Bass Tidbit .17

You are in the boat with your spin fishing buddy.

He's throwing a texas rigged worm to shallow cover and catching lots of fish.

You aren't doing so well with your flies.

You've tried putting a plastic worm on your fly rod. It casts like a rock and you really don't like casting or fishing with it on a fly rod.

Is there a fly or technique for this situation?

Yes, and it's not one of those funky 'worm' flies. They might 'look' like a plastic worm in the water. They don't 'move' like one. It's all about the 'action'.

If you take the time to 'test' how a texas riggged plastic worm 'moves' (a pool is a good test area), you'll see that when the fisherman lifts the rod to move the worm, it glides forward and upwards (ratio of forward to upwards is controlled by how fast the rod tip is lifted). When the rod lift stops, the worm settles to the bottom. Not exactly 'nose first', but definitely with a nose heavy attitude.

If you tie on a properly tied Clouser Minnow and use the same technique to move it, i.e; slow rod tip lifts then pauses for it to settle, you will see that it moves in the same way as the worm.

Try tying up some Clousers in 'worm colors'. Olive, brown, black, purple, blue and combinations with and without a bit of flash.

The Clouser's upwards riding hook prevents most snags, but if you are fishing in heavy cover, just add a mono weedguard.

If you will fish them like a plastic worm, they will catch the same fish for you.

Good Luck!

Buddy