also you can catch multiple fish on a plastic where otherwise it's one worm for one fish or less.
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[Bassnuti]

Works well but recommend you set up dropshot wacky...keep the worm up off the rocks a few inches and let the weight hit bottom...
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You are coming "full circle". For many years whole crawlers have been effectively fished by hooking them once through the "collar"...which is tougher than the body of the worm...and letting them wiggle naturally as they tumble downstream or rest on the bottom. Lots of big fish...of all species...have slurped up the natural wiggling worms where they might not have responded to one wadded on a hook.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The wacky rig worms are simply an attempt to get a natural wiggle from an artificial worm.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the most effective ways of fishing both natural and artificial worms is without weight. Simply cast them to the zone and let them sink (and wiggle) naturally. Many fish respond to a bait that appears to have fallen into the water and is struggling to escape on the way to the bottom. You will get lots of "pop on the drop" hits when the fish are active, cruising and feeding. If they are slower or on the bottom you can just lift and drop the bait (or lure) as you bring it back in. With a live worm you can also simply leave it on the bottom. The motion of the struggling crawler will bring fish in from a distance and when they are sold that it is a natural food item they will slurp it up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are quite a few spots around Mantua where the bottom is clean enough to work this. But when you are fishing over weed beds (almost everywhere) you might want to rig a slip bobber to keep the worm above the hay fields. Oh yeah, you might also need to hang a little sign on your hook "BASS ONLY". 'Cause all the other fish in Mantua like worms too.[/#0000ff]
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[Jazzperch1]

+1 on that
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[gstott]

I'm sure it would be effective, but you might lose a lot of worms to the bluegill.
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[Therapist]

TD's discription of the whacky worm rig with nightcrawlers reminds me what a bunch of customers did up at Strawberry in the late summer early fall when the weed beds were up. They would throw an unweighted crawler on a single hook, through the collar, into the holes in the weedbeds and along the edges and let em fall !! Was very effective on the big bows and cutts.

[Springbuck]

This^. I have caught a LOT of bass on a single worm rigged kinda like they do for a walleye crawler harness by threading my line through a small hook like a salmon egg hook, and then tying on a small rubber worm hook, witht the bend in the shank near the eye.

If you do it right, the small hook keeps it from sagging down the big hook, and a the worm runs straight just like a rigged plastic, but it's perfect for a weightless flip into cover or drop into some rocks. The worm wiggles in a slow snakey move when retrieved slowly, but also sinks very slowly, etc..

But.. bluegills, perch, dink smallmouth, etc will grab the tail and tear the worm off right at the collar, where the hook point goes in.
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[wagdog]

I've seen dink bluegill (5-6 inchers!) grab whole crawlers (those big canadian ones) and slurp them up like they were candy. I've fish whole crawlers weightless and it does work. Like everybody is saying, you will catch all kinds of fish.
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