Spring warm up is weeks away for most of us but this does not mean we should wait to get ready. One of the techniques to focus on for plenty of smallmouth bass action this season is the use of stick baits. More specifically we need to get ready to go wacky worming for smallmouth bass. Long a favorite of bronzeback fishermen, these baits are tried and true fish catchers. Let’s take a look at how to fish wacky worms and why they work so well.
For many years I shunned artificial baits of all types in favor of live baits. My father, a fishing fanatic with over 70 years of experience, finally convinced me to give many of the new artificial baits a try. The one thing I noticed when using wacky worms for smallmouth bass was the size of the fish I began catching were larger. This was all it took for my conversion and now I rarely use live bait.
Rigging
There are so many available options in stick baits compared to even a few years ago. The tried and true Senko is always a top producer. To keep your costs down, consider using an O ring and hook your bait under the ring, not through the bait. I use the O ring tool to make it quick and easy to put them on.
Technique
We want to fish these baits in a vertical drop manner with little to no added weight to the bait. Big smallmouths are not dumb, and they will recognize a wacky worm dropping down at the speed of light as a bait to be avoided. It is not the way a real worm drops through the water. I have seen live and artificial un-weighted night crawlers take as long as a minute to drop into a deep fishing hole, and believe me when I say the fish are watching this presentation as well.
Once a smallmouth bass observes this natural, slow drop of your bait, the percentage of getting a hit are much higher. If the fish are finicky allow the wacky worm to drop and hit bottom, then begin jigging the bait up two or three feet and allow for the drop back to the bottom. Take up any slack as you work a wacky worm this way because this technique slowly draws the wacky worm back towards your location.
You want the slack out of your fishing line because most of the strikes will come as the bait drops down. Smart smallmouth bass will dart out and grab the bait on this drop, and then remain motionless before heading back to cover. If you have slack in your line you are going to miss many strikes this way.
Go wacky worming for smallmouth bass when the water temps climb into the high fifties and higher. The smallmouths are over the spawn and hungry, so get ready for great fishing action!
How do you fish wacky worms? Please leave your tips for our readers.
